katie.lacy@letsgetcoffee.co.uk, Author at Modish Living

Spending quality time with your children at the dining table

According to Royal Family protocol, children don’t sit with their parents at a formal meal until, allegedly, they are able to ‘hold polite small talk’ and ‘know how to act’.

Whilst this may suit in a more formal situation that the Royal Family find themselves in, psychologists and child-rearing experts all agree that the daily gathering around the reclaimed wood dining table at the end of a busy day is the perfect time to sort through issues, raise concerns but also to laugh and bond as a family.

But how do you spend quality time at the dining table with your children? We took a look at what the experts suggest.

Make it routine

Weekdays can be super busy, from a rushed bowl of cereal in the morning to all kinds of after-school and sporting activities. When you all finally arrive home, the temptation to slump on the sofa watching your favourite soaps can be overriding rather than sit around the static, but no less beautiful reclaimed wood furniture in the dining room.

However, gathering around the dining table can give you ample chance to talk. And communication is key in any family.

But rather than the normal question of ‘how was school?’, try;

·What made you laugh today?

·How did somebody help you today? Did you help someone?

·What games did you play at lunch?

It’s also a great time to check what practical stuff you may need to help them with too. But you need to make it routine and that means instilling it as part of your family life that you all sit down to eat and talk together around the dining table.

Making food together is just as important as eating together

Preparing food is, in many cultures, a key feature of community and family life. But in the UK, we tend to be caught up in the health and safety trap – children shouldn’t be in the kitchen for fear of burns and scalding. We can encourage them into the kitchen without compromising on their personal safety.

By watching you prepare and cook food, your children will pick up on some great habits. However, kids running through the kitchen is not a great idea so create a child-friendly area in the corner of the kitchen.

Keep them occupied with tasks and activities, while sitting on the dining bench as well as chatting about their day and what they are looking forward to doing.

Even having them sit at the table on the dining bench whilst you cook up a storm brings an inclusive feel to your home and eating area.

Ban technology?

We love and hate technology in equal measure. It is an integral part of our lives but it can overtake everything that we do.

A mobile phone at the dining table, scrolling through stories on Instagram or tweets from the day isn’t creating an inclusive feel to meal times.

But, sitting around the dining table on your beautifully upholstered dining chairs – or even wooden dining chairs -is a great time to talk about technology, especially what’s happening on the social sharing sites that children and young people lend so much weight too.

You may not allow your children to have profiles on these platforms, but they may still find that they impact their friendships and relationships.

How often do you sit around your reclaimed wood table together?

How to add drama and glamour to your dining room

Luxe Kensington Reclaimed Wood Dining Table

Want to up the glamour and drama stakes in the dining room? Hark back to a time when glamour oozed from every pore and in every room in the house, including the dining room.

The 1920s and 30s were decadent decades, a time when glamour and sophistication were on everyone lips, a chance to leave the dullness and greyness of what had been the dreadful Great War behind.

And today, nearly a hundred years later, you can take elements of these two decades to add to your glammed up dining room.

Drama and depth with the Luxe Kensington Collection

If there is one collection in our range that oozes glamour and drama, it is the Luxe Kensington.

Just look at the high shine finish of the legs on the industrial reclaimed wood dining table? If ever anything oozed sheer elegance, it is this collection. Reclaimed wood furniture goes well with any style.

To give it extra glamour and drama, opt for the glass top on the table too.

Shine as bright as a diamond

The 1920s and 30s made the best use of the Art Deco style. Angular shapes, right angles and straight lines were all part of the glamour but they are as much about drama, as anything else.

The one true characteristic is to choose items that are made from a reflective material. In fact, you can’t have too many mirrors, glass or shiny metallic finishes in the dramatized and glamourized dining room.

This round coffee table would make a beautiful addition, alongside a large sideboard where your dining service could be stored when not in use.

