The cats pounce around the room, methodically killing some tissue paper strewn on the floor. A crystal glass comes out of the box, sheds its tight bubble wrap shroud and joins the long queue in the sink, waiting patiently to be washed, rinsed and dried. I hear the key turning in the lock: P is back from the electrical store.
“They have a nice lamp outside the shop” – P says. “You should have a look at it”.
“What kind of lamp?” – I ask, unwrapping yet another glass.
“A floor lamp. Tall, made of steel, with a frosted white glass uplighter and a small adjustable lamp for reading. I quite like it.”
“Is it expensive?”
“I shouldn’t think so…it’s second-hand, they sell it to raise funds for the roof of one of the churches in town…”.
I consider this for a moment, then slid my boots on and walk to the store. The lamp sits just outside the shop front, beside a bag of apples, some plants and a few wooden birdhouses.
It’s a nice lamp, and I quite like it too.
I step inside.
“How much is the floor lamp?”
“It’s £ 20.” says the shop assistant. “It was quite expensive, but the dimmer broke so the gentleman who owned it donated it to the church. We replaced the dimmer with a simple switch, and now it works fine.”
“Great. I’ll take it”
Back home, I plug the lamp to an external dimmer, beside the chaise longue. Just perfect.
Would you like to see it?
It’s in a lovely corner of the lounge, with lots of light streaming in from the bay window.
This is how it looked before, with magnolia walls and dark red curtains…not my cup of tea, I’m afraid.
And this is how it looks now:
The chaise longue, Karlstad from IKEA, is an add-on unit designed to be attached to the Karlstad sofa; it has holes on both sides, and so has the removable cover. Since I wanted to use it as a stand alone chaise longue, I obviously didn’t want to see the holes, so I ordered a new cover from Bemz. They make covers for IKEA furniture, using fabric in many different colours and patterns – a brilliant way to personalise and give a different look to a tired sofa or some worn out chairs.
Choosing fabric from a computer screen isn’t easy though; I couldn’t decide between an Absolute White Panama cotton and a Soft White Belgian linen blend, so I ordered free swatches of both fabrics.
I got the samples after a couple of weeks, and went for the Belgian linen – a beautiful off-white fabric with a lovely texture. I’m very happy with my new cover: it’s very well made and gives the chaise longue a more elegant look.
I also replaced the standard wooden feet with a stainless steel underframe: it completely changes the chaise, which now looks way sleeker than its counterpart with wooden feet – it’s all in the details, I believe.
Blinds, curtain rod and linen curtains are from IKEA too – I just had the curtains hemmed, and used the leftover fabric to make curtains for the office.
This corner still needs a small table, a few cushions and some wall art…but I’m quite happy with how it looks so far. And the cats love peering out of the window, and napping on the chaise longue…
They certainly know how to live, don’t you think?
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What a lovely corner! I didn’t know about Bemz…thanks for sharing.
You’re welcome Mary
Where does one find a stainless steel frame like that?
Hello Amy, I bought that from IKEA – beside selling the standard Karlstad sofa & chaise longue, with wooden legs, they also sell under-frames for both sofa & chaise longue. They do add up to the cost, but they change the appearance so much, I think it’s money well spent.
This is so very beautiful! thanks for showing!
Thank you Anna