Sofa so good!

One of my absolute favourite colour combinations at the moment is mustard or ochre yellow with grey – it’s fresh and fun, yet stylish and suitable for all seasons. So, when the nice people at DFS set me a styling challenge last week, I knew exactly what look to try.

I’d been invited to work with the classy new range of sofas designed by French Connection for DFS (http://www.dfs.co.uk/french-connection/results), to celebrate the fact they’re available at 62 stores across the UK from this month. There are four designs to choose from, and the one I picked, ‘Flint’, is a beautiful soft, chic grey – the colour of the moment – with clean, modern lines and lovely squashy cushions.

Starting with a blank room – apart from the grey sofa, plus a matching armchair and two tables – my challenge was to show that if you’ve got a good statement piece of furniture, it’s incredibly easy to turn a so-so space into a ‘Wow’ space with just a few accessories, and on a high street budget. The great thing about this colour scheme is that it’s very forgiving – any tone or shade of grey and yellow will work together, so you honestly can’t go wrong!

Here’s the room before…

And here it is just two hours later, with me chilling out on the extremely comfy be-cushioned sofa…

I borrowed some amazing accessories for the shoot, including this lovely cast-iron Japanese teapot and cups from The Exotic Teapot (which come in a rainbow of other colours too and would make a great present for any tea fans)…

These fab ochre-yellow cushions from Next, and yellow/grey fabric from cool designers Scion (made into cushions and blinds for me by the lovely people at The White Room sewing cafe in London)…

And this supersoft star cushion from Bronte by Moon (more about this in Friday’s post) and unusual Orla Kiely Stem bowl from Unique & Unity…

You can read more about this scheme in the lifestyle section of http://www.BT.com later this week. For now though, I’d love to know what you think of the makeover, and what theme you reckon I should tackle next time – leave a comment below or email me at thetreasurehunteruk@gmail.com

Want to recreate the look yourself? No problem! Here’s all the prices and details you need:
French Connection ‘Flint’ 4-seater sofa £1098 and armchair, £749 (buy both and get a matching storage footstool worth £249!) both DFS (www.dfs.co.uk); Alang floor lamp, £45 Ikea (www.ikea.co.uk); Grey knitted pouffe, £30 Matalan (www.matalan.co.uk); Meribel shaggy rug, £34.99 Dunelm Mill (www.dunelm-mill.com). ON SOFA: old gold check throw, £79.95 Bronte by Moon (www.brontebydesign.co.uk); plain Harrison cushion, £12, grey and ochre boucle knit cushion, £16 and buttons cushion, £14, all Next (www.next.co.uk); patterned Woodland fabric, Scion (for stockists and prices, visit http://www.scion.uk.com) made into cushions and blinds by The White Room SE4 (www.thewhiteroomse4.co.uk); ON WALLS: Bee Kind print and Trees Around Britain print, both £43 each, Bold & Noble (www.boldandnoble.co.uk); Ribba picture frames, £16 each, Ikea; Extendable curtain pole kit, £7.99 Argos (www.argos.co.uk); Merete curtains £30 a pair, Ikea. ON COFFEE TABLE: Kew bamboo round tray, £16 The Orchard at Notonthehighstreet (www.notonthehighstreet.com); Tenshin teapot, £30, cups £7 and teapot stand, £8 all The Exotic Teapot (www.exoticteapot.co.uk); Orla Kiely Stem salad bowl, £25 Unique & Unity (www.uniqueandunity.co.uk). ON SIDE TABLE: Tony task lamp, £25 John Lewis (www.johnlewis.co.uk); vase £12 Marks & Spencer (www.marksandspencer.com). ON CHAIR: Scion lace cushion, £35, John Lewis; star cushion £49.95 and luxury mohair throw, £79.95 both Bronte by Moon.  Mongolian faux fur cushion (on the floor), £8 Matalan.