Modern Boho Living Room Makeover Reveal
Hi Friends, I’m so glad you found Postbox Designs! This is where custom Interior Design meets the beauty of technology. I custom design rooms for clients all over the country virtually, then package up their entire room inside-a-box with all of all their drawings, instructions, shopping lists, material samples and more. They save tons of time and money by not trotting all over town for multiple meetings with me.
They can order their entire room in an hour, without leaving home. In their PJs.
You can check out more of my projects right here at Postbox Projects Portfolio but for today I wanted to share a recent project I did in Chicago. I paired up with the amazing vacation travel company Sonder to create rentals that make you feel like a local. And this was one of the Chicago properties we worked on together. Today I’m sharing the Living Room makeover portion of the project but stay tuned for the Dining Room and Bedroom reveals as well.
This was the “Before” of the Living Room:
Modern Boho Living Room Design
Not exactly a warm and cozy spot, right? The space had great cement ceilings and walls with huge windows, but needed some lovin’. Since it is in the city, the room also had a small foot print. So every piece of furniture had to work within the small Floor Plan or do double duty. We decided to give the space a Modern Boho look with sleek (but comfy) pieces and some global Boho touches.
This was the Modern Boho Living Room Mood Board I created where I chose all of the items for the Living Room Makeover:
This cold room easily transformed into a clean and sleek space with some warm Boho touches! This West Elm gray sofa anchored the room with the budget friendly modern coffee table. Since we were tight on room this low slung faux leather chair in the corner provided easy-to-move extra seating. Inexpensive modern pieces such as the TV console were found at one of my fav spots, All Modern.
Modern Boho Living Room Makeover: All the Details
When you have a small space: less really is more. Trying to cram too many pieces of furniture will just make your space feel, well crammed. I always tell clients to design a room for how you live 90% of the time, then make adjustments for the dinner party or hosting event. Therefore, this space is perfect for a single person or couple, with ways to add additonal seating if more guests are invited. Don’t feel like you need to furnish a room for every single situation.
Using this soft gray sofa and one chair allows plenty of walkway space. But the coffee table and gold side table both have two shelves to allow for extra storage. Their slim profiles also make the room seem larger (as does the glass on the accent table). We purposefully left most of the walls bare to create a modern look, for a few purposeful pieces.
Modern Coffee Table Decor
My favorite coffee table decor is always uber simple. Often I use a simple tray (like this zebra wood stripe one), add a tall vase, a shorter item, and a stack of books. Simply move the tray and you have a clear, usable coffee table.
You could also added lidded baskets or bins to the bottom shelf of this coffee table to add loads of extra storage.
If I could find close to a perfect item for a room it is a sisal or jute rug. This rug is like magic: it works with almost any style, is durable, affordable, and neutral. The chunky knit adds some texture to the room but is neutral enough to pull everything together. Jute is surprisingly soft and hides dirt like a super hero. In this Living Room Makeover it works with both the Modern and Boho parts of the design.
Boho Living Room Design Elements
But we had to add some fun Boho charm to the room. The easiest way to do that is with mudcloth or global pillows. Both of these neutral pillows are actually covers (so take them off and wash them, or swap them out for a totally different look). Because the main pieces of furniture are so neutral you could easily use pillows to add pops of color as well.
While we used this neutral rug, adding in a colorful Boho rug will also be an easy way to infuse this style into a Living Room.
And what’s a Boho Living Room Design without a fiddle fig?! I’m personally a huge fan of the faux ones as I have a brown thumb. This fiddle fig along with the uber modern gold floor lamp fill up the corner of the room, plus give some fun pops to the space.
Modern Boho Living Room & Dining Room
Like many smaller city spaces, this space had to do double function as both the Living Room and Dining Room. I’m going to share the full Dining Room Makeover with you soon…but here is a peek! I kept the Modern Boho style extended into this room with the two-tone wishbone chairs and modern table. And the best thing about the Boho style is getting to add some funky elements like this vintage van desert print, because…why not?
Colors for a Modern Boho Living Room
This Living Room Makeover is all about the neutrals, but it doesn’t have to be boring. Mixing textures like the rug, pillow prints, and multiple wood tones keeps the room interesting. Adding in several gold touches, like the accent table and modern floor lamp, bring in some glam. No matter your style, bringing in pops of greenery work wonders for your space-especially in colder clients like this Chicago property. If you are a renter and can’t paint the walls (or want to go all white!), you can see this room has the same basic white wall color. All white walls work like a museum: they give a crisp clean background to allow the other elements to shine.
4 Tips for Creating a Modern Boho Living Room
So you want to create a similar look for your own Living Room? Grab ideas from the Mood Board above, but here are some more tips for bringing this modern, neutral look to life:
ONE. Use a neutral sofa with sleek lines.
Soft grays, tans, or whites work well. For a different look, go with a mid-toned brown leather like a bourbon or caramel. Look for a sofa with straight arms, wood legs, and open on the bottom (instead of a skirt). Usually upholstered sofas are going to look more tailored and modern than a slipcovered one.
TWO. Add pops of warm metal.
Gold, brass, and rose gold are the classic modern boho metals. Light fixtures and simple decor items (like vases, trays, or decor objects) are the easiest way to do this. In this Living Room makeover we also incorporated it in with the accent table as well. Sprinkle in these warm metals throughout the house to create a cohesive look.
While I personally love shiny cool metals like chromes and nickels, these metals don’t seem to fit in as well with the Modern Boho style. However, adding pops of matte black is a great way to break up the warm metals!
THREE: Add in color and texture with pillows.
Every style comes and goes, so I like to add in trendy elements with items that are easy to swap out. Go neutral with the large items such as tables and seating. But you can grab fantastic, trendy pillows for under $40 on places like Etsy. Add in layers of color and texture easily with these pillows. The best combination of pillows is a mix of large print, small print, and solid prints. If you need some help picking the perfect combo of pillows you can check out the Guide in my Free Resource Library:
Free Guide: Style Your Sofa with the Perfect Pillow Combo
(Or if you are already a member of the Free Resource Library, you can check it out HERE)
FOUR: Add Greenery.
One of the key elements of the Modern Boho style is having plants in your space! In this Living Room Makeover we added a (faux) fiddle fig tree. But other modern plants like succulents, ferns, snake plants, cacti, and other drought-friendly plants seem to be the superstars of this style. Adding plants to your coffee table, open shelves, bookcases, or a taller one in a woven basket will all work well with the Boho style.
How To Find More Modern Boho Designs
As I mentioned above, I have a FREE RESOURCE LIBRARY that is full of free designs, Guides, Mood Boards, and more. You get free 24/7 access but you need a password to access it. You can sign up for it here AND get a special discount off your first project with me!
Happy Shopping!
Kristin
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