Colour is part of the drama and glamour

The 20s and 30s characterised a lot of things and the one thing that aid and abet glamour in the dining room is colour. Think plush pinks, dramatic purple and enjoyable green, earthy in tone and depth. Mix these colours with plush feeling materials, such as velvet dining chairs and you are on to a winner.

Dress your glass top dining table with these modern, grey velvet dining chairs, the perfect way to create an amazing centrepiece and focal point to the dining room. Or how about the velvet dining bench, with its high back for drama?

Add more colour with large, blousy blooms in a large, bulbous vase. And go all out with a glamourous mantelpiece clock, if you have a fireplace or, if not, a large wall clock, flanked with beautiful art.

Not just for dining

Parties in this era were not just about dining and great food. It was about relaxing, kicking back and enjoying a cocktail or three.

Whilst America rallied against Prohibition, in Britain, the cocktails flowed, the music played and people danced.

Why not introduce the same informality with a bar area in the dining room and enjoyable way of greeting guests and enjoying their company?

Frame the bar area with a modern rug, a bright contemporary one. Opt for a pattern or choose a colour that easily fits with the early 20^thCentury glamour that signifies the era.

And finally, if its glamour you want in the dining room, glamour you shall have – and that comes in the shape of a reclaimed chandelier…

Get the look – the industrial rustic office

Industrial rustic is a pleasing landscape in the office. We often think as workspaces as being utilitarian and functional because, we can’t have anything distracting us can we, as we toil at our desk?

Leave the corporate look behind, the barren landscape of matchy-matchy furniture and welcome the industrial rustic look to your home office with reclaimed wood furniture. And here’s how.

The key elements

MATERIALS

Natural materials sum up this look, sitting side-by-side with the coolness of steel or aluminium. It can be a highly polished, mirrored stainless steel or it can be the dark, broodiness of black steel.

But don’t think that means waving goodbye to colour either.

THE DESK

The Oldman industrial desk is one of our best sellers because not only is it functional and stylish, but it is made to measure and customisable too. Choose your frame size and colour and there you have it – your own piece of unique industrial office furniture.

With your home desk in situ, you need an office chair that is comfortable for you. Fortunately, there are many examples of stylish industrial rustic office chairs too, where the chic coolness of leather meets metal.

THE STORAGE

The remainder of the office landscape also needs to serve a purpose, whilst retaining the industrial rustic style.

We are often taught in school and college that a workplace setting should be ordered and tidy because a tidy desk signifies a tidy mind. So what does an empty desk signify?

Creativity knows no bounds. Slowly, we learn that what matters most in our work is us, our creativity and how the office environment supports us and our work.

Alongside your wooden desk, an industrial rustic display unit is perfect for your files and books, but don’t be too ordered. Cluster your books in ‘unkempt piles’, enjoy a plant or three in your office too, their lush greenery picking up the tempo of the industrial rustic style.

Allow your creativity to flow and that means not hiding everything away or trying to be ordered, with everything in its ‘proper’ place.

THE COLOUR

The reasons why the industrial rustic home office style has remained so very popular are many and varied. There is a growing range of industrial home office furniture from which to choose, its quality and stylish credentials no longer in doubt.

But it is the fact that as styles go, the industrial rustic look us unique from one person to the next. Eclectic it may be, but it is not overly quirky meaning its ‘shelf life’ as a style scheme is short.

Industrial style furniture itself can be found in different colours and finishes, as can the colour scheme of industrial rustic office space.

Opt for cool neutrals or even a light grey. Or go all out, opting for an earthy green or dramatic navy. The Pantone colour of the year 2018, Ultra Violet could work too.

From one room to another

It is also a style that moves seamlessly from one room to another. The display unit in the office would look equally as stunning in the living room, or the industrial sideboard would make for a fantastic office cupboard.

Who doesn’t love the versatility of the industrial rustic style?

5 Inspiring ideas to fit a work station in a small space

A spacious home office is a luxury for those who skip the commute and can work from home. But in modern homes, space is at a premium, and we must find clever ways to work in the space we have. But a makeshift office in another room can still look stylish and inspire productivity.

