How just one item can create a focal point in a room and even spark a conversation – Irish Examiner

Last year we had the statement chair, a sleek designer number set apart from our comfy sofas as an expression of our taste in design, and quite incomplete without the essential accompaniment of a footstool.

For 2020, statement-making in interiors has expanded to just about anything we like as long as it draws the eye towards it in the way a fireplace or television dominating a room would typically have done in the past.

Fashion designer Ted Baker's Pearl Grey rug (from 479 at Rugs.ie)

It doesnt necessarily have to be a piece of furniture, nor even something outsize that draws the eye by scale alone. It could be something as simple as an accessory, a lamp, soft furnishings or some occasional furniture; even a cheeky little object picked up on holiday or while rummaging through a second-hand shop.

A little virtual shopping expedition threw up a few in vogue suggestions from the pricey to purse-friendly, but if youre worried about something not working, remember the words of the legendary American interior decorator Bunny Williams: If you love something it will work, that is the only real rule.

Once confined to crusty Scottish baronial piles, tartan is having a moment in interiors, although its hard to envisage translating it into a suitable look for the more modern and sometimes compact home without turning it into the set of Outlander.

Someone who does it with style, however, is Ralph Lauren. Famed for his chic coastal-inspired interiors, his navy blue tartan wool pocket square blanket is a sophisticated take on tartan -99 at http://www.ralphlauren.ie- but if you want drama, Jean Paul Gaultier might just be your man.

Not only does he reference tartan in his couture collections and loves to gad about in a kilt, his furniture collection for Roche Bobois includes sofas and ottomans bedecked in the print (price according to size and fabric).

Floor art Nothing pulls a room together quite like a rug which these days goes beyond traditional pattern to take on an arty finish.

Ted Baker is another example of fashion designer-turned-interior designer, producing a rug collection including the Pearl Grey (from 479 at Rugs.ie). Its an outsize floral with a contemporary painterly quality with just enough plain grey in one corner to site a table off centre.

Speaking of tables, our favourite place to site drinks and newspapers in the living room, and even to raise tired feet, tends to be the coffee table, and hasnt it come a long way from the rectangular shape which has always made it look like a mini-version of the dining table?

Eclectic yet functional design alternatives come in the shape of the covetable Bonaldo Pebble by Mattias Demacker (583 at http://www.lomi.ie) with red and white or white and black finishes combining curvaceous futuristic design with handy storage.

The ongoing love of shady tones sitting between the extremes of black and white means grey is now considered a neutral, so not much scope for making a statement with it. Or so I thought.

Spotting Made.coms Herman three-seater sofa in finch grey cotton, it comes with the surprise of an eye-catching shadowy tonal blot of dark grey on a lighter-hued back cushion (700).This chic black cane and velvet seated chair is from Interiosity (495).

But just as I thought the overexposed statement chair wasnt worth considering here, up pops a beauty made of black cane on a matching wooden frame with grey velvet seat which wouldnt go amiss in a modern home.

So, if youve ever thought cane to be outdated, this one from Interiosity (495) might change your mind.

Cushion soft Adding finishing touches to a room calls for the arrival of soft furnishings, in particular ever-useful cushions. The Foliage design from M&S (30) blends several on-trend colours - yellow, orange and pink but in muted form so they work together and make the necessary statement to draw the eye without being in your face.

IKEA has the large Nabbfly cushion cover (4) offering some tropical fun to brighten up a plain sofa or even a dated one for the summer season.

For a little fun Ikea has this eye-catching banana-shaped ornament (10).

The Scandinavian retailer, noted for its pared-back and streamlined designs, is injecting some fun into accessorising with the vivid yellow Kuperad ornament (10).

Shaped like a bunch of reclining bananas and looking particularly authentic at that, it serves no function other than to attract attention and elicit a comment, if not a laugh.

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How just one item can create a focal point in a room and even spark a conversation - Irish Examiner