It’s episode three of the podcast already and this week we are talking about the trends from Maison et Objet, small space living and how to plan the dressing room, which doesn’t have to mean living in a mansion with an actual, you know, whole room involved but how you might rethink the space you already have. Read on to find out what we decided.
This week’s pictures are mostly from that Paris and just glancing through them will give you an idea of the trends I spotted. Although, as I make the point to Sophie Robinson in the show, we do sort of see what we want to see.
So for me it was all about muted earthy tones, with lots of curves and cane, while Sophie saw lots of pastels, Memphis styling and pastel colours. Which just goes to show you why you shouldn’t let your life be ruled by trends. Unless you like them. And I love these.
You’ll have to listen to the show to hear more details, but these pictures sum it up quite well. Memphis style, by the way, is completely different. It was a design movement founded by Ettore Sottsass. They made post modern furniture, ceramics and fabrics in bright colours including red, turquoise and black and mixed it with perspex, wood and plastic. It was quite graphic in style and, while the movement was short-lived, the original pieces are extremely collectable and it is still hugely influential today. If you’re not sure what it looks like, one American newspaper described it as a shotgun wedding between Bauhaus and Fisher Price.
We also spoke about small space living, which is a real issue for most of us as we tend to expand to fill the available rooms and then complain that we don’t have enough space when what we actually mean is that we have too many things.
Sophie spoke about the practicalities of making the space look bigger, which I have discussed on these pages before and I talked about using the walls for storage when you have run out of floor. Multi-tasking furniture is also useful – the sofa that turns into a bed, the console table that can be either a desk or a dressing table.
But other tips include glass tables to let the light pass through – as featured on the blog last week, and also do think about mid-century furniture. It tends to be pared back in style with high legs and so it doesn’t dominate the space like a massive modular sofa would. We mentioned the DFS capsule collection which has been designed specifically for small spaces.
Do try not to overfill the space. A small sofa with a small chair and lots of occasional tables can make you feel like a giant walking into a doll’s house. Better, in that case, to have one large sofa and very little else. I also would counsel against a gallery wall as that is also quite busy in a small space – stick to one large piece of artwork to hold the space and keep it feeling more pared back. There are more tips on the podcast – this is more by way of a back up than a substitute.
We also chatted about dressing rooms. Increasingly common as people make over bedrooms, or carve up larger rooms to create a dedicated space for clothes storage, they’re not just for those living in huge houses. I have written before about how to create a walk-through wardrobe and while mine isn’t really a dressing room, it does mean that the sleeping area is small as it doesn’t need to house much more than the bed.
Sophie’s top tip for clothes storage was that you need to think about how you like to access your clothes. I like a hanger, she likes a drawer. And, she points out, if you can afford to hire a carpenter you will get a better result as built-in storage is 30 per cent more efficient than free-standing and going bespoke means you can use every square inch of space.
Below is the incredible ikea pax wardrobe hack by @erinkestenbaum and you can read all about how she did it here and see more images of the whole space.
Have a listen and see what you think. And if you do then please don’t forget to rate, review and subscribe as it helps other people to find us. We are currently planning series 3 which will have…. drum roll please, some really good guests making their appearance. And I mean really good….
With thanks, as ever to DFS for sponsoring the podcast which allows us to work with our wonderful producer Kate Taylor.
