Modern Boho Living Room, Dining Room & Home Office Makeover
(All In a 700 SF Apartment)
Hi Friend! Welcome to Postbox Designs, Interior E-Design, I’m Kristin: I’m an interior designer, Mama of 3, and I create Real Designs for Real Life. If you are looking for “look-but-don’t-touch” Room Designs, you have come to wrong place! Instead, I want to create beautiful designs for my clients that are also practical, durable, and work for Real Life Living. And I have a Big Reveal to share with you today: A Modern Boho Living Room, Dining Room & Home Office Makeover….all done in 700 Square Feet.
700 Square Feet Small Space Living
700 square feet isn’t much to work with. Especially when you have to fit in a bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, dining room, living room, AND home office.
But this San Fransisco home isn’t too different than so many big city spaces where space comes at a premium. And I was thrilled to partner up with Sonder Stays to create a homey space for short and long term rentals. (So if you are going to the SF area, you can actually stay here!). But I also wanted to include 7 Designer Secrets that I used for creating this design in small space areas. These secrets will help your room look larger, cleaner, and will work best for your real life.
The Living Room “Before”
This is the space we started with-great light, cool concrete ceilings, and neutral walls. But the space was small and there were some issues we had to work around (such as this utility closed) and the adjacent doorways that broke up the wall space.
Small Space Modern Boho Living Room Makeover
And here is the “After” of our Boho Living Room Makeover!
But to fit everything in (and make it look good), I used 7 Designer Secrets to make the most impact in this space.
Designer Secret 1: Locate Your TV Location First
Like many Living Rooms, the seating area focused around the TV. So for the best (and most functional layout), I always suggest laying out a room for how you will use it most. In this case we wanted a layout that would work equally as well for TV & Movie watching as for lounging.
Find the largest open wall space for your sofa.
With larger floor plans you can “float” your sofa. But when working with tight spaces, you are almost always better off with putting your largest piece of furniture against the wall.
Be sure you can place a TV opposite your largest seating area (usually the sofa).
If at all possible I always want the TV directly across from the sofa. I hate trying to watch TV at a weird angle, and I bet you do too. If you can’t do this, consider adding an adjustable arm bracket for the TV.
You can always float smaller chairs in the room.
That’s what I did here-this smaller leather chair needed to “float” in the room due to our small square footage. But it can still easily turn from conversation to TