Hotel interior design - how to get the look - Grand Designs Magazine
hotel interior design at home

7 ways to get the hotel look at home

How to incorporate luxury design ideas into your interior schemes

By Staff writer |

Hotels are a great source of interior design inspiration for the home. The competitiveness of the industry means regular, big-budget makeovers, often carried out by leading names in interior design. So where better to pick up ideas for your next home improvements project?

With more than 15 years of experience in luxury interiors, The Sofa & Chair Company – one of the UK’s leading manufacturers of luxury sofas and bespoke furniture – shares seven top tips on how to create hotel-style interiors in your home.

1. Make neutrals work hard

Neutral, pared-back tones add a sense of space and light to any room, but be careful, as it can feel flat and dull if there is not a subtle contrast and texture accompanied with it. The Henley sofa, shown below in a rich boucle texture, adds warmth and, paired with silk cushions featuring subtle black and gold prints balance the tones in the room. Brushed brass or gold metal finishes on coffee tables, lamps and small accessories are a great way to bring the room together and ensure all the neutral tones in the rugs, wallpaper and armchairs do not feel staid.

hotel-style interior design for the living room - neutrals, texture and gold and black highlights

Photo: The Sofa & Chair Company

2. Create a reading nook

An area in the home dedicated to a quiet moment reading is the ultimate hotel luxury experience. Invest in a large wingback armchair, like the Blake Armchair shown below, where you can snuggle down and indulge in your favourite read. For an intimate feel, choose sumptuous tones such as rich reds in velvets, dark charcoal greys or deep taupe. Add a silk rug, cashmere throw and apt mood lighting for extra cosiness. This is a place in the home where you can dare to go darker with paint, wallpaper and bookcases. Opting for a spot with a view like a bay window is ideal and adds much needed comfort and warmth from natural light during daytime. Even if you chose a darker colour for the walls, natural daylight will balance the colours. In the evening, the atmosphere becomes moody and inviting.

Hotel-style reading nook with dark walls, dark furnishings and a big window

Photo: The Sofa & Chair Company

3. Invest in a good night’s sleep

An upholstered headboard is a must for that hotel interior design look. With deep foam padding, headboards make a soft place to rest and relax, while an oversized bed adds a sense of drama and creates a bold centrepiece for a boutique hotel bedroom look. The Provence Headboard, below, with its winged sides that extend beyond the width of the bed creates a cosy, luxury cocoon. The neutral tones here work harmoniously together and the accessories – including abstract wall art, gold and pastel vases as well as natural fossilised wood side tables – all add texture and intrigue without over-powering the main feature – that beautiful bed.

an oversized padded headboard is a great way to recreate the look of a hotel bedroom at home

Photo: The Sofa & Chair Company

4. Symmetry in the formal living room

Some of the best hotel suites and lobbies use the rule of symmetry to evoke a sense of serenity and balance. Most commonly used with classic and traditional interior design styles, symmetrical interior design is used to achieve harmony and order within a layout, an obvious choice for hotel spaces. There are simple ways to adopt this interior design staple in your own home, like below, where the designer has placed two Alexander sofas opposite each other. The Ono Ottomans are also paired together at the end to add balance to the interior. The light neutral tones are brought together by the black side tables and wooden flooring to add depth to the completed scheme.

The Sofa & Chair Company / Simpson & Voyle

Hotels are a great source of interior design inspiration for the home. The competitiveness of the industry means regular, big-budget makeovers, often carried out by leading names in interior design. So where better to pick up ideas for your next home improvements project?

With more than 15 years of experience in luxury interiors, The Sofa & Chair Company – one of the UK’s leading manufacturers of luxury sofas and bespoke furniture – shares seven top tips on how to create hotel-style interiors in your home.

1. Make neutrals work hard

Neutral, pared-back tones add a sense of space and light to any room, but be careful, as it can feel flat and dull if there is not a subtle contrast and texture accompanied with it. The Henley sofa, shown below in a rich boucle texture, adds warmth and, paired with silk cushions featuring subtle black and gold prints balance the tones in the room. Brushed brass or gold metal finishes on coffee tables, lamps and small accessories are a great way to bring the room together and ensure all the neutral tones in the rugs, wallpaper and armchairs do not feel staid.

hotel-style interior design for the living room - neutrals, texture and gold and black highlights

Photo: The Sofa & Chair Company

2. Create a reading nook

An area in the home dedicated to a quiet moment reading is the ultimate hotel luxury experience. Invest in a large wingback armchair, like the Blake Armchair shown below, where you can snuggle down and indulge in your favourite read. For an intimate feel, choose sumptuous tones such as rich reds in velvets, dark charcoal greys or deep taupe. Add a silk rug, cashmere throw and apt mood lighting for extra cosiness. This is a place in the home where you can dare to go darker with paint, wallpaper and bookcases. Opting for a spot with a view like a bay window is ideal and adds much needed comfort and warmth from natural light during daytime. Even if you chose a darker colour for the walls, natural daylight will balance the colours. In the evening, the atmosphere becomes moody and inviting.

