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10 Beautiful Rooms

This week’s selection of 10 Beautiful Rooms are mostly from the light and airy end of the spectrum. I think the long dark days of February have finally got to me and I am craving sun and space. My own house is a mix of dark and light rooms and that works for me – a dark sitting room where I spend the evenings, a light kitchen for the days. But there was something in all of these spaces that called to me this week and I hope you will like them.

white sitting room via light locations
white sitting room via light locations

They are all from the fantastic agency Light Locations which means they are all real spaces that are lived in by real people even if they have been tidied up for the photographer. I had an inquiry about using The Mad House for a shoot last week. I do it from time to time but this one did amuse me: “Will the sitting room be furnished?”

I mean, er, yes, hello. It’s my sitting room. You think we sit on the floor when people aren’t photographing their products in it? Anyway, we’ll see if it comes off – I’ll keep you posted.

placefarmhouse via light location s
freestanding bath in green bathroom via lightlocations

Before we slide past this bathroom though do you love it? My guess is it’s Pigeon by Farrow and Ball and it looks so perfect with white. I had a client whose spare room was painted in these scheme and it worked perfectly. She was going to turn it into a nursery so we softened it with some white cloud motifs and reckoned it would work really well with accents of either blush pink, cobalt blue or soft yellow. It’s a gorgeous colour and I probably need to build an extra room so I can use it.

black bookshelves battersea location via light location s
dark bookshelves via light locations

One dark one for you this week and that’s because I remain convinced that nothing shows of a shelf – or seventeen – of books better than a dark background. For the record, I’m not entirely sure about putting shelving all around the door but I get that it’s a great space-saving idea. I think perhaps I would have painted the doors in grey to match so that the whole thing appeared a little more seamless.

white kitchen via light locations
white kitchen via light locations

But let’s skip on over to some light and bright rooms now. I could hang out in this kitchen quite happily drinking coffee all morning. The black legs on the stool just bring in some definition and while I’m not a huge fan of copper they work really well in this room.

And what about this? I would never have thought of a pink kitchen but I love it. Obviously this is tricky for most of us as it’s a rather unfitted kitchen in an enormous room that clearly started out as a sitting room but even if you don’t have a large empty room like this and are in need of a kitchen (a niche group of people if ever there was one) then consider, at least, the colours.

pale pink kitchen via light locations
blush pink kitchen with island via lightlocations

I’m also starting to see a lot more kitchen islands on legs. It’s great if you can find enough storage elsewhere as it does make the room look a lot bigger and also less kitchen-like. Which I know may be a pointless thing to say as it is a kitchen after all but I have always rather liked that look of a bathroom with a fireplace in it, a grand room where you can cook rather than that sleek modern fitted version.

white black and wood kitchen via lightlocations
white black and wood kitchen via lightlocations

But, in the end, it does come to down to finding space to store stuff elsewhere. Even, in my case the oven, which is in my island. And I do sometimes think the island looks like a massive tank sailing across the kitchen floor. Having legs and a bit of air around it would make a huge difference.

black and white bathroom
black bath and brass taps

Another lovely bathroom for you. My neighbours have just installed these Zellige tiles in their bathroom. They cost a fortune but the sides are angled so you don’t see the glue/grout. Looks amazing doesn’t it? And also grout gets so grubby so fast that this might actually be one of those investments it’s worth making. Those taps are heavenly too. Also cost a fortune. They would definitely make my heart sing every day but I’m not sure it’s an expense I could ever justify.

white kitchen with subway tiles via lightlocations.com
white kitchen with subway tiles via lightlocations.com

More table islands and a wall of metro tiles which is another idea that works perfectly as it mixes with the vintage style cupboards. The dark grout also solves that problem before it starts.

And look at this fabulous open plan space. The dark pendant lights over the table give that area definition and I imagine the view from the windows is lovely.

open plan kitchen via lightlocations
open plan kitchen via lightlocations

Here is it. If anybody wants me I shall be here for the rest of the day/month/year. In my head that is. I would love to create a space like this wouldn’t you?

white chairs in garden room via lightlocations
white chairs in garden room via lightlocations

Have a lovely Monday everyone.

 

Kate Watson-Smyth

The author Kate Watson-Smyth

I’m a journalist who writes about interiors mainly for The Financial Times but I have also written regularly for The Independent and The Daily Mail. My house has been in Living Etc, HeartHome and featured in The Wall Street Journal & Corriere della Sera. I also run an interior styling consultancy Mad About Your House. Welcome to my Mad House.

10 Comments

  1. I like all of the rooms, especially No. 10 – I have a thing for big windows with a garden view. It’s such a treat to the eyes and the mind. Thanks for sharing Kate

  2. Wow. Love the Zellige tiles, exactly what I want for my bathroom. But…£155 per square metre?? If only I could afford £155/m2.

    Yowzer.

    All the rooms are lovely but the kitchen with the subway tiles is my favourite: that fantastic cupboard to the left and that fab sink squished into the corner. Only thing I’d change is the grout. I cannot bear dark grout and pale tiles, and sod “practicality”.

  3. I now want a leggy island and groutless tiles! And the list keeps going. Thanks, Kate, for the eye candy. Happy Monday everyone.

  4. Happy New Week, Kate. I quite like all of these rooms, and for the reasons you state. Thank you for curating this collection, it’s a fine way to start my week. Cheers, Ardith

  5. I love the pigeon painted walls with the crisp white floors and tub in the second image. I definitely agree with you that the library doors in the second image would look more seamless painted in the same gray as the walls. I would have painted the rest of the walls the same color or papered them in gray gras cloth. The main thing that is missing in this image is light fixtures. A floor lamp or swing arm lamps over the sofa would add some interest as wood an area rug in front of the sofa.
    there is something to like in all the kitchens and baths. I grew up in a pink and gray kitchen and our living room and dining room walls were painted the same heavenly shade of pink as in this kitchen image . The one recommendation I would have made for the metro tiled kitchen is a larger double or farm sink rather then that cramped little sink shoved against the wall. Otherwise I love the mix of unfitted cabinets. Last but not least – loved the sun room!

  6. White chairs look so fabulous – for about five minutes! We once made the mistake of getting white covers for our sofa forgetting that the two black cats would render them a murky grey very quickly. Even if the covers are washable they will never look the same again…

  7. Lovely rooms, I wish I had a garden and window ledges (none of the former in my flat) but I can’t understand the taps in the bathroon with the extractor fan on show. Wouldn’t you have to lean at a funny angle top it up/cool it down? How would you reach (unless you’re Inspector Gadget?). First world problems…

  8. First two rooms give me shivers, not cozy at all, and such a pity, because there’s not much they lack to improve: the first one needs a more impressive pendant lamp, and the second – at least a rug or a mat to cover up those floorboard cracks, I practically feel the draughts around my feet as I look at the picture.

  9. such wonderful inspiration for this back to work Monday morning Kate thank you. Absolutely LOVE that blush pink kitchen and asking myself why pink is so unusual in a kitchen as it works so well. The layout of the last open plan with the garden room is a dream and has reconfirmed to me that I will be putting windows in the back of our house as opposed to doors (when we finally get funds to allow for the refurb…..). love how it contains a space and you get a bonus window ledge too.
    I think those tiles with the angled sides are genius and agreed, may prevent the ugly grout scenario that always occurs. One thing that puzzles me in that room is that you pay a fortune for tiles and taps that are drool worthy and then leave that extractor fan on the wall just sitting there. i would have to paint that out the same colour as the walls or at best moved it to the corner xx

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