Dreaming with Loaf

 Have you ever heard of LOAF?  If not, you can read their story HERE. Truth is for a long, LONG while I have admired them from afar.  It's no secret that we rent our sweet little attic.  The idea is that by curling up somewhere littler and less costly than a big huge and whopping house with a garden and a greenhouse and a veg patch and maybe just MAYBE a spaniel puppy - we might be able to save a little of that precious cash.  And precious it is.  Anyone in the same sailing-boat as us will realise how all the more important it is having beautifully made furniture and carefully collected bedding, cushions and soft furnishing too.  These are the very things that make our little home just that, home.  As well as US of course.  

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I've always had a great love and appreciation for LOAF.  I stumbled across them quite ACCIDENTALLY when one of their beautiful brochures fell out of a magazine i was reading.  We have been on the look-out for a new sofa for a long while and nothing had ever really JUMPED  out at us before, despite visiting all the usual haunts.  I declared a DISASTER.  None of the companies made my heart sing, none of them seemed to have real values and slowly but surely they had all merged into one in my little head.  Having never really furniture-shopped before i resigned myself to the fact that must just be how furniture shopping is:  Completely and utterly un-inspirational.  Until that fateful day i stumbled upon the lovely lot at LOAF.

They make things with all of their HEART you see, not just a bit of it:  ALL of it.  You can just tell.  Each piece is so lovingly and beautifully crafted that i automatically went from needing a new sofa to wanting to completely re-furnish our whole and entire flat.  And so it was both amusing and also with a little touch of fate when they got in touch to tell me how much they liked my mood-boards.  Once i stopped BLUSHING, we chatted about LOAF and they asked if i might like to make a LOAF-INSPIRED mood-board.  Of course i hopped, skipped, jumped and CARTWHEELED at the chance - i got quite dizzy with excitement.  I wasn't quite sure where to start.  So i got myself a bit lost in a LOAF-shaped fairytale and pretended i could re-decorate our living-room and this is what happened…

We are both big lovers of the GREAT and GREEN and often spend our Sundays meandering up and down hills and along rivers in The Lake District so i knew that I wanted to incorporate natural materials into our space, to strip it back a bit and really make the most of our big living-room-come-dining-room.  I was thinking exposed wooden beams just like ^above^ (ours are currently rattly and encased within the roof of our slant-y ceiling).  I LOVED the idea of removing the plaster from the wall at one end and keeping the floorboards exposed too - just as they are now. In terms of colours and fabrics, i just knew i'd find it hard to narrow down what colours to use.  I love the fabric's and textures of the swatches sent along by the lovely folk at LOAF, just about as much as i love the sweet names they all have and how i could probably find something to do with just about each and everyone one!  Our favourites were Nickel, Driftwood, Lagoon and Willow:  Natural colours and textures which feel as if they have been plucked right out of a country walk and would sit beautifully in my imaginary new living-space.      

Nickel and Driftwood are just wonderful colours for a room with a light natural and air-y feel without being to clinical.  I also loved their TEXTURE.  Once we had a proper goosey-gander at the brochures in more detail, we I fell hook, line and sinker for their BAGSY sofa.  Who wouldn't?  It's LOAF's version of a classic Chesterfield shape and comes in 4 sizes and with a choice of 85 different fabrics to pick from too.  I love it's romantic shape, how it looks like you would just sink right into it and how the back of it is just begging to have a biscuit-coloured soft blanket thrown across it.  Are you in love too?  Just incase you needed anymore convincing it's handmade with a solid beech frame in Long Eaton in good old 'Blighty. 

Of COURSE once we'd looked at sofas we felt it only fair to stake out the armchairs too.  I mean there are only two of us but sometimes i like to curl up in a corner with a book, a floral mug of Lady Grey and a walnut whip or two and pretend the Mr isn't there shooting something on his Xbox, ruining my calm oasis.  And so just when i thought my heart couldn't take anymore, i discovered that my beloved sofa has it's very own matching love-seat!    They're clever those lovely LOAF lot aren't they?  I imagined our very own  BAGSIE LOVE-SEAT would make excellent company for our lonely new sofa - and quite frankly i got lost in my daydreams for a good, long while and remembered I had a mood-board to finish!

Next a bit more on COLOUR.  I don't like waste and whilst i am aware this is a daydream - even if it is one I don't want to wake up from - i didn't like the idea of abandoning everything our living-space already is.  If i could describe it to you, it's sort of natural meets…Morocco?  As weird as that might sound it just works for us.  I've always been influenced by India, Morocco and maybe even a little bit of Mexico too.  For that reason, our current space is mainly an ivory blank canvas with lots of printed and tasselled throws and blankets, velvet cushions and round cushions adorned with pompoms.  The colours are cerise's, fuchsia pinks and beetroot-hued purples paired with deep jade green velvet stools and big round paper lanterns.  I wouldn't like this palette to disappear altogether.  As much as re-doing a new space is EXCITING it's nice to remember the items you have collected together over the years and re-work them into your new space.  So since we're still dreaming i stuck LOAF's HIGHWIRE {a free-standing wire storage unit perfect for squirrelling away clutter trinkets} and BIRDIE {a shelving unit handmade in steel with a drop-down desk for afternoons spent doodling and dreaming} into my 'basket' too.  They're part of a completely neutral SHELVING section that they also have on their darling website and one's which would lend itself to any taste or decor.  

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  I like to think that our room would reflect us a TWOSOME:  a little bit of how we spend our time, the items we have collected along the way and that it would also make the most of the big, light space that we are lucky enough to call our living-room.  It would be cosy -  filled with tactile fabric and tougher more natural pieces -  comfortable whilst also being practical and functional and a space that i should feel PROUD to house such beautifully crafted LOAF goodies.  

What do you think of LOAF?  Have you heard of them before?  If you havent bob on over to their beautiful websight pronto.  It's their 6th birthday and they're having a little sale!  Would you also like to completely re-vamp your entire home with absolutely everything they make?!  I'd love to know your thoughts on this little project too.  What colours would you pick for your dream space?  Would it look anything like mine?!

*This post and the mood-boards that feature in it were lovingly created in collaboration with LOAF  All opinions are my own.