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There’s an old much quoted saying isn’t there, from Inter-war economist, and general legend of the Left, John Maynard Keynes that “When the facts change, I change my mind”. Not necessarily the gem of wisdom you expect to find at the start of an interiors post (my god, how many times have I come across William Morris’s “Have nothing in your home that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful” which is sage advice, but has become too much of a catch all maxim for my liking!) but Keynes was in my head each time I thought about change in here!

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The reason I’ve been reticent of change is that real change always starts with colour for me, and the colour that the room is currently painted in is a very beautiful shade (Prussian by Zoffany), people on Instagram love it (I’m always being asked it’s name) and it’s my husbands very favourite wall colour in the house (sorry Dan, although I don’t feel that sorry for you, you’ve never painted a wall in our home!). It was just perfect when this room was created as an adult space for evening drinks (we called it The Cocktail Room with tongues firmly in cheek!). But something exciting happened last Spring when I collaborated with MADE on a desk psychology piece and they very kindly gifted us our first ever dining table.

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I had never invested in a table as I thought we were quite happy as a family of ad-hoc eaters with plates around the small table in the kitchen or by the coffee table in the living room (I’m a little Japanese in my complete comfort in eating low down from a position of sitting on the floor). However, as soon as we received our beautiful mid-century Edelweiss dining table I had a complete change of heart. We loved it, we loved eating in here as a family, it has produced dedicated family time for at least two of the daily meals and no more trestle tables for big family gatherings. So the room is no longer our cocktail room and I think the space feels a little decadent for family dining, just a little, for us, I’m not against decadence in general!

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A little later in the year, this winter, I was absolutely delighted when Nest very kindly agreed to send me a light (pictured above) I have been coveting for several years. I love Nest and use them all the time when sourcing for clients (their curation of stylish brands and smaller chic designers is just incredible) and this Ilios pendant by Atelier Areti had been on my personal wish list forever. It’s such a stunning and gentle piece, named after the sun, this pendant which gives off a very low light (perfect for dining spaces) really spurred me on to start actioning a plan for the space to become more cohesive.

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The Plans:

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Items from top right clockwise: Melville wallpaper by Cole & Sons // Mika Wall Light Wayfair // Ilios Pendant by Atelier Aretti from Nest // Okinawa Sideboard from Maisons Du Monde // Kolong Rug by Urbanara // Edelweiss Table by MADE // Slam Dunk Lamp by Loaf // Colosseum by Mylands // Pediment by Mylands

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Shopping our home;

So this is the space as it currently sits, I’m going to recycle elements from other spots in the house, known as shopping your home! I will be bringing our butterfly collection in to add some nature to the space. I have loved having it in the narrow hallway, but it is a slightly precarious position there with a 4 year old running back and forth past it, we’ve had a few near misses! I will also be bringing the monochrome Kolong rug from Urbanara which we used to have in our living room and then the study, it will add softness and I suspect also cover up food spillages better than the current one!

The Paint

I’ve been looking at a brand I haven’t used before but who have had my attention since I spotted their beautiful palette at a design fair four years ago. The insanely talented 2LG Studio have used Mylands in several places in their home, and when I visited their house in the winter I was sold on the soft palette Mylands offer of soft greys and pink neutrals. The two samples I most like are Pediment and Colosseum, I will be painting the pinker shade on the walls and the grayer one on woodwork and the ceiling (trendily known as the fifth wall, it’s having a bit of a moment in interiors circles and I wouldn’t want to be left out!).

New Elements:

On the chimney breast I will be using the Melville wallpaper print from Cole & Son’s Whimsy collection. I love the line drawing element of this pattern and think it will add just enough interest to the space without dominating.

I am also looking at sideboards as I want to rid us of one of our bookcases in here, it’s lovely owning so many books (my husband is a book buyer and I work one day a week in the library) but we do feel a little surrounded by them in here so I think it would be good to hide some of them away from view in a sideboard.

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Lighting

A long time ago my grandma’s standard lamp base collided with the floor and it hasn’t recovered from the incident. I’ve been looking at a lovely soft floor lamp with pink shade from Loaf and a rattan one from MADE, we have definitely missed the ambient lighting of our last standard so it will be nice to bring this back in a new guise.
I am also going to add wall lights to the main wall behind the cocktail trolley (where the butterflies will also go) so that we can make the room lighter at breakfast time, I am looking at some sexy black ones called Mika from Wayfair to add some weight to the other lighter elements.

I think I will also be painting the brickwork in the fireplace, I’ve never really known what to do with it so am giving it some deeper thought. But in essence those are my plans, what do you think? I know a lot of people loved the blue so please hold off judgement for the end result!