Spring is upon us and at this time of year I find myself with a natural boost of energy and optimism, and ready to open my home to guests. After a long (and very wet) winter of hibernation the daffodils and birdsong signal the time to be a bit more sociable and with the Easter celebrations and bank holiday weekends on the horizon, what could be better than laying the table in a maximalist style to celebrate. Easter is the perfect time to embrace colour and feel inspired by the pretty Spring colour palette. Typically these are the pastel shades- think primrose yellow, duck egg blue and pale green. But you also have those vibrant daffodil yellows, bright red tulips and purple hyacinths to inspire you. I think the key thing about the Spring colour palette is it’s fresh, bright and light. So the deep and cosy autumn shades of russet red, chocolate brown and olive green no longer serve us. We need to feel lighter and brighter and dressing the table is the perfect way to celebrate the new seasonal colour palette that’s happening right outside your window.
For a celebratory maximalist tablescape you’ll want to ramp up the pattern, colour and textures, layering up the interest as you go. I’m not a massive fan of the rampant consumerism that goes on around these seasonal celebrations, so I’d resist going out and buying merch like bunny ornaments and painted egg trees. In my view you just don’t need it, the colour can deliver the Spring mood in itself, or you can make a few Easter decorations if that’s your thing, as they will be way more charming. I always like to use food to supplement my table decorations, like fruit, or mini eggs or even boiled eggs dyed in food colouring. You also have to make the most of the spring time flowers at this time of year. I picked up a bunch of tulips for £2.50 at the supermarket last week and they last a fortnight! I’m also lucky enough to have armfuls of daffodils in the garden this time of year too. But I cannot wait until the blossom gets going as that always looks super pretty.
If there is one time of year you can go all out with pretty florals, it’s Easter! A small scale ditsy floral suits this time of year as Spring flowers are typically small and delicate. I’ve made my own with a few meadows of by the meter fabric. This one above is my Wildflower Meadow floral fabric from harlequin which I just adore- it’s like scattering the table with petals. I’d then use a different floral for napkins. There is something so charming about clashing pattern on pattern that adds to the busy energy of this time of year.
The trend in floral arrangements at the moment is definitely on a loose, hand picked foraged vibe, and if you can pick a few stems from the garden, then it’s a lot cheaper alternative to a floral arrangement. I’d combine a beautiful branch from the garden, complete with green buds or later, blossom to be the centre piece. You can even hang decorative Easter eggs from it, if that’s your thing. But like I said earlier- don’t miss the opportunity to pick up some armfuls of affordable daffodils or tulips from the supermarket for a blast of colour joy. I snip the stems nice and low and bunch them in a drinking tumbler- a few dotted down the table does the trick.
You don’t need an expensive set of matching crockery to create a beautiful table setting, indeed it can look even more stylish to adopt the maximalist mix and match approach. It can look more charming, individual and create a more relaxed at home feeling too. I’ve always found charity shops and auctions great placed for high quality china at a song, and you can build your collection gradually, but I’d recommend sticking to a similar colour palette or style motif for some cohesion. Another way to add an individual touch is to mix and match napkins, because, no! they do not all need to match. I often use a mix of napkins but them tie them all in the same ribbon to bring the look together.
I absolutely love a table laden with flowers, candles and fruit, that piles on the colour, texture and creates a feeling of abundance. At Christmas I use clementines and pomegranates but this can be switched up to citrus fruits in the spring or berries in the summer, which can all be switched up and added to cocktails or desserts later on so nothing goes to waste. For a successful central table piece you want to keep everything nice and low, so people can still converse over the top. I have a collection of small bud vases but you can use clay pots, teacups, glass tumblers. The key is then to cut the flower stems nice and low and pack them in. You can then dot the citrus fruit in-between the vases and candle sticks, along the length of the table.
