UncategorizedAdding Color and Personality May 2, 2012Hey y’all! I’m back with some ideas for Samantha. Samantha e-mailed me with the concerns I think we all feel about our homes…I know I do. She loves neutrals because they’re easy to coordinate with, but she wants to add a little modern flair to her traditional style and some color, but she still wants her husband to feel masculine at home. In her words, she wants people to walk in and say “wow,” while not sacrificing comfort for her family. She likes Restoration Hardware, Pottery Barn, West Elm, etc., but is on a Target budget. I’m with ya. And as I said yesterday, Samantha’s house is an open floor plan, so room flow is a concern. Designing an open floor plan can be harder in many ways because you want the rooms to flow (similar colors, etc.) while not feeling like copies of each other. I’m going to talk about Samantha’s living room today and then come back with advice for some of her other rooms tomorrow. The living room is really the heart of the home where families hang out together, so I wanted to spend a little more time on this one. Plus, I think it’ll be a good jumping off point for the other rooms. So, my goal was to find some color, some modern and traditional, masculine details for hubby, while still something Samantha will like. Oh and comfort/durability for kids – wow! That’s a lot, but here’s what I came up with… Remember, as I said yesterday, I am no expert. I just love doing this and have a great time with it. First, let’s remember what her living room looks like now. I love her Chelsea Gray and board and batten walls – really ANYTHING will go with that. My plan to address as many of Samantha’s concerns as possible is a little black and white, some vintage floral, fun prints, and some rustic touches. The Rug Samantha’s first question for me was on the rug. She wants something different. I really think the rug is where you can have a little fun. When Samantha started talking about masculine and modern touches, I immediately thought of graphic black and white. It’s so classic, yet has such a modern feel. I always love classic black and white stripe, but here are some variations I’m loving right now. This one is from IKEA. I’m loving this one from West Elm… Another option is modern chevron: {source} Garden Ridge also has some great graphic black and white rugs right now that’re probably cheaper and look awesome! I really think any black and white rug would have the same effect. Curtains Moving on, as soon as I saw Samantha’s room, I thought about curtains. Curtains have such an amazing effect on a space. They soften it somehow. While I’m normally more drawn to neutral curtains like these… {source} But I’ve been loving vintage-looking florals lately. While it’s a bolder choices, I think this could be AMAZING. {source} I love the gold and teal on the white background and I think it would pair really nicely with a black and white rug – mixing feminine with the masculine! There are a lot of great florals out there that could work for this, but Samantha loves yellow and turquoise, which I think makes these perfect! If it’s too much, the tan linen Lenda curtains would work well and you could make some pillows out of this floral. I must say, though, I think floor to ceiling curtains in this floral with your other muted tones would definitely evoke a “WOW!” I would let this floral be the main focus of the room and keep the other fabrics and pillows neutral, but still pretty. Pillow Options I think this Eaton Blue Chipper Print is awesome from Premier Prints Fabric. {source} I also love the idea of adding some neutral pillows. Maybe a white one or two on that tan sectional. And one of my favorite things, WORD PILLOWS! I love burlap pillows with words on them – grain sack style. Here are two I found on etsy that would be great… {source} {source} I think something like this would be nice with the patterns. You could buy some ready-made like this or make your own. Hobby Lobby has burlap in several colors: normal tan and a cream. You could use a stencil and paint on something important to your family. Lamps I think you could go several ways with lamps. All of these would be pretty easy to find, I think, cheaper than these options I’ve found online. You could go with white pottery and a linen shade like this one… {source} I’ve seen these at Target, Home Goods, etc. You could also go with something more metallic. I LOVE brass, which is a nod to your traditional style. I’ve actually seen a lot like these at Goodwill! I found this image on Pinterest. I would probably do a white or linen shade on one like this. How pretty would this be with that curtain fabric? You also could do a silver or mercury glass. {source} Coffee Tables I’m thinking a rustic coffee table would mix really nice with all of this. I found two options at a little different price points. My favorite is this one from World Market. {source} Here’s a similar, cheaper version from Wal-mart: {source} Styling Bookshelves Samantha has those great built-ins around the tv. I would do some fun styling on those. There are so many options there. I like the idea of grouping similar collectibles like this image from Country Living. I love these neutral collections and think they would add a lot of dimension to the room. You could also mix in some art and family photos leaning on the shelves. Okay, so this has been an incredibly long post. I must say, I’ve spent so much time on this room that I want to live in it now! The best thing about this is that you can pick and choose which elements are right for your style. You could do the floral and a jute rug instead of black and white. You could do tan curtains with a black and white rug and keep patterns to the pillows. Any option would look great! I have some coordinating fabrics and ideas for the other areas of this open floor plan – I’ll have those tomorrow! Samantha – let me know what you think 🙂
Megan Shipman says May 2, 2012 at 10:41 am I love that you pretty much just decorated my living room for me. I feel that since “incorporate black and white” and “install built-in bookshelves” are two items on my to do list, I am on the right track! Reply
admin says May 3, 2012 at 3:52 pm Megan, I am so glad! You are too sweet…I’m realizing now that I want to have this room in my house! I spent so much time putting it together, I want to live in it 🙂 Reply