It goes without saying but a neat and tidy working environment is the most productive, removing distractions and allowing you to concentrate. When you are trying to come up with a workspace solution which works in a small space, this should be one of the focusses. Make sure you maximise on storage in order to keep clutter off the desk. A display unit is a great way of creating an enviable amount of storage whilst often taking up limited floor space (if you opt for height instead of width). Alternatively, make the most of your wall space with built-in reclaimed wood shelves either above or below your desk.

When trying to work out where to place your reclaimed wood desk, make sure to use all available space – you might have nooks in your living room or dining room which would be a perfect spot for a small desk that you hadn’t even considered.

The recessed spaces on either side of a chimney are often a great size for popping a small desk (and also provides the perfect space to put up floating shelves above). Alternatively, if you have an open staircase, you may have room for a desk beneath. You may even use a bay window which is not being used as effectively as it could be (with the large windows being fantastic for keeping you awake and inspiring productivity all day long)!

If you are working in a unique area, you might find that a bespoke desk is the perfect solution, being built to fit the exact space you have to play with. Not only will opting for a bespoke desk cut down the hours you might otherwise spend trying to fit a desk that will fit, a perfectly fitting piece of furniture creates a clean, sophisticated look which is just what we need in a small space in order to keep the room looking as large as possible! Our Oldman range can be made to order and is the perfect way of adding a modern touch to a room featuring reclaimed wood furniture.

If you are really struggling for somewhere to place a desk, consider whether you have a hallway wide enough to home a desk and chair. Your landing is often quieter than many of your downstairs living spaces and is the perfect spot for a home office where you don’t feel trapped.

Also think about stepping away from office furniture, which can sometimes feel a little restrictive and may not offer you exactly what you need. Using a console table is a creative solution if you need a narrow desk. A console table is more likely to fit in your hallway or on your landing with just enough room to place a computer or laptop and desk lamp and often comes with a drawer or two which will provide a space for storing desk essentials you don’t necessarily want on display in your hallway.

A few final tips…

It’s very easy to get carried away and think our current setup isn’t working and we need to change it all. But before you start hunting for something better, think about whether you can work with what you already have with a simple reorganisation. You might find you are using other storage spaces ineffectively, or that simply by moving your desk to another space in your home, it makes your living room feel far less cluttered.

In a small space, measuring is key if you don’t want furniture turning up only to discover your beautiful new desk doesn’t fit. If you are unsure, map out how much space it will take up with newspaper on the floor, and you can even do this carefully on the wall to get a good idea of the height. It may be worth leaving the newspaper where your desk would sit for a weekend, just to get an idea of whether you can still easily move around your room.

Have you found a genius place in your home for your study? Let us know.

The best home office ideas for couples

A major problem of working from home is isolation. But it may be with a sense of trepidation you welcome a partner into your working space.

With this in mind, we decided to take a look at ideas for sharing your home office. What kind of home office furniture arrangement would work best? We offer insight on everything from a wooden desk to share, to storage options you’re sure to love.

Independent or collaborative?

It may be that you work for two separate companies and your daily activities can be quite different. Or maybe you work for your own business or the way in which you work is similar. Your home office design is dependent on your interaction type – whether that is independent or collaborative.

INDEPENDENT

When daily tasks and activities will differ between you and office-sharing partner, you will probably work best;

Facing away from each other – if interaction is minimal or occasional, then separate workstations can create the office space you both need. As well as chairs on wheels, consider a large desk or an L -shaped home office desk each to create bespoke workstations.

Storage – consider what storage each of you needs but don’t assume it will be the same for both of you. If you don’t want a mismatched look, why not consider investing in a large sideboard, perfect for hiding away a myriad of documents, paperwork and other office paraphernalia?

Accessories and greenery – just because you work from home doesn’t mean you can’t opt for comfort. Accessories help to make the home office feel homely without feeling fussy or too corporate. And don’t forget a ‘social’ or relax area with sumptuous seating. Plants are also a home office must too. Why not place on an open shelving unit? Reclaimed wood shelves look wonderful in a home office.

