Tag Archives: James Lane

How to cosy up your living room this winter

There’s no denying that the living room is one of the most lived-in areas of a home, especially during the winter months when it needs to be ready for two things; hibernating and hosting. Whether you find yourself curling up on the sofa with a warm blanket, a favourite book, or in front of the flickering glow of the TV with friends and family, your living area should be gearing up for a busy season ahead. This means it’s time to work out how you to decorate your living room for winter!

So, to get you inspired, we’ve rounded up five tips to cosy up your living area – from the right lighting to use to the best accessories to style with. Keep reading and prepare to feel toasty.

Adairs Supersoft Checkerboard Washable Rug from $279.99, Adairs Willow Silver Green Hanging Fern $29.99, Eureka Furniture Cove Folding Screen $679, Eureka Furniture Sorghum Pot $89, Freedom Malvern Table Lamp $229, James Lane Bon Travertine & Acacia Coffee Table $1,299, Nick Scali Lenxy 6 Seat Corner Terminal Sofa POA, OZ Design Lazuli Canvas $799, Plush Elanor Swivel Armchair POA, Sheridan Outlet Caral Cushion $79.99, Sheridan Outlet Millbrook Faux Fur Throw $329.95.

Use Warm Colours

First up, consider the colour palette – we recommend choosing warm and inviting colours such as deep reds, earthy browns, or warm neutrals like beige and cream. These shades will make the space feel warmer than it actually is and help make your living area feel cosier. This is because warm hues are associated with passion, joy, and playfulness making them a good choice for rooms that see a lot of activity.

Incorporate Ambient Lighting

Set the mood with the correct lighting. During gloomy days when you need to get work done, then a natural glow or overhead white light can be energy-boosting and help you stay focused. When nighttime arrives and you’re wanting to relax, a warm light will help you unwind. We recommend using soft, warm lighting to create a cosy ambience in your living room. Opt for table lamps, floor lamps, or string lights with warm-toned bulbs rather than harsh overhead lighting that is more suitable in the daytime. You can also use candles to add a flickering, comforting glow.

Add Layers

The secret to a cosy living room? Layering! There’s nothing quite like sinking into a plush sofa with soft cushions and warm throws to snuggle up in. Be sure to opt for a mix of throws and cushions in chunky knit, faux fur, wool, and linen fabrics. The blend of textures will not only enhance the visual appeal of the space but also contribute to a delightfully snug environment, promising both style and comfort.

Decorate With Natural Elements

Since we’re bound to be spending more time inside during winter, why not bring the outdoors in as much as possible by using natural-inspired décor? Think driftwood, branches, stones, and botanicals. By incorporating these organic touches, you can create a serene atmosphere that reconnects you with the great outdoors.

Create Cosy Seating

Design your own reading nook within the living area for ultimate comfort and relaxation. Select a plush armchair, cosy cushions, and a soft ottoman for added comfort. Arrange the reading nook furniture thoughtfully to maximise the cosiness. We recommend having the chair face towards the warming glow of a fireplace or out the window. This arrangement invites you to sink in and escape into the pages of your favourite book. Watch us create a reading nook here.

Now that you know how to decorate your living room for winter, your living room is about to become the heart of your home this winter. Don’t forget to swing by Homemaker The Valley to gather all the essentials. Let’s make this winter your cosiest yet!

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Image: Provincial Home Living

How to Style a Queenslander Home

The Queenslander house is synonymous with our sunny state’s leisurely lifestyle. The Queenslander was designed to cater to our particularly humid climate, with wide verandas to provide shelter from an afternoon storm and long hallways with French doors to provide ample air flow. Built predominately in the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century, the Queenslander is still a popular style for new homes today.

If you’re lucky enough to be living in an iconic Queenslander home, you may be wondering how to style these architectural marvels. A traditional Queenslander house interior is quite minimal, but a modern Queenslander house deserves its own unique look that aligns with the aesthetic taste of its owner (or renter!). So, how do you style a Queenslander, whilst also showcasing the home’s beautiful details and history? To help you out, we’ve put together a quick guide, so you know how to find a lovely balance between modern and traditional style in a Queenslander house.

