Our stylist Sarah Lods shows what’s possible with an interior reset
Our talented stylist Sarah Lods shares her tips on how she’s created fabulous spaces at home
Like many of us, Sarah Lods is planning to renovate but in the meantime, has styled her Auckland house with existing pieces and her collection of mostly New Zealand art. In the living room (right) Sarah has used a mix of coffee and side table styles and a blend of pre-loved and new. A matchy matchy approach would result in an interior that looks too specific to the time it was done, she warns. And why have one floral arrangement when you can have two? Flowers add life to a room. Here a larger colourful arrangement is complemented by a smaller white one. Hanging a smaller artwork in the corner invites your eye to travel around the room. Include lots of interesting vignettes; these are easy to change which keeps you interested in your own space. A pale Strokes rug in Natural Grey from Artisan adds light to the room and hides the yellowing kauri floor.
Clever distraction
The main bedroom of the house opens off the hall by the front door. Rather than keep the door closed and create an unfriendly feel, Sarah has used a gallery wall of art above the bed to draw the eye should visitors happen to glimpse in. The artworks share a calming colour palette, which is echoed in the neutral bedlinen. “I like bedlinen to look relaxed not ironed and I’m not a fan of 500 pillows,” says Sarah. The lamps are from Mid Century Design and the linen pendant is from Annabelle’s.
Keep it simple
While Sarah wouldn’t normally set an artwork behind a console table, this arrangement creates a rich and interesting vignette where the green glass vase echoes the colours in the Matt Arbuckle painting. The objects in front are simple so as not to visually compete and include an unusual ceramic table from ECC, a simple twig arrangement and a quirky bird on a branch made on Great Barrier Island from Homebase Collections. “It’s good to include an unexpected item to keep your interest. Makes you think,” says Sarah.
Go big, go bold
Don’t be scared of furnishing a smaller space with large pieces, says Sarah, but just use one element, such at these extra-deep blue sofas: “They have a luxurious dive-in feel, and they’re hard to get out of.” The glass coffee table visually disappears and reflects light, and has a lower shelf for extra display space, in this case for a piupiu. Red accents like a vase and throw have been added to echo the colour in the fringed sculpture and the artwork above. The old fire escape ladder adds height and texture.
Dark vs light
A quiet corner is styled with natural elements using a limited neutral colour palette. Using collections in odd numbers is a common styling rule, and here there are three white objects and three brown, which accentuates the rhythm of dark and light in the space. The heights of the objects are varied starting from the bust of Brigitte Bardot and spiralling down to the pounamu house by Joe Sheehan. The old marble-topped table is from Flotsam & Jetsam and the ceramic framed artwork is by Jake Walker.