By Lana

Hey guys, I’m calling it early... this lounge room is my favourite room of the whole entire house! #saywhaaat And one of my favourite Three Birds lounge rooms EVER!

Yep, it’s a big call to make when we’re only one third of the way through our House 12 room reveals BUT there are just SO many things that make this room a step ahead of the rest, I can’t even count them on one hand.

What’s not to love about these 7 fabulous features:

Goodbye hallway, hello heaven

The load-bearing wall that separated the hallway from the lounge room just had to go to open this baby up and reveal her full potential. We’re massive fans of open-plan living for families and in a home of this size, removing a wall to increase living space makes a world of difference.

Once this wall was down, the rest of the changes were cosmetic. I love sharing cosmetic renos to show our audience what can be done on a smaller, more achievable scale with less budget but BIG impact.

2. Curves thAT EVEN THE Kardashians would envy

Curves are totally en vogue at the moment. That said, we’re not big trend followers and prefer to create homes for families that they’ll love, now and forever. This little cottage already had some baby curves of her own so, we embraced these and added some more, like the big Mumma curve which divides the living and dining rooms.

A gorgeous curved arch wall made with Gyprock Flexible is a great way to zone rooms from one another while adding some wow factor to your home. We’ve never plonked a bench seat smack bang in the middle of an arch before, but I’m sold.com!

3. Bench seats galore

For the first time ever, we created a two-way bench seat … and I think I’m in love! I don’t know if we ever got to the bottom of whose bum these bench seats were measured to fit but there are more bench seats that you can poke a stick at in this room. I love them for so many reasons; a chair is for one, a bench is for many; they make great storage, they look fab and they’re easy peasy for your builder to whip up on-site.

It made sense to add bench seating either side of the fire place because it doubles as storage. We jazzed the bench seats up with James Hardie Axon cladding details, popped some plush cushions on top, gave them a good karate chop and voila! Bench seats galore!

4. Warm-toned walls

I’m still not 100% sure if it’s pink or cream (or somewhere in between!) but I don’t know why Bon ever doubted her choice! Dulux Clay Pipe is a dead set winner in this home. The fact that the trims and ceiling are painted the same gorgeous colour makes walking into this room like walking into a big warm hug… and that’s what I need more than ever in this COVID time of no touchy feely!

The old redundant fireplace had to go (don’t worry, they’ve got ducted heating - we haven’t left them to freeze!) but the chimney and surround was a lovely focal point in the room so we wanted to keep it and make a feature of it. I guess it was a bit like turning it into a piece of furniture. In a Three Birds first, we used Dulux Texture which, just as it sounds, is a paint-on acrylic texture which gives a bagging effect. Now it’s painted the same Dulux Clay Pipe it really centres the rooms and is a great place to display some gorgeous ceramics.

5. Woodcut underfoot

Did you know that when I’m asked what my most-prized possessions are, the list includes “my Woodcut engineered timber flooring”? It’s true! I can’t get enough of it and Woodcut have outdone themselves again in this home with yet another gorgeous colour, Smokey Grey. It’s got just the right balance of light and and dark tones and some knotted goodness for texture.

And hey, aside from the good looks, we know it’s going to be durable and maintenance for this family to live with, which is always a bonus.

6. Fabulous furniture

Oz Design Furniture just keep on outdoing themselves season after season with their cloud-like comfy sofas. Contrasted with the architectural goodness of the Sarah Ellison Huggy chair in that stunning mustard velvet, I just can’t decide where I want to park myself first.

We ummed and ahhed about using a rug in this space. It felt warm enough without it and meant one less thing for this family to keep clean but we popped one in at the last minute and the plush, cosy feeling underfoot was just too good to do without.

7. Dreamy drapes

The Luxaflex pirouette blinds either side of the fireplace are to this lounge room what instagram filters are to influencers. They filter the light beautifully and leave everything looking fresh and glowy.

These blinds are motorised and controlled by a little remote control that lets them sit totally up or down and when they’re down they can pivot between filtered light or be be completely closed for total privacy.