A cosy snug

Project 1 - A London Townhouse

A Cosy Snug

As much as we wanted this home to feel light, airy and spacious, it was also important to create a space that our client could feel cocooned and cosy in. The snug sits off the open-plan living and kitchen area, providing a space to retreat to.

I wanted to give the snug a very different sense of mood and emotion compared to the rest of the home, and this fed into every design decision.

• To give the snug instant cosiness, I chose to colour drench the room in a deeply saturated burgundy colour - using the colour across the walls, ceiling and woodwork.
• I also opted for every piece of furniture and dressing, apart from one armchair, to be in the same tones of burgundy and brown.
• To prevent this very monotone scheme from falling flat, I used a huge variety of different textures to add depth; leather, wool, linen and bouclé.
• The star of the room is the stone fireplace. We went to the marble yard, where we selected the exact slabs that worked perfectly with the rest of the scheme.
• As the room is mainly used in the evening, our use of lighting was key to creating the right mood. We introduced LED strips around the circumference of the room between the ceiling and the top of the walls to provide an overall soft glow. A ceiling light with a silk shade provides diffused light. Decorative wall lights add interest while also offering low lighting, which is preferred in a room such as this.
• Alcoves are often a good space to introduce cabinetry for storage, but in this case, storage wasn't necessary in this room. Instead, we used the alcoves to display art and decorative sculptures.
• There are quite a lot of hard lines and angular silhouettes in this room, so I made sure to include curved elements to soften these, such as the convex mirror and rounded lighting.
• Some designers begin a scheme with art and work around that. However, I prefer to create a colour scheme and then find artwork to suit it. When looking for art, I always think about the mood and emotion I want to evoke in that space.
• To provide continuity between the snug and the neighbouring open-plan spaces, I used the same white oak herringbone floor.