dining room Archives - Page 32 of 39

It’s official, luxury traditional tweed is irresistibly gorgeous

Fabrics in the home need to long-lasting, wear well and be fit for purpose. They also need to be stylish and colourful, as well as offering different properties depending on their use.

Fabric is everywhere in our homes from the plush, soft cushions to the gathers of fabrics as curtains and blinds. It is, of course, the outer layer of the fabric dining chairs that look so elegant in the dining room, as well as the sofa and armchairs of the lounge.

But we wondered, which material do our customers prefer when it comes to a sofa? Would people opt for the cool to the touch but ever-so-elegant brown leather sofa or would the pleasant feel and warmth of a tweed upholstered sofa hit the mark?

We Asked, You Answered

And so, we took to both Instagram and Houzz to pose the question. We gave you an idea of one of best selling brown leather sofas in the shape of the Bamford Chesterfield sofa. Available in leather and tweed, you told us what you thought.

There was a clear favourite: tweed. Winning hands down on both Houzz and Instagram, you told us that tweed was the choice when it came to the sofa fabric.

What is Tweed?

It is a woollen fabric, with a soft, open and flexible texture. Slightly ‘rough’ to the touch, it is a fabric that when spun into a closely woven pattern, is incredibly strong and long-lasting. As it is a natural product, it has fantastic insulation properties as well as a whole raft of benefits and superpowers.

In the busy family home, it makes an ideal fabric for all kinds of upholstery applications, from fabric dining chairs around your reclaimed wood dining table to bold coloured or understated patterned armchairs by the wood coffee table near the fire.

And it is probably these qualities, along with the fact it looks and feels great, properties not easily diminished over time, that the majority of our customers answered the poll with a resounding yes to tweed.

In recent years, we have noted an increase in the popularity of tweed. It fell out of favour for a while, seen as old-fashioned. But with new life breathed into it in terms of colours and patterns, tweed is now a staple of the new urban modern styling we are witnessing.

Leather: NOT the Poor Relation

But it wasn’t a complete whitewash in terms of tweed versus leather. There was a strong showing in support of leather and no wonder.

One comment was clear: leather was the favoured choice because it is an easy-care fabric, looks good and stays looking good for a long time. Leather dining chairs make sense – simply wipe away sticky finger marks and blobs of jam – and the brown leather sofa is the ‘old favourite’, the addition to the home that sees all of life from the tears to the laughter.

Leather never falls out of fashion. Suited to many different interior styles, including the note of warmth in a rustic interior and the added-detail-without-fuss to the industrial styled living room, it is an understated, versatile fabric.

Why not join our next poll? Find us on Instagram or Houzz to join in the fun!

What do you think: is tweed the new popular trend?

As you know, we canvass opinions on all kinds of interior design subjects and this time, we wanted to know your thoughts on tweed.

We Asked, You Answered

We wanted to know if you thought tweed, as a material for sofas and armchairs, was an upholstery choice that was on trend. It was a close-run thing but tweed just pipped leather into second place when it came to both sofas and armchairs.

What is tweed?

Tweed is a softly weaved wool, a material that is warm to the touch, appealing to the eye and surprisingly hard wearing and robust, perfect for the modern home.

Being made from wool, it is a natural product thus its insulation and cooling properties are legendary. Using only the best quality wool, manufacturers create all kinds of colours and patterns for use on armchairs and sofas using a mix of the old and modern.

And it is probably these modern patterns, colours and prints that make tweed an attractive and popular choice for the modern consumer, with an eye for style and detail.

Creating Your Bespoke Armchair

Fabric dining chairs are a delight but, for many of our customers, the mixing of fabric with sticky fingers, spills and stains at the dining table ‘rules out’ fabric.

We have a solution, as you would expect, that doesn’t compromise on style not blow your budget. The Castello dining chair is a thing of beauty, bringing sheer elegance to any dining table. Opt for the leather upholstered seat but why not include a Harris tweed upholstered back, choosing a check that compliments or contrasts (the choice is yours, after all).

When it comes to leather or fabric dining chairs, why choose when you can have both? Frankly, mixing the best of both worlds with leather dining chairs and Harris tweed is a very desirable solution.

