Blogs — The Patterned Palace

Here at the Patterned Palace, we’re lucky enough to have two reception rooms, one at the front of the house and a larger one at the back. Technically the smaller one is the dining room, but since we built a small extension on the kitchen that now houses the dining table, this room became rather redundant. It has since spent 13 years with no real purpose, being un-affectionately referred to as ‘The Front Room’.

For several years it was reinvented as a ‘teenage hangout’, with a practical L shaped leather sofa and masses of dedicated storage space to house all the paraphernalia associated with having kids (obvs no one ever used said storage, instead choosing to leave all their junk on display- usually on the floor!) As the kids got older and became PROPER teenagers, preferring to spend most of their time locked away in their bedrooms rather than socialising with the rest of the family, this room yet again became neglected. To be honest, it never felt as if there was enough space in here for the whole family to recline and be in full relaxation mode. We even redecorated in here a few years ago, adding some statement patterned wallpaper to a couple of walls and a beautiful log burning stove, but something was still missing……

Fast forward to earlier this year when the lovely people at DFS got in touch and asked if I’d like to check out and choose a sofa from their new So Simple range. I jumped at the chance, thinking a new sofa could be exactly what was required to breath new life into this cosy yet underutilised space. A new centrepiece on which to build an oasis for me and my better half to relax and spend quality time together now the kids had (almost) flown the nest.

My husband chose our last sofa, It never worked in this room for the following reasons:

1) It was L-shaped and as a serial furniture shuffler that caused me great angst as it was impossible to move more than a centimetre in any direction!

2) I let myself be talked into having black leather upholstery….. imagine that… me… lover of all things pink & cheerful agreeing to black leather! Bonkers, I know!

This time I was going to be in charge of picking the perfect sofa…. something colourful and fun to style up in my own way. A sofa that would make this room sing! However, like all inclusive partners, I thought I’d better check if MrD had any specific requirements before I went off and chose my sofa of dreams! Mindful of his last sofa choices, I asked him what, if any, were his requirements for a new one. His response was simple…. somewhere to kick his shoes off (undoubtedly leaving them in the middle of the room for me to trip over), put his feet up & watch the football. For him, it was all about the ‘comfort factor’.

So off I went to my local DFS store in Manchester, with a head full of all things pink and luckily for Mr.D, our very sensible daughter by my side. We were introduced to the new So Simple sofa range by one of DFS’ trusty advisors and talked through the three simple steps of choosing our new sofa….

Step 1 - Choose your style

With 8 styles to choose from, there’s something to suit pretty much every style of home.

Step 2- Choose your size.

Each style is available in a choice of different sizes, ranging from a simple footstool up to a 3 seater sofa.

and finally….

Step 3- Choose your colour & fabric (my favourite bit!)

There’s plenty of choice with each piece available in 4 different fabric types, each in an array of fabulous colours.

As you can imagine, I was in my element!

We spent some time lounging about and thoroughly testing out the ‘comfortability’ of all 8 styles.

The decision was unanimous and we were both completely won over by the beautiful ‘Viv’ Sofa. It was most definitely the one, super comfy to sit on and totally gorgeous to look at! We opted for a 3-seater sofa and armchair to give plenty of space for the whole family to hang out on.

When choosing the fabric, the velvet was a clear winner for me, elegant, luxurious and of course available in PINK! In order to keep my not-so-pink-loving husband happy, I then went for the teal velvet for the armchair.

A few weeks later my sofa & armchair arrived and I couldn’t be happier!

Not only do they look stunning, but I’m so pleased I listened to MrD and took into consideration the ‘comfort factor’ when making my choices! The ‘Viv’ sofa is by far the most comfortable sofa we have EVER owned!

I’ve had an absolute ball styling them up adding loads of colourful, boldly patterned cushions along with a few carefully placed throws (useful when you have a couple of dogs who both have delusions of grandeur and think they have every right to be lounging on the new sofa too!)

Mission accomplished and it really was ‘So Simple’! By adding some comfortable, colourful seating and dressing it up with some fun practical accessories, the old ‘Front Room’ has gone from a room with no identity, that no one really wanted to spend time in, to a room that is loved by the whole family (dogs included) and is now affectionately referred to as ‘The Snug’.

This post is part of a paid partnership with DFS. All opinions are my own.