Homes We Love: Cosy monochrome magic

Balancing comfort with chic contrasts

Describing her decorating style as ‘monochrome, modern and cosy’, Juliette Barnes’ and her partner’s new home features lots of black and white with lots of comforting touches.

Her chic living room contrasts our cosy Cassie sofa against a sharp black fireplace as the focal point. “The most important thing is comfort,” she says. “Our Cassie sofa is super soft and feels like we’re on a cloud when we’re on it! We have got so many compliments about how cosy it is. Another thing we love is the L-shape which sits perfectly in front of our TV and is the perfect spot for chilling.”

Aside from the fireplace, Juliette also works her monochrome magic into other parts of her living room. “Our home is very old and we’ve kept that traditional twist. We have windows with stained glass and wooden beams but we added very modern colours. There’s no brown wood whatsoever in our house however, we have solid oak and subtle traditional characteristics throughout.”

Styling an open plan dining area

While renovating her home, Juliette removed the wall separating her living and dining room to turn it into one big open plan space. She keeps it simple with more black and white, using a modern round dining set against classic stained glass windows.

To make her space more inviting, Juliette injects seasonal touches to her décor such as sparkly accents for Christmas. She also recommends choosing the right lighting to set the mood. “If your lighting is too white then the room will feel too cold,” she explains. “A good tip for monochrome rooms is to always go with warm or yellow lamps so in the evening it will feel super cosy.”

Designing a luxe marbled bathroom

For her master bathroom, Juliette added a luxe monochrome twist with marble walls. She explains, “Even though I love grey concrete, I definitely wanted black as a feature in my bathroom as I did think grey was too masculine for us. Marble is a bit risky as it does go in and out of fashion but we love it! It feels super luxurious and I kind of wanted it to feel like a bathroom in a really nice hotel.”

She always wanted a marble bathroom but the initial process of finding the right tone and pattern was difficult. “We went for a wet room vibe as the space is small,” she says. “We’re super happy with our walk-in shower as neither of us are bath people really!”

Decorating the bedroom of her dreams

Juliette and her partner’s bedroom is currently a work in progress as they were concentrating on the rest of the house first. “We definitely want to make it warmer with more cream tones to match the oat-coloured carpet,” she says. “We will also be adding touches of black but much more subtle. I’ve also got a dressing table with Hollywood lights on the way.”