Contemporary Styling…

… with a dash of the traditional is how we would describe the combining of leather and tweed, with the iconic shape of the Chesterfield sofa and armchair.

Let us consider this heady mix, for a moment, in the contemporary styled living room: you want a sharpness to the clean lines of your sofa and leather armchair, but you want the exquisite detailing that sets it apart from the clinical look. You want detail without the fuss, colour without brashness.

The answer is the combination of leather and tweed as seen with the Birley sofa and the grey armchair, with leather casing.

Long established beauty

It is a struggle between function and beauty, and not just in the living room. Leather, we assume is the must-have option, so practical and easy to maintain. A fabric is, we assume, the opposite, requiring dry cleaning, specialist equipment and effort to keep it looking and feeling pristine.

But tweed won’t let you down, especially Harris Tweed because it is made from the finest wool. The processing of the wool follows a long-established process – if it works, why fix it? – which produces a beautiful soft-to-the-touch fabric that can be used and admired for years.

Combining the traditional with the modern is not a step too far with Harris tweed and the finest leather.

How to transform your space with tweed

Nothing defines the feeling of a room like the fabrics used to decorate it. Whatever your style, if carefully incorporated, tweed can look truly fantastic. It is soft, warm and is also perfect to inject some colour into your space – making it a great addition all year round, not only in the winter like you might think.

The Harris Tweed we use to upholster our furniture is sublime. Luxurious and sophisticated, Harris Tweed is the only fabric in the world governed by an Act of Parliament. The Act protects the brand from cheaper, low quality imitations so customers can be confident they are buying only the highest quality product. But there are many other benefits to tweed too: its fantastically hard wearing, is stylish, warm, and supports British trade too! To find out more about Harris Tweed, click here.

There are plenty of ways you can inject tweed into your space. Soft furnishings like cushions are a great way of trying out the trend without making a huge investment on larger items of furniture, like a sofa.

However, if you’re feeling brave, fabric dining chairs look wonderful upholstered in tweed. You could even have a tweed chair at each end of your dining table with leather or wooden chairs along each end to break it up and create an interesting décor scheme.

Something like the Castello Leather Dining Chair is perfect. The combination of fabric and leather has created this beauty – a dining chair you will fall in love with and will receive endless compliments on its style and comfort from dinner guests. The sleek, simple design of these brown leather dining chairs is another style that would look stunning upholstered in tweed and paired with a light reclaimed wooden table.

If you’re just looking for a statement tweed chair at each end of your table, a dining chair with arms like the Scout Grand Leather and Harris Tweed Dining Chair is a great option. The button back design contrasted against the leather, gives this chair a fantastic, rustic look. Alternatively, the Eriksson Grand Leather and Harris Tweed Dining Chair is great for an ultra-modern take on tweed.

If you have a breakfast bar, you could even go for fabric bar stools for a sophisticated, rustic aesthetic. The gorgeous wooden base of the Parker Leather Bar Stool pairs beautifully with tweed and would look great in a country kitchen.

And what about colour? Have some fun with your interior with bright or pastel colours for a fresh splash of colour. Multi coloured dining chairs are fantastic for turning a typically functional room into a stylish haven perfect for hosting dinner parties. Alternatively, go for natural earthy tones to create a tranquil space that is elegant and timeless.

What do you think about tweed in your home?

New emerging colour predictions of the year!

With 2018 on the doorstep, designers are turning their attention to watch what the New Year will bring in terms of fashions, trends and colours. A colour adds atmosphere to a space, giving it personality and character. So, what do all the big players predict will be big colours for the coming year?

Colour in its Boldest Form

The last few years have been fairly muted in terms of colours and shades, perhaps a reflection of the austere times we have found ourselves in. From barely-there colours to muted greys, they are being left behind with colour coming back and in its boldest form too.

We have scoured online interior design magazines and looked to leading colourists Pantone to see what colours will be making their way into our homes in 2018.

#1 Colourful

House Beautiful tell us that colour will be bold and strong, saturated and strong, a great way to describe what Pantone is calling ‘Playful’ colour schemes. Don’t think 80s neon, however, as you may have missed the word ‘strong’.

