Bay windows let the sun shine through

[venta]

Yesterday, finding myself with 15 minutes to kill, I wandered into Habitat.

Habitat is a scary, scary place. I do not live in this accessorised world they have created. I am intrigued to note that you can purchase co-ordinating bedding, dressing gowns, rugs, and light fittings. What happens when you change the bed ? Are you immediately plunged into non-co-ordinating hell ? Perhaps people buy multiple copies of the bedding, but it worries me that there just might be people out there who change the rugs, etc, to match.

Admittedly, their example room was done in rather lovely tones of purple. Even so, I couldn't imagine real people managing to be so together about their furnishings. Everything about the decor said "hotel!" to me - pleasant, luxurious but hardly homely. And incidentally: scatter cushions. Why ?

I'm pleased to note that, like Ikea, Habitat give all their designs names. One can purchase a shower curtain in "Hitchcock". It appears to be a rather plain, pale blue - perhaps the sort of colour that shower curtain would have been had it not been shot in black and white. I do hope that when you unfold said curtain it will be blotched with red stains; I fear, however, that it won't be.

One can also purchase, if one feels inclined, a "Tall mirrored cabernet". Presumably it holds all your toiletries, allows you to check your make-up and goes nicely with a steak sandwich.

Comments

[feanelwa.livejournal.com]

Maybe it has psychotic birds painted on it for extra crossover glee.

I think if my house was co-ordinated like that I would lose my dressing gown ALL THE TIME. I already lose pens and books on my multicoloured blanket in the winter because they gravitate to the parts that are the same colour.

[secretrebel.livejournal.com]

I love the idea of the tones of purple room, I'd like to look into that. Where is this Habitat? In Oxford?

I actually do try to be together about my furnishings (although it's a work in prgress) and - ahem - I do have a number of 'extra' rugs, ornaments and furniture in storage because it doesn't go with my currently selected look.

[venta.livejournal.com]

The Habitat is in the sort of retail park-y area by the Botley Rd junction of the ring road. Near the Seacout Tower, which is the tall, brick building with the strange metal spire on it. I don't know if that's a convenient place for you to get to ? I can help out with cars if you're keen to go but it's out of your way.

I'm impressed at the idea of having a 'look' sufficient to determine that some ornaments don't go. I think that sounds reasonable, though - unlike the idea of changing weekly with the bedclothes, which I really would consider a bit excessive.

[secretrebel.livejournal.com]

Cheers, I think I can make it there (especially since triskellian is also keen to go).

I have a *lot* of ornaments. When I like a style I seem to sick with it for long enough to mount up a scary number of examples of it. Alas, when I turn agin it, I then have to box up all of these - luckily this has happened often enough that I usually already have a box's worth of possible replacements.

[triskellian]

I love the idea of the tones of purple room, I'd like to look into that.
Me too! Although maybe it would be dangerous. Still, pla?

[secretrebel.livejournal.com]

N!

Oh yes, let's definitely do that. :)

[marjory.livejournal.com]

Habitat sort of scares me. I think one of the nails in the coffin was when a fairly silly friend of mine got a rucksack for her baby (for the baby to wear as opposed for carrying of said child).

Actually, I think that it represents the level of grownuppery to which not so many of us can conform and which not so many of us can afford. I'd love a purple room, but I know full well that rebellious bits of white or pink of turquoise would appear sooner or later...

[undyingking.livejournal.com]

I have heard tell that it was really chocolate sauce. Which at least you could have a good suck on while having a shower.

[venta.livejournal.com]

Yes, Frances told me yesterday that it was really chocolate sauce. Which I think would probably wash off after a couple of showers, so not all that pactical really.

[pope-ant.livejournal.com]

You're telling me this woman had chocolate sauce running through her veins - what a freak!

[bopeepsheep.livejournal.com]

The whole co-ordinated room thing really only works if you are a) moving somewhere for the first time ever and have no possessions to bring or b) are ruthless about moving stuff out if it doesn't go. That said, ~60% co-ordination, say, can go well with ~40% non-co-ordinating-but-not-clashing stuff. This is how I got away with a bright turquoise bedroom for 6 years, despite having non-matching bedlinen etc; enough stuff did match to make it work. That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it. :D

Purple room. Mmmmm.

