I like to think that I'm not too curmudgeonly, but I'm not keen on a house that's totally overrun by kid's plastic toys; they are so often unsightly to the eye and ear. Despite this, most rooms have toys and play spaces and there's plenty of evidence of the small Borrower who lives with us everywhere (like a Borrower she believes that everything should be hers and the big people are just here to service her needs. She's constantly trying to persuade me that anything pretty I possess should be handed over to her and not above above secretly sequestering things she particularly likes).
The Sitting Room, however, is OUR space - it's totally grown up and is resisting the tide of toys. You can't fail to notice the massive Fornasetti Mural on the back wall - the ceilings here are too low for pictures on walls, so I thought we'd just make the whole wall a picture. This is from Cole & Sons and it is in my top five favourite things in the whole house. Pale French Grey walls are cool but characterful, changing in the different lights. Two massively comfy, low and soft Loaf Souffle sofas hunker down in a beautiful pale grey cloth by Linwood Fabrics. My anally retentive side fell hard for the Souffle - I love cushions on sofas, but I prefer the sofas themselves without cushions.
I once had the pleasure of spending a lot of time in the most beautiful house I've ever seen - Cothay Manor in Somerset. It has the most fabulous gardens, but it was the interior that inspired me so much. They had one room which was dark, low ceilinged, treasures on each table - they called this room their "Winter Cosy". Although our sitting room is really nothing like it, that's just the atmosphere I'm going for. We've got a gorgeous old wood burning stove in here and I'm planning on a ladder shelf in the corner which will be stacked with blankets, cushions and eiderdowns; it's a place for the family to nestle down together, the very home of hygge.
