Interiors Archives - Megan Ellaby

Hurrah I'm back with some more interior goodness and this time with my absolute FAVE room in our house, our beautifully cosy and oh so eclectic living room!
I'm SO excited to finally share this room with you as tbh it's been my fave room since we moved in last November, but now it is completely done (minus a new rug which is on it's way and a couple of new cushions we've recently purchased) I can finally share the in's and out's to decorating and styling our beautiful living room.

So first up this room is at the very front of our home and has incredible light streaming through the bay window for the majority of the day, something I totally adore as it wasn't something we had a lot of in our old flat as I'm sure you're tired of hearing about no?! It's the perfect place to spend a sunny morning with a cup of coffee, the news on the television and to have puppy cuddles with Peter and Nancy whilst also being a great place for making super cosy on an evening with lashings of candles, the blinds firmly closed and a glass of red wine and a film. I truly feel that we've made the perfect haven that suits summer days and winter nights if you know what I mean. It's an absolute delight to be in and a room that really knocks people's socks off whenever they visit.

I loved it even when the walls were white but since we painted the walls an insane deep grey/navy/black shade named "Railings" by Farrow & Ball, it's truly transformed the place and made it a really dramatic and totally gorgeous room.
I say a deep grey/navy/black shade as this colour really is a chameleon as it changes throughout the day depending on the kind of light that is coming in through the windows, as you might be able to see within this post. I really do like it this way as it keeps me on my toes (ha) and truly does fascinate me, small things for small minds and all that.

So I guess it makes sense to start with the oh so statement orange sofas from made.com
These little babies (we have both the 3 seater and the 2 seater) are my absolute pride and joy; aside from my house (obvz), these are collectively the most pricey thing I have ever purchased in my twenty six years and it was a real adult achievement to purchase my first ever sofas. I'd had my mind set on an orange sofa for a year prior to moving into this property after being inspired by something on Pinterest, so when it finally came down to making a decision and after typing "burnt orange velvet sofa" into Google I was THRILLED to bits to find the Scott range at made.com

Before making a purchase we headed to the made.com showroom in Batley Yorkshire so we could give it the ultimate comfort test which it passed with FLYING colours! It's honestly the comfiest sofa in the world and naturally gets better and better with time. The colour is completely statement and so striking with everyone complimenting it when they see it.
The velvet is a beautiful quality, however probably wasn't our brightest decision on the arrival of our little puppies P&N as it has gotten tired rather quickly, but otherwise it's my favourite piece in our house. If anyone has any ideas on how to clean velvet then please do let me know, that would be extremely useful!

We've kept the styling of the sofa's to a minimum with a blanket slung over each arm of the sofa.
The black and white with cobalt blue pom pom's was something I bought when we first moved into our house from one of my fave homeware stores in Manchester, Oklahoma, if you're in the area it's deffo worth a visit for the cutest and kitsch homeware pieces around. The second throw in blue and okra with delicious yellow pom poms was a beautiful gift from Projekti Tyyny, the designers behind our GORGEOUS bed spread which you might remember from our bedroom tour here, they do the most stunning of soft furnishings so do go and check them out for something a bit different and of the highest quality!

We were lucky enough to move into our house with all the downstairs having been recently laid with oak wooden flooring which is right on the money for our taste. We decided to play on this with the addition of a few extra wooden pieces. Our television fits perfectly in the right hand side alcove (although it's an old TV and we're hoping to upgrade to another Philips TV in the near future) and sits on this adorable trunk that George has had since he was a little boy, how cute! It's so nice to have older more sentimental pieces scattered throughout our home and mixed in with both new and antique pieces for a real eclectic feel.

We were kindly sent this divine parquet coffee table from our friends at Next and it's just the most perfect piece to fill the space of our living room. I adore the parquet design, the restored style pine wood and the industrial legs and knobs of the drawers. The drawers house countless magazines and blankets for snuggling up on the sofa in, with the open shelves as you can see, housing some of our books whilst we wait for our bookshelf to be installed.

I have a real love for dressing surfaces but an even real-er love for re-dressing surfaces, so find myself updating ALL of our furniture regularly to keep things fresh, but currently our gorgeous Next coffee table is home to a little H&M gold tray with an "M" shaped succulent which came with the new Zoella Beauty press gift (thanks Zoe!) a Living With Plants book (that George is obsessed with reading right now), some coasters from Asda Home, a candle I picked up in Home Sense (THE BEST PLACE FOR CANDLES!) and a little pot of Cacti that George received from his brother for his birthday this month. I really LOVE how the coffee table is looking right now, it's oh so tropical and just perfect for this warmer weather, it makes me feel extremely happy whenever I look at it which is always a nice feeling to get from your home.

Now lets talk artwork shall we!
I promise there will be an artwork related blogpost and possibly a video coming up soon as we have an abundance of beautiful works scattered around our home but for now, I'll divulge you with what we have in our living room.
Lets start with the alcove, we have an Isle Of Wight festival poster from when George's band One Night Only played alongside some incredible acts such as, The Police, Sex Pistols, The Kooks, James and Ian Brown, it was naturally a very proud moment of George's so it takes pride of place in our living room, but I also absolutely ADORE the poster and feel the colours really work with the room.
Next to that is an ode to one of our fave artists Mr Johnny Cash, we found this print on eBay following working with them earlier this year and again truly love the colours of the print.

In the opposite alcove is a really cool piece featuring a sunset and an old school car from Junique. I first saw this on Pretty Sickly's Instagram and totally fell in love so had to pick it up for us too, the colours work so damn well with this room.

Behind our two-seater sofa we have my beloved Andy Warhol Chanel print that I picked up on Etsy a few years ago, we got in the size A1 and had it framed in Manchester, I'm a huge advocate for getting your prints professionally framed, the quality is unprecedented. It is still one of my most favourite of home pieces as Warhol is my favourite artist of all time, the colours are INSANE and of course it is an ode to my line of work in fashion.

Behind the larger of the sofas we have a little picture ledge that we sourced in Ikea to display some other pieces of art, along with some gorgeous plants from our local plant shop Nonsense. The abstract piece we picked up from Print Club London and I just LOVE the square shape of the print, the colours combined with the contrasting black, I felt it was the perfect piece for this room to tie all the colours together. Slightly overlapping that piece is a personalised piece that I get SO many questions about. I had it commissioned on Etsy for our old flat displaying "Casa Del Chip" as Chip is a nickname George and I gave to one another from day one of being together. Once again it is those little personalised touches that truly make a house a home.

In a similar vain to the dressing of our coffee table I am OBSESSED with switching up how this side table looks too, along with the black metal unit in our other alcove, which is from La Redoute if you were wondering, and of course our mantel piece too.
Trinkets are my jam and I love sourcing them from weird and wonderful places and scattering them throughout our home.

This little side table was a means to an end whilst we found the perfect piece to live here, however I really rather like it indeed. It's actually a Crosley Record Player table and is aptly called the "Manchester" but I just adore the walnut wood and how it adds an extra touch of retro flair to the room. We probably will update this soon as it isn't the most sturdy of pieces and the dogs tend to bash into it al the damn time (thats puppies for ya) but it's done us well so far.

The lower level of the side table is home to two boxes that George has had for many years and inside them they hold fascinating pieces such as plectrums (musicians hey!?) and screws in the other (men hey!?)
On the table top we have the most GORGEOUS antique lamp, with the matching one sitting in the alcove by the sofa. These beautifully intricate turquoise lamps were a seriously generous house warming gift from George's parents and we're both absolutely besotted with them. They're antique so really rather unique indeed and that colour is just so damn fine set against both the sofa and the walls. Our unwritten rule for every room in the house is to have at least one piece of antique furniture, we just love the idea of them housing so many fabulous stories within them and so far, we're not straying too far from that rule!
We then have this gorgeous monstera plant print photo frame featuring George and my parents in Positano that I picked up from our local Garden Centre.

There's something about this little corner that really pleases me. I think it's the combination of the turquoise, the deep grey walls, orange sofa and the DIY yellow radiator cover peeking through from the hallway that just satisfies all my colour needs.

So this mantel piece/fire situation was here when we moved in and whilst part of me truly LOVES how big it is and how minimalistic it is, part of me also wants to rip it out and start again with something more "us"
I'd really love to have more of a shelf to the mantel piece for, you guessed it, more trinkets, candles and photo frames and I'm thinking something with a touch of retro (duh!) perhaps an antique baby with some sort of tiling to it, do let me know what you think about this?

But until we make a decision on that I've gone to town on dressing the hearth with a variety of photographs, candles and other random things.

The monochrome frame, the polaroid glass frame and the cacti frame are all from Home Sense, once again the place to go for photo frames, similarly the pineapple candle holder was also a bargain I found years ago in Home Sense. The glass candle hurricane with tan leather strap is from Asda home and the little cloche I picked up online at H&M Home.

On top of the mantel piece is another personalised piece that I had designed for us from 1Wall.com, I love the old-school road signage vibe featuring where we used to live, our first home together!
And finally, above that is an insane sun burst mirror which once again is an antique that we both absolutely LOVE! I can't link it but I've linked to three of my faves here, here and here.

And now for our other babies, our plant babies!
Meet Kevin the Bird Of Paradise, Eric the Elephant Ear and Gill the Pilea hanging in the alcove. We have a truly incredible plant shop, Nonsense very close to our home that we just LOVE shopping in every few months to add some greenery to our home. We're really into the whole jungle vibe and how calming plants are so really wanted to add as much of it into our home as possible.

Our window is pretty much filled now thanks to George's impulsive purchases of the 8ft Bird Of Paradise and rather large Elephant ear splaying out from the bay window. Just a note, don't send your fella out to get some "small" plants to fill the pots you already have, they will go wild and come back with not one, but TWO beasts haha! But I've gotta give it to him, he knows how to pick em 'cause I'm totally in love with how gorgeous and tropical our window looks, they were just what our living room was missing.

Also in the bay window we have this antique telephone table that we found on eBay for just £30! It's not in the greatest of conditions but fills the space perfectly and I truly adore it. It was love at first sight as the green velvet works with the room so beautifully and it is the perfect place for our antique telephone and Nigel our RubyRuth doll, he's SO freaking cute with his little hat and star eyes, he really makes me smile whenever I see him, although Nancy isn't such a fan haha!

The pots for our plants are, once again from Home Sense as is the fish cushion and the gorgeous velvet green pouffe is from made.com