reclaimed Archives - Page 20 of 24

How to set your table for on-trend dining

White plate with beige napkin tied with natural straw

Setting your table for a special event takes some thought. Think about the occasion, who the guests are and the atmosphere you want to set. Here we have looked back at the top styles for tableware in 2020.

Layering

Layering is often seen on beds and sofas but you can adapt this to work on your rustic dining table by mixing and matching table cloths, runners and napkins. Start with a white tablecloth and go from there – try a few different ways with a runner going horizontally or vertically – add different colours that will blend together or go for contrast. If you have dining benches you can continue the layering approach with coordinating cushions or small throws. Different shades of grey table linen look amazing on a black metal legged, industrial dining table and bench set.

Photo featuring: Industrial Lansdowne Rustic Wood Dining Table and Rustic Wood Dining Set

Traditional

The classic timeless table setting with a white table cloth and a white napkin – this works well in most settings – add some silver candlesticks or a fairy light lamp and a floral centrepiece, silver cutlery and white crockery. You just can’t go wrong! The fairy light lamp doubles up as the perfect decorative piece on your dining room sideboard when you are not entertaining.

Gorgeous Gold

Gold in the dining room is very on-trend right now, a warm colour scheme, great for autumn and perfect for, dare we say it, Christmas! Gold cutlery, candlesticks holding large candles, plates with gold edgings and gold serving dishes… this colour scheme works so well with a reclaimed wood dining table to provide a stylish and glamorous table setting.

Relaxing rustic

A rustic table setting perfectly complements an industrial table. Our Lovely Linen table linen is made for this style – gorgeous earthy colours, produced from 100% natural European linen with a slightly crumpled look which helps create a laid back and relaxed ambience.

Photo featuring: Mitcham Industrial Oak Spider Leg Dining Table

Serving dishes

We would recommend you get a selection of serving dishes – some staple pieces that you can adapt to different requirements. We love how the Suzy baguette bowl can double up as a fruit bowl or a dish for serving crisps or breadsticks in – it’s also a perfect gift for a friend or family member who loves to entertain! And of course, as we are partial to cutting down on clutter, we recommend choosing a serving bowl that will work as a decorative item on a sideboard or in a display cabinet when not in use.

Make the most of a small dining area

White reclaimed wood breakfast bar table and stools with green plant

Whether you have a small space for dining or want to create a cosy dining nook or breakfast area in your kitchen, here we have put together a few ideas on how to make the most of limited dining space.

Make the space look larger

A small round dining table or an oval shape will make the space look bigger. Rounded edges are softer than a square or rectangular table so this will make your space look larger. Use a round table with a pedestal base and you have automatically added more seating space without those annoying table legs in the way to bang knees into. For this type of space, a round extendable table is perfect if you like to spend a bit of time entertaining friends.

Use a cosy corner

If you only have a corner in your kitchen or living room to play with, then a square or rectangular table with a dining bench works really well, benches can be pushed up against a wall to save space where you would normally have to pull chairs out to sit on. Another option is to get built-in benches, add some hinged tops to the benches and you also have additional hidden storage space. For extra comfort while dining, and perfect if you sit at your table for more than just eating, you can go with a dining bench with back – this will also add height to your dining space.

Photo featuring: Serenity Reclaimed Wood Dining Table

Keep it simple

A reclaimed wood dining table is a lovely multifaceted piece of furniture, it will feel warm and homely and lends itself to so many interior schemes. If you add white, neutral coloured or even see-through chairs, the space will look a lot bigger, add a ceiling pendant light over your table and you are using the height of the room to again give the impression of there being more space.

Photo featuring: Standford Industrial Reclaimed Wood Bar Table

Breakfast bar table and stools

A bar table is the perfect solution in the kitchen if you have a small amount of space that you would like to use for informal evening meals, breakfast or for lunch on the go. As they are higher they can also double up as additional work surface space in the smaller kitchen…. and when you have guests for dinner they can sit down and keep you company while you get on with food preparation!

