A Living Room Repurposed With A Splash Of Color

Before the blogging police arrest me for truancy, I'm popping in to say hellos. Yes, I'm still alive and kicking and eager to share a recent project. Remember this kitchen renovation project we revealed last month? Well it started as a consultation to design the family's living and dining rooms. 

A beautiful home filled with well-made pieces of furniture, the space was so dark it did not reflect the vibrant personality of its owners Clarence and Michelle. 

And while the kitchen renovation became the center piece of this
home, the living and dining room would not get ignored or get lost in the shuffle. 

Hello, bright and airy space! We livened up the walls with a creamy beige pulled from the tile. The orange accent wall? Well, that was definitely an epic battle of the sexes for sure. Let's just say the old adage, happy wife, happy life helped secure that splash of color and made that wall the true focal point it needed to be.
The beauty of this project is that we re-purposed the family's existing sofa, bench and console table and rearranged pieces of their very extensive art collection. The only furniture we purchased were the coffee and end tables. And as you can see, we added some recessed lights for much needed lighting. They're on dimmers, so the family can control the mood. 


The sofa was a furniture lover's dream. Rich wood, curves for days but the deep red fabric overwhelmed those details. Since we wanted a patterned fabric on our curtains, I wanted to keep the new fabric soft and neutral so the client could mix and match pillows and throws over time and not be limited by a bold print. 

Yep, there are those curves again. And a great mix of patterns, living in harmony.

We added an area rug with a soft patten to ground the space, but not overshadow the new floors or compete with the other textures in the room.

Since the sofa and bench were so substantial, we wanted to use glass coffee and end tables as a great contrast to the wood pieces in the room, plus further lighten up the space. 

Notice a theme here? A mild love affair with animals - elephants, pugs, giraffes.....

My favorite piece in this space may be this console, once just a place to hold lots of framed photos.  It's a beautiful, beautiful piece that just needed to be better styled to make it sing.

This colorful piece of art really speaks to how much this room has soared and deservedly holds center stage above the console. Our clients had it tucked away for months. It just needed to be framed to showcase it's star power. 

"Hey, how you doing," said one lamp to the other! Let me tell you. These Home Goods lamps were purchased wayyyyy in advance of this installation. Saw em, fell in love with them for the space but wasn't sure if Michelle our client would fall for them as much as we had. She was skeptical at first, but admits now that are quite the center of attention and have grown on her.

Accessories, accessories will always make or break a room for me. We loved the herringbone pattern on this tray and how it serves a bold contrast to the heavy wood of the console. Paired with the gold textured storage box and curved wood of the elephant, this console definitely got the love and attention it always deserved.

That's all folks. A living room that finally gets to shine, and with the very same furniture it's been hanging out with all these years. 

What pieces of furniture have you re-purposed to become the star in your own home? Share below or on our Instagram feed. Can't wait to see.

 

SOURCE GUIDE
Living Room Rug: Overstock
Coffee and end tables: West Elm (Similar here and here)
All Fabrics via Designer Discount Fabrics
Lamps and accessories: Home Goods
Vintage Camera: Joss and Main (Similar here)