Room for Living. Flexible living room in a small space.
The whole open plan “kitchen into living room” trend continues to gain momentum, as the living room morphs from its traditional role as a space for just lounging, into one that caters for entertaining, eating and for working in.
However, most houses still have the traditional kitchen and living room split. In addition to that, renovating a new space can be expensive.
With the increasing scarcity of affordable housing, space in homes are also at a premium, so creating a living room that caters for all our lifestyle needs makes enormous sense.As a challenge to myself, I decided to style a small living room space with multiple elements of living in mind (minus the kitchen).
For me, picking the right furniture is key to creating a flexible room for living, and they have to be light enough to move around.
Obviously, design and aesthetic are also important.
I picked all my furniture pieces for this flexible living room space from John Lewis and partners.It was easy to select the pieces, as there was such a vast choice of furniture range to pick from. Moreover, all the key information I needed from dimensions, furniture weight and delivery times were all clearly available.
When deciding on my Room for Living pieces, I listed out what activities we would use the space for. The most obvious requirement was a comfortable sofa to sink into, from where we could relax or even work from.
I’ve always had colourful sofas, but this time I’ve opted for a grey one. Grey is actually a great backdrop from which colours can pop.The sofa is from the House by John Lewis range and is called Archie II. It’s really light to move around the room and super comfortable too.
In fact, I’m now sitting on the sofa as I write this blog post on my laptop. I may even consider having a nap here soon too.To keep myself awake, I have a strong cup of coffee resting on my oak Design project by John Lewis coffee table.Isn’t it a gorgeous table?
I love it’s curved body and that extra shelving is just perfect for storing my coffee table books, notebooks and even a jar of treats to go with my coffee.I think having a dining space totally away from the messy kitchen makes dining more pleasurable, so a dining table was an essential.
My selection was the House by John Lewis Anton 4 seater dining table as it was stylish, light and just the right size for our family of 4.
This dining table would not just be for mealtimes. In fact, my husband has started using this space to work from home.I’ve placed the dining table next to a large window with a skylight above for lots of natural lighting.
After school, the table is also a great space for the kids to do their homework. This weekend for the first time, my son used the space for his music theory tuition.
The chairs are called Whistler and are from John Lewis and partners too.As the living room is rather small, I couldn’t fit a huge sideboard into the space.
I was so pleased to find this elegant Design project by John Lewis console table in oak. It was just the perfect size for small space living.
It functions well as a surface for room essentials, such as this John Lewis Myers Banker touch table lamp in gold, a clock, a scented candle and other decorative accessories.
The console table can also function as a work desk, if the dining table is otherwise occupied.Some people worry about using colours in a small space, because it may make it look smaller.
However, this is totally not the case. Colour to me opens up a space and makes it happy and bright.I’ve introduced colour with some cushions, a colourful rug and a pink armchair.
The soft pink armchair is called Scoop. It is currently out of stock, but I believe it will be back in stock around June 10th 2019.Isn’t the rug gorgeous? It’s called the Tora rug and also from John Lewis and partners.So, what do you think of my flexible Room for Living? It is definitely a place for rest, fun and even work. Most of all, it fits our lifestyle well.Hope you’ve enjoyed the post. Wishing you a lovely day.
( All photography and styling are by Little Big Bell. This is a paid partnership post with John Lewis and partners).