[floralaetifica.livejournal.com]

I do have the kind of brain that would like everything to be coordinated. When your surroundings are in disarray, it creates mental disharmony. Especially for the mildly obsessive compulsive like me.

In practice, I can't be arsed to do housework, so my place is always a tip.

But nonetheless, a room which is a clutter of different styles of ornaments just makes me feel... oppressed. And some colours *really* don't go together.

[venta.livejournal.com]

Now clutter being opressive I can understand - and one day, one day, it will be obvious from my bedroom that I don't like clutter :( And I agree that some colours make scary combos - orange wallpaper and red bed clothes might well make a room terribly uncomfortable place to be. (Actually, orange wallpaper might do that just by itself). But in an average room I don't think you tend to get such violent clashes. My room here has pale green walls, peachy coloured curtains and a goldy-beige carpet. Today I have brightish blue bedclothes. They're far from co-ordinated, but it's certainly a room I'd be happy with if only it wasn't so untidy.

(Yes, I am tidying up :)

[floralaetifica.livejournal.com]

Too... many... colours...

*short circuits*

[venta.livejournal.com]

Hmm. If I manage to reduce my room to publicly-viewable state, I'll post photos here and see if you do think that. I don't think it's bad - so I'm curious as to whether it was just my description making it sound nasty, or whether I do just have much higher colour tolerance than you. Either could be true, as colours don't mean a lot to me really.

[undyingking.livejournal.com]

You could show us a colour-palette mockup in this cool app revealed to me by zandev?

[davefish.livejournal.com]

it will be obvious from my bedroom that I don't like clutter

Ah right, I thought it was your floor that you didn't like :P

[leathellin.livejournal.com]

Yay, green walls. I wonder how that happened :-)
I like buying bits from habitat, I couldn't manage one of their complete themes but I do tend to collect things in a set of colours that go together. Like green.

[venta.livejournal.com]

Yay, green walls. I wonder how that happened :-)

No idea... they just turned that colour a few days before I moved in :)

[ar-gemlad.livejournal.com]

And incidentally: scatter cushions. Why ?

For me. I'm a cushionaholic. I like cushions and I don't know why. I only really use one for balancing my dinner plate on. Although I do currently have an overly squidgy settee at the moment, otherwise I might use more cushions.
T is trying to stop my cushion habit going over the top. Pah.

[venta.livejournal.com]

Do you have cushions on your bed ? That's the thing I really find odd. You have to move all the cushions off to go to bed, and then put them all back again in the morning to clear the floor. It seems a lot of effort fo no benefit.

In other rooms it depends whether the cushions are friendly, squidgy ones you can sit on or are overly-decorated, fragile things which are for looking at only.

[ar-gemlad.livejournal.com]

Cushions on beds are good if it's the kind of bed that gets used for sitting on as well as sleeping - like a student bed, but normally I agree that cushions don't live on beds.

My ideal cushion would be friendly and squidgy, with a GSOH.

[secretrebel.livejournal.com]

It is a lot of effort. I guess I must think it's worth it, since I do it all the time. My excuise is that I often use my bedroom as a secondary sitting room and the cushions make it seem more like public than private space.

[venta.livejournal.com]

Oh, and you are welcome to draw conclusions from what I was doing over there in the first place :) Am waiting for news.

[ar-gemlad.livejournal.com]

I did wonder :) Good luck!

[feanelwa.livejournal.com]

And for people like me, who can't sit back and slouch anymore :(

[ewx.livejournal.com]

Coincidentally I have lately been painting naath's room purple.

[venta.livejournal.com]

By request, or because they were out and you thought it was funny ?

[ewx.livejournal.com]

Her choice of colors l-)

[erming.livejournal.com]

My room's colour is happy violet. Not sure it goes with the blue and yellow sun and moon pattern duvet and the yucky brown carpet and orangey curtains (carpet and curtains I didn't choose the colour of).

[thegreenman.livejournal.com]

Habitat don't scare me because I rarely go there and even more rarely buy things from them.

I used to go back in the eighties but I think their USP has become no longer unique, loads of shops are now in competition with them for the yuppy chic kind of area. Today everything is designer!


Also since Sir Terence stepped down from day to day control of the company they have rather lost their way in the world.

[(Anonymous)]

like Ikea, Habitat

Since Terance Conran stepped down I think you'll find Habitat is now home to upmarket Ikea and owned by them. I'm not 100% certain but those who like exporing in Companies House could find out.