I love the way Sandra, from The Idle hands on Instagram has styled her napkins with a hard boiled egg! This is such a simple yet effective idea. I’m stealing it! I usually tie mine with a simple ribbon as I’ve never collected napkin rings and I like that I have a bag of ribbons so can easily switch up the look. Another chic idea is to simply fold it and either pop it under the cutlery or the side plate. Either way, always look for an opportunity to add more pattern and colour to the table. If you’re nifty with a sewing machine, making your own napkins from remnants or scraps of fabric is a really charming way to add pattern. Remember they don’t all need to match, so this is a good way of using up some fabric from your stash!
If the weather brightens up, which is really did last week, I’ll be the first to set everything up outside as, I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait to bask in some Spring sunshine, not to mention how incredible a bright maximalist tablescape looks surrounded by vibrant greenery! I love how this table setting has used lots of smaller vases with single stems in too, creating a floral display down the centre of the table that can be achieved with just one or two bunches of flowers.
If you are looking to freshen up your table setting this Spring, then here are some of a few of my favourite finds…
Blue scalloped glasses, M&S. Yellow candle sticks, Matilda Goad. Wild Flower Plate, H&M. Candlestick in Sage, Not Another Bill. Scalloped napkins, La Redoute. Daisy Jug, Oliver Bonas. Sage Pitcher, Dunelm. Check Tablecloth, Talking Tables. Blue spotty tumbler, Flying Tiger. Yellow Glass, Monsoon. Pink floral scallop placemat, Furbish Studios. Paper Straw Fabric in Citrine, Sophie Robinson x Harlequin. Blue Ribbon, Sostrene Grene. Pastel green plate, H&M. White and Pink Vase, George at Asda. Cutlery, Matilda Goad. Daisy Plate, M&S.
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Buying a sofa is a big decision. It’s one of the most expensive pieces of furniture you’ll ever buy for your home and due to it’s scale, it’s going to make a big visual impact in the space. Not to mention the comfort factor which is paramount to how you will feel using the room. I recently had the amazing opportunity to design my own range of sofa’s for Dfs and I pulled on all my experience of what I know works for a colourful, comfy and maximalist space. So let’s get into it- what should you be looking for when making that all important investment.
From colour to comfort, from style to size, so many decisions can lead to the feeling of overwhelm when you start your sofa search. This unfortunately results in many people playing it ‘safe’. The fear kicks in and doubts around choosing something too bold or too patterned are met with concerns around growing bored of it, or the trend dating or worry about it working with your other decor choices. Dfs data shows us that people buy a new sofa every seven years, so you need to invest in something that will work for you over many years. So…before you know it you’ve popped the beige option in the shopping basket with the promise to yourself to pop some colourful cushions on it. But is this actually the best investment? While a neutral sofa may be the right thing for you, I’d urge you to really consider what makes your heart sing. Is it beige? Is it though? If you feel a flutter by looking at that buttercup yellow sofa, or blush at the rose pink, I’d listen to the voice. Choosing a colourful sofa will add oodles of impact to your room, and if you pick a colour you love despite of trends, it will never date, and you will always love it. I’ve included nine beautiful colours in my sofa collection, and yes, that includes a soft biscuit and silver colourway, so you can find the sofa which is going to be pivotal to building up the rest of the room scheme. This fuchsia pink colour has always been one of my top favourites and I love pairing it with cobalt blue. The Wonderland floral wallpaper from Harlequin, ties all the colours together beautifully.
So many styles of sofa on offer, but my preference is to keep it simple. Because I love to embellish the sofa with armfulls of cushions, as well as filling the room with lots of other decorative elements, I like to keep the sofa shape tailored. The style you opt for should speak to the rest of your taste, so for example a more classic shape will work well in a period home or with vintage style while a cleaner more modern shape suits contemporay tastes. A iconic mid century modern shape with tailored arms, raised on legs kind of straggles the century and goes with every style. If you have your sofa in the middle of the room, have a think about how it looks from the back too. I find a classic style like my Wakehurst sofa would work well for this.
