In Praise of the Cosy Corner

I’m going to say this one more time, then I promise I won’t say it again.

I’m COOOOOLD!!

I’m cold when I wake up in the morning. I’m cold when I get in the shower. I’m cold on the school run. I’m cold when I work from home.

It’s at this time of year that I thank goodness for my children: plonking them on my lap when they get home from school is a winter warming lifesaver. They make excellent human-sized hot water bottles.

I finally warm up at, ooh, about 7pm in the evening when I put the fire on and finally stick my biggest, fluffiest socks on top of my layers, spending the rest of the day resembling the Michelin Man if the Michelin man bought his massive white suit from Marks and Spencers.

THIS IS WHY I DON’T LIKE THE WINTER, PEOPLE. If I was a bird I would have migrated south for winter approximately four weeks ago.

So when an email dropped through from Wayfair and Julian Joseph asking if I’d like to style up on of their gorgeous chairs to create a new warm and cosy corner in my home I was all, a space that’s just for being toasty and happy? Just try and stop me.

There’s something about having an area in your house absolutely dedicated to the pursuit of calmness and cosiness. A space you can associate with being coddled and happy, whether for you that’s reading a book, scrolling endlessly through Instagram or simply drinking a warming cup of tea. As a previous insomniac I’m a believer in bed being only for the lying-down activities you do at the end of the day, so having a special relaxing spot in my home outside of my bed is essential.

As I’ve been working outside of the home more (working at home makes me feel claustrophobic) I decided to get rid of the small desk in my bedroom – you can see this in the previous home tour here – to make way for this cosy corner.

Julian Joseph is a really wonderful brand: founded by two couples, one British-based and one currently in America, they met at a Mandarin language school while working in Shanghai, China. With each of the foursome bringing different skills to the table from design to sales and marketing, they soon realised that starting a business together was a natural step to make and moved their lives to the South of China to take advantage of the manufacturing expertise on their doorstep. With both now back home in their respective countries the business is going from strength-to-strength in both the UK and USA.

Louise, one of the founding partners, told me where the inspiration for their pieces come from:

Our aim is simple, to produce beautiful yet practical chairs at affordable prices. From personal experience, I know that picking just the right furniture piece to bring into my home and co-ordinate with my décor is a very personal decision. And we all get a real buzz and love the idea that a chair we have designed, manufactured and marketed is sat in someone’s home!

The Cosy Corner – how I did it

In my minds eye my new cosy corner would be for reading and enjoying that infinite Instagram scroll with a glass of wine, so after perusing the gorgeous pieces Julian Joseph has to offer I decided to order the Eversley in grey, a style and colour I feel that works well with my aesthetic and is classic enough to last the test of time.

To complete the cosy corner I also went for the pink Karine pom pom blanket from Fjørde & Co (£18.99),  a dCor small metal table (£16.99) and the Osaka wall light from Dar Lighting (£16.99).

As you can see, the Eversley has gone down a treat, not just with me and my evening relaxation regime but the kids, too! Elfie loves to come and read her book here, and Hux and I snuggle up and read his Spider-man magazines under the soft blanket as well.

None of us have spent one second missing my desk.

Louise will be back soon to tell us more about her amazing journey from Britain to China and back to Britain with a new business, but until then do check out their beautiful range of chairs at Wayfair.co.uk.

Julian Joseph and Wayfair kindly sent me this chair and products to style.