Wherever we live, we all wish we had more space. Especially if - like me - you live in London, where property costs an average of £7000 per square metre. Eek! And so we need to be making the most of every inch. But what does this actually mean? For me, it’s all about choosing furniture that is both useful and beautiful. Enter my new favourite furnishing item: the ottoman.
I won’t lie: a bespoke upholstered ottoman isn’t the cheapest thing you’ll ever buy. But it DOES make the most of your space. Take my bedroom for example - it’s not big for a master, comprising around 15 square metres, but having done the maths I’ve discovered this room cost me around £100,000 - A HUNDRED GRAND!!! This eye-wateringly expensive space is one in which me and the Pink House Husband need to do a number of things, including: sleep (etc), read, store clothes, get dressed, enjoy the excellent view of the London skyline, and feel calm and cosy and surrounded by pretty things. So how does my new ottoman (from Sarah Beech Ottomans) ensure our bedroom earns its keep?
Provides substantial, easily sortable storage for my unwieldy collection of gym clothing, which simply won’t fit anywhere else. Now I can find a pair of long black yoga leggings and soft bamboo crop top with ease, before settling down on my sofa for the evening (because #athleisure)
Offers a comfy vantage point from which to enjoy the sight of the sun setting over the London Eye. And because it’s made bespoke to fit my bedroom it doesn’t block my path to the bed, or prevent me from opening the under-bed drawers
Provides a seat upon which to sit when getting dressed, on those occasions when you’re rather tired and standing is undesirable (because #hangover and #kids or #both)
Offers an opportunity to use one of my very favourite fabrics (House of Hackney’s Artemis velvet in Azure), without requiring that I buy so much of the stuff that I have to remortgage my house. Also I got to have it lined in pretty pink wool, which adds to the pre-gym motivation.
Only the very best storage for my gym kit/Photo: Susie Lowe
But what does the bedroom’s other occupant, the clutter-averse Pink House Husband, think of the new man in our bedroom? I cornered him while he was making soup in the kitchen (his default position) to find out…
Me: What do you think of the ottoman that resides in our bedroom?
PHH: What?
Me: What do you think about the ottoman? In our bedroom?
PHH: I thought that’s what you said.
Me: So?
PHH: Why are you asking?
Me: I value your opinion.
PHH: I’ve never seen anything fall out of it. It’s doing its job.
Me: What do you think about the way it looks?
PHH: I try not to.
Me: Come on. You like it really, don’t you?
PHH [absent-mindedly, while inspecting the soup]: Yeah.
So there you have it: the new ottoman in the house is to everyone’s taste. Here’s to our happy threesome.
Always have the fabric of your dreams in the bedroom/Photo: Susie Lowe
OTHER CREDITS: Walls, Farrow & Ball Oval Room Blue | Carpet, Alternative Flooring Capello Shell wool carpet | Bed, made bespoke by Hypnos | Blinds, Hillarys |
NB: This is NOT a sponsored post. However, in the interests of full disclosure I’d like to add that Sarah Beech Ottomans made my ottoperson (let’s drop the gender discrimination right here shall we?) at a discounted rate, after I used one of her beautiful designs (featuring Timorous Beasties fabric) for my Style Room at last year’s House & Garden Festival. Sarah is a true craftswoman and creative who loves working with British fabric brands, and I’d highly recommend her for all your ottoman - and ottowoman - requirements. Find her at www.sarahbeechottomans.com