COLLABORATIVE

Working together brings out creativity but there are times even in a collaborative home office, that you need privacy and your own space, especially when it comes to the home desk.

Facing each other – if you enjoy each other’s company, this is a great way to work or if you intend to work on projects together, arranging wooden large desks back to back is the ideal solution. If you have the space, two larger desks like the Colette reclaimed wood writing desk, would create an island with plenty of worktop space but also stop you feeling like you are more or less on top of each other.

Storage – choosing a desk with storage is part of your storage solutions and for many, this fulfils all their storage needs. However, if you need extra, as well as a large sideboard as suggested earlier, creating a bank of open shelving and cupboards is perfect for when you both need to store things.

Lighting – adequate office lighting is required in any office, whether you work alone or with a partner. Consider desk lamps as essential, with backlighting forming a pleasant backdrop, but always be aware of not working in shade.

Style and the home office

If there is one thing about the home office that is leaps and bounds ahead of ‘official’ workspaces is that you can ditch the anonymous corporate style and opt for your own stylish home office instead. Reclaimed wood furniture offers so many options, from the industrial look to the minimal, yet warm Scandinavian appeal.

All you need to do is agree with your home office partner on which style to opt for…

How to fit a small desk in the bedroom

Fitting in a workstation in your home can seem like an impossible task, or, for students, squeezing in a desk into a small bedroom at student digs or halls of residence is an even bigger ask.

There are some basics requirements you need to follow, but with clever design and style solutions, you can fit a home desk into a bedroom, a small desk, mind, and not have the bedroom looking cluttered.

Here’s how;

The desk

Before you get carried away and order the smallest desk you can find, you may be surprised at just what you can fit into the room.

But first, you need to measure the room and draw a plan, noting any nooks, crannies and recesses. Which of these can be used?

For example, a tall, slender bookcase or unit like a ladder shelving unit with a slender width of 48cm would make the best use of the space and offer plenty of storage in the bedroom too.

You may not always want to be looking at your work however, and thus, a foldaway narrow desk is the perfect solution. The lighter tone of wood also means it fits perfectly within a smaller bedroom without overtaking the space.

The chair

Office chairs have a tendency to be large and cumbersome, with high backs and a boxy style. It may be ergonomic design but that doesn’t mean there needs to be ‘more chair than you’!

Most people prefer a chair on castors to sit on at their home office desk. For a slimline finish when you are not at your desk, consider a desk chair without armrests to slip under the desk.

However, the right desk chair depends not just on your own preference but also on the work you do. Designers and artists will often work on a stool, supporting them in an almost-standing position at their workstation.

The storage

A wooden desk in a bedroom is all well and good but you need adequate storage. The last thing you need is a messy, cluttered desk in your eyeline as you fall asleep and wake up.

A desk with storage is an ideal solution but many can be too large to squeeze into the bedroom. The solution is separate storage that can be used for both work items and bedroom items too.

As well as the ladder shelving in a recess, why not consider adding a beautifully stylish low-height shelving and cupboard sideboard? By opting for lower height items, you can be sure it won’t overpower the space. Plus the fact, it doesn’t look like a home office item which means you don’t have to worry about a corporate feel in the bedroom…

The position

And finally, if the bedroom dimensions and shape allow, you need your desk to benefit from as much natural light as possible. Banish shade with a desktop light, choosing a similar style on your bedside tables to bring a sense of cohesion to the room.

How to create the perfect home office, study and homework area

From kids’ homework and projects to your paperwork to working from home, the modern family home has to offer so much to so many people.

But we can’t always be moving walls and neither can the household budget always afford to replace furniture.

And so, with space and budget in mind, we take a look at how to create a space in your home with reclaimed wood furniture where ‘work’ is done, whether it is your latest work project or your kids needing to get their homework done.

Vibrant and stimulating (but not distracting!)

This is the mantra that needs chanting as you create a study space in your home.

