We’ve only been in our new house for just over two months, but I’ve been so pleased with how the transformation is progressing, and to be honest it’s been even faster than I can have imagined. One of my favourite rooms in our home is the living room, which is a great deal bigger than our old one and is the perfect place for all the family to hang out.

When DFS contacted me asking if I’d like to work with them, I jumped at the chance to incorporate a new sofa in this space, and they also challenged me to create a ‘hotel chic’ look that was stylish-yet-homely. We currently have our older, purple, DFS fabric sofa, and our lovely tan leather DFS chair, both of which we’ve been really chuffed with, and with this living room being bigger we actually needed a new sofa anyway to fill this corner. I couldn’t wait to have more seating, and it was perfect, especially at Christmas time when we had loads of family and friends over. 

DFS sent me for my birthday to stay at top London boutique hotel, CitizenM Bankside, so I could garner some hotel inspiration. CitizenM had a really eclectic mix when it came to how the hotel was kitted out, and I came away with many ideas for this corner. I’m not really a minimalist, and love having lots to look at and pieces with a bit of a story, without it feeling too cluttered. The CitizenM look was perfect for me! I love our real mix of old and new here.

When thinking about how we wanted this room to look, we were keen to try something new and be a bit bold, and by painting it blue (Dulux Wild Water Blue 2 in silk if you’re interested, great for wiping marks off the walls!) I think we’ve definitely achieved this by giving the space a much-needed splash of colour. I must admit that when we first entered the room after it had been painted and when it was still bare, I was a little nervous that it looked TOO blue and was a bit overwhelming. But now we have started adding furniture and accessories I absolutely LOVE it, and we have had lots of compliments from friends and on social media too. 

Sometimes you just have to go for it!

The sofa we chose in the end was the super-stylish French Connection ‘Zinc’ 2 seater sofa (although you can buy this range in a variety of sizes), in the colour silver. So far it’s been really comfy and amazingly we’ve all managed to keep it clean, something that’s so important as a parent when you have mucky hands and the like all over it. Freddie accidentally got some biro pen on the arm within 3 days of receiving it <eye roll> but this came out really easily. 

As for the rest of this corner, the red geometric and pug cushions are c/o Dwell (we swap & mix and match these for two cushions grey/charcoal ones that come with the sofa, both pictured) that we also really like. The copper star is from TK Maxx home, and the white side table is also c/o Dwell. Our butterfly pictures on the wall used to be in our old bathroom but we’ve decided to use them here and they are from an Ebay store and were less than a tenner each! The Rolling Stones print is by an artist/photographer called Michael Joseph as is called ‘Beggars Banquet’.  It’s only recently that we discovered that it’s a limited print so actually worth quite a bit! Shows what I really know about art! The green glass is, as I mentioned before, Victorian glassware owned by my late Nan and her family before her, so it’s pretty special. Our rug is by La Redoute and it’s been a perfect by as it goes with most things and fills the big floor space that we now have. 

This corner of our living room is now complete, and I love the fact it’s a stylish space to be in, whilst still being suitable for the family (although I might have to move the 100 year old green glass bowl that was my Nan’s before the new baby gets moving about the place!). 

So what do you think? Do you like the boutique hotel look? I’d love to know your thoughts on it, the sofa and our crazy blue walls!

*Post in collaboration with DFS, all thoughts and opinions my own