Fall In (Love With) New York

New York has been my big inspiration for a while - I am sure I am not the only one with this. If I had to pick one season, fall would be the time to visit this city. I want to see the stylish Brooklyn brownstones, feel the vibe of the buzzing Manhattan and take a walk in the leafy Central Park. Many films and series picked the Big Apple as their shooting location, I can hardly tell my favourite, but there is one I loved last year, and it was The Intern.

The movie made me drooling for brick walls, subway tiles and the eclectic chic of industrial and classy. Production designer Kristi Zea did a stellar job on the sets of the film, but instead of the movie's cool colours I was inspired by a warm palette here just to keep the autumn theme. The moss green sofa is in nice contrast with the burnt orange and rust colours of the rug and the brick wall. For a bit of sparkle I added a lamp in warm copper tone. The dark shades in the paining bring back the dark colour of the vase and the plaid; I could also place an old fashioned black cabinet with glass inserts somewhere in the room.  

Music Corner

John Lennon would be 76 years old today. I have always wanted to make a 60s and Beatles inspired music corner and eventually got round to finishing it today. Although I think music corner generally refers to a place with music instruments, I envisaged a Beatles fan's own place in the house, where he keeps his vinyl collection and other Beatles merchandise. This is also the place where he retreats to unwind after a long day. 

Mid-century music boxes and sideboards have always fascianted me, so that was the starting point for this moodboard. As these are low cabinets, there is huge wallspace above them offering many possibilities to decorate. I chose a Beatles poster and a light coloured retro wallpaper. If the wallpaper had brighter colours, I would not use this poster, but the colour palette is very muted and balanced, so it looks good. Notice how the lampshade brings back the wallpaper motif, and also the square shape of the photos appears on the sideboard.

Yellow ochre is a great retro colour, that is why the modern armchair matches the environment. The yellow vase and retro bowl bring back the colour of the chair, and also provide and accent hue. The overall colour scheme would not look out of context in a Scandinavian setting, but the patterns bring it back to mid-century. Even the fan ceiling light is atomic age inspired, too. 

I included a briefcase-style record player, because vinyl is back, too!

Autumn Afternoons

Autumn arrived precisely on the second day of October. It started as the day before, blue sky with no clouds, the sunrays powerful enough to warm up his back while sitting alone on the porch. 

Then, before the night fell, it started to rain. He listened to the raindrops on the window for two days, and when he saw the sun next, suddenly all the leaves on the trees turned into yellow. The air was crisp and cool, and he never went out anymore without a warm sweater. He did not leave his house much, though; he could not walk long before feeling pain in his knees, so preferred the comforting warmth of his den. 

He's been owning a grandfather's chair in brown leather for decades. He remembered it now as he had seen in first, in the window of the furniture store, looking classy and inviting. The store assistant had told him it would develop patina over time, and made him promise to take care of the leather. 'Fine things last longer if you take care of them'- he had told him. He knew this, but was not sure if his children knew, too. They hardly visited him anymore, always referred to 'business' and 'hectic life'. His grandchildren were greatly missed, too. In the summer they came over often, but now he has not seen them for weeks. He could always see that picture, his little granddaughter hopping up the stairs, sporting yellow dress, two plaits and bright smile with missing tooth. 

He let out a heavy sigh.     

The leather armchair still looked fine, and he directed it so that he could easily look out of the window, and enjoy the sight of the golden leaves. His afternoon routine was simple: he put on the kettle for tea and placed a tin of biscuits on the side table. The table had a fabric pocket hanging underneath the top, making it a perfect place for his newspapers. A soft blanket lay in a woven basket on the other side of the chair, right in his reach, ready to warm his legs when the sun disappeared behind the houses. After finishing the papers he picked up a book. In the evenings he even lit up the fire in the fireplace, and read by the light of the pear-shaped table lamp. 

Now he contemplated the sight on the other side of the window. The sun felt warm through the glass, making him sleepy. It was a quiet leafy street with almost no noise. Nothing to disturb his solitude.  

