Lofty Spring Bedroom

It is spring again in the Northern Hemisphere, so  I decided to start this season with a spring coloured bedroom. 

My source of inspiration for this moodboard came from two different worlds. The first has its source in the movie Frances Ha (check it out here) that is the story of a young girl starting her adult life. At one point she co-habits a New York apartment with two guys (including Kylo Ren, haha), naturally she has a (messy) room on her own (check the photo here and here for a better look at the windows). As you see, it is quite simple, but has a lovely whitewashed brick wall. The film itself is only a few years old, yet it is black and white, so the colours are somewhat up to you to decide. And I decided that a spring colour palette would suit Frances. 

It also means my other source of inspiration came from a lovely sunny spring field with flowers, red poppies, bright green grass, and also cows chewing on the grass... so I imported all of it to this bedroom. 

Including the cows. 

Poppy reds and lively greens are in sharp contrast with the cowhide rug and cushion. Not a usual combination, but it works well in a hip and urban environment. Cowhide also provides texture as opposed to the smooth surfaces of the bed and the shelves. 

The square shape of the bed is taken up to the wall, these Muuto cubes can be arranged in many ways, adding a playful twist yet sensible storage space to any interior. As for storage - the slats of the bed can be lifted up, revealing ample space beneath - it comes handy in any bedroom. 

I want to talk about the fun floor lamps on the left. They are way too pricey, really, but also very tricky. They twist and turn at the joints without conflicting the wiring. Very clever. Originally designed in the 1950s, they look fantastic in industrial interiors. Find them here. 

This is the kind of room I could imagine for Frances Ha - should she ever have the money for decent furniture. 

8 Reasons to Love Lofts

Lofts are trendy. The original term refers to old warehouses, industrial spaces converted into huge apartments. The trend came from the 60-s and 70-s America, and now it has conquered the whole world. Lofts are fun, stylish, and luckily can be adapted to many styles to create a personal living. 

These days you can see lofts that are not real lofts but newly-built apartments with all the signiture features. What are these? 

1 - high ceiling - perfect to hang huge lamps from... and this leads us to the next point:

2 - huge, industrial lamps - they look soooo good. You could not find a better place for them. 

3 - open felxible space and variable layout- you decide how many partition walls you want to build, or just let room-dividers shape the place. 

4 - exposed brick - one word: cool. 

5 - large windows - they let much light in, and look fantastic as mostly they have unusal shapes and frames. 

6 - exposed structural elements and mechanicals - if you do not fancy the sight of uncovered pipes, concrete beams or pillars, do not move into a loft. 

7 - ability to embrace many styles - play with mixing styles, try out new trends and colours. 

8 - huge walls - are you an art lover? Look no further. Lofts have plenty of space for paintings and photographs. 

So... are you ready to move?

Color Combination: Blue and Orange

Some people like colours in the room, others completely avoid them. These people usually say that you will get bored with colours soon. I disagree. You just get accustomed to it, and it can happen to any colour scheme. So do not be afraid to express you personality with colour. Just use them wisely. 

This is the second moodboard in the colour combo series. As you might know, blue and orange can be found on the opposite parts of the colour wheel and called complementary colours or opposite colours. They are very powerful together, especially when used intensively, so the key to a stylish look is the smart proportioning of colours. I would suggest playing with bright vibrant tones with muted ones, as it is easier on the eye. Bright orange sliding door could look fantastic against darker, toned down shades of blue on less extensive surfaces, like cushions or chairs for instance. You can use lots of neautrals - they will emphasize the striking colour clash. 

For this colour combination, I had the image of an airy, lofty interior on my mind, with lots of white and streamlined furniture. There are actually many possible variations, let's see a couple of them:

- Take a bright orange sofa, white furniture, blue rug and lots of neutrals. If you use this mixture as a jumping off point, I would suggest a grey armchair. Some parts of the wall could be painted blue, or you can use blue backsplash or blue dining chairs. 

- If you are unsure about the orange sofa, why don't you pick a grey one? Add an orange armchair - this one is by Arne Jacobsen, the famous Swan -, blue rug and some small blue accessories. The dining chairs could be also white, and in the photo a huge sliding door reflects the colour of the armchair. 

- If you are still undecided, you could play with the accesories only. Settle for the blue rug, and use orange in small proportions: on a piece of art, a splash of colour in the paining, etc. You can play with various tones of one colour - using faded blue rug with electrifying turquoise could have a huge impact. 

I can imagine artistic objects, graphic lines for this style, it has certainly a contemporary edge. For real persons with real character.