Back in 2019, and with the Tokyo Olympics planned for 2020, DFS asked me to work with them in creating living room makeovers for three of the Team GB athetes sponsored by DFS - Jazmin Sawyers, Max Whitlock and Adam Peaty.

The brief was to work alongside each athlete to help them choose a DFS sofa and to then design a living room around their chosen sofa. A living room, designed to suit their wants, needs and tastes - a sanctuary where they can relax with family and friends and somewhere to rewind and after a hard days training.

Jazmin Sawyers

My first makeover was for long jumper Jazmin Sawyers. Jazmin doesn’t have a permanent base as she travels a lot for her training so she gifted her living room makeover to her lovely parents.

The Sawyers live in a 1980s detached house and were very keen on a living space that felt like a calm sanctuary for the parents but would also work practically for Jazmin’s two teenage siblings and their family dog Chester.

Jazmin’s mum was very keen on making the room lighter and she preferred a neutral colour palette of whites, creams and beiges, with no pops of colour at all. She also wanted plenty of storage so that clutter could be kept to a minimum.

With this brief in mind, we started looking for a DFS sofa that was both luxurious and practical and in a neutral colour palette. The one that stood out for all of us was the three seater Chord Sofa by Iconica in Stone.

Iconica Italia Chord sofa in Stone leather

The sofa has a low profile and a simple, unfussy shape, giving it a minimal appearance. The sofa is on legs which lends an airy, spacious feel. - I always prefer sofas on legs because you can see underneath them which makes them seem like they take up less room. This is in contrast to a sofa without legs which can look monolithic and imposing in a small space.

The sofa we chose was in leather. Leather is such a practical choice if you have children and dogs to consider. It is wipe clean of course and very hard wearing.

The room previously housed a 3 seater sofa and two armchairs but in order to keep the room looking calm, uncluttered and in proportion, we settled on two identical sofas instead. We also selected the Chord pouffe for it’s aesthetic and storage.

Once the sofas and layout were settled on, the next area to address was the light. The room was quite dark so I had to use all of my tried and tested lighting trickes to solve this. Firstly, we painted the whole room including the ceiling, doors and window frames in Dulux ‘Timeless’ - one of my favourite whites as it has a slight grey undertone which just works in any room. Art gallerys often use it. The window frame and sill were previously a dark wood and painting them white allowed the natural light to be reflected, making a huge difference.

Sawyers Living Room painting work in progress

I then added a huge mirror opposite the window to further reflect the light. Large mirrors also have the added benefit of making the room appear much bigger.

I then added lighting at every level of the room - beautiful round designer ceiling lights, floor lights and my favourite touch - a colour changing LED light strip behind the sideboard. This meant that that the whole wall behind the sideboard was lit up with a beautiful glow, The LED light colour was also changeable so if Jazmin’s mum fancied a pop of colour for a change then she could do so at the flick of a switch - and then switch it back later. Very useful for those scared of colour and no need for a paint brush!

LED mood lighting behind the long storage unit.

The final part of the brief to address was storage, I did this by purchasing two inexpensive 180cm long storage units and joining them together to create a single unit that ran the entire widh of the room. I then purchased designer door fronts to elevate the look of the storage units. The overall effect was masses of storage at a low level, in keeping with the height of the sofas, and in a singular line to keep the calm flow going around the room.

To finish off the room I chose a heavily textured rug to contrast with the smooth texture if the leather sofa, a glass coffee table to further accentuate the feeling of space and lots of neutral coloured textured cushions to add luxury and cosiness to the sofas. Floaty white muslin curtains also added texture but kept the space feeling light and airy.

For all of the accessories I also picked up on the black of the legs of the sofa, choosing a thin black frame for the mirror and a thin black frame for the coffee table. This colour, plus the black line and the rectangular form of the sofa are repeated throughout the room to create the calm flow that the client was looking for.

Max Whitlock.

My next makeover was for gymnast Max Whitlock and his wife Leah and baby daughter Willow.

The Whitlocks live in a beautiful new build and the living room was a blank canvas. Freshly painted, with a beautiful features such as a fireplace and french doors overlooking the garden, with no design flaws needing to be hidden or downplayed, the living room was an interior designers dream.

