Creating comfort in the summer sitting room

Creating Comfort in the Summer Sitting Room

There are many different elements that make a room comfortable and evocative to be in. During this lesson, I'll take you through the various ways I create comfort within rooms.

Tables and Stools

• Make sure to vary the heights of tables in a room to ensure you have visual interest on different planes.
• Don't worry too much about matching the height of a chair arm to the height of the table, a mixture works really nicely.
• A low upholstered stool is a really flexible piece; it can be used as a footrest, an extra seat, or with a book on top it's a great surface for a drink.

Lamps and Lampshades

• I love to put lamps in windows to create a welcoming glow for anyone approaching the house.
• Incorporate varying types of lighting to fulfil specific functions; a floor lamp beside an armchair for reading, a task lamp on a table for working and wall lights to illuminate artwork or cabinetry for example.
• Choose lots of different styles and shapes to create visual interest.

Colour and Paint

• I chose to paint the walls of this room in Slipper Satin by Farrow & Ball - it's the perfect warm white for the space.
• The walls are painted in an eggshell finish, which is often considered to be quite an unusual choice for walls but it's infinitely more hardwearing and has a slight sheen which I like. It must be applied with a brush, not a roller. This room was painted 12 years ago, and because of the hard wearing finish it still looks good today.

Fabrics

• The pink sofa was a key component in the decorating scheme. It can be difficult to get clients on board with unusual choices, but as I have said in a previous lesson, building trust is key.
• When it comes to mixing different prints and colours, you should always include what I call 'gelling fabric'. This is a fabric that holds all of the colours that you are going to introduce and brings them together in one place for a sense of cohesion and to make sense of the scheme.
• Think about how you can use similar colours and fabrics at different ends of the room to create a pleasing visual relationship.
• Resist the temptation to coordinate every element and be mindful of the scheme going together 'too nicely' - you don't want every fabric to match, and should include patterns or colours that throw it off slightly for a more lived-in and organic look.

Fill Your House with Things You Love

• Be wary of buying things all in one go, or copying what you see on Instagram too closely. A scheme should come together slowly and organically through collecting and sourcing from a wide variety of places.
• Take pleasure in the finding of and searching for objects you love - and start the process of picking these things at the very start of your project.

Sourcebook

The antique shops on Lillie Road in Fulham, London

For similar brass lamps, try Anna Lari, Joanna Wood, Paolo Moschino or Casey & Company

Silver lamp base and shade from Robert Kime

Wall paint colour Slipper Satin, Farrow & Ball in Eggshell finish

Sofa upholstered in a pink fabric from Schumacher

Chair in Casse-Noisette fabric, by Décors Barbares

Green cushion in Butterfly Vert, by Le Manach at Pierre Frey

Yellow chairs upholstered in Jajim Stripe in Gold, by Soane Britain

Cushion on yellow chairs in Seaweed Lace in Ruskin Pink, by Soane Britain

Further Reading

Interior designer John Stefanidis

John Stefanidis' latest book 'A Designer's Eye'