Dark colour is the perfect backdrop for metallic finishes and mirrors. These pretty coloured candles give a pop of colour. The paint used here, ‘Down Pipe’ by Farrow & Ball, beautifully changes depending on the light. In this living room, it looks almost black.

20th-century industrial convex mirrors, 122cm diameter, £2,200 each, at Alex MacArthur; deep-buttoned velvet sofa, 68.5 x 200 x 89cm, £7,799 at Talisman. Sofa (in foreground) , ‘Gilston’, 83 x 73 x 183cm, £2,000 at David Seyfried; covered in ‘Foch’ (ciel) by Manuel Canovas, cotton, £95 a metre, at Colefax and Fowler.

Taken from the January 2014 issue of House & Garden. Styling: Gabby Deeming

Photo : Kristin-Perers easy-living-28 jan14