living room Archives - Dunne Interiors

May 13, 2020

Retreat Gallery

The Retreat Gallery

Photography: Janis House Photography

Home Tours

In Detail.

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Create The Look

May 7, 2020

Living Room Gallery

Photography: Janis House Photography

Home Tours

In Detail.

Bar cabinets with wine fridge in living room

Rufus sofa by Harbro Furniture close up detail

Coastal living room styling with wicker basket

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Create The Look

March 19, 2020

The living room in this house was designed around one core function – living. Day to day, this space had to be able to cope with the comings and goings of a busy family, a space to hang out and watch a movie, with car tracks and animal farms being built at our feet, or someone curled up reading a book. With a kitchen and dining space designed for entertaining we wanted to ensure that the same considerations were made for after the meal, and we didn’t go from seating 20 at dinner to only a pair of two seater sofas.

Open plan living can often pose two challenges, the first is traffic flow. The living room in this house is the main junction between the kitchen, outdoor living space, kids wing and the master bedroom – making it a complete thoroughfare. The second challenge is creating a sense of coziness in a vast open space.

The key to overcoming these challenges was all about spatial planning with our furniture selections. The furniture selections were critical, we needed to ensure that you could still flow between all of the adjoining rooms in the house without feeling like you were tripping over a sofa or piece of furniture, and on the flip side not look like we’d dotted undersized furniture in the centre of this large rectangular room.

We worked with Harbro on a custom Rufus sofa, which has to be the most hardworking piece of furniture in our home. With a custom modular sofa we were able to take all the elements of the Rufus and mix and match them to suit our space. A traditional L shaped sofa would have given us the seating we were after, but would have blocked the flow of traffic. By removing the corner module and going with a 3 seater open ended sofa and a 2 seater open ended sofa we have maximised seating whilst allowing ease of movement through the space.

This home is about living life to its fullest, we’re not the family to sit awkwardly upright on a formal lounge, there’s often someone curled up reading in one corner, someone sprawled out or lying down watching a movie on another whilst a car track or animal farm is being built by someone lounging upside down on the ottoman {tell me someone else’s kids do this too?!!}

So comfort was key, and I can not even begin to describe how comfortable the Rufus sofa is!

Aesthetically I wanted something that was boxy and masculine, but then had this contrasting softness – and we achieved this with the fabric selection. The shape of the sofa and the flange trim have a boldness to it which is softened by the light airy blue/grey fabric.The texture of the fabric brings it to life with the weave adding a layer of depth as it catches the light.

The original kitchen was against a load bearing wall which I wanted to keep not only for its function, but to provide a boundary to the living room. This allowed us to create an entry foyer to the home, rather than to open the front door and be thrown into a vast open living landscape. It also provided us with the opportunity to take what could have been a blank wall and create a huge cabinetry bank. I wanted it to feel minimal, almost as if it was a plain wall, yet feel connected to the kitchen and rest of the home. By carrying the same colour – Knowing by Dulux and using the Calcutta door profile, which mimics the kitchen cabinetry but without the shaker edge profile connects the cabinetry back to the kitchen. To keep the play on vertical lines, we used the Kintore Pull from Lo & Co. I love the simplicity of the pull, but when you get up close they have this beautiful texture, details like this make all the difference.

The best kept secret in the living room has to be the hidden bar. We had always wanted to include a bar somewhere in the home, but finding the perfect place for it initially was a challenge. It felt best suited to the front living room – the parents retreat – more of a sitting room, but the only wall space for it was adjacent to the entry, and placing solid cabinetry there would have blocked the natural light that comes flooding in through the front windows.

The cabinetry wall in the main living room gave us the space to get creative and come up with an integrated bar tucked away behind bifold doors. We wanted to ensure that whilst it was tucked away in what would otherwise be a cupboard, that it didn’t resemble a boring drinks cupboard at all. We lined the cabinet with the same timber veneer we used in the pocket pantry, and we used the very last offcut of engineered stone from the kitchen bench to create a benchtop which connects this space back to the kitchen. A mirrored splashback and the undermount LED strip lighting create a sense of elegance and give it that classic bar feel. I love that we can close the doors during the day and no one would know that it’s there, but come 5pm on the weekend and the doors can be pulled open and we’ve got a fully stocked bar at our fingertips.

Living Room Renovation Reveal

Episode Two: Living Room Reveal

Episodes

This home is about living life to its fullest. In episode two we reveal not one but two living rooms and the Dunne homes best kept secret – the hidden bar! By moving the kitchen into the extension we’ve created an open plan living space which is perfect for family life.

So when it came to the living spaces for this house, we wanted to create the ultimate living room which meant a space where everyone could be – whether it was just the four of us relaxing together and when we’re entertaining.

The way we achieved this was really locking down on the furniture selections. We worked with Bryce from Harbro furniture to create this really low soft organic modular sofa that doesn’t have a corner. We were able to create maximum living space without the furniture taking up too much real estate.

Here’s the final family living space. This room still feels really open plan and you can move easily around but it’s got this sense of comfort and coziness for us as a family. My favourite thing in the living room is absolutely the Rufus sofa from Habro furniture. We added to this space the Coonara fireplace just to add that extra sense of warmth and on a cold winter’s night with the fire burning this is the perfect place for our family to hang out.

And this has to be the living rooms best kept secret, the hidden bar. We knew that we wanted to be able to incorporate a bar somewhere within the home and finding the perfect spot for it was initially a real challenge. So when we created this integrated bank of cabinetry within the living room we knew that we’d be able to tuck it away behind the bifold doors.

And in addition to our family living space we’ve also got this adults retreat. We wanted this space to have a little bit more romance and a sense of luxury so we’ve added the sheer curtains which have got a beautiful movement and the absolute hero in this room has to be the sofa from Harbro. We went with a linen for this sofa to give it that sense of romance and knowing that it didn’t have to be as hardy as our everyday family sofa. I love what we’ve achieved in this room that it’s the perfect place to retreat after a busy day.

See more of the house

Retreat Gallery

In Detail.

Living Room Gallery

In Detail.

Living Room Walk Through

When it comes to floor plans, I’m all about open plan living. The ability to connect with each other even when spread out through various spaces in the home is really important to the way we live.

Living Room Renovation Reveal

This home is about living life to its fullest. In episode two we reveal not one but two living rooms and the Dunne homes best kept secret – the hidden bar! By moving the kitchen into the extension we’ve created an open plan living space which is perfect for family life.

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