Then he heard it. 

Someone was hopping up the stairs. 

How to Chose and Style Your Sofa?

Would you argue with me when I say that the sofa is the most important element of your living room? After all, you live your life on it: take a nap, drink coffee, watch TV, make phone calls, read books, use your laptop and entertain guests. 

What do you have to consider when you are thinking about buying a sofa? A lot depends on the size and shape of your room, and thankfully most sofas are available in many sizes and shapes to meet various needs. Today I am going to write about comfort and style only. 

First, take your time to find out what do you expect from a sofa. It sounds simple, but it is not. You will realize that sofas comfortable to you are not comfortable to others. Let's take an example, point number one, regarding seat depth. Tall people tend to like sofas with bigger seat depth; not so tall people prefer narrower seat depth. This is a tendency, but do not rely on it all the time. I am tall enough, yet the best sofa I ever tried was a narrow one. It supported my back like no other sofa did. Which leads to our second point, back hight. 

You might need proper neck support if you watch TV, which means you have to consider highback sofas (can be visually overwhelming) or adjustable ones (usually more expensive). It depends on the placement of the TV and your habits whether you actually need highbacks. The best for your neck is when the screen is placed just below your eye-level, so the head is bent down a bit. If this is the case, you might not need that extra support, but a higher back might still be adviseable. 

The third point is about the armrest. Many armrest shapes and styles exsist. You can even sit on a wide arm, or place a tray on it. A high armrest is more convenient to put your arm on, a low armrest enables you to place a cushion on it and take a nap. Thin armrests may be uncomfortable, but do not take up much space visually. Lounge units lack armrests, but beware of all open-end sofas - they might be inviting, make the space look bigger, they are stylish, but at the same time they do not offer the same comfort. Sloped armrests are useful if you take a nap really often, otherwise stick to the normal ones. Other armrests tell a lot about the style of the sofa, like rolled arms, pleated arms, etc. 

Seat hight is also of vital importance. Elder people like it higher, while young ones find lower sitting more appealing. This one is really up to you, there is no optimal height. 

The filling of the sofa can be varied. Some sofas are very soft, others are a bit more firm. Even sofas with thinner seat cushion can be surprisingly comfortable. However, the quality of the filling is important. Foam is popular filling material, comes in various density and quality and is made of chemicals. Some foams are more resistant and regain their shape more easily, like High Resilient foam, others, like PUR foam collapse a bit over time on areas you sit frequently, as your weight presses the air out from the cells. Some fillings contain feathers or down - consider this in case of severe allergy. Other sofas have fibres making them soft. Cushions filled with fibres of feathers need plumping often so that the air can return back to the fibres. Some fillings have mixed ingredients of the three above. It is a good solution, as this way the benefits of the ingredients are combined. 

As you see, there are no strict rules on sofa comfort, but there are guidelines. These are:

- seat depth

- back hight

- armrest hight and shape

- seat hight and

- filling

(Remind me I need to write more about sofa choosing tricks later.)

Visually, the sofa can be the focal point of your room. If it stands against the wall, make sure there is something eye-cathcing above (interesting painting, eye-catching shelves) or behind (textured 3D wall or wallpaper). If it is free-standing, it creates visual entity with the rug, the coffee table and the armchairs. I usually recommend using freestanding sofas as a room divider or in spacious rooms. Two freestanding sofas can be facing each other and form an island. You can higlight it with a dramatic chandelier hung above the coffee table.

Big surfaces, like rugs, wallpapers and paintings can pull the colours of the room together. In this moodboard this task was given to the painting. You can accessorize your sofa with cushions, plaids, but consider choosing a good reading lamp, magazine holder or a side table. These days there are many tables with storage function, they help you to keep the room tidy.

For some time the beautiful blue rug above has been my favourite, it goes well with the pastel shades. This colour combo oozes elegance and tranquility -the perfect place to wind down after a hard day.