Photo featuring: Standford Large Reclaimed Wood Extending Dining Table

Extendable table

Extendable tables have come a long way – sturdy, and with easy to use (often hidden) mechanisms or extension leaves. They look so much better than adding the camping table at the end – or the rickety wallpapering fold down table! Most the time you can keep it not extended but it will be so easy to make room for additional guests. The Dorset extending trestle table ticks all the boxes, with the option of two extension leaves, it has a beautiful grey tint to the tabletop with white legs. Pair this with benches and you have a wonderful space-saving reclaimed wood dining set.

Photo featuring: Skandi Round Mirror

Add a wall mirror

A large wall mirror will work its magic in a small dining area, bouncing the light around and instantly creating the illusion of more space. We love to see the elegant octagonal Starlight mirror hanging over a cosy dining nook, with its gold frame adding a touch of glamour!

How to get your hallway ready to welcome autumn

Autumn is coming and along with it come bulky coats, muddy wellies, wet shoes and dripping umbrellas, all these things will most likely enter your home via the hallway…..

Here we have put together a few ideas to help you organise your hallway and get ready for the wet and muddy onslaught. Umbrella’s at the ready….!

Boot storage

This really is the most important one – no one wants to open the front door and hop, step and jump over shoes strewn across the floor! Boots take up so much more space than little strappy summer shoes, sandals and flipflops. Even though summer shoes are small, they should definitely be put away during the winter months….. Not only to protect them from being crushed somewhere at the bottom of the shoe rack but also to make plenty of space…. don’t underestimate the amount of boots and shoes that will gather!

The Chedworth Large Wooden shoe storage, featured above, ticks all the boxes, not only does it look absolutely gorgeous in natural rustic wood, you get 12 individual compartments and on the top, you can pop your handbag down and have a dish to keep the house and car keys in… Hang a round wall mirror above it, add a vase of flowers and you have a stylish and organised hallway.

Coat hanging

This is also the time of year to tidy away those lightweight summer jackets and get the big coats out. If you don’t already have a coat rack then think about how many coats you will need to hang on it – make sure you get one that has enough space and is sturdy enough to hold them. There are so many ways to do this – hooks on the wall, a traditional style coat stand, a hidden cupboard under the stairs or an open rack.

Clear the clutter

Very important in the hallway! The first thing people see when they come to your door will be the hallway – it looks so much better if everything has its place. A narrow console table will help hide all the bits and bobs tidy – gloves, keys, coins, dog lead – anything you need to grab on your way out can all be housed in one – and of course, there is the added bonus of being able to stand something decorative on top for a really ‘finished’ hallway look.

Photo featuring: Chelwood Nordic Reclaimed Wood Console Table

Hallway seating

A seat is a great idea in the hallway. Boots take a bit more effort to get on than slip-on summer shoes – so it could be a good idea to add some seating. With wicker storage baskets the Rattan May hallway storage bench combines clever storage and practical bench seating or Clockhouse Hallway Wooden Bench, featured below, makes a stylish and practical addition.

Photo featuring: Clockhouse Hallway Wooden Bench

Easy clean flooring

It does make sense to have an easy clean area to take wet coats and shoes off – but once you are past that you can add a rug, this will give you an instant homely and warm feeling and is, of course, luxurious underfoot. You can use a floor rug to give your hallway an accent colour and then add coordinating welcoming accessories.

Finishing touches

These are all the things you can do to give your hallway a stamp of character. Add or change your wall art, add a pot plant, add a wall or floor mirror or simply get a new doormat.

3 Ways to Embrace Autumn Style

Tall black teapot with coffee in glass drink

Autumn is coming after a long, warm and very different summer. Here we look at ways to snuggle down and cosy up your home ready for autumn and the coming colder months.

