Abigail Ahern’s home – part 2

I hope you enjoyed yesterday’s blogpost about the home of the enfant terrible of interior design, the one and only Abigail Ahern. Today, it’s time for part two: the living room and dining area.

As you can see, Abigail is not afraid to ‘go dark’ – in fact that was her big motto when I visited her last week for a design class and took all the pictures you see here. The trick is to paint out your ceiling in the same color as your walls. That way, it becomes unclear where the walls stop and the ceiling begins. Yes, but what if you have a low ceiling – I hear you ask? It doesn’t matter – this works in every room of the house. No junction makes any room look taller.

When I first entered Abigail’s home I didn’t know where to look first. There was SO much cool stuff to see. And that’s exactly Abigail’s way of decorating. The eye has to be mesmerized – but don’t go overboard with the colors you use. Confused? Let me explain things a bit further with the comments and tips I’ve added underneath each picture I took during my visit.

Tomorrow we’re going upstairs to explore Abigail’s studio and salon. I’d love to know what you think! Feel free to share your thoughts in the comment section at the bottom of this post.

PS: Did you know that Interiorator also has a Facebook page?

All pictures by Interiorator / Patrick Kooiman

Abigail Ahern’s home – part 2

The sofa and chairs look really comfortable, don’t they? You want to use nice and squishy seats and sofa’s to create an inviting atmosphere to your living room.

Note in this picture how the color palette is basically very subdued with only a splash of color here and there to make a statement.

It’s important to play with scale and to vary the height of all the vases, lamps and knickknacks you put together.

Add texture by using rugs. Although Abigail advises you to reign in your color palette, you can never have too much texture. Cuty doggy by the way!

Where does you eye go first? There’s so much to see!

Flea markets make a great source for unique accessoires. A tip from Abigail: go often, go early.

Styling is basically layering. Put things in front of each other and for heaven’s sake…don’t leave any gaps between all the items you combine.

Play with scale. This oversized lamp creates instant visual interest.

Create different nooks in your living room – this is how you do it.

Notice how you can use books to create a ‘tablescape’

Always have at least one shiny object in a room – like the white chair you see hear. Notice the beautiful contrasts with the fur by the way.

Don’t put too much focus on your dining room table – the accessoires and art in the room have to do all the talking.

Lamps in every part of the room – prepare to use a lot of ambient lighting. But don’t go overboard, because you also want to keep some shadow.

Didn’t take too many pictures of the kitchen, but here’s one important tip: make it an extension of your living room by using table lamps, books and art.