Living room

‘We didn’t have a very definite plan for the living room, so we just put our old sofa there, and Mark built a TV unit. We picked a mid bluey-green shade that we loved for the walls, but the room still wasn’t really working. Having fallen for the dark dramatic schemes I’d seen online, I decided to copy that look instead. I chose Farrow & Ball’s Hague Blue, a beautiful, inky tone, and we bought a fabulous orange velvet sofa for a pop of colour. Then Mark painted the walls and ceiling, and it was a disasterfl Even though there are several windows, the room felt like a dark cave, and it just wasn’t for us. It took seven coats of paint to get the ceiling back to white. The dark blue walls are fine for now, and we absolutely love the sofa, but I’ll probably redecorate in a lighter colour in the near future.’