Go natural

Reclaimed wood furniture just instantly adds warmth to a room. The timbers used for our reclaimed wood furniture have been salvaged from 100-year-old buildings, disused railway sleepers and even boats, and given a new lease of life as a dining table, a sideboard or a dining bench – with its history and gorgeous markings on show for all to see. A rustic dining table paired with a dining bench with a cosy faux sheepskin throw on it, will give your kitchen or dining room an instant warm welcome, add some rich velvet upholstered dining chairs to really turn up the temperature.

Photo featuring: Standford Industrial Reclaimed Wood Coffee Table and Standford Industrial Reclaimed Wood Sideboard

Brightening your home

Make use of sunny days by giving your windows a good clean to allow as much natural daylight as possible to flow into the room. Although you won’t create vitamin D from sun filtering through a window, your mood will definitely be boosted by sunlight. So position a small armchair or family sofa and an industrial side table near a sunny window or patio door to make the most of the rays when you can.

Photo featuring: Louis de Poortere Vintage Patchwork Yellow Rug

You can also bring a bit of nature into your home using seasonal flower and autumn leaf arrangements, a terracotta vase or dish with a display of fallen leaves and twigs would look wonderful on a rustic coffee table, a living room sideboard or a bedroom chest of drawers. The rich autumnal colours will give a warm and homely feel to living spaces where you spend a lot of time.

This is the time of year when you can start incorporating wonderful warm textures and rich colours into your home. If your room is neutral then add some bold colours like hot red, warm orange, sunshine yellow or leafy green to add an accent colour to your room. You can do this by adding sheepskins, sofa blankets and sumptuous velvet cushions in these colours. Nothing says autumn warmth quite like an oversized chunky knit jumper – a chunky knit throw will do the same to a room, throw one across a king-sized bed for a cosy bedroom look or drape one over the arm of your sofa or armchair to snuggle down in to.

How to choose the right accent chair

Woman dressed in mustard trousers resting on an armchair next to green plant

Sat in the corner of a room or by a window, accent or feature chairs are hugely popular right now. An occasional chair to enjoy a coffee and relax in or team your chair up with a side table and a lamp and you have a designated reading corner. You can put an accent chair in the living room, kitchen, a bedroom and even the hallway. There are three key considerations that makes the perfect accent chair – style, colour and shape. Here we look at how to find the right stand-out chair for your home.

Photo featuring: Grayson Fabric Armchair

Choose your style

As you are just adding one chair you may want it to slot into the style of the room…. but then the beauty of the accent chair is that it doesn’t have to either! Go for a retro look, industrial, Scandi or classic. You might have a oswald 2 seater sofa and want to add a modern armchair to the room. The Edward Leather Armchair, being in a stunning brown leather is contemporary and extra comfortable, while the Ava White Armchair would make a bold statement in a retro-influenced living room or bedroom.

In a more formal setting, a brown high back chair with a classic button back and decorative stud work wins hands down.

Photo featuring: Ava White Armchair

Colours

If you have a neutral decor scheme you may want to add a pop of yellow, rich blue or bold red these are all great options. These colours would also work well with a black or brown sofa to introduce a bold contrast to a room – you can also use the colour to base other accessories on.

You can of course also be a little more daring by choosing a completely different bold colour. Say you have a room with various shades of yellow then you could add a bright blue armchair, these work well together but your accent chair will become a feature that draws the eye.

Photo featuring: Grayson Fabric Armchair – Midnight Blue

Shape and texture

There are so many chair shapes available – we love the Reeves Rattan Armchair – ideal for a neutral coloured bedroom or the perfect small armchair for a morning coffee or afternoon reading.

The Oswald Armchair is a vintage brown leather and has both texture and shape with its luxurious super soft leather and gorgeous curves, the perfect addition to a funky living space.

Photo featuring: Oswald Armchair Vintage Brown Leather

Want to create a calming living room? Here’s how

Neutral colour scheme living room with cream sofa and industrial coffee table

Our living rooms need to cope with many different activities from a kids playroom and TV room to a sophisticated space to entertain guests – but it should also be a space for relaxing after a busy day. In this blog, we look at ways to create a refreshing and calming space.

