How interiors insiders really style their own living spaces

Whether it’s a space for relaxing, with a calm, soothing scheme, or a hard-working room packed with colour and personality, our living rooms need to be flexible yet stylish. If you’re looking for inspiration for yours, take a look at the rooms of our favourite home influencers and bloggers and find out how they style them…

‘I love to come home to a calm space that’s inspired by nature,’ says Dee Campling, a Cheltenham-based interior designer and stylist with 158,000 followers on Instagram. ‘In my living room, I’ve kept to a muted palette with lots of texture and natural materials, such as wood and wicker, combined with an abundance of houseplants to add a sense of tranquility.’ 

Dee’s created a welcoming retreat by layering lots of textured accessories. Combine rugs, cushions and throws in cotton, faux fur and linen to add to the sense of wellbeing. ‘It’s a calm space where you can just pause for a while,’ says Dee.

‘Our living room is our sanctuary at the end of the working day,’ say creative duo Jordan Cluroe and Russell Whitehead of 2LG Studio, London. ‘But we also love to entertain – having mates around for cocktails or an OTT G&T with elderflower and cucumber is our favourite thing. We inevitably need extra seats for guests, so have made a drinks area out of a little nook that was just being ignored.’

Jordan and Russell have used a compact tub-style accent chair and low-level storage unit to make the most of this corner, keeping the look elegant with touches of brass and dark wood. ‘Bar carts aren’t the only way to serve drinks to friends,’ says Russell.

‘I’m an inner maximalist,’ says interiors enthusiast and fashion designer Amanda Cotton of houselust. ‘So naturally I was drawn to this mustard sofa of dreams. It’s given my living room that much-needed lift. Being bold with colour and pattern, and mixing different prints and fabrics such as velvet and embroidery brings out my boho side.’

In her living room, Amanda’s brought in plenty of accessories to really channel that maximalist feel. ‘I do have a vase obsession… and a girl can never have too many cushions,’ she laughs.

London-based Geraldine Tan, editor of the design, interiors and lifestyle blog Little Big Bell, set out to create a living room that was flexible yet still looked great, reflecting her love of colour. ‘Some people worry about using colour in a small space, thinking it may make it look smaller,’ explains Geraldine. ‘But this is not the case. Colour to me opens up a space and makes it happy and bright. In my living room, I wanted to create a space that was both flexible and aesthetically pleasing. It’s no longer a room just for lounging in – although I do that a lot – but a space that works for work, play, eating and entertaining in.’

Pops of colour against Geraldine’s light-grey walls help define the space, along with clever pieces of furniture that are flexible and stylish, too. ‘This space caters for everything from homework at the dining table to blog-post writing on the sofa,’ she says.

Dan of interiors blog Miller Grey, based in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, refers to his living room as a ‘weekend room’, that he uses maybe an hour a night during the week after work. At the heart of his living room stands a sofa, which is long enough for Dan to lie on. ‘It’s a small thing, but being able to lie down after a long day on something other than your bed is so rewarding,’ he says. ‘I 100% believe having somewhere you feel perfectly comfortable is vital to your wellbeing.

 ‘I’m aware my version of “colour” isn’t exactly going to be considered colourful by most, but the dark navy and plaster shades are a decidedly different look for me,’ Dan continues. There’s plenty of texture too, with a deep pile rug, jute footstool and linen fabrics.