Let's talk furniture!

Kirstie
Community Manager
Community Manager
London, United Kingdom

Let's talk furniture!

Furniture.png

 

Hi all!

 

I recently visited the London Design Museum and it inspired me to pay more attention to the various designs around us. Furniture is obviously a key feature in any home and I know many of you pride yourself in your coordinated or eclectic collections, so I thought it would be fun to discuss it here!

 

What kind of furniture do you have/like? Are you an Ikea/Scandi furniture type of person or do you prefer more antique styles? Perhaps you prefer styles from certain countries? 

 

I'd also be interested to know what design means to you - are looks or practicality more important? 

 

Feel free to share your photos! If using photos that aren't your own please include the source 🙂

 

Looking forward to seeing your comments!

 

Kirstie

35 Replies 35
Roz4
Level 10
Auckland, New Zealand

@Kirstie

What a great topic! I'm particular about my furniture all matching- I'm not clever enough to do "eclectic" well. However, I spent so much money on building my space, linen and the bed, that I had little left for furniture. So I bought all second hand things and have chalk painted them to match. I LOVE Annie Sloan Chalk paints, they make anything look good!

 

I get a lot of positive feedback in my reviews about the furnishings, so its great to know you dont have to spend a lot to make a positive impression.

 

I have been saving lots of beautiful listings in Prague, Budapest, Lisbon and Venice to my wish list, as Im off to Europe in Sept.  I know Im going to come back over flowing with ideas.  I need more listings so I can try inventing every style!

Kirstie
Community Manager
Community Manager
London, United Kingdom

Hi @Roz4,

 

That's a great idea to buy second hand furniture and then paint them all in the same way so that they match! It's great that you get such positive feedback about your furnishings.

 

I just had a look at your listings to see what you mean about the furniture and they're beautiful! Very stylish. I love your dining room chairs with the hole design on the back!

 

What's your favourite piece of furniture that you own? Do you think practicality or looks are more important?

 

Wow a Europe trip! I bet you're excited - I'm sure Prague, Bupdapest, Lisbon and Venice will give you lots of design inspiration. It would be great if you could create new listings, each with a different style!  

 

Kirstie

Roz4
Level 10
Auckland, New Zealand

@Kirstie 

Its nice to hear you say you like the chairs- they were a fabulous find on eBay! Only $65ea new. We have kids- so the plastic is great to wipe down, but the wooden legs add some sophistication/style.  

Im sooo practical, so I choose practically when it comes to furniture, but it still has to Look good! My favourite piece is a cabinet I bought for $100 second hand and it serves as the "junk drawers" for the kids pens and art supplies and all that stuff that lies around a family home and needs a place to go- nail clippers, hairbrushes... I've considered painting it, but I don't think I could do it justice, it's nice to have some wood. 

Kirstie
Community Manager
Community Manager
London, United Kingdom

@Roz4 wow they are a great find! It's really satisfying when you find great pieces at a reasonable price! That cabinet sounds lovely - very practical but stylish too.

Kirstie
Community Manager
Community Manager
London, United Kingdom

You might be interested in participating in this, @Andrea@Tiffany11@Harry22@David-and-Fiona0@Patricia86@Gerry-And-Rashid0@Claudia2@Robin44@An-Nhien0@Forest1@LivandBertie0@Kitty-and-Creek0@Veronica9@Helga0@Michelle-and-Clint0!

 

It would be great to hear your ideas!

 

Kirstie

I have a backwoods treehouse, @Kirstie, and so have licence to go all pinterest and make a table from a pallet, seats from unsplitable tree stumps, etc. No worries about damage 🙂

I would go dezeen.com-emerging-Canadian-designers, though, if I were creating a nice space from scratch. Was in Toronto - stayed with a lovely AirBnB host - while the Interior Design Show was on a couple of weeks ago, and it was inspiring, the stuff of dreams. 