The Whitlocks wanted a living room to be somewhere where they could relax and watch films togther as a family in the evenings. They love the luxe interior look - lots of velvets, metallics and reflective surfaces but they also knew it had to be practical and safe for small children. They were also very keen on a neutral colour palette, favouring greys and whites with tiny hints of blush pink. I did lots of moodboarding with them and their liking for the LA beach house look emerged from this - lots of luxe materials such as gold and velvet teamed with fun beach house accessories such as hanging chairs.

With this brief in mind we started looking for a DFS sofa and settled on the House Beautiful Long Beach chaise sofa in grey velvet.

The sofa was big enough to allow the family to sprawl out without it dominating the room. We also chose these great looking and fun matching swivel armchairs so that there was plenty of seating when friends and family visited. The Long Beach pouffe completed our DFS choices - perfect for additional seating and as storage for Willow’s toys.

We positioned the sofa so that it faced the TV and zoned the seating space with the clients choice of large fluffy rug. This left plenty of room behind the sofa to place a white rattan hanging chair. The hanging chair overlooks the garden for a perfect view and I framed this view with beachy style white muslin curtains. As well as lending itself to the LA luxe beach house look, it’s a fun place for little Willow to literally hang out!

We added gold and (safety) glass coffee table and console for the luxe look that the Whitlocks love and I managed to persuade them to try a very on trend pale pink arch feature above the console table. This is the beauty of opting for a neutral colour palette - you can add or takeaway colour very quickly and easily if you go off it. Luckily the Whitlocks loved the blush pink arch but it would literally have taken 30 minutes to paint over if they hadn’t liked it.

The room was already filled with beautiful, natural light so lighting wise all I did was add a luxe looking ceiling light flush with the ceiling - the ceilings weren’t high enough for pendants - and a matching floor light.

I repeated the colours and shapes in the room with the accessories - blush pink and arches in the artwork and cushions. I also chose textures to contrast with the velvet of the sofa - chunky knit and sheepskin to provide interest in lieu of colour. I chose a large circular mirror above the fireplace to break up the angles of the sofa and the fireplace.

The end result was a luxury, yet homely and fun space for a young family to enjoy and relax in.

Adam Peaty

My final makeover was for swimmer Adam Peaty, his partner Eirianned and baby son George.

This makeover was in some ways the most difficult as the house was a rental so we weren’t able to change much.

However, the living room was bright and with good proportions and Adam already knew that he wanted the new Japandi style DFS sofa designed especially for the Olympics - the Yuttari - and this dictated the look for the whole room.

The Yuttari - whose name means comfortabke and relaxing in Japanese - has been designed with with both Japanese and Scandinavian design influences in mind. Japanese interiors are very minimal and the furniture is very simple, functional and low profile. The colour palette is very natural but contrasting - sky blue is paired with natural wood for instance, or white linen is paired with black.

Scandinavian interiors are very similar with emphasis on clean lines, uncluttered and functional spaces and use of natural materials. In my opinion the main difference is in the colour palette which for Scandinavian interiors is very neutral with an empasis on natural textures rather than colours.

The Yuttari comes in a neutral fabric sofa and it comes with a velvet accent chair. We chose the navy colourway to create a palette of beige, navy blue, white and black with a tiny pop of coral from the cushions that come with the Yuttari.

Adam and his family chose the Yuttari corner sofa which filled the whole corner of the living room and we accented the space with a mix of Japandi design elements. We chose rattan lampshades and a slatted wood TV cabinet for textural wood elements prevalent in Japandi design and some clean lined, modern art for shape and colour accents.

Again the room was naturally well lit so I opted for a sculptural designer table light and floor light - chosen more for their clean lines and shape then their lighting ability. These iconic lights work beautifully in a Japandi scheme but, being iconic, they will work in any design scheme that Adam wants to embrace in his future homes.

At the very end of the design process I learned that Adam’s partner Eirianned was into houseplants so, with some budget left over, we bought some large houseplants that compliment the Japandi look - tall and sculptural with delicate leaves such as palms and bamboo really lend themselves and are a fantastic way of adding colour, texture, shape and height.

The end result was a cool, calm modern space for Adam and his family to enjoy while they rent, but with flexible enough elements that will fit into the interior design of any future home.