Style Counsel April

While there is no doubt this room has loads of impact, is it likeable or even liveable?  Occasionally, here at Eco Chic we don't all agree on what makes great design.  Paula thinks this is the height of cool, but I find it a bit “Malice in Wonderland” let's look at what makes this room so "special":
 

• It’s a really clever trick to paint your walls, floor and doors all in the same paint colour as it hides a multitude of sins and creates a good, blank canvas to let hero pieces shine through...definitely needs an area rug though.
• The grey is a great choice as it is timeless, classic and tasteful and a perfect foil to the shocking pink and popping yellow touches that make this room really pop. 
• With grey, try lots of test pots before settling on one,  as they can be hidden undertones that will come out once it is en masse.  We recently had an experience with what looked like straight cool grey and it turned out a bit purple!!
• The wall of books is the real star in this space, they are all covered in white backing or chosen for their pale spines, and the shelves just blend into the grey walls.  The overall effect is cool, clever and calculated.  Gives the space soul as well.
• The bright pink modern table is a fantastic, fun addition to this room and without it the overall look would be too institutional and drab
• Love the artwork mix, a retro fabric wrapped frame, 3 dimensional sculpture and traditional framed something or other - too cool.
• Whimsical touches liven up the room – the piglet floor lamp, the penguin table lamp, the fringed granny lampshade in the corner, the mop head floor cushion – clever + sense of humour = irresistible!

 
Eco Chic can help you be clever, funny and irresistible! Here’s how – try our raspberry Bamileke table for instant zing in a pulled-back setting; our Parker sofa is a nice, classic shape and to-die-for in grey velvet; throw some of our Pin Up cushions on there for a touch of retro style.  We have some great new Lamps and next month will even feature a new parrot lamp.   our Test Pot art would go great in this context, or try Your Dog’s Portrait art for something funky yet personal; Dulux Klute is a fab all-rounder grey – go have some fun!

Fresh, simple and alternative, this embodies the eco chic look, it's got style and recycling!  It is also classic in its own way whilst still reflecting a real individual spirit...really not too difficult to pull off – here’s how:

 

• Grouping, clusters, repetition – whatever you want to call it, it’s a look that works every time.  The three clever pendant lights, the four same-but-different prints, the random but connected cushions, these are all vital factors that make this look visually connected
• It’s a punchy colour palette to be sure, most people would restrict mustard yellow to an accent cushion, but grades of the same tone are used to add depth and variety in the rug table and sofa and the result is both daring and chic.
• As this a simple room, textural variety is especially important, notable in the buttoning on the sofa, rug pattern and wire pendants
• We love how the traditional  sofa is paired with a seventies style rug, cushions that would be at home in a country cottage, parisienne silhouette prints, modern colour touches in the table and cushions, industrial referenced pendants – and how the whole is held together by colour and fluid shapes.

 
We’d love to help you achieve this look yourself – we can cover the Maxwell sofa in a lovely mustard hemp or velvet; try mixing our Pin Up and Ikat cusions with Feverpitch for a truly eclectic scatter section; our Flower rug would work in this context, or keep your eyes open for a vintage shag pile; the Sarita pendants would look terrific in an asymetric cluster and finally try a Sami stool to add a practical dash of shapely colour. 

This living room is so effortlessly stylish, and we love it.  Functional, friendly and fun – and very Eco Chic.  If you like it, we can help you get it; plus, here’s why we think it’s cool personified:
 

• The armchairs don’t match (you know how we hate matchy-matchy!) and that’s the fun of this look – it wouldn’t be half so funky if both the chairs were the same. However, the chairs co-ordinate in look and shape, and that is an important factor
• The references are mid-century modern in origin but with the odd home spun touch and a nod in the direction of ‘now’ in the rug, the floor lamp and the way the mantelpiece has been dressed
• The ‘tongue-in-chic’ art is a great gesture, so ‘out’ it’s ‘in’ again, but it does need to be the right piece so that the reference is understood!  Don’t go for something too totally hideous otherwise you won’t be able to live with it!  Also, the art picks up the tones in the rug nicely, and that is relevant
• Colour sensitivity is very important in this room setting and that’s what pulls the diverse references together so successfully
• You know how we love the number 3...three bowls on the firplace, three things on the chest, three things by the fireplace.

 
Eco Chic has plenty to offer to achieve this look:
Try the DEXTER lounge chair in 2 different colours combinations, sit them beside the TJUKULA or WALKA rug, put our SARAH dresser in the vicinity, add the GABRIEL or VINCENT floor lamp with a Heather Black shade, finish the look with the RECYCLED TYRE BASKET and have fun hunting around your local Op Shop for the perfect retro piece of art and there you have it! 

To get the look with Eco Chic you simply must start with a couple of our Bangalow Ottomans in bright green.  Our Hugo sofa in white fabric will provide the perfect backdrop to some handmade scatter cushions from our vintage collection.  We have a range of beautifully subtle and eco friendly wallpapers and our black and white etchings by Jenny Kitchener would be the perfect choice for Art. 

Somehow, these great looks reminded us of a few of our Eco Chic faves – the Coronado side table, our Bangalow sofas, the Leilani coffee table, our Paloma range of bedsides and table, groovy black and bold Recycled tyre baskets, the Aztec or Hadleigh tan leather chair.  Somehow we never tire of turquoise...check out our Panama parrots and vintage Capri tables in turquoise.  We’re not one track, but we’re single minded! Having said that, check out Willow’s must-have winter range and get inspired just like we did!!