So, if 2018 is the year you opt for yellow, opt for a fun canary yellow or if you want the freshness, mellowness of green, opt for a strong, almost-lime, statement green.

Strong colours work well in all major rooms in the home, but we think the playfulness of these colour scheme would be at its glorious best in the dining room or kitchen/diner.

Don’t overload the space, however. Maintain a muted background with neutral dining furniture and wood dining table, keeping the strong colour to one wall if you are not brave enough for a canary yellow dining room. Use slightly less-strong colours – grey, blue and a toned down green – in accessories to keep an air of frivolity without turning back the clock to Day-Glo 80s neon.

#2 Black is the New Black

Black is not in the Pantone 2018 palette – but a deep, ‘sailor blue’ is and that’s good enough for us – but some of the top, online interior magazines are naming black as the new black.

And we love it! We never fell out with it, especially not in the living room. We love the dark, matter black moodiness in alcoves or on one wall, offset with copper lamp shades and fittings, as well as copper, brass or gold framed mirrors.

Offset it further with a hint of jazz such as blue armchair, and add a glimmer of understated detail with patterned rugs. Keeps the lights on low and let the candles flicker – what is there not to love about the romantic appeal of black?

We also noted that some magazines were extolling the virtue or black flooring: could matte black laminate or vinyl be the surprise interior design trend for 2018?

#3 Subtle

Canary yellow and matte black may not be your thing and so there is a third option predicted to be big this coming year: the subtle group of colours is what you would expect. Subtle, light and delightful but the surprise colour for us was pink.

Pantone called it Pink Lavender, a darkish, almost almond pink or there is Almost Mauve if you want no more than a hint of pink. Coconut Milk, Warm Sands and a dove grey Harbour Mist are also being touted by Pantone as a colour scheme, a perfect choice, we think, for the rustic bedroom. Could it be that the ‘seaside’ influence has yet to disappear?

What colour scheme will it be in your home in 2018?

Freshen up your home this year with a burst of colour!

Louis De Poortere Fading World Rug - Beige Cream

The New Year is a time for making changes – that’s why most of us make a New Year’s resolution or two, right? If you are looking to make some changes in your home and bringing it to life in 2018, why not do it with a burst of colour?

Why colour is great

When it comes to colour in the home, most of us tend to shy away and tend to stick with those tried and tested hues that will never look outdated. But even the smallest of touches can make a huge difference to the look of your space.

Colour has a wonderful ability to bring character to your home, whether it is a new home, an old home or a rented space, allowing you to inject a bit of your personality. This makes it the perfect option for decorating kids and teens bedrooms – using white or grey as the base colour for brighter accents allows your kids to express their personality without doing permanent damage or forcing you to shell out a fortune on a style they may not love forever.

Louis de Poortere Atlantic Ocean Blue Waves Rug

A bold, bright colour is also fantastic for bringing together different design eras in an intentional clash of styles. The classic rustic dining table you’re not sure works with the industrial sideboard you fell in love with and bought on a whim – a touch of colour could be the answer!

And why not have some fun with your decor? We spend so much time at home, so make it a space which gives you the sunny energy you need to motivate you in your non-stop life.

Go bold

Don’t be afraid to pick a colour with your furniture, especially if your walls and floor are kept fairly plain. There is an argument to be made that you shouldn’t go for trends with large investment pieces like furniture, but if you love it, go for it!

Maddox Industrial Reclaimed Elm Dining Table and Chairs

Mix and match colours for an eclectic look with plenty of personality. There aren’t really any rules when it comes to decorating so have fun with it. If you are looking to bring colour to your dining room, multicoloured chairs around the table look fantastic. If you have six seats around your table, a selection of three colours will create a fun space that you’ll be proud of hosting dinner parties in. Pair with mixed metals for a glam yet interesting aesthetic.

Colourful seating options are bound to make an impact, creating a space which feels energetic and luxurious. Decorate your sofa with colourful cushions or choose a bespoke sofa to make an impact. A green sofa looks truly luxurious but is a colour which has been seen in home decor for years so is unlikely to look dated too quickly. Bring the green to life with an abundance of green scatter cushions or some indoor plants – the perfect spring addition to your room.