While we are on this topic, it’s very wise to check the dimensions of your favourite sofa, all available online, to check they fit in the room, where you want to position it. If you’re having trouble visualising whether it’ll feel too big for the space, you can always mark the outline on your floor with some masking tape or layout empty cardboard boxes. More and more sofas are coming with removable arms or feet to help with transportation and access. Again check the details on the website to ensure you will be able to fit this through your front door and into the living room. All my sofa styles come with detachable arms to overcome problem access routes.
Once you’ve picked the one, I’d always advise you visit a showroom if possible to try it out. You can ring ahead to check they’ve got the styles you’d like to try and if you can see a swatch book of all the fabrics available so you can check the colours while you’re there. I like to the whole family and make a day of it. Don’t feel self-conscious really giving it a go. If you generally like lie on your sofa (not just me?) then lie on the one in the showroom (maybe with shoes off!). Pop corn optional. Everyone wants differnt things from a sofa. Some people like to sit upright, supported to read. It’s also worth having a think about how you sit on the sofa, do you like a taller back for sitting, or bigger arms for resting a head on if you lay down on your sofa a lot? I love to slouch. My Mum can’t bare a deep seated sofa as she finds it hard to sit up and get up from. However I love a deep seated sofa that allows me to pile on the scatter cushions, so I make sure there is room for that, which adds visual delight and added comfort.
I’m obsessed with upholstery and a giddy about fabrics, so this bit get’s me excited. Opt for a pattern and it will be the show piece in the room. It’s more common to opt for a plain fabric and let the scatter cushions do the pattern talking. A bold sofa colour will really set the cushions off so consider the sofa fabric and the scatters at the same time. Thats why I’ve designed 24 scatter cushions for my collection with Dfs so you have plenty to choose from and can build up your look with the confidence that they all work together, with the sofa fabrics too. You can also get creative around contrast piping or using more than one fabric on a sofa. This is really only ever an option if you are having a pice covered by an upholster so you have the ultimate creative control. However we have offered contrast piping details on our Pashley armchairs and Wakehurst footstools which is a lovely way to elevate the look with a design detail.
When choosing the fabric for your sofa, you’ll need to have a think about the practical nature of your choice too. For instance, a patterned fabric can hide a multitude of sins and may be an option if your sofa gets heavy use, you sit and eat while watching TV, or you have young children or pets. On the other hand, the technology behind fabric is improving every year and man made velvets in particular are so hardwearing and easy to clean. Leather is traditionally great for busy households due to its ‘wipeableness’, but I cant handle the fact that scatter cushions don’t sit well on a leather sofa because they slide, so it’s never an option for me! Another consideration is removable washable covers, which gives a softer more relaxed look, but in my opinion only really works well in a cotton/linen type fabric.
Legs
Often overlooked but I like a sofa raised on legs. It helps make the sofa look more elegant, less imposing and creates a feeling of space as you can see more floor. The style of the legs is also a nod to your overall aesthetic. The legs on my collection are simple and curved which again suits both modern and traditional room scheme’s. The type of timber you choose is another consideration and I’d pick a timber that matches in with your owther tones of furniture and flooring.
And finally make sure you don’t choose a sofa in isolation. it’s an integral part of your room scheme and can really help to anchor all the colours you wish to pull together. Do the work and build up a mood board room design which includes all the other elements, from paint, wallpaper, soft furnishing and artwork to make sure the sofa will sing. The sofa colour will be pivotal to the overall colour scheme so choose something you really love and then you can build the rest of the look up slowly over time. You might not be in a postion to buy everything at once, so start with the sopfa and the walls and add rugs, curtsins, artwork even a footstool at a lter date. But by having a vision from the get go will ensure that it all works beautifully. I reach this process over on my Interior Design school, and yes, you too can Be Your Own Interior Designer.
Big drumroll moment…my first collection of colourful sofas has just hit the high street! It’s been two years in the making but it’s something I’m super proud of and a great measure of confidence to have DFS, the biggest upholstery retailer in the UK, get on board with bold colour and flamboyant pattern in this way. The colour revolution is underway!