Calming colours

The decor needs to be light and airy. Neutral, white or off-white walls is a great start, then you can introduce calming colours such as blue, green, pink, grey, white, violet or yellow – these are all colours that are known for their relaxation and calming properties. Reclaimed wood furniture is a great choice and works harmoniously with these colours. Natural daylight is the best way to light up a room so it should always be allowed to flow in.

Living room layout

The layout has a fundamental effect on the feel of a space. The largest piece of furniture, and where you will probably spend most your time sitting, is the sofa, so place this first – you can use elements of feng-shui to help layout the room and create a naturally calming feel. Ideally, you should position the sofa against a wall – to give a truly secure feeling it should be “anchored” against a solid wall. Furniture pieces should be positioned so that you, and good energy, can flow around the room. You may need to try your sofa in a couple of different positions before deciding on its final position.

Photo featuring: Hudson Living Ohio Cube Coffee Table

If you have the room you can opt for a large coffee table like the Hudson Living Ohio Cube coffee table, as featured above. Or the Lansdowne rustic coffee table, which has the added bonus of a shelf below as well as two drawers for hidden storage. For smaller spaces, the Luxe Kensington modern nest of tables would work – you only need to pull out the lower table when needed so the room does not feel cluttered.

Photo featuring: Luxe Kensington Reclaimed Wood Industrial Nest of Tables

Practical storage

As with any room in your house, being clutter-free is essential when creating a calming environment – a wooden sideboard, well-placed side tables and book display units will all help keep things in their place. A TV cabinet is a must-have – a place to keep all media-related items tidily together and essential to hide an ugly bundle of cables! The Abingdon reclaimed wood TV cabinet ticks all the boxes, it’s finished in a calming distressed white, has two cupboards and a hole for feed plugs through the back – perfect!

Photo featuring: Abingdon Reclaimed Wood TV Unit

Tranquil Textures

Now you have the main elements sorted you can turn your attention to the finer details, those homely finishing touches. Cushions, throws, a sofa blanket, a rug – these are all things where you can add additional splashes of colour and stamp your personality on the room. Add a table lamp for subtle lighting, set one on a sofa end table or in a reading corner. The mesmerising quality of candlelight makes them the perfect relaxation aid and you can try diffusers to add aromatherapy to your wind-down routine.

Photo featuring: Industrial Lansdowne Rustic Wood Side Table

Elements of nature

The importance of houseplants is well talked about – not only do they remove toxins and clean the air, they also enhance your mood and create a living space that is generally more soothing to be in. Houseplants blend with reclaimed wood beautifully, combining to make a space full of gorgeous natural elements. So we really should make room for some of these leafy lovelies in our calming living room!

Talking colour with The Little Greene Paint Company

Breathe a new lease of life in to your dining room

Industrial oak dinging table with dark grey leather dining chairs and industrial sideboard

Sometimes a room just needs a bit of a freshen up and a few new pieces to transform it into a space you and your loved ones will enjoy spending time in it again. Here are our top tips to breathe new life into you dining room….

A good place to start is to decide what style suits you and your room – farmhouse, modern, Scandi minimalist, retro? With so many styles on trend right now this can be the hardest decision.

Dining room furniture

Reclaimed wood dining tables come in so many shapes and sizes you will definitely find one to suit your needs – yes, this is a bit of an outlay but it will be a stunning centrepiece in your dining room for years to come. A rustic or industrial dining table will work well with so many interior styles you will easily be able to incorporate it in your next decor theme.

To inject a bit of luxury into your dining space you can add sumptuous velvet upholstered dining chairs or even a velvet dining bench, great for when you might need to squeeze a few extra around the table. If you have a growing family and sticky little fingers to deal with then some wipe-clean leather or faux leather dining chairs will instantly modernise your room without the need to replace other pieces of furniture.

