Thursday, September 29, 2016

The Well Traveled Home - Living Room Reveal


Earlier this year I got a call from our clients Shakia and Michael, who are based overseas. They'd purchased a home that was a blank slate, and since they've traveled extensively for work, they needed to add some pizazz to reflect their love of modern design. 
The catch: they'd need me to get completely in sync with them virtually as they wouldn't make it to Florida before early next year. Say what now?
Oh, but here's the best part: Once they approved the overall plan, we'd have complete autonomy with the design choices. Well hot damn, that's music to any designer's ears.
Their only request: make it fabulous enough that their home would make it on our website. Well alright then! Let's get this party started. 
Here's the blank slate we started with in the living room. 
Well, that's kinda cute right? But here's what it really looked like on consultation day.

Hmmm. No shade to all my Miami hurricanes, but a UM blanket should never ever be a decorative item. Never. Ever. 
We had a lot to tackle throughout this entire home so we had to decide on the best places to splurge vs saving. Did we all hate these floors? Yes. Did we kinda want a fresh coat of a really light and bright neutral color on the walls? Yes. But again, we had major renovations to tackle in other areas so we decided to work our magic around these floors and the existing paint job. What we did remove was hideous popcorn ceiling. I can only handle popcorn at the movies. Not on the ceilings, so yes, there's always a good chance I'll encourage clients to spend the extra coins and remove them in favor of  smooth ceilings. They cringe at the mess and the cost, but always, always thank me later.
 
The real joy in designing this space, is that our clients shipped several handwoven rugs they purchased from the markets in Afghanistan. We knew right away that this one was the perfect fit to anchor the living room and worked our way from there.

I wanted a slender/tailored yet comfy sofa and this mildly tufted sofa fit the bill. 

 These fun metal accent chairs would provide additional seating but would keep the room light and airy since they filter light right through. Ditto this herringbone oversized mirror that further helped to reflect the abundance of natural light around the room.
 We added more more texture via this handcrafted end table in a finish similar to the oversized mirror.
 


Oh this coffee table. This table. A splurge item for sure but oh my word if it doesn't give this room just the finishing touch it needed. 

A coffee table like this is a designer's dream for obvious reasons. For starters, you get double the surface to style, aka the perfect chance to displace a treasure trove of books and other acquired accessories.

It's both practical and beautiful - hello brass detailed edges. 


And it's large enough for a tray, flowers, candlesticks and so much more. 


All photos by Jennifer Hillstead via JHillstead Photography
That's it. I'm done talking. Until we reveal the next room in this house tour journey: the lounge/office nook via hidden space we uncovered under the stairway. See bonus pics as well on our Facebook page and of course holla back with your thoughts. PS
I've missed you guys in bloggerland but you know you can always pop by our Instagram feed to see our daily shenanigans.


~Shop the Look~


(1) wall art (2) accent chairs or Leather option here (3) end table (4) rug (5) coffee table  (6) Sofa (7) mirror (8)plant or nearly natural option 









1 comment :

You know we love to hear from you so yes, holla, holla back.

Blog Design by Get Polished