LIVING ROOM INSPIRED BY WENDY MORRISON PHOENIX RUG
When designing a space, my starting point is often a rug or a piece of art. They act as the anchor in the room, holding everything in place. When I see a fabulous rug that I'd like to use, I take colours and inspiration from it and build the room around it. In the case of Wendy Morrison, her rugs ARE the art and some of the most fabulous and exciting that I’ve seen.
Wendy Morrison - Phoenix Rug
I’ve created a moodboard based on my ultimate favourite Wendy Morrison rug (and surprise surprise, one of the most expensive!) which is called the Phoenix. I also absolutley love the red Good Fortune design and the Chinese Garden of Virtue (below) so I’m sure moodboards for these will follow soon! I’ve styled the board completely to my own personal taste and will use it as a reference too look back on throughout the journey of my own home evolution. I thought it would be nice to give a bit of reasoning behind my choices, so I hope you’ll enjoy the insight.
When I look at the Phoenix rug, I see a perfect mix of traditional and modern. Tradition in the craftsmanship and intricacy of the design, and modern in the use of colours. It reminds me of the Persian rugs that my mum and dad bought for our family home growing up, so I guess there’s a sense of nostalgia there too. I think the prefect way to style a room with this rug as the centrepiece would be to echo this mixture by using a different styles, you could say an ‘eclectic mix’ but I’m not a big fan of that term!
Living Room Space Inspired by the Phoenix Rug
I’ve created a living room space because this is where I imagine the piece in my home. All the items selected are ones that I absolutely love, and some I have coveted for a long time (the rug, the tube chair and the copper coffee table in particular.) A lot of the items are designer pieces and therefore come with a price tag so although this board might be quite out of my league at the moment, I’m manifesting it! Even if I could get my hands on 2 of the pieces (probably a similar unit on eBay that I wouldn’t pay more than £50 for - I could lacquer it myself, and maybe a Habitat item when they do their 25% off thing) I would use the others to inspire me, you never know what you might find in Homesense!
I’m going to throw a formula out there that I use for clients as well as myself. It changes depending on the brief and personalities involved, but in my opinion these are the vital elements in creating a rich, interesting space.
1-2 standout statement pieces (for example an incredible rug, art or beautiful sofa) + accessories that pull out a little bit of colour from those items + some metallic elements + rich/interesting fabrics + layered lighting + dose of personality that reflects the brief. I’m not up for matchy interiors AT ALL but I think a hint of a similar colour here and there strengthens the mood.
For the 2 largest and main pieces of furniture I’d use old vs new. For new, the Seattle sofa from Swoon Editions in Kingfisher velvet - this is firmly on the shopping list as our next sofa. And in case you were wondering, here is my formula for the perfect sofa!
Style + comfort + lushness + very deep seats that you can sink into + tactile fabric + intensely saturated colour, and this sofa is all 6.
For old, the black lacquered sideboard is an eBay find so this exact one won’t be available when the time comes, but this piece is my guide! The rug screams Oriental too, with the butterflies, chrysanthemums and of course, the Phoenix so I’ve selected a black lacquered piece to draw that out a little, and because it’s amazing obviously.
I’m a massive fan of velvet so as well as the rich coloured sofa I’ve also selected this elegant pair of gold velvet curtains from Made. They really highlight the gold in the rug and the colour works perfectly with greens, black and tan.
The cushions have been selected for being the perfect trio of texture, pattern and colour, whilst enhancing the pink in the rug. The leopard print adds a bit of funk and playfulness to the room and I love it when patterns clash.
This Pablo bookcase from Swoon has such a glam-deco-esque look with the gold shapes. This would be perfect to display design books and lovely ornaments. You could even have a cocktail shelf/mini bar on there, it would be such a versatile piece. Swoon just really get it right don’t they, love it (don’t own anything from there yet though!)
I've put together a list of products with links to each one to make shopping easy for you if you do wish to spend! Hope you've been inspired by Wendy Morrison's amazing works as much as me.
Phoenix Rug - Wendy Morrison
Michel Boyer Chromed Tubular Steel and Leather Lounge Chair 1971
Tokki black marble side table - Habitat
Optical table light - Lee Broom
Black lacquered sideboard - Vintage find on Ebay
Juluis Velvet Curtains in Gold - Made
Brass light switch with dimmer
Crescent cluster light - Lee Broom
Leopard Print Cushion - House of Hackney
Fur Cushion - Abigail Ahern
Pink velvet cushion - H&M
Lohko - Scion Wallpaper
Seattle sofa in Kingfisher - Swoon
Everdone Kate Spade vase - Amara
Orrico Coffee Table Habitat
Pablo Bookcase - Swoon