If you’re not sure about a sofa, a wingback armchair in a bold colour can look fantastic. Pair with a neutral sofa to add some unexpected colour or create a cosy reading nook in the corner of your living room, dining room or even kitchen.

Add colour over a large area, for example on a rug or on floor-length curtains to make the colour a prominent feature. The larger item creates a definite colour scheme in your room and will create an easy statement which requires little thought. Pepper the room with the same shade in smaller accessories to tie the scheme together.

Keep it subtle

If you’re not too sure about going for colour with your furniture, using it to accessorise is an easy way to try it out without the investment. Adding hints of colour through lighting and small accessories makes for a stylish, refined interior.

The great thing about adding subtle pops of colour is you can keep your decor seasonable without breaking the bank. For example, colour coding books will add a burst of colour to your living room or hallway that will look truly striking.

The subtle addition of colour also means you can play around with a wider selection of colours. You don’t have to stick with one colour – you could pick a colour theme. For example, go with warm, sunset shades for a comfortable, luxurious look that would work beautifully with rustic furniture styles. A mix of fuchsia, peach and cooper would look stunning against an otherwise neutral room if done well.

Backdrop

When it comes to the floors and walls, you really can do what you like. But if you are looking to create a subtle, classic vibe, a crisp white or soft grey wall with wooden floors is a great choice. Go for wooden furniture which can be accessorised with colour for a rustic, Scandi inspired look in your home.

If you can, also try and create the illusion of more space. Bright lighting and using cleverly placed large mirrors will open up your space, reflecting light around the room. But if you are looking for a more permanent option, having diagonal wooden flooring can really widen the room.

Alternatively, dark colours like navy on the walls are great to make colours pop, especially if you are going to use jewel-coloured furniture. This will create a dramatic and sophisticated effect – almost as if you’ve walked into a stylish boutique hotel.

Tips for adding colour

Try and stick to three colours, especially if you are going for three entirely different colours. The idea is to bring the room to life with clever colour accents that you won’t fall out of love with immediately, but you do run that risk if you create a rainbow of colour. Adding more than three colours also makes it tricky to pepper the colour throughout the room, creating a room which lacks coordination.

Secondly, always think about the adjoining room. Try and pick out one of the colours in your room and add a touch of that colour in the next room to create uniformity when the door is open.

What do you think? Will you be injecting a bit of colour into your home this year?

Our favourite customer comments of the year

As we wave goodbye to 2023, we became reflective of what a great year it has been. We have had amazing opportunities come our way and faced challenges that have made our business better and stronger.

We have fantastic products and a customer service that is really beginning to shine above customer expectations.

We didn’t realise the difference our business and products make until you started to tell us just how happy our quality reclaimed wood furniture, from the king bed to the sideboard makes you.

Products

For example, a recent customer was so delighted with their Winchester Reclaimed Wood Bed – [it] is the single nicest piece of furniture we’ve ever had, absolutely love it – that they took time out of their busy day to email us.

We’re are delighted that our products, customer service and delivery make you smile and the emails have been flooding in.

Claire from Pontefract loved her Derby Reclaimed Wood Extending Dining Table… “amazing table with really thought-out details that reflect the quality of the workmanship. I’m delighted with it”.

And Jasmine was head over heels in love with her delivery and we were pleased to note that “the furniture was exactly as it appeared in the picture and great quality”

We choose all our pieces carefully, making sure we get the best reclaimed wood and by using skilled craftspeople, we know that the design and the final product will be of the highest standards. What we have changed over the year is the way we photograph our range.

We want the best reproductive quality for our photos not just because they look good, but because this is the best way for our online shoppers to get an accurate idea of what they are ordering.

Customer Service

Nina is a recent addition to our team and with many years’ experience in customer service, she has set about improving our service to you. And it’s been working…

“What really stands out about this company is their excellent customer service”

We pledge to always ‘go out of our way’ to make everything about buying from us one of the best retail experiences you will have.

So when you order from us in 2024, why not leave us a review and better still, email us photos of the piece in your home, complete with your own stamp and personality on it.