If your dining room has become a bit cluttered over the last few months, a wooden sideboard will quickly fix this for you…. plus you can dress the top of the sideboard, hang a wall mirror over it and your room will have a very practical and stylish new feature.

Lighting

Your dining room may have been used as a school room or an office in recent months and you might just want to make a small change to switch it back to being (and feeling like) a dining room again. Natural pendant ceiling lights are making a huge comeback this year – our rattan and bamboo pendant lights are all produced from sustainably sourced materials and with a range of different styles to choose from this would give your dining room an instant update.

New table linen

If you are not in a position to replace your dining table then glam it up with crisp fresh table linen. You can choose linen that blends with your existing colour scheme or a colour that contrasts. Start with a white table cloth add a runner and napkins…..you don’t just have to stick to the table, get some cushions or throws to smarten up dining chairs or benches.

Atmospheric accessories

Last but not least…. Choose a new centrepiece for your dining table – you can add a candlestick, a decorative bowl, a vase with some dried flowers and grasses or a new houseplant. Scented candles and diffusers look lovely and will soothe your guests into after-dinner drinks and conversation. Same with lighting, a ceiling pendant is perfect when you are dining but the cosy glow of a table lamp is much better mood setter as the evening wears on.

How to create the perfect guest room and study combo

Bed with blue and white cushions next to wooden desk

Wouldn’t it be lovely to have plenty of rooms in our homes, so we had a spare bedroom made up, ready and waiting for last-minute guests?! However, for those of us lucky enough to have a spare room, many have been using it as an office or even a classroom for at least some time this year. If your spare room is working hard as a home office one minute and a guest bedroom the next, here we look at a few ideas to help make this a quick, pain-free and practical switch.

1) Choosing the right furniture

A matching reclaimed wood bed and desk combo is a great start. The chances are your guest room / office room will be on the smaller side so coordinating furniture is way more sleek than mismatched pieces. A white reclaimed wood desk with a wooden double bed is perfect for a smaller room giving it a more light and airy feel. If you can, position the home office desk next to the bed so it can easily be used as a nightstand by your guests or add a rustic mirror over your home office desk and, voila, you have a dressing table.

Photo featuring: Standford High Reclaimed Bed & Standford Reclaimed Wood Beside Table

2) Clear that clutter

You can stash away a whole lot of what you normally need on your desk in a chest of drawers when you are expecting guests…. and of course, they have somewhere to pop their clothes, so they are not living out of a bag during their stay. Another great storage option is a blanket box, a great place to store seasonal and guest bedding and towels, but also to hide away any office clutter.

Photo featuring: Savannah Reclaimed Wood Blanket Box

3) A touch of comfort

Reclaimed wood furniture, with its character there for all to see, gives a room a homely and warm feel. It matches well with neutral and bold colours and it also works in a traditional or an ultra-modern setting, making it super versatile. For extra cosiness put some scatter cushions on the bed and a bedside lamp on either the desk or a separate nightstand. A coordinating bedroom rug to step onto is also a nice touch. Choose a soothing colour that works as well in an office as it does in a bedroom – blues, greens and grey are great colours to consider.

Photo featuring: Standford Industrial Reclaimed Wood Desk

4) Little treats

Although you will go out of your way to look after your guests, we love the idea of leaving a little basket of tasty treats in their room. You could leave some peanuts or other savoury snacks out for them, some fresh fruit, as well as some sweet treats, perfect for if they feel a bit peckish before dinner – it also means that you can get on with preparing the main event without worrying if your guests need anything to keep them going until dinner is ready.

5) Toiletries

Generally, people do bring their own preferred products, but if they have forgotten something or are on a flying visit with hand luggage only, it’s a really lovely thought to have some toiletries ready for them to use, without having to dash to a shop! Have a little selection of “the basics” in a basket that you can put out along with their wash towels.