The collection saw me working with the design team to create a capsule collection that gives you the confidence to opt for that bold bright colour that your heart desires, but with the additional confidence and along with my expertise, on how you can build up a coherent yet interesting look from there. You should never buy a sofa in isolation, and indeed the scatter cushions, accent chair and footstool are all integral parts of pulling a living room together. I’ve drawn on 25 years of design experience to offer you a range of sofa shapes in a range of colours that I know work beautifully. And yet my core intention was also to offer a collection which you could enjoy putting your own stamp on. We’ve achieved that with the exciting range of scatter cushions and accent pieces so you really can do your own thing. Want to take a look….
The collection consists of three styles of sofa, an accent armchair with beautiful contrast piping, some generous coffee table sized footstools including some with storage, plus an amazing array of scatter cushions – perfect for anyone wanting to add some dashes of bright, happy colour to their homes. More on those later!
Back to the sofas. The shape is all important, and actually I like simplicity in a sofa, it’s the foundation to build the look around, rather than being the star of the show. The Wakehurst sofa (pictured above in Fuchsia) is named after one of my favourite gardens for botanical design inspiration – Wakehurst Place, close to my home in East Sussex. This sofa has a classic traditional shape that would suit a period style, but the choice of seven bright velvets (and two more neutral) that’s available give it a modern twist.
The Standen, another beautiful open house and garden close to where I live, (pictured above in Buttercup) is a modern mid-century style that delivers all the comfort whilst being efficient on space. I love that it is still deep enough to pile on the scatter cushions while still having neat proportions. Available in varying sizes including with a chaise or cuddler option it’s a shape that I feel is super versatile suiting most styles of interior or period of property.
Then we have the Fairlight (pictured above in Aqua) which is a new shape that I am particularly thrilled with, it’s super pretty. It has neat pleated arms and a beautiful wave to the armrest which makes it rather elegant, understated and yet still looking fresh. All three styles are raised on turned legs which I always prefer as it helps make a room feel more spacious and the sofa more stylish. We have really thought about the environmental impact of our designs, so have included velvet made from 100% recycled yarns and removable covers making it easier to reupholster when it needs a new lease of life. The frames are also built from sustainably sourced wood.
So with three sofas in a choice of nine velvets (yes there is a biscuit and silver option for those who prefer a more muted back drop) there are also 22 scatter cushions to choose from! Think bright colour, think florals, think fringing, think velvet, think contrast piping, think stripes, think geometrics… this collection has it all! You can see the full range here
With such an extensive scatter cushion offering I can help you personalise your sofa, your own way. Many people I talk to purchase a sofa and then later think about the cushions to go on top, but my intention is to give you a complete menu of options in terms of pattern and design so you can curate your own pattern story, with the confidence it’ll work. You may be drawn to all florals, prefer a stripe or want a combination of both with a plain chucked in for good measure. I worked hard with the design team to create a harmonious palette of colour that you can feel confident will mix and match with ease, and also tie in with the sofa colours. It’s enough for you to get creative with, without the overwhelm! I like to mix florals, stripes, geometrics and plains – of course I do! What about you?
The final element that makes this collection special is the accent pieces. We have the gorgeous Pashley accent chair which comes in a choice of two patterns, Dappled Dot or the Deck Chair Stripe, or in any of the Plain Jane velvet fabrics. I really wanted to bring my nerdiness for fine upholstery details to this high street collection, so you’ll see contrast piping, brush fringe trims and even a pop of pattern inside the Standen footstool. This creates a premium feel to the collection and it’s this attention to detail I think that really elevates the collection and will also elevate your entire room scheme. While I’m all about the big splash, the devil is most definitely in the detail!
I’ve always preferred a footstool to a coffee table in the living room, mainly because it offers up another opportunity for colour and pattern! I also like the softness they bring and they double up as an extra place to perch too. Not to mention their original intention, a place to rest your feet! They easily double up as a coffee table with a large tray on top to host your mug of tea. The Fairlight footstool would work well in a smaller space, and while it looks petite it has oodles of storage inside. And don’t forget that unexpected pop of pattern!