Delivery

A big part of what we do is making sure that what you have ordered, whether it is one of our small wooden sideboards or one of biggest reclaimed wood dining table get to you in perfect condition. And that means a delivery team that know exactly what they are doing.

And it seems we have been getting it right…

“The delivery guys were really excellent – punctual friendly and careful moving stuff in. We’ve had some terrible delivery experiences recently, but your guys were perfect”

“The delivery men were on time and really friendly.”

“The delivery gents were exceptional, well-mannered and assisted in carrying all furniture to the correct rooms. Fantastic!”

We’ve had so many great comments over the last year that we can’t include them all but we want to finish with this one…

Nothing has been too much trouble and Katie has gone out of her way to make sure we were happy. Thank you, Modish Living!

The most popular decor trends of 2017

As we bid 2017 goodbye, we often look forward to the coming spring trends of 2018. But it wouldn’t be fitting to wave adieu to 2017 without taking a look back at what the year offered in terms of décor trends. What did we love and what didn’t catch on?

Sophisticated Pastels

A definite win was the palette of sophisticated pastels that suit any room in the home. But think beyond sugary pinks and watered-down blues. The must-have colour was Millennial Pink, a colour described as ‘very now, but timeless’.

It was and is a beautiful colour, perfect for bedroom decorations. Think of a ‘grapefruit shade of apricotty salmon’ and you are there. Not too sugary, not too dark, a perfect balance between introducing a colour to a space but just enough to not be too light that it is a mere whisper of a colour but not too dark that it looks like a bedroom of a princess-obsessed little girl.

Will it stay? Possibly but there are also some stronger colours making their way into the home this coming year, although we are yet to see what the Pantone Colour of the Year 2018 is yet…

Local Materials

The other trend that we loved was the growing movement to buy local, whether this was from smaller artisan craftspeople or sourcing companies that used British designers and materials.

There was also a growing trend for upcycling and recycling, with our reclaimed wood furniture becoming increasingly popular too. Customers love the romance of reclaimed wood, the fact that as a table, the English beams have a story that they will never tell…

Black-Finish Metals

Metal is always a popular material but black-finish metal has placed industrial furniture back in the eye of the creative homeowner over the year.

At one time, bright, polished stainless steel or aluminium was a must, and then came the brass-effect look. But 2017 saw us embrace the black-finish metal with its satisfying heaviness, without being too clunky or demanding.

The industrial style Maddox dining table is a fine example or this exquisite piece, the Luxe Kensington console table with it cross legs and reclaimed wood top.

Moody, Jewel-Colour Interiors

For depth, there was no doubt that 2017 was the year for strong, moody, earthy colours. And we loved the jewel tones that once again graced dining rooms, living rooms, bedrooms and hallways of the modern home.

As well as jewel-coloured dining chairs – think plush velvet in amethyst and turquoise blue, the colour of the depth of the ocean – adding coloured rugs to a space was a great way of switching things up. This striped Louise de Poortere green rug is the perfect addition to any room and any style, from the modern to the rustic.

What didn’t quite make it…

The signs were there but the beach effect was a difficult trend to pull off, especially in a way that was more adult than child’s bedroom. But we did love the nods to the beach or oceanscape theme with deep blue rugs and the occasional reference to all things maritime.

What will 2018 hold for us in terms of interior décor and style, we wonder?

Party games to try this year

Parties are tremendous fun, a great way to relax and enjoy the company of others. However, there’s no reason to sit around the dining room furniture making small talk all evening. With these great party game ideas, no matter whether it is an adult-only party or a Christmas celebration with adults and children, we have some great party game ideas!

Suitable for…

Mixed parties: Baubles on the Tree

A quick game to welcome guests as they arrive. Ask them how many baubles they think are on your tree. Works exactly the same as ‘number of sweets in a jar’. Get your guests to write their name and guess on a piece of paper and keep it in a jar on the rustic coffee table until you announce the winner.

Child-focused parties: Christmas scavenger hunt

For some children (and adults too!) a big party gathering can be overwhelming and party games can be the activities they need to help them mix and mingle.

