Mumsnet Talk

Do you ever go into other people's houses and think - wow that looks great. I would really like to recreate something like this lounge. Where can I get a coffee table and curtains. I have spent hours searching google but cannot find anything similar. HELP .

Gosh, it is awful. Sorry

lol I assume you are looking at the before photo!

similar table

Dwell have similar coffee tables. For similar curtains, try John Lewis.

Oh well done AWimba. I have been searching for 'rattan coffee table' duh.

Tell me does the lounge look ok? I am past the plastic toys in the lounge stage of my life and just wanted something more grown up. My lounge is about the same shape as the picture.

Yes, I was looking at therefore photo, sorry

The before...iPad autocorrection sucks

lol

I like it, perhaps a little bland but a nice relaxing neutral room to add your own finishing touches too. It's quite elegant.

Really? Personally I think that is VERY bland. Is that one of those staging services for people trying to market their houses? If so, the whole aim is to remove all traces of personality.

BUT, if that's what you're after, there are zillions of curtains on eBay.

These are plain-ish and cream.

These would give you two accent colours to work with.

I suspect what you subconsciously like about that room is that everything matches - every single one of the accents is pale green.

That's also the reason that it isn't a look that works in real life - very few people are prepared to chuck out everything they own that isn't the right colour! If you are, start by choosing the accent colour you want and work backwards from there. It's probably not a bad idea to pick a curtain fabric from a high street retailer, as they will probably have a co-ordinating range so it'll be easy to get cushion covers and throws in the same colours.

The other thing that I daresay appeals to you is that it's so uncluttered (I would say it borders on the clinical, but I love stuff around me). If a space like that would relax you, start a major clear-out

What do you like about the coffee table? The shape, the colour or the woven rattan?

I moving house so it is the ideal time to have a clear out. I would like more colour but I just get is so wrong all the time. I really need something to copy. I know that is not very imaginative. What I really want is someone to do it for me. DH also has no taste. Still I make a stunning shepherds pie and apple tart but crap with colours.

Is it really pale green? I thought it was cream. Would it work with beech laminate flooring?

Yeah, certainly on my screen it's displaying as apple green.

Maybe the thing to do is to get a paint chip that matches your sofa exactly. That will give you four or five other tones of the colour, and you can take it shopping with you when you are looking for cushions, a rug, etc. If you go to a good paint shop, they will also help you pick out accent colours that go with your base (in your case, your sofa). Those paint chips are designed to be foolproof, so you won't end up trying to mix a blue-undertone green with a yellow-undertone green and wondering why they don't go together.

There are certainly lots of pale greens and creams that would go with a beech floor. Again, start with the paint chips - some will just look wrong.

I don't know if you get it on telly there (am not in the UK), but Sarah 101 will give you good ideas about colour.

Her style is very much to choose a very narrow palette and then introduce layers of various patterns all in the same tones.

thanks everyone. I am buying a new sofa as well. I was going for a brown leather. Will that go? I'm not sure a cream sofa is very practical.

I'm bumping this because I need to know about brown leather sofas too. I'm pretty new to MN and have seen many derogatory remarks about them, why? What have I missed while away from UK for 10 years?

Sorry for the hijack jd

Have you had a lookat here I find it very useful for whole room ideas too...

Try this website too http://www.hgtv.com/designers-portfolio/living-rooms/index.html

I find it good to get brochures from high st stores such as m+a, next, Laura Ashley. Then go through and once you find a style you like base your design on that. Once you know what type of look you want you can shop about then for similar and cheaper stuff. It's easier sometimes to copy a design and colours until your confident to go it alone.

The other thing to do is choose what big furniture you have in what colour. So if you have a brown settee think about what colours go with brown. Then use that colour as an accent colour and also choose a base neutral colour. For example brown settee, cream / lattee colour walls, maybe wallpaper with beige/brown design and a then curtains and cushions would pick up the colour from the wallpaper.

Leather sofas do get a hard time on here, but I have one! This one, and I like it .

Oh, link didn't work, but it's nice.

what is wrong with a leather sofa - do tell? I want to have a sofa with a high back. The ones in John Lewis, M&S look fab but are not great for the back support.

By the way thanks for the suggestions. I have a total blank canvas, which make it even harder.