I’ve got so much more to share with you about this collection and how it can help you embrace bold colour, enjoy playing with pattern and ultimately create a home you love. Don’t forget to let me know what you think in the comments below…
I’m a huge fan of a mood board – it’s an essential part of the design process and a way to really dig into your creativity, your authentic sense of style and personal colour palette. It’s like doing all the detective work before you start picking up that paint chart or flexing the credit card. It can not only save you time and money, but help you keep on track through out the design and implementation process – ensuring your final look is not only cohesive, but creates the mood and impact you desired from the get go.
If you’re looking at an empty room with no idea where to start, a mood board can help you focus, giving you a vision for how to proceed and help you edit all the ideas you may have down to something tangible and workable. Lets be honest, in todays media age we can often feel overwhelmed by all the available inspiration. But the process of designing a room doesn’t need to feel overwhelming, and I’d urge you to consider that at this stage you don’t need to fret about the exact products, the budget, the builders or the floor plan. At the start of any project it’s about creating a concept that resonates for you, that incapsulates the mood, feeling, style and purpose of the room. I recommend thinking about how you want the room to make you feel, and consider what you will be doing in there. Whether you want it light or dark, bright or muted, or whether you want traditional or edgy etc will all be discovered once you start the mood boarding process.
You don’t need to restrict yourself to interiors images either, you can use images from fashion, architecture, nature, art – whatever you feel drawn to that creates that ‘feeling’ for you. This helps you explore the style, design motifs and colour combinations that you love. For instance if your wardrobe is bright and colourful (chez moi!), chances are having your home in a similar style will make your heart sing too. If you are more comfortable in an understated classic style, your home decor will likely follow suit and you will be attracted to a more muted colour palette.
I love to use a large A3 sheet of card, but you can use a A4 sketchbook or side of a cardboard box too, whatever you have to hand. I also don’t restrict myself to images, but use other elements to give the board texture and a 3d dimension, really helping the whole look to come to life. Here are some of the things you could include:
For the creative process to really work you need to feel loose and fluid so don’t restrict yourself by sticking anything down yet. Collect a series of images and materials and then you need to edit them down to the few that really nail the look or colour palette you are after. It’s as much about what you leave out as to what you include. Move the elements around, play with different combinations, come back to it after a day or so with fresh eyes. If you want to you can use washi tape, glue dots or adhesive foam pads to fix things on to your board once you are happy with everything. I can’t stress enough that there’s no need to rush this stage as it’s so worth getting right! It’s all in the curation of your images and materials, until you get the feeling that it’s just right!
Once you are happy with your mood board, you have a great visual resource that will inform all the design decisions moving forward and help you to check against making any mistakes. For example the colour, material and texture choices you make, should all align with the original mood board. In fact, it’s a good idea to photograph your mood board so you have it as a reference on your phone too, which is really useful when you are out sourcing at the shops or antiques market.
After your initial mood or concept board, you aren’t done! You can then hone the look with another mood board that rather than just representing the concept, feel and mood behind the style of the room, can bring together the actual paint colours, fabrics and materials that you will use to ensure that everything works together. Try and get real life samples – so ring up the sofa company and ask for samples, use tester pots to create your own paint cards, tiles or grout colour chips etc.
If you already own a few pieces that are staying in the room like artwork or sofa, make sure you include pictures of these too. You can follow my design process in more depth with my brilliant online course Be Your Own Interior Designer, which takes you through this process in far greater depth with lessons on how to use Pinterest effectively, source your samples and discover your original and authentic style through mood boarding. It then goes on to lead you through my entire design process, from initial inspiration to final execution. I also have a very popular mini online course to walk you through the process of creating a digital mood board , which are great if you want to work something up very quickly, or expand upon your physical mood board. But to create a colour scheme that has genuine depth of emotion and authenticity, it’s the real mood board for me every time!
I’d absolutely love to hear about your ideas and tips for creating a successful mood board for a decorating scheme. Its a very personal way to design and I’d like to say there is no right or wrong. Please leave your comments below!