A New Look for my Living Room

In the last month or so, I've been doing some decorating in our house. To cut a long story short, after we moved into our home a few years ago, we undertook a massive renovation project, involving lower floors, knocking down a lot of walls, re-roofing, replacing windows and so on. Suffice to say, it was a labour of love, especially with a baby, and when we finished, about 6 months ago, I had run out of steam to think about the decor too much. So, over the last few weeks, I have been working through each room, trying to get them finished and looking just right. This just happens to coincide with Mr. G announcing the he thinks it's time to move again, and do another project.....

Putting the prospect of moving to one side (it's not going to happen Mr. G!), I thought I'd share a few bits and pieces from my house with you. However, I must warn you, I have a serious fear of colour when it comes to decorating. I think light blue is positively adventurous, and any pattern other than stripes can give me a nervous twitch. I'm trying to deal with my issues (my downstairs loo has a bit of colour and pattern in it), but recovery is a slow progress!

First up, is the sitting room, where I've just had a chaise longue reupholstered, by a brilliant upholsterer called Alison Reed, who did such a great job for a very reasonable price (she also did it in super quick time, before Arthur was born). It's a button back chaise, and I wanted a neutral, simple fabric (to replace the black velvet with diamante buttons that Mr. G chose when he bought it...not quite my taste), and found a gorgeous hopsack from Ian Mankin, which I think looks fab. The shutters on the window are a bit sterile, so I had some curtains made from fabric by Nina Campbell, which is a soft cream and sage green stripe. The walls are Farrow and Ball Cornforth White, which is a soft grey colour that I adore (it's in my hallway as well). Please excuse the white nappy bin in the corner of the picture, it's not part of my interior style!

Our bedroom is painted in Farrow and Ball Light Blue, which is a grey toned blue. However, the most exciting new addition to our bedroom is our new bed, which is incredible. It has a Tempur memory foam mattress, with a deep feather topper and Pimlico bedlinen from The White Company. It only arrived last week, so I am still very excited about it. The bedlinen proved a bit of a nightmare though, in that it is the most amazing bedlinen I have ever stumbled across, but was sold out in the White Company store that I visited. I placed an order, and was promised it would arrive the following week. It didn't, so I went back to the store to ask about it, and was told that Jemima Khan had been in the previous week and ordered 140 sets, so they'd run out (basically they'd given her my set) and were having to make more. Rather than be cross, I was amazed at how one person could possibly ever need 140 sets of bedlinen.....Anyway, mine turned up a few days later, and it is the best linen I have ever had. Lucky old Jemima Khan!

The pictures on the wall are prints of photo's by John Gay of Highgate Cemetery, one of my favourite places in London. His work is spectacular if you like photography of London.

Alison Reed Upholstery, call 07951 814 495 or email Alisonreed07@yahoo.co.uk

Ian Mankin, samples and fabrics available online or from 271 Wandsworth Bridge Road, SW6 2TX. My chaise is covered in Newbury Hopsack Natural.

Nina Campbell Fabrics, available online or from Peter Jones or Osbourne and Little. My curtains are Montacute Upton.

Farrow and Ball Paints, available online and in Farrow and Ball and Homebase stores nationwide.

The White Company Pimlico Bedlinen, from £50. Available in White Company stores and online.

John Gay, prints available from English Heritage

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