You can either create your own hunting cards or download pre-printed ones and make sure you have all the items hidden around your home. You can bring the game into the 21^st century and ask your guests to photograph the item in situ. Give prizes to those who have all the items photographed on their phone!

Mixed parties: Draw a Christmas scene

When your guests are gathered around your reclaimed wood dining table, give them a pen or pencil and a piece of paper each. You will now give instructions, without discussing and your guests are to draw on the paper what you say…

INSTRUCTIONS

Draw a line for a floor
Draw a Christmas tree and add decorations as you like
Draw a star on top of the tree
Draw a fireplace with a mantelpiece next to the tree
Draw a stocking hanging from the mantelpiece
Draw a present below the tree

You may think you can’t go wrong with instructions but as you continue the game, you will realise the different interpretations people will have put on the instructions given.

Award points as follows:

2 points if their tree is touching the floor
2 points if the stocking is touching the mantelpiece
1 point if the star touches the tree
1 point if the star is above the tree
4 points if they drew more than 4 baubles on the tree
1 point if they included tinsel on their Christmas tree
1 point if your tree is a safe distance from the fireplace!
2 points if you drew a cute motif on the Christmas stocking
2 points if your present is under the tree

What other suggestions can you think of? The idea is to award the prize to the person with the most artistic picture and the most points too.

Adult party game: Global Christmas traditions quiz

Sometimes, you need a quiz with a difference and for this one, you will need to do your research. Take a look at some of the weird and wonderful Christmas traditions practised in countries across the world, creating a quiz that will both educate and provide plenty of laughs.

The harder you can make it the better. Have bonus questions worth triple points and simply enjoy the laughter this kind of quiz brings. Great for smaller parties, with guests lounging in a comfy armchair or two and for New Year parties, bring a few New Year traditions into it too.

Whatever the get together, throwing a few games into the mix is sure to make it memorable. Enjoy the party!

Our most read blog posts of the year

The aim of our blog is simple – to give you ideas on how to create the style and finish you want in your home. And it seems that our articles and posts are hitting the right notes.

With this in mind, we took a look back at the three most popular blogs. And what they tell us is interesting…

5 Interior Design Styles

Take a moment to read any interior design or lifestyle blog, and you will see it talks about various trends and must-have styles. But the problem is that even though the photos look appealing and you decide a certain style will work for you, it is often impossible to recreate the style in your own home.

This blog looked at the basics of five of the most popular interior design styles, from rustic to industrial. It included key elements that made an interior style rustic or farmhouse, or what materials need to combine to give the industrial looking edge to your home or the mid-20^th Century modern that so many of us enjoy. Well worth another look!

Read the blog here.

Welcoming Spring with the Farmhouse Style

There is something comforting, yet elegantly stylish and unfussy about the farmhouse look that makes for it being so popular. It is practical without every element of detail or design being eliminated. It came as no surprise to find that the second most popular blog from this year was this piece of how to create the farmhouse style in your home.

We know it can be hard to reproduce the style across the home, so with this blog, we took a room by room approach. It looked at how to use open shelving – great for the studio, study or living room – as well as other farmhouse furniture staples work well to create the style.

It examined how to create a cohesive farmhouse style in the kitchen and the dining room, as well as a look at which accessories work well with the style. Take another look at how to create the farmhouse style in your home, no matter what time of year.

How to Choose the Perfect Wood Dining Table

It is an item of furniture that lasts for years and years. Rarely replaced, the dining table needs to be universally stylish. Choosing the right dining room sets can take a long time, especially with so much choice.

Wood is the favoured material as it ‘fits’ all design styles, from the rustic to the industrial style, as well as the uber-modern. But which shape? Which design? What style? What about dining chairs – upholstered or leather? Or is a dining bench a better option?

With so many questions that need answering, many people turned to a popular blog we published in the summer. This was our third most popular blog – and is still racking up visitors – and no wonder because choosing a wooden dining table that offers everything you need is a tough decision!

Take a look at the blog again for help to choose the best wood dining table for your home.

We’ve thoroughly enjoyed providing inspiration through our blog this year – what would you like to see us cover next?