Design Decoded: Nine Beautiful Rooms
A stroll through real rooms to see what we can take away for our own places and spaces. Learn about layout, the 'rules of rug' – and how to curate your clutter into a collection.
This month on Mad About The House we are not Mad About Christmas. I’m sure you get enough of it elsewhere, so most of the posts in December will be a respite from that particular madness. A space to step away from it all and look at beautiful things that don’t glitter, that don’t need wrapping, that are calm and allow a deep breath. And since I’m assuming most of you will have paused any house-hunting activities as well, I have instead chosen nine rooms that are not only gorgeous to look at, but might also give you ideas and inspiration. So read on – there’s not a bauble in sight.
Here’s the first. Take a deep breath and relax…
Let the room speak
I’m sure that most of us don’t have rooms like this, but that’s all the more reason to just gaze at it. I can’t stop. It’s not just the idea of having a room so big and so un-needed that you can stick in a pair of giant day beds and walk away. It is more, and here’s the science bit, the juxtaposition of the incredible plasterwork ceiling, the over-the-top chandelier, the abundance of windows and just two chairs. This room is a gallery and I can’t tell you how much I want to visit.
There has been no attempt to add a rug, a bookcase, a useful table, indeed the only table is full of flowers – more things to admire and nothing to use.
I’m sure we can’t all have a room like this but we can bookmark this one. And we can walk away and remember that sometimes, perhaps especially at this time of year, less really is more.
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