Hotel-style reading nook with dark walls, dark furnishings and a big window

Photo: The Sofa & Chair Company

3. Invest in a good night’s sleep

An upholstered headboard is a must for that hotel interior design look. With deep foam padding, headboards make a soft place to rest and relax, while an oversized bed adds a sense of drama and creates a bold centrepiece for a boutique hotel bedroom look. The Provence Headboard, below, with its winged sides that extend beyond the width of the bed creates a cosy, luxury cocoon. The neutral tones here work harmoniously together and the accessories – including abstract wall art, gold and pastel vases as well as natural fossilised wood side tables – all add texture and intrigue without over-powering the main feature – that beautiful bed.

an oversized padded headboard is a great way to recreate the look of a hotel bedroom at home

Photo: The Sofa & Chair Company

4. Symmetry in the formal living room

Some of the best hotel suites and lobbies use the rule of symmetry to evoke a sense of serenity and balance. Most commonly used with classic and traditional interior design styles, symmetrical interior design is used to achieve harmony and order within a layout, an obvious choice for hotel spaces. There are simple ways to adopt this interior design staple in your own home, like below, where the designer has placed two Alexander sofas opposite each other. The Ono Ottomans are also paired together at the end to add balance to the interior. The light neutral tones are brought together by the black side tables and wooden flooring to add depth to the completed scheme.

The Sofa & Chair Company / Simpson & Voyle

5. How to make contemporary living work

If your personal taste is more modern, then go for a contemporary living space like those found in trendy London hotels and Scandinavian cities. The low, modular Moore sofa with walnut dividers, shown below, offers a relaxing experience for the whole family. The off-white shade looks great against dark wooden floors. Use bursts of colour like mustard, burnt orange and charcoal grey to bring the space to life. Straight lines and geometric shapes are key with this design aesthetic and should be mirrored with bookcases and angular coffee tables. To make sure the room doesn’t feel too austere, choose a curvy wingback chair that also offers some height to balance the space, and think about circular ceiling lighting and accessories to add a feminine tone.

luxury white sofa with walnut dividers in a hotel-style living room with large chandelier

Photo: The Sofa & Chair Company

6. Indulge in hand-crafted cashmere rugs

Most people think about the rug once they have chosen the main furniture which is a mistake as the main purpose of the rug is to tie everything together and complete the look. Rugs can be expensive and often take up to six months to arrive because not many companies hold stock so they are hand-crafted from scratch. Good quality rugs often have silk and cashmere mixes and the abstract patterns are completely unique. Our advice is not to underestimate the importance of the rug when designing a room and to consider your choices when you are looking at your upholstery to make sure everything works in harmony together. At The Sofa & Chair Company we believe building an interior starts from the ground up, which is why we have invested in a beautiful rug collection that is in stock and ready to deliver.

cashmere rugs and dark furnishings for a luxury interior design scheme

Photo: The Sofa & Chair Company

7. Embrace the velvet sofa trend

Velvet sofas have been on trend now for the last six years and it doesn’t look like it’s going anywhere soon. Velvet fabric comes in many different qualities and synthetic equivalents are widely available, but while practical and stain resistant, they do not last or hold the colour as well as the real deal. Real velvet is incredibly soft, absorbs the daylight and shimmers as the sun passes through windows. Before buying, always order fabric samples and put them in the space you intend the sofa or chair to be so you can see how the fabric looks. The Sofa & Chair Company has the largest independent fabric library in Europe, so if you want to see the different quality in velvets then visit the showroom to see for yourself. Whether you choose a rich blue tone like the Gibson Sofa, below, or a subtle grey hue, only real velvet will do for a luxury interiors scheme.

blue velvet sofa in white room with a blue and white rug

Photo: The Sofa & Chair Company

Luxury interior design service

Interior designing your own home is harder than it looks. With so many choices, agreeing on the style, colour and layout with your partner can be tricky, while visualising and bringing together a scheme can be overwhelming. That’s why it’s always a good idea to consult an expert. With 15 years of experience, The Sofa & Chair Company’s interior design team can support your interior design process. Whether one room or a full home refurbishment, they have the know-how to create your dream interior. All projects, big and small, are handled with the same level of care and customer support. Working from concepts, initial drawings or ideas, the expert team of designers can create a piece of furniture that is tailored to your exact specifications. Visit the team in their impressive West London interior showroom, which hosts the largest independent fabric library in Europe.

Larkbury interior design service from The Sofa and Chair Company

The Sofa & Chair Company offers an interior design service

SCROLL FOR MORE LIKE THIS