For the next chat in our Home in on Happy series, we sat down with the lovely Jess Hurrell, aka @gold_is_a_neutral. Now an interiors and lifestyle blogger, Jess’s home is any interior magpie’s dream, with touches of glamour and, of course, gold! Jess started up her blog and Instagram page around 4 years ago as a new challenge – creating content around interior styling, house tours and of course her own renovations. Fast forward to today, and her business and Instagram page is thriving, with over 60 thousand people following for interiors inspiration! Read on to find out more about Jess’ style, and some exclusive tips and tricks to help you create the home of your dreams!
Jess’s interior style
I’d describe my interior style as modern, elegant glamour. I used to be much bolder but over the years my taste has changed and developed into something a little more pared back. I’m still not afraid of colour, but if I’m using bold colours (like in my lounge with our dusty pink sofa.com sofa and olive green walls) I will keep everything else quite simple and won’t introduce any more colours or overdo the accessories. I don’t like spaces to feel cluttered or too shouty.
I’m currently feeling very inspired by 70’s design – you won’t find me with a shag pile carpet, but I’m enjoying adding nods here and there. I love tortoiseshell glass and need to stop myself buying any more, and I’m currently on the hunt for a vintage bamboo sideboard for the other side of our lounge. The modular version of the sofa.com Stella sofa we have in our lounge, has those low slung, deep seated 70’s vibes, particularly in that gorgeous shade of coral pink!
I also seem to have developed a major thing for olive green too, and have added touches right the way through our recent downstairs renovation – from the Olive Colour paint in our lounge by Little Greene Paint Company and the banquette in the kitchen, through to our green striped garden tiles on our patio.
Jess’s top tips for styling a space
1.Slow Down
My best tip for finding your style is to slow down. There is so much to see and be wowed by across Instagram, Pinterest, magazines etc and it can be easy to get confused about what you really like. It’s one thing to like something, but do you really want your house to look like that? Is it you?
2.Start with a focal point
Start with a focal piece like a sofa and build around it. I knew I wanted a coral pink sofa, so I made sure I found the right fabric before deciding on a colour for the walls, as various tones work differently together and if you get that right, you can go from there.
3.Create a mood board
The next thing is to mood board – start adding things you really love, and once you’ve got a few things on there, look for a theme. Is it a colour palette that you seem to be particularly drawn to, or stripes, or florals etc. Finding that theme will help you on your way.
4.Shop around
Once you’ve started to hone in on what you want, my next piece of advice would be to shop around, don’t buy everything in one place. And consider adding some vintage pieces to add a story and some character to a room.
5.Don’t rush it.
There’s nothing worse than rushing into a project or rushing to make decisions, only to find yourself sat in the space once it’s finished and realise that you don’t actually like how it looks or feels. Spend time making decisions, and use samples – whether that’s paint samples, fabric samples, wallpaper samples or floor samples! Paint is an easy thing to change but choosing the wrong furniture can be an expensive mistake.
6.Consider the use of the space
The most important thing about home for me is creating spaces that work for us as a family, and where we can create memories with our family and friends. Comfort and practicality are very important, but I always try to approach things with a sense of fun. I always design spaces with an idea in my mind of how we will use them throughout the day/year and the fun we will have in them. I think if you create that atmosphere in your design then you’re half-way there and people will pick up on it. Our sofa is comfy, big enough for all the family, it doesn’t compromise on style and it makes people smile when they see it.
How Jess has designed her happy place
Our home is very much a place where we live, work and play. We love to entertain, and the entire downstairs of our home is designed with that in mind, I can’t wait to be able to have friends and family over to make up for lost time!
My husband and I are both currently working from home so it’s important to have spaces which are not associated with working. That’s what our lounge is – a place for us to switch off from work mode, and enjoy precious family time. Our sofa.com modular Stella sofa takes centre-stage in this room. We chose it because we wanted something laid-back and big enough for us all to pile onto in the evening and weekends for family movie time, or gather with friends after dinner to enjoy a cocktail or two.
The colour makes me smile every time I walk in the room and I love the fact that I was able to design it to make the absolute most of the space we had. Because it’s a modular design, you can customise it to fit it into your home, choosing individual units to make up the sofa of dreams. I selected the wide arms to balance out the design and really give it that low slung look, and I chose the size of each seat section to fit along the run of the wall. It’s a big sofa and makes a real statement in that spot, and our home life is very much centred around it!
Get inspired by Jess’s home
Jess’s calming bedroom
Jess’s cosy corner
Jess’s glamorous living room
We’ve loved sitting down and chatting to Jess all about her home! For more inspiration, make sure you’re following her at @gold_is_a_neutral on Instagram!