A few days  ago my apartment  was featured on the lovely Natelee Cocks Photography blog. It was so much fun to design this apartment and  I wanted to share  some detail and tips on the whole design process.The open area, living and dining, was designed to create a very relaxed atmosphere, by using some natural wood elements as well as some linen fabrics and a natural textured rug.

The natural colours are very soothing and by adding just a hint of colour with accessories it is a winning combination.

The design process started with a beautiful mood board. We had our eye on a amazing ash wood  dining table and white dining chairs (locally available from Objects of Design). We just loved the colour of the wooden dining table – fresh and light, which  also complimented the already fitted dark wooden floors of the apartment. From these selections as a starting point, the rest of the room took shape. In terms of our requirements, a workstation for two was a must, (an elegant furniture item functional and practical for daily use. On the list also was a large comfortable contemporary couch and a modern slick TV unit.

Space planning was done for the area in terms of the required furniture and the below layouts were developed.  This provides the client an idea of the proportion and scale of furniture in the space. Proper space planning including custom made furniture provides an illusion of a much larger space which benefits the overall final look of the room.

It is not always easy to find the right size of furniture or exactly what you prefer on the market so the majority of the furniture was custom made to specified sizes in accordance to required standards and drawn in 3D with specifications of materials as shown below.

The smallest detail was evaluated and taken into account during the design process; size and location TV, speakers and  subwoofer. The size and width of couch for client’s comfort and taste etc. (the working desk even has a concealed opening for all the messy cables to be hidden). The detail is very important for me as this will make the space work, especially aesthetically.

Thus the final design which came to life looked like this:

The beautiful glass transparent hanging pendant lights are from MOOD  in MOE.  The stylish copper standing light are from BO CONCEPT. The natural textured rug was a very lucky sale item from West Elm and the funky black and white cushions as well as the grey cushions are available locally from IKEA, just to add some accent colours. The pastel blue cushions were custom made with amazing soft linen fabric from ROMO fabrics.   The organic bowl for the flowers on the dining table is from THE One.

All artwork supplied by Karen Wandrag.

In terms of the wall colour’s Jotun’s  Skylight White was used and for the accent wall colour Jotun’s Reflection to have a beautiful contrast between the white lacquered wall units.

And there you have it a bit of background into the whole design process.