Holiday living

I can't believe we've been so fortunate with the weather lately. Lots of cycling along the beach and quality time spent with my eldest daughter Angelgirl.  Yesterday we took a train trip to Brighton to celebrate her 25th birthday, have lunch and enjoy some retail therapy.  

Spinnaker Tower in Portsmouth

The chandelier is finally up and I'll be sharing a post with you as soon as I've taken some photos. In the meantime this post is all about furnishing a holiday apartment that isn't all about white washed distressed furniture and follows on my last post.

With the warmer weather and sunnier skies I am thinking of holiday living.  Picture an apartment with sea views and an ocean breeze, somewhere a bit further south of here.  Shorts, kaftans, bikini bottomed bods and cocktails on the deck.  The kind of relaxed space you want to spend time in.  Where you can shake off your flip flops and brush the sand from your toes and not bat an eyelid about the sand left on the tiled floor.  Where barefoot is the norm and heels get shoved in the back of the cupboard strictly for nights in the city.

The kind of apartment that requires little maintenance but looks cool at the same time.  So how do you go about putting all that into open plan living?  Forget white washed distressed furnishings here.  This apartment is laid back but elegant, relaxed and informal all rolled into one great space.  Take one large sofa.  Add a couple of leather statement chairs.  Pop down a groovy floor lamp for some holiday reading when it’s drizzling outside and you’re too sunburned to go out.  Create a gallery wall with a few pieces of great art, or one large statement piece, perhaps by a local artist.  And you’ll need a coffee table for those endless cocktails and snacks.   Add a good looking sideboard for hiding all the CDs, DVDs and TV remotes and use it to stand your TV on.  Throw down a few textured throws for snuggling under for when you’re still in shorts but the breeze off the sea gives you goose bumps.  Next some plump feather cushions for propping up and getting cosy.  Invest in a few faux plants, large ones, so you don’t have to worry you’ll come back to a dead delicious monster in a few months’ time.  They add instant atmosphere.  Plonk a few seagrass pouffes or a couple of large floor pillows down for extra cosiness.

Even if you have a veranda with great sea views, sometimes you’ll want to eat indoors.  You don’t want fabric chairs here. Sooner or later you’ll have little people climbing up those chairs with sticky chocolate fingers…you want to live stress free…its holiday time.  You want it to look good.  All the time.

Comfy yet? Now sink into that large squishy sofa and take a peek at that view…aren’t you the lucky one?

modern space in neutrals

here

modern industrial look in white

here

And my take on a modern apartment which is clutter free but good looking at the same time. 

Hope you are enjoying the sunshine where you live.

Sharon

xxx