Caxton magazines staffCape decorator Lesley Murray highlights how a blue and white scheme can be a practical choice for a stylish, family-friendly living room
MY INSPIRATION FOR THIS CAPE TV ROOM WAS… Hertex Fabrics’ blue and white Crest fabric, which I used on the sofa. The design, texture and composition of this fabric are particularly forgiving, making it easy to live with.
Tips to get this look:
- Pick sensible finishes. Furnishings with unpolished surfaces and those made from hard-wearing materials will be more forgiving to the knocks of everyday family life.
- White paint, trim and accessories will keep the look crisp and fresh. However, it can be a high-maintenance colour choice for soft furnishings, so it’s best to opt for more practical neutral stone shades for your upholstery.
- It can sometimes be more cost-effective to refurbish rather than to replace your furniture. The frames of older upholstered pieces are often well made and they can be given a fresh look with a few simple tweaks. Here, we added new legs to make the sofa and chairs ‘higher’, had the seats reworked with laminated foam and reupholstered them in a mix of fabrics.
- Get the balance of different patterns right. If you’ll be using a bold print to create a focal point, as I’ve done here on the sofa, choose a plain fabric for the armchairs. Then choose fabrics for the scatters that’ll bring the plains and patterns together; here I’ve used a broad stripe, a narrow stripe and a chartreuse for a splash of colour.
Read more:
DECORATING WITH BLUE AND WHITE: AFRO CHIC
DECORATING WITH BLUE AND WHITE: HAMPTONS SAFARI
