It's always difficult to choose actual pictures to hang on a wall. For instance I like a lot of Damien Hirst and Van Gogh skull paintings, but that's not the kind of thing that lights up a room with its cheeriness.
Every week it's the same. You buy the lottery ticket, and rather than it being the ticket to riches, it's really just a ticket to a few dreams about what you'd do with the riches, until of course the wrong numbers emerge from the machine.
In terms of how a lottery win would affect my living room, I think the first things would be a) a massive television - one of those ones you see in the shop that looks about the size of half a wall then b) a large sofa, or more accurately - large sofas, and finally c) some tropical fish.
Other essentials would be:
A Lebowski style persian rug (the more expensive the better)
Some LED lights to make the place look more space age.
And I think that's about it. Maybe a modern art picture on the wall (not the wall that the tv's on, obvs, but the adjacent wall)
Some people are a bit snobby when it comes to cheap furniture. But the amount spent on stuff isn't really the most important thing - it's how it looks and how long you want it to last.
Some pieces might cost literally thousands and be worth every penny, especially if it's a durable handed down through the generations type of item like a dining room table or a sideboard. But items like that are few in the modern house.
I think the thing is to be yourself and to strike a balance between the ephemeral and the not so ephemeral. I say there's nothing wrong with putting a £5 lamp onto a £650 table.
With so much choice these days though, it's a wonder we don't get bored of anything after a few weeks. If I was a designer I think I'd be working on pieces of furniture that change by themselves. Hmm, maybe not designer then, but scientist? It's only a matter of time...
There's more than one word for that oblong three seater relaxation station in your living room. In much the same manner as the "tomayto/ tomato' song, each of these words is perfectly acceptable, but one's got to be more correct than the others, right?
Well, using some detective skills (sorry, search engine skills) I've been able to make the following elementary observations:
Settee - refers originally to a bench, later came to be the term for a small sofa. Presumably the old-fashioned type with the twirly legs and hardly any padding, like what you'd see in a stately home.
Couch - generic North American term for sofa. In the UK, the term refers specifically to a chaise-longue type sofa, meant for lying down on [the word couch derives from the French word for 'bed']
Sofa - so far, so good. Sofa is the catch-all term that describes the types of furniture above, but is probably the most widely used term in the UK for your settee/couch/ whatever it's called.
Anyway, nomenclature aside, it's probably a good time to start thinkin about investing in a new leather sofa since VAT is going to rise to an eye-watering 20% come 2011.
The title for this post comes from the Todd Rundgren song of the same name. (Check it out - it's a great song).
Anyway, in a break from this blog's traditional subject matter, I want to talk to you to today about lighting. Most of us just make do with a couple of wall lights or maybe (at a push) an overhead light in our living space, powered by a standard 40- or 60-watt bayonet cap bulb, throwing an unflattering light over everything including ourselves.
Not being a fan of harsh light, I some time ago began to seek more ambient lighting options. bright light has its place, of course (the noon sky on a clear day, Boots The Chemists, the dentist's table) but for a relaxing evening at home, nothing beats soft light from the right sources. By 'the right sources' I mean whatever suits in situ - you can have a lot of fun trying out various options, most of them not too expensive. Wall lights, uplighters, standard lamps, even candles can be placed strategically in order to get the feel of light you want. (Be mega careful with candles though for obvious reasons of fire safety!).
My preferred volume of light is low, with directional lights for reading. You can even get standalone uplighters with a built-in directional light - both types of light in one unit. And with the advent of good quality low energy and long life bulbs, the days of low energy meaning watery light source are now thankfully over.
One new type of light that has begun to appear lately is the multicoloured LED lighting strip. As integral lighting goes, it's very slightly offbeat, and definitely worth investigation. Still a bit on the pricey side, but worth it for the effect you get.
Save for a few choice programmes, i have to say i don't watch a whole bunch of telly these days. Those that I will admit to watching are:
Newsnight Top Gear Question Time re-runs of The Sweeney Masterchef
And that's about it. So my concern isn't so much 'what's on television?' so much as 'what's the television on?' as in, 'where does the television get put?'. That's actually more of a pressing concern these days than it used to be, what with the giant size of most modern televisions compared with the models of yesteryear, when even a 28" CRT was considered a monster telly. I mean, these days, that's doubled in size - check out this amazing new widescreen cinema ratio television
So, you need something safe and secure for your television. Also it needs to be a unit that you feel matches the set and your surroundings. (NB don't just attach TV to the wall, it makes the room look like a school classroom) For a modern vibe, there's plenty of choice available at your local leather furniture store and online. All you need now is something to watch. Or a new DVD box set!
Later on this year London's 100% Design event will be taking place at Earls Court. This is sure to be the place to find all the newest ideas in all the facets of design and interior design.
There will be many top designers exhibiting their ideas and wares, from quality furniture design to innovations in fixtures and fittings, wallcoverings everything.
The Exhibition runs from the 23rd to the 26th of September in central London and will be the only place to mingle, network [even schmooze] in order to find what will be the next big thing in design.
