Case study 01 · Living room
From beige and forgotten to warm and grown-up.
Direction · Warm modern
A handsome bay-windowed lounge that had quietly gone cold. Good bones (proportions, light, the alcove, the cornicing) but two dated leather sofas, undressed windows, and a TV on a wire stand were doing the room no favours. The brief: hosting-ready in the evenings, calm to sit in alone on a Tuesday.
"Our design" images are AI-generated mockups from the Render Homes report — our design recommendations, not completed building work.
What we changed and why
- One boucle sofa, one boucle armchair. The two cream leather sofas were eating the room and aging it ten years. A single soft sofa plus a curved armchair gives the same seating capacity in a fraction of the visual weight.
- Floor-length oat curtains on a brass pole, finally framing the bay properly. The single biggest "this room looks expensive now" lift in the whole plan. Hung high, hung wide, breaks above the floor.
- A brass arc floor lamp reaching over the sofa, plus a table lamp on the side table. Two warm light sources at human height, switched on instead of the ceiling fitting. The room is unrecognisable after dark.
- A cane TV unit instead of the metal stand. Lighter visual weight, warmer texture, plays well with the floor and the curtains. Hides cables and a couple of remotes.
- A jute rug anchoring the seating area. The carpet is fine, the rug just gives the eye a place to land and tells you where the conversation happens.
- Cushions in oat, sage and warm rust across the sofa, with a chunky knitted throw. Three textures, one mood. Nothing matches; everything belongs.
- One large piece of abstract art over the sofa, plus a fiddle leaf fig in the bay. Walls and corners that had been working overtime now have something to say.
The palette
A few things on the shopping list
Case study 02 · Main bedroom
From utility to boutique hotel.
Direction · Soft Art Deco
A bedroom doing the bare minimum. The bay was undressed, the bedding was at war with itself, and a tufted headboard had been shouting since the late seventies. The brief was harder than it sounds: somewhere they'd actually want to spend time, that still felt like home rather than a showroom.
"Our design" images are AI-generated mockups from the Render Homes report — our design recommendations, not completed building work.
What we changed and why
- A deep emerald velvet bed with a tall channel-tufted headboard. The room can carry one big confident piece, and this is it. Everything else is built around it.
- Cane-fronted bedside tables in oak. Matched left and right, lower than the headboard, with enough surface for a lamp, a book and a glass of water. Symmetry here makes the room feel restful.
- A brass globe pendant replacing the bare bulb, plus two warm bedside lamps. Three light sources, all dimmable, none of them overhead-only. The mood is now switchable.
- One Art Deco-leaning print in green and gold above the bed. A confident art moment that ties the headboard to the brass and gives the wall something to do.
- Floor-length cream curtains on a brass pole, dressing the bay properly. The window had been working hard on its own; now it has a frame.
- Layered bedding in cream, oat and a textured throw. Plus four cushions: two oat shams, one velvet emerald, one gold velvet. Five minutes a morning to make.
- A jute rug at the foot of the bed and a fiddle leaf fig in the bay. The two finishing moves that turn a bedroom into a bedroom you want to be in.
The palette
A few things on the shopping list