A homework area needs to be stimulating and vibrant, a comfortable space where your kids will want to do their homework and other projects but at the same time, not provide distractions that prevent this happening.

You also need to make the best use of space because, as every parent knows, the pain of homework on a reclaimed wood dining table can, in many cases, be made even more of a trial with wails of “he looked at me!” or “she’s touching me!” … Far better to get a home desk that provides enough space for both of them to work together – or separately. Along with industrial shelving that works to separate everything they need into their own spaces.

Repurpose furniture

When the budget is tight, spending may not be an option. Rather than trying to kit out the whole space and thus, compromising on the quality of items, invest in high-quality, essential pieces.

For example, a reclaimed wood desk is the ideal base for a homework area and can afford you plenty of personal space between warring siblings.

Repurpose a lightweight, low height bookcase, giving it a spruce up with paint and adding a basket or coloured plastic box for each child to keep their stuff in.

If you want to replace your dining table and chairs, this could be the ideal solution;

·Use your current dining table and chairs as the new base for the homework area. Paint the chairs in the same colour and reupholster the seat pads too to give them a different look and style. Create name tags to hang off the back of each chair so there are no arguments that someone pinched someone else’s seat…

·Invest in a new dining table and chairs for your dining room or kitchen/diner!

Give it a distinct design appeal

Cute accessories

Wall art is never a wasted invested but that doesn’t mean everything has to come in primary colours or look like an extension of school. In fact, you want the opposite style.

As children grow, they appreciate being treated less like children and more like young people, so turn your eye away from anything that looks too school-like and opt for home-style instead.

For example, a small chest of drawers no longer in use in a bedroom or another room can be easily re-purposed for the homework area. Sand it down and use chalk furniture paint to give it a pleasant and stylish finish. Replace the drawer handles to give it an updated look too.

A tall chest of drawers can also work with the slender drawers being perfect for pens, pencils as well as for keeping crafting material such as A4 sized paper and card.

Lighting

As well as stylish accessories, you will need to consider lighting. Not only is it a practical need, lighting also helps to create the ambience to a space.

This is just as important in a homework area as it is in the rest of the house. As well as table lamps and floor lamps. Hideaway LED string lights behind furniture to provide a warmly illuminated backdrop.

What kind of homework area would your kids like?

Are these the best bedsides for small bedrooms?

Effortlessly framing the bed, bedside tables are essential in the bedroom.

But this doesn’t mean it should be devoid of style. What we wanted to know was which bedside table works best in the smaller bedroom. And so we asked a question…

We Asked, You Answered

We took to Houzz and polled our followers on whether the bedside table should be a simple yet chic table or one that offered extra storage. There were four options to choose from;

·the Winchester rustic wooden bedside table

·the Dulwich three-drawer bedside table

·the Onslow reclaimed wood bedside table

·and finally, the Luna 1-Drawer Bedside Table.

The votes were divided but there was one clear winner…

The Winchester

With its refined rustic charm, this wooden side table has everything you could possibly need. Three, deep drawers and a handy pull out sliding surface for when you need a little extra table top space, maybe for your morning tea.

Available in a pair, they offer all this storage without grabbing at the eye. Maybe, it is the simplicity of its design and its fascia that attracts people. Unpretentious and unfussy, it makes an ideal addition to any bedroom.

Rustic it may be, but we think the Winchester bedside table fits well in any bedroom style or design. A beautiful example of reclaimed wood furniture, it will remain the top choice for some time, we feel.

Dulwich Reclaimed Wood Bedside Table

In second place, and not far behind the Winchester bedside table, was the Dulwich reclaimed wood bedside table.

Again, full of rustic, unpretentious charm, this drawers and shelf combination is a popular choice.

The handy drawers allows for smaller items to be kept safe and the shelf is perfect for piling those must-read bestsellers and paperbacks. Its painted façade is also perfect when considering the range of on-trend decorating ideas for the bedroom.