Kirstie
Community Manager
Community Manager
London, United Kingdom

That's great @Lawrene0 that you can make and use some more unusual furniture! There's definitely a charm to using a tree stump as a chair :). Your treehouse looks lovely - it must be quite magical sleeping up there! My dad made me a treehouse when I was younger but it was on the ground so I never had the excitement of climbing up to it!

 

I imagine the Interior Design Show must be inspiring! Was there any particular piece of furniture you would love to own? 

A treehouse on the ground? Set into the trunk, @Kirstie? That would be cool. 

Nothing in particular, re the furniture. I'm a big fan of @Roz4's recycling and gorgeous colours. Really beautiful, Roz. 

Kirstie
Community Manager
Community Manager
London, United Kingdom

It wasn't quite as cool as you might think @Lawrene0 - it was a kind of triangular shape, with planks of wood between 3 trees and a sort of tin roof. It didn't even have a floor! Yours is definitely cooler 😉

 

I agree with you about @Roz4's furniture! Great taste!

Hi @Kirstie, hi all,

 

amazing to see all the comments and realisations. Thanks Kristie launching this topic.

 

Yes, me too -  I commit, I'm a freak when it comes to furniture, little space, functionality and "feeling home and on a holiday" all at the same time - can you feel it crossing the doorstep? Yes? Well, then furniture and light does a lot creating the atmosphere.

 

Nothing in our house is bought all together - each furniture has been chosen over the last years piece by piece. Only the kitchen doors are built out of the same "industrialised" wood, but the whole doesn't really exist in a catalogue. As we hate thinking "work" when being home, even the kitchen corner needs to feel like a coffee bar, but not like a kitchen. Machines are hidden behind a handy metallic shutter and the dish washer is "unvisible".

 

The living room is a mix of old, retreated (former bread armoire) or smoked wood (floor) and the design and fabric colors totally out of fashion, but pretty close to local, traditional colours you find in black forest nature.

 

And the bathroom...simply typical German from the 80's. How many times did I want to modernise, but it doesn't always have to be "new" all the time, to feel good and like being somewhere else in space and time.

 

As soon as you see a smile on your guests faces - the job is done 🙂 .

 

 

Enjoy travelling with airbnb!

 

 

 

 

Viele Grüsse,

Claudia

Outdoor and Relax in Black Forest

@Claudia2, your house looks very welcoming, everything fits together very well. 

For the bathroom, you could paint the tiles to change the look completely. There are special paints, you need a first layer that serves as basis and sticks to tiles and then one or two layers of paint. We did that in the apartment we rented in the South. The owner did not want to renovate and we did not want to go through all the work and expenses to tile the bathroom. 

For an upper layer, we used white, but my husband stirred in some pigments he used normally for his oil painting. As it was in Sète, where they have tournaments between red and blue teams, he used red pigments on one wall and blue on the other. That gave a marble effect and looked good. It can be cleaned, as long as you do not scrub too hard. It stood normal cleaning, bleach and vinegar for several years, till we gave up the apartment. 

 

Thank you @Helga0, this is a good idea. I always hesitated with painting due to the cleaning possibilities and restrictions versus hygenie. I can imagine very well how you describe the bathroom in Sete, that must be amazing in these intense colorful and natural surroundings.

Will check the products you recommend. Also I thougt, why not painting it white and asking the guests to leave a message or sketch on the tiles....you can pass hours in the bathroom and have a real good excuse.... hhmmm.... collecting some inspirations thanks to you 🙂

 

Viele Grüsse,

Claudia

Outdoor and Relax in Black Forest

Kirstie
Community Manager
Community Manager
London, United Kingdom

@Claudia2 I love the idea of asking guests to write messages in the bathroom! That's a nice personal touch 🙂

Roz4
Level 10
Auckland, New Zealand

Annie Sloan is bringing out new floor paints too for that purpose. You can also do some layered stencilling (don't think back to the 90's), for added effect. I'm taking a morning workshop on it soon so I can do the front entrance in our home.