Play with colour

The colour palette for traditional Queenslander style homes has varied throughout the years, but in modern Queenslander homes, you’ll always tend to find walls in a soft off-white shade. When you start styling your Queenslander, think of these walls as a blank canvas. Having light off-white walls provides you with ample freedom to play with your favourite colour palette through your furniture, wall art, and treasured home décor pieces. Heritage greens, deep burgundies and, royal blues paired with beiges and browns are a great colour combination for anyone looking to create a more country-style home, while burnt oranges, olive greens, and mustard yellows paired with dark browns and sleek gold tones are a solid selection for anyone who loves a mid-century modern look.

Get vertical

The Queenslander house is famous for its high ceilings and VJ panelling, which immediately draws the eye upwards when you walk through the front door. Utilise the height of the space by using styling tricks and lighting to accentuate these fantastic features. We love using floating shelves in the kitchen, bedroom or living rooms to add interest to walls, as well as an extra space to display your treasured trinkets. Bring personality into a space by styling the shelves with your favourite books, a trailing plant or a beautiful arrangement of decorative pots and vases. Gallery walls are an amazing feature to add to the long hallways of a Queenslander home, as you can display your gorgeous artworks and photos in a more creative way. We love the frames on offer at Frame Today because they not only come in different shapes and sizes to inject depth into your gallery wall, but they also have a wide variety of textures and colours.

Embrace the outdoors

A main feature of a Queenslander house is its sprawling veranda and large surrounding outdoor space. You should always make use of these gorgeous areas by creating chill-out zones and furnishing them for a variety of uses. Add a large outdoor dining table and accompanying chairs to the veranda that’ll allow you to eat alfresco during the summer months and invite friends and family over for long lunches. We love the dining sets from Freedom and Early Settler – they’ve got great combinations to suit every design style from country cottage to mid-century modern.

Rug up

Traditional Queenslanders predominantly have timber floors, high ceilings, long hallways, and open living areas. As they were built to withstand the gruelling, hot Queensland summers, they can feel a lot colder when winter rolls around. So, to ensure your home feels comfortable and inviting all year long, we recommend adding rugs to the living, dining and bedrooms, to ground the space and add a bit of extra warmth and texture to your Queenslander. You can opt for neutral colours that complement the timber flooring such as light grey, cream or oatmeal or go for a more eclectic look with a bold colour or pattern piece. DecoRug, Carpet Call and James Lane have some beautiful rugs in a variety of sizes, textures and colours to suit any space.

As you can see, it’s easy to create a beautifully styled Queenslander house that balances the traditional details of the home with a more modern aesthetic. When you’re looking to start styling your Queenslander, be sure to pop into Homemaker the Valley to get everything you need to create the chic Queenslander of your dreams.

How To Make Your Bedroom The Perfect Sanctuary

The bedroom is one of our favourite rooms in the house. Not only do we sleep in this space, but we can read, talk, play, connect and relax in this room as well. The bedroom is the place we spend our days dreaming about as we long to cosy up under the covers and get some much-needed shut eye. With all that in mind, the bedroom often becomes the space that you forget about when decorating your home. As your guests rarely set foot in your bedroom, we often pay more attention to decorating our living spaces and ensuring these are perfect before diving into a bedroom design. Today we are going to be sharing some tips on creating the perfect bedroom sanctuary where you can relax, unwind and enjoy being in this tranquil space.

Invest In Quality Bedding

There are many home decorating areas you can cut back and save a few dollars on, but your bedding should definitely not be one of them. The difference high quality bedding has on your sleep is immeasurable. Not only does it feel luxurious and soft when you climb in at the end of a busy day, but it looks amazing too! Here at Homemaker The Valley we have some great stores such as the Sheridan Outlet and Adairs that stock a huge range of high quality pieces such as luxuriously soft quilt covers, 1000 thread count sheets, silk pillowcases and more! Switch up your bedding this weekend and we can assure you, you will notice the difference straight away!

