The Howard Sofa: A Modern Country Classic

I recently received this request for help...

Dear Sarah,

We are at last contemplating buying 2 new sofas and ditching our 19 and 25 year olds! Oh the joy! But what style to go for? Not leather, classic to last another 20 years, but modern to fit in with my dream house, that hopefully we will find in 2014. As yet I haven't found one that features some gorgeous, comfy, but modern country styles! Please help!! Cindyx

You're in luck! I know just the ticket....

I have three words for you, Cindy: The Howard Sofa....

...uber-stylish but completely timeless; 

I will never, in a gazillion years, get bored with this look. Mainly because with the Howard sofa, there isn't really one look. By picking carefully with your upholstery fabric, you can go be a thoroughly Modern Miss....

or a cosy comfy Country chick...

Howard sofas strike the perfect balance between gorgeous looks and utter practicality. They are large. They are inviting. And they are super-squishy. Perfect for snuggling up on these cold January days, with a blanket, a favourite magazine and a big mug of something delcious.

The Howard sofa manages to embody reassuring chunkiness with curvaceous elegance, making it a Modern Country design classic.

However, do be reassured that it is A. Good. Thing. to be cautious about buying big items. These are pieces that will need to last you for years and years and years. Take the time to get it right and you will be smiling contentedly every time you kick back and flop into the soft, welcoming embrace of your chosen sofa. 

Good luck!

Images via: South Shore Decorating, The Sofa and Chair Company, The White Company, unkown, unknown, Beach Comber, Abigail Ahern

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Home and Garden Tour Summary and Make It Yours Review...

And who can forget the beautiful Modern Country Style home and garden tours?

Click here for a rerun...

And then there were the moodboards for the MCS Make It Yours posts; showing how the lovely looks of the home and garden tours we take together can be yours for keeps....click here for more!

What a full year! I hope you've enjoyed reading as much as I have putting together these posts...it's been an enormous pleasure being part of such a wonderful community.

Here's to a very happy 2014!

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MCS Craft and Fashion Summary 2013

Here's a taster of the rest of last year's shenanigans! 

Click through to find more details....

First, there were the Modern Country Crafts....

I shared how to create the easiest (and possibly most gorgeous) tablecloth in the world...Click here for details

Here's a step by step tutorial on how to create a really stunning gilded bowl...Click here for details

Here's how to rescue junk shop picture frames. Click here for details

Then the Modern Country fashion posts....

My favourite wellies...

Click here for details...

...and what to wear relaxing al fresco...click here for details...

More coming up on Friday!

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Summary 2013: Interiors Progress

Welocme to 2014!

I hope you had a peaceful and wonder-filled Christmas time.

Let's start off by having a recap of Modern Country Style 2013. 

This is as much for me as for you! I love to look back each year to see what we've accomplished, before forging ahead with new plans, schemes and projects.

The year started off with the finishing touches to our Dining Room....which began life like this:

And magically metamorphosed into this:

We've been so pleased with the new and sparkling serenity of the room. 

{Click here for all related posts}

Then, the biiiiiiiiiiiig build of the year came....our builders were completely brilliant and worked valiantly through rain, snow...and on....and on....well into the summer.

The idea was to transform our thoroughly grotty shower room, which was tucked into the eaves, into a shower room haven and an office/guest room/living space...

Here's what we had to play with...

And now see the magic before your very eyes

without any of your stress building or money depleting! 

You lucky thing, you!

The beginnings of the shower room...

....which is now almost complete....

Just a few more accessories required to pull it all together....

All to be recorded right here...breaking news reported as it happens!

{Click here for all related posts}

We've moved somewhat more slowly with the second room. It needs to fulfil so many requirements that I want to get it juuuuuust right!

Click here for all related posts.}

Have you put your decorations away yet? I wait for the official twelfth night. I'd leave them up long after that, to be honest....I never tire of the incredible Good News of the season...

“The Christian gospel is that I am so flawed that Jesus had to die for me,

yet I am so loved and valued that Jesus was glad to die for me.”

Tim Keller

Now to pull together all the craftiness that's happened on these pages over the last year....

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House Tour: Why every Christmas home should use red!

This is a great example of a gorgeously homely Modern Country Christmas. Let's step inside and see why it works so well....

 Heavenly touches draw your eye everywhere it has the pleasure of landing. It's neutral but that doesn't make it dull in the very least. Why is that? 

I very firmly believe that sprinkles of red add a warmth and vibrancy that is hard to create in any other way. 

It conjures up images of warm cheeks, ruby red lips and shiny apples at the bottom of stockings....exciting, passionate, fun....everything a home should be.

Just try and imagine this home without those magical pops of crimson. Yes, it would be calming, welcoming...but would it sing? Would it call to you the moment you entered, "Come in, sit down and make my home your home"? I think not...

I love using cherry red throughout the year but at Christmas I could hardly bear to be without it.

There's a reason Father Christmas wears red, you know!

Will you be using red this Christmas?

Via Zuhause Wohnen

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