Guide/Living Rooms
How to get the stone fireplace look
Full-height, large-format, one material. The proportions matter more than the stone.
The fireplaces people save most often share three traits: they run floor to ceiling, they're a single stone in large pieces, and the firebox sits low and wide. None of these is about money. All of them are about restraint.
Go to the ceiling
A chimney breast that stops short of the ceiling always looks like an afterthought. Take it all the way up and the whole wall becomes architecture.
Furnish low
Everything in front of the fireplace should sit low so the wall reads tall. A chunky, solid coffee table anchors the arrangement; wall lights instead of floor lamps keep the sightline clean.
The SWS Edit
Pieces we'd use to get the room there.
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SWS Find
Mori Square Coffee Table — Walnut
Why it earns its place: Solid visual weight, warm timber and a shape that can anchor an entire living room.
from $649 · Castlery
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SWS Find
30cm Textured White Ceramic Vase
Why it earns its place: The kind of finishing piece that looks far more expensive than it is.
from $41.83 · Amazon Australia
View on AmazonPaid link
SWS Find
Adjustable Industrial Black Wall Light
Why it earns its place: Enough reach to light a book, not the whole room — and it clears the bedside table entirely.
from $499 · Lighting Collective
View productMore from the Journal
Save / Spend / Skip/Kitchens, Bathrooms, Living Rooms
Natural stone where it actually changes the room.
Not everywhere. In the two or three places your eye lands first.
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The Hidden Dog Nook: Beautiful Under-Stair Storage Ideas for Dog Lovers
Margaret and Barbara like to be close. Their beds take up room we need in the lounge. An under-stair nook is a way to keep them nearby, with somewhere for their things to go.
SWS Journal/Living Rooms, Bedrooms
How to Create a Hidden Home Office with Built-In Storage
A full workstation that closes behind cabinet doors. Here's how the design works, what to measure, and where the money actually matters.
Space Well Spent is an independent interiors journal about where money matters in a home — and where it doesn't.