Lighting Options

Having multiple lighting options in a bedroom is essential. Not only do you need bright overhead lights for getting dressed, cleaning or organising the space, but you also need to incorporate some task lighting. Bedside table lamps, wall sconces or floor lamps make a huge difference in a bedroom. They allow you to create a moody and tranquil environment before hopping into bed by emitting a soft light that is less harsh than bright ceiling lights. They also encourage reading before bed instead of sitting and scrolling through your mobile phone or laptop. Try adding a gorgeous bedside table lamp from Freedom, Oz Design Furniture or Early Settler to your bedroom to create a tranquil and calming atmosphere in your bedroom today.

Soft Furnishings

Cushions and throw rugs immediately make a space feel cosier and more welcoming. Add some fluffy cushions and soft throw blanket to your bed, ottoman or armchair to elevate the cosiness of the entire room. Opt for fabrics such as linen, faux fur or a knitted wool to ensure you can snuggle up and feel the warmth of a cosy texture. Soft furnishings are great to change up from season to season and you can switch up the colours depending on your mood or what is the latest trend. If you haven’t checked out the ‘cushion wall’ at Adairs then you need to head on into Homemaker The Valley this weekend to take your pick at every colour of the rainbow!

A Cosy Rug

There is nothing better than getting out of bed in the morning and planting your feet on a soft, cosy rug. Try adding a large, textured rug to your bedroom to elevate the warmth factor and create a cosy and comfortable atmosphere. Go for a large rug that can fit quite comfortably under your bed and beyond the end of the bed frame. Unlike high traffic areas such as the living or dining room, the bedroom is where you can go for a high pile, fluffy rug that creates a warm and comfortable environment. Head into Deco Rug this weekend to touch and feel their wide range of gorgeous rugs in an array of textures, patterns and colours.

A Great Bed

A great bed can make a huge difference to not only the quality of your sleep, but the entire look and feel of your bedroom too. By investing in a bed that not only looks amazing, but offers storage solutions as well, will elevate your bedroom to the next level. We love beds that have a fabric bedhead in a neutral tone form stores like Beds n Dreams, Forty Winks or Snooze. Look for beds that have built in storage such as large, spacious drawers or a gas lift bedframe. Having hidden storage in a bed frame allows you to hide any excess items or blankets away and creates a more streamlined, organised and tranquil environment in the bedroom.

Scent

Scent plays a huge role in how we feel and connect to a space. Our homes take on so many different scents from cooking, cleaning and general life that we need to ensure we take steps in creating a beautifully smelling space. To create a cosy atmosphere in the bedroom we recommend going for a warm scent such as a burnt caramel or sandalwood. If you would like your bedroom to have a more tranquil and fresh vibe then opt for a jasmine, peppermint or linen scent. Our top picks for adding scent into the bedroom are using a diffuser throughout the day and burning a candle in the evenings as you are preparing for bed. You can pick up a beautiful candle at an affordable price from plenty of our retailers such as Provincial home Living, TK Maxx, James Lane or Sheridan.

Bedside Table Storage

Seeing clutter in a bedroom can automatically make you feel anxious and uneasy. Selecting bedside tables that have built in storage such as a drawer or cupboard allows you to easily tidy up and keep your bedtime essentials organised. We recommend choosing a bedside table that has a drawer where you can keep some linen spray, a good book, essentials oils and some sleep spray to ensure you have everything you need for a peaceful night’s sleep within easy reach. The main goal of the bedroom is to relax, unwind and ensure we have the best seep possible. Having everything tucked away neatly in a bedside table will make a huge difference!

2020 Trends Forecast

2020 is officially here and we are welcoming it with open arms! There is nothing quite like the fresh start of a new year to add a pep to your step and have you feeling inspired about the future. Today we are focusing on all the design trends you will be seeing throughout the coming months at all of your favourite retailers at Homemaker The Valley. Some trends we have seen slowly entering our homes in 2019 and others are fresh, new and exciting! Be sure to follow our Instagram @homemakerthevalley to keep up to date with all the latest trends in real time!

