Copenhagen Design Week

At the start of this month the Copenhagen Design Week took place - a whole week of talks and presentation featuring mostly Scandinavian design.

As a big fan of Scandinavian furniture design, I was extremely dissapointed that I couldn't go - and geography kept us apart. But luckily some feedback from the events gave me the chance to learn about some great new designers - and I got some great ideas for my living room, which I am currently redorating (when am I not). Here are some of the things I wish I'd managed to get too.

Four Design - clean lines at their best, this event showcased the work of Christina Strand and Niels Hvass, personal favourites of mine.

Interstuhl - Are you passionate about chairs? I am - and so are the people behind interstuhl, which means a passion for chairs. The designers behind these chairs drew inspiration for the chairs from international trips, and that's exactly what I love about design: it's functional art in everyday life.

We:Do:Wood - Scandinavian design largely revolves around the use of high quality wood, so I think this event would have been at the top of my list, with the up and coming Danish furniture designers behind the event discussing to mix functionality with beauty and susainability.

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The Search for A New Couch

It may sound easy - but searching for a new sofa is a lot more difficult than it looks.

As the focal point of any contemporary living room, a couch needs to tie together comfort, style, usability and durability - as well as being the right size and shape for the room it is going to be placed in.

Yes, sofas have a number of standards to meet -and we haven't even discussed the price yet. Many sofa stores run promotions all year round, so great bargains are out there. However, you must avoid shopping without a target purchase. Most sale purchases are made on an impluse. And unlike shopping in a clothes sales, it is a little harder to hide an unused sofa at the back of the wardrobe and pretend you will use it one day.

The best way to avoid price problems is to browse online first - the computer gives you distance. Make a list of the sofas you like without taking the price into account. Then set yourself a strict budget and do not go over it. This means when you get to the sofa stores you can choose a style you really like without going over your budget or (and this is the part you should really be careful about) buying something unsuitable just because it saves you some money.


Sofas not only say alot about your personal style, they are an important part of what makes a home a home - so it is worth some serious thinking time.

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Shining a Light on the Effects of Wall Lamps

Shamefully, lighting used to be the last thing most people thought about when decorating their living room.

I have to admit I have done it myself - choosing colourschemes, couches and carpets used to seem far more interesting. Matching lampshades and a couple of table lamps could be found after the job was complete.

But my eyes are open now -lighting can set the tone for an entire room on its own. Take these wall lights for example. Not only can they give the room a pleasant glow somewhere between glaring light and the dull glow of a lamp - they add a modern focal point to the room and add a hint of interest to plain coloured walls.

They aren't too expensive either, so a brilliant way to update a room for cheap. This has kicked off something of a lighting project, as I'm now going to experiment with other ways wall lamps can enhance a room - you could say I've seen the light.

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Chairs and more - furniture you can relax in

When you think about chair design, there's actually a whole lot more to the discipline than simply the aesthetics of it. Think of the classic Eames designs - so much went into them that it's impossible to separate the love of design from the love the actual concept of the chair itself - and what you get is the confluence of the ergonomic, teh aesthetic, the physical, and beyond the physical - the construction of an object that almost disappears when it's being used.

Think of all the different types of seating and soon it becomes apparent that this is an area of design that's ubiquitous - from municipal parks to space stations. Although when in space the gravity's not a concern, and makes the design rules change more than a little...

Of course, an original Eames would be a collector item now. But there's still plenty of great design available these days that utilise the same level of design smarts to maximise the comfort of the user - relaxateeze recliners such as this one most definitely please the eye as well as give the kind of chair comfort this side of space.

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Living room themes

It's time to think about living room themes.

How about the following - this is just to help get ideas, you understand. It's not a command:

James Bond

Mexican

Gothic

Edwardian

Space age

Psychedelic

Shaker

Zen

Japan

1960s East London Nightclub

It would be fun (but a bit time consuming) to post links to items that would help build these themes. So I'll leave it to your imaginasheeyun.

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Living room furniture wih style: the Union Jack couch

How good is this sofa?




It's a classic design but with a modern feel, and the Union Flag design is pretty cool - I bet Noel Gallagher wishes he could have had one of these back in the Supernova Heights days. If you go looking at furniture online there's a lot of stuff like this that really is a bit different. Think I'd like to see a Welsh flag sofa at some point too.

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Warm rooms in winter

It's been cold the past few nights, ain't it? Bleedin' Baltic guvner. There is little that contemporary living room design can do to help you stay warm - that's the job of the plumber, the cavity wall insulation people, etc.

But there are at least ways to make a room have a sense of warmth. Big rugs, thick curtains, soft lighting. Winter's not really the time for ultraminimalism - you don't want the room looking like the inside of an igloo.

For that extra warm touch you can even buy a DVD that makes your TV emulate a fireplace.

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