Adding layers in the summer sitting room

Adding Layers to the Summer Sitting Room

A technique I use as much as I can in any room is layering. I want to encourage the eye to always be looking beyond, which helps a room feel bigger and more substantial.

Tips for Layering

Layers within a room scheme provide the space with a sense of dimension and depth of field, which is crucial to decorating successfully. This enables a room to feel considered and visually pleasing as well as comfortable and full of warmth.

• Whenever I can, I like to position a sofa away from the wall. This means there is opportunity to layer furniture behind it and circumvents the temptation to put all your furniture around the parameter of a room.

• A beautiful sideboard is always an asset to any living room, as not only does it contribute to the overall aesthetic of the room, it also offers invaluable storage without feeling too overtly practical.

• Consider the height of every piece of furniture, and how they will relate to each other. You want a mix of heights, but they shouldn't feel disproportionate.

• Style coffee tables and side tables with decorative plates - they add another layer of visual interest, while also being a practical place to set down a glass.

• Where possible, adding a desk to a room really helps to give the room another dimension, as well as an added reason to use it.

• Chairs are a wonderful thing to use incidentally within a room. Not only do they offer an extra seat, but they also act as a great receptacle for setting your bag down or for stacking books and magazines.

• When hanging artwork, getting the proportion right is the most important element to think about - it should enhance surrounding furniture and decor rather than detract from it.

• If a window has a deep reveal, it can be lovely to line this in mirrored glass to bounce the light and create pretty reflections.

• Rather than actively trying to hide a television, I prefer to accept it and let it disappear within plain sight by setting it within a bookcase.

Sourcebook

Mirror from wicker specialists Atelier Vime

Butterfly plate by Astier De Villatte

Farang Wren framers

Cushion on desk chair in Varykino fabric, by Décors Barbares

Further Reading

Artist Rory McEwen

Botanical watercolourist Emma Tennant