Natural Materials

Natural materials have grown in popularity in 2019 and we have seen rattan and wicker pieces pop up in just about every retailer. Good news for the rattan lovers – it’s not going anywhere! In fact, we will be seeing even more natural elements such as timber and rattan coming through in large pieces that will stand the test of time such as entertainment units, bathroom vanities and more. Introducing natural elements into the home creates a warm and inviting atmosphere whilst adding texture and interest to a space. If you are yet to jump on the trend, try opting for a natural timber coffee table or a wicker occasional chair. Natural textures pair perfectly with neutral colours such as beiges or white and look great next to a plant or two. Oz Design Furniture, Freedom and Provincial Home Living have so many amazing pieces at the moment that you simply must touch and see in store!

Outdoor Entertaining Spaces

We are so lucky to have such beautiful weather and sunshine here in Brisbane, that we would be crazy not to utilise the outdoors for entertaining. Outdoor areas such as alfrescos, balconies and patios will no longer be an afterthought when decorating your home, they will be centre stage! We are seeing a huge trend of designing an outdoor space as its own entertaining oasis and ‘room’ in itself. Think huge outdoor rugs, a large dining table, multiple seating options and decorative festoon lights. Stores such as Remarkable Outdoor Living, Freedom and Early Settler have some gorgeous outdoor pieces this season including large hanging egg chairs, wicker love seats, durable fabric lounges and washable outdoor rugs. Go for colours such as greys or dark beiges paired with natural timbers. Don’t forget to add a pop of colour through bright outdoor cushions and green leafy plants.

Making Walls The Hero

Wall panelling has been a huge trend in late 2019 and we can see it rising to new heights throughout 2020. VJ and decorative panelling will be a massive trend for feature walls and bathrooms in either a statement colour or traditional white. Alongside wall panelling we will be seeing large scale artworks being used to create features and talking points throughout the home. Pair a gorgeous VJ panelled wall in a subtle colour with a statement artwork for an ultra-modern and contemporary look. Oz Design Furniture have the biggest and brightest statement artworks in prints such as blossoming peonies, dessert scenes and tropical palms. Try redecorating your walls in rooms such as the bedroom, dining room or entryway and you’ll be surprised at the difference it will make on the overall feel of the space and style of your home.

More Than Just Plants

Plants have been growing in popularity for the past couple of years and hit soaring status in 2019. Plants will be popular for years to come as they not only bring life and nature into a home, but also add a pop of colour. If you are looking for new ways to include a natural element in your home then think beyond just plants and move towards dried flowers, pampas grass or dried palm leaves to create a new feature in your home. This trend still allows you to have fun with nature but creates a more interesting and unexpected look. Freedom and Adairs have some absolutely gorgeous faux varieties of dried flowers, grasses and natives. Add a bunch to a decorative vase on your dining table, coffee table or entertainment unit for a focal point. You can also try adding a big, statement, dried palm frond or bunch of pampas grass to a terracotta pot that can be placed on the floor or a console table in your entryway. Another perk of this trend? There is no maintenance, upkeep or watering required!

Quality And Timeless Pieces

The past few years have seen the rise of affordable, yet poorly made products flooding the furniture and homewares markets. Consumers are starting to realise the pain of having to repurchase items when they break, wear too quickly or simply date as they were too ‘on-trend’. We see a key trend for 2020 and moving forward to the future of quality, classic and timeless pieces that you want to invest in. Stores such as Provincial Home Living and James Lane do this perfectly. They create pieces that have a nod to a certain trend and look contemporary but use classic shapes that will stand the test of time. Look for furniture and homewares pieces in colours you have seen to be popular throughout history and don’t be afraid to spend a bit more money on an item if you know deep down that you love it and can see it in your home for many years to come.

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