Onslow Reclaimed Wood Bedside Table

In some ways, we take a complete departure from the previous two example, with the sleek styling of the industrial-inspired Onslow Reclaimed Wood Bedside Table.

At home in the bedroom or the living room, this delightful piece offers simple storage – a table top. It may look unassuming, but just look at its highly polished leg frame and the appeal of the rustic reclaimed wood!

A versatile piece, if ever there was one because, where in the rulebook of interior design does it say that a bedside table or occasional side table can only be used in the bedroom or the living room?

Luna 1-Drawer Bedside Table

Oak bedroom furniture is increasing in popularity and in our opinion, its no wonder. A slow growing tree, oak is a dense, strong wood that takes on a sheen, unlike any other timber we work with.

And it is this pedigree that people love about the Luna 1-Drawer Bedside Table. Tt offers simple storage and again, it mimics Scandinavian furniture with its simplicity. Beautiful rounded legs, its pretty but functional drawer and the smaller expanse of tabletop is ideal in a bedroom where minimalism is required.

This piece doesn’t snag the eye which, in a smaller bedroom, is important in avoiding the overly-cluttered look.

And so, it just leaves one questions – which if these exquisite pieces of reclaimed furniture is your favourite?

How to style bold coloured rugs in the bedroom

Louis de Poortere Fairfield Dark Rug in Bedroom

A bold rug, whether that’s in colour, pattern or both can really make a room, but for even the most experienced of interior designers, seamlessly creating a room around it is daunting.

The bedroom is a great place for a multicoloured, bold rug and so with this in mind, we’ve gathered the hints and tips of top interior designers on how to do it successfully.

Choosing the right colour

Firstly, if you are retro-fitting a bold rug into a room, take a look at what the predominant colour is and work with what you have. This way, it won’t look like the rug has just landed.

For example, if you have dark floorboards and a room full of navy and pastel blue shades, then it makes sense to use a colour that contrasts with this. You can either opt for a similar shade or a similar colour, or, ring the changes with a rug in the colour opposite to the room’s predominant colour on the colour wheel.

In a blue room, for example, an orange rug complemented and supported by orange accessories would look simply stunning. This stunning orange and red rug would work a treat.

Try a bold pattern, in a neutral colour

It isn’t always about colour, but pattern, when it comes to installing contemporary rugs in the bedroom. Most of us opt for a neutral, calming space, ideal for relaxing and unwinding after a busy day.

If this is the case, bold coloured bedroom rugs wouldn’t be the option you would plump for. The hint of pink in this contemporary bedroom rug is ideal, or if you want a completely neutral colour to let the pattern stand out, try this Louis de Poortere rug from our collection.

Design the bedroom around the rug

If you are in the fortunate and exciting position of completely renovating the bedroom, then you are in the position that most designers say we should start from – designing the bedroom around the rug.

Darker tones

This allows an explosion of exciting ideas. For example, the dark blues and navy of this blue rug would look simply stunning against the dark, brooding looks of the Winchester bedroom furniture collection.

The turquoise rug would work just as well if you felt you needed a lighter tone to the floor.

Mid-tones

Strong colours don’t have to overpower but they need to make a statement. And so lighter floorboards and bronze accessories are ideal bedroom-fellows to this delightful red rug for the bedroom.

Red can be a tricky colour to get right in any room – too dark and it becomes too earthy for a modern, lighter tone reclaimed wood furniture collection but too pinkish in tone and it could be argued it becomes a little insipid.

Red works well with the industrial look – take a peek at how well red, bronze and the Luxe Elm Industrial collection dovetail seamlessly and you will see why.

Lighter tones

A bright, airy and fresh appeal and ambience to a bedroom is perfect for the spring and summer months but that doesn’t mean a yellow rug is only good for half of the year. This patchwork yellow rug is ideal with lighter tone furniture (and darker tones too), a perfect starting point for anyone wanting to create a farmhouse styled bedroom or even one with a hint of the industrial too.

Is a bold, multicoloured, patterned rug on your shopping list?