20 pieces of furniture and accessories to create a snug little living room corner to relax in
By Lauren Heskin
17th Mar 2021
17th Mar 2021
Read time: 5 minutes
HK Living
The furniture and homeware accessories to create a calming living room corner.
It’s a strange moment when you realise that the more time you spend in the house, the messier it is.
In some ways, it makes sense – when the whole family is having breakfast, lunch and dinner at home, the dirty plate build-up around the sink seems inevitable. But in other ways, you’d think with nothing to do and nowhere to go, our houses would be spick and span.
But our bedrooms are now yoga studios and secondary meeting rooms, our dining table an office and school, and our living rooms a little bit of everything. With work papers strewn across the kitchen, fresh laundry sitting next to an ad-hoc laptop stand and phone chargers just never where you left them, our houses are a mess.
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This melding of worlds is impossibly difficult for our physical and mental wellbeing. It’s important to carve out an area, no matter how small, that is exclusively for relaxing. Whether that’s five minutes to shut your eyes and listen to wave sounds in the morning, a place to nip to with a glass of wine when your Zooming with pals or simply to curl up with a book on the weekend, this needs to be a non-work, non-school, non-judgy space.
All you really need are a chair, a textile of some kind and ambient light that will let your computer-strained eyes relax. Here are a few home accessories to make a little corner you can escape to.
The Chair
The chair, of course, is key. It’s got to be comfortable and slouchy enough that you can relax in it. However, depending on space you may need one that you can fold away when it’s not in use, our you may be blessed with room for a nice large love seat to stretch out in.
In terms of areas to nestle yourself, your bedroom or the upstairs landing are usually good spots, where you will be least distracted as possible – you don’t want to be eyeballing those dirty plates.
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Comfort
Lesson number 1,6473,789 from lockdown: You only ever need one good cushion. One cushion, that’s nice and plump and you will carry it around from seat to seat like a child’s blankie. Pick one in a fluffy and soft texture, like a velvet or wool that you can comfortably use as a headrest when you nod off. Because you will nod off – this is just a glorified afternoon nap spot and it will be wonderful.
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Side table
You will need a place to leave your book/wine glass/tea/nail file when you go for said nap. Depending on what you do to relax, invest in a table or accoutrement that fits. If the Sunday papers are your thing, throw them into a magazine rack and peruse the whole week through, or set up a little bookshelf of books you’d like to read this year as a little motivation.
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Warm Up
Also vital for napping – a blanket. It’s a great way to add a splash of colour and cosiness to a corner. Choose one that’s got a percentage of alpaca or cashmere wool for extra warmth and softness.
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Tabletop
Now that you’ve got all the necessities, it’s time to fill in the details. A coaster to sit your coffee on, a vase for some fresh flowers, a potted plant, a soft light. Lighting is actually very important to create a calming area. Something that throws a soft, indirect light will help your eyes relax after a day of staring at the hard light of a computer.
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Now, you’re ready go, time to pour that glass of wine, enjoy.
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