This post contains unpaid advertising. The couch covers were provided to us by Bemz for our living room makeover.
A 4.5 meter high ceiling, a wall painted in a concrete look, a large open living and dining area, a coffee table made of glass and chrome and a huge white sofa. What sounds like a description from an interior magazine describes our living room until recently. Sounds cool. And it was. But there is one thing missing: comfort. Because as much as I personally like the clean and minimal interior design style, I noticed one thing in particular in the winter months - the apartment is too cold and not cozy enough for me. A living room makeover was needed.
Accordingly, Felix has had to listen to the same old story from me a lot over the last few months. Sure, I could have just filled the living room with candles, blankets and decorative furs. But anyone who knows me knows that I'm not a big fan of such knick-knacks. I always think it's really nice when other people do it, but I find it difficult.
1. Reno armchair // 2. Arc lamp // 3. Plant box // 4. Bookshelf
We need more comfort in the sky loft! Time for a living room makeover!
In this case, I was missing the burning idea for a living room makeover for a long time and I spent weeks studying Pinterest & Co. until it actually clicked for me. Sometimes it just takes a little longer. While I used to be one of those impulse buyers who made my interior purchases true to the motto "the main thing is that it looks good straight away", I now pay attention to the durability of furniture. But of course that also means saving a little longer for something now and then, like in this case two new chairs for our living room, which will hopefully arrive soon.
But let's get back to the topic of coziness. How do you manage to bring a warmer feeling into your own four walls without throwing all the (rather cold) furniture out of the windows?
1. Carpet // 2. Coffee table // Round vase: H&M Home, currently sold out
Rethink your color concept!
We started to question our color concept. Most recently, cool gray and white tones paired with lots of chrome and glass dominated. Only our LEWI side table and our F YN bookcase created a break with the soaped oak. You only have to put two and two together to realize that this is the opposite of cozy. When we moved in last year, we apparently couldn't do that. In our "excuse" I have to say that we thought that this was exactly how we would emphasize the look of the apartment. Well, no luck! What looks great in magazines is of no use to you if it isn't cozy. So for our living room makeover, we quickly agreed that our white couch cover would have to go and be replaced with a beige/cream one. As much as I like white couches, it has made little sense since Momo came to live with us. We knew from the start that she was allowed on the couch with us and sometimes the couch looked accordingly (it's nice to blame the dog's shoes, er, paws, for various stains ;)) At first we washed the covers every 2 - 3 weeks (which is actually really practical), but after a while it just gets annoying.
1. Carpet // 2. Vase // 3. Pillow // 4. Blanket
I had already saved several pictures of Bemz on Instagram beforehand. A Swedish company that offers covers and feet for Ikea sofas in various fabrics and colors. Everything is produced in Europe and every fabric is machine washable (better safe than sorry). You can have up to five fabric samples sent to your home free of charge and after we received ours, we immediately decided that we wanted the Pebble Brera Lino fabric. A pure linen cover in a soft beige. We also decided on new couch feet in a light wood tone. This change alone has given our living room a completely new look. And I have good news for you in this regard: With the code 20wohngluck you get 20% off your order from Bemz. Yay!
Here you can find all information about our selected fabric.
1. Couch // 2. Mirror // 3. Side table // 4. Table lamp // 5. Plant box
Natural materials work wonders!
We don't just associate certain moods with colors. We also assign feelings to materials. While stone, glass and metal have a cool effect, wood or fabrics such as linen bring the necessary warmth. In general, the smoother a material is, the cooler it appears, and the more structured it is, the warmer it appears.
Think New!
Just empty the room and take in the effect again. That's exactly what we did before our living room makeover when we got our new couch cover. We wanted to rethink the living room like a blank sheet of paper. Does the couch have to be L-shaped or is it better to separate the chaise longue from the rest of the couch? Can you make the corner you hate become your favorite corner? Are there other ways to beautify a wall besides pictures? Does the furniture always have to be against the wall or can it be left free-standing? We asked ourselves all of these questions. It took us about 1.5 hours and one or two beers to find a new solution that we were happy with and that was very different from the old look.
Fluffy carpets always work!
If you've been following me for a while, you know how hard it is for me to find a rug. The right size and material are just a few of the things you should consider when buying a rug. It was completely different with our new rug. Here it was love at first sight and there was no question in my mind that this rug from Nordicknots would fit perfectly in our living room. Unfortunately, a look at the price and my bank account quickly brought me back to reality. A good rug simply has its justified price. I didn't want to settle for an alternative, so I had to save up. As I said, sometimes it just takes a little longer. In this case, it was absolutely worth it. 100% New Zealand wool suggests that it is very fluffy. Apart from that, the cream-colored tone brings brightness and the abstract (round) pattern breaks up the clear lines of the furniture.
Wood wood wood!
Soaped oak. Since our Wishbone Chairs from Carl Hansen moved in last year, I have been a huge fan of the light wood. Especially in combination with cooler materials such as chrome and glass, soaped oak brings warmth to the ensemble. This love of the material has led to us having all of our Wohnglück design products made from exactly this soaped oak. But no matter whether soaped, oiled, oak, birch, ash or similar: with furniture or decorative items made of wood, you can immediately give the four walls a certain warmth. For this reason, we are currently waiting for two new chairs for our living room. Now you can guess three times what material they are made of...
Everything that exists, also exists in beauty!
Hands up if you aren't a big fan of your TV. To be completely honest, I never really thought about it because I didn't have a TV in my old apartment. But then Felix's old toad moved into our Himmelloft and basically did its job. Over time, however, I got more and more annoyed because it didn't exactly make a corner of the living room any prettier. On the other hand, I wasn't prepared to spend money on something that I'm not a big fan of anyway. Welcome to the dilemma! With the thought "you can just take a look", we discovered the Serif TV from Samsung . A TV that is actually nice. Yep, I wouldn't have thought so myself. As if it was meant to be, there was a discount on it at the same time, so we were able to bring the good piece into the Himmelloft with a 50% discount. Win-win, so to speak, and I have to honestly admit that I'm really glad that we decided to spend the money. The television is now a permanent fixture in our living room and I actually enjoy it. Because that brings me to the next point.
Deal with your hate corner!
Everyone has that one corner in their apartment that they prefer to turn their back on and that they always get annoyed about. In our case, until recently, it was the corner where our television was. A corner with potential because of the large windows behind it. However, both the heater and the television have not really exploited their potential, but rather reduced it. Here, too, it helped to clear away all the furniture and rethink it from scratch. I asked myself how I would really like the corner. This led to us converting it into a reading corner with a chaise longue. The only thing we will be building in the coming weeks is a cover for the heater, but more on that soon.
The record shelf comes from Betonggruvan .
As you can see, you can completely change the look of a room in just a few simple steps. The new look always puts a smile on my face.
Do you also feel like turning your living room upside down? Then I have really good news for you. You can register for the Westwing Club here and immediately receive a €30 welcome voucher (The €30 welcome bonus is only valid for new customers. The voucher is valid for 30 days, is tied to a minimum order value of €100 and can be redeemed in the Shop & Club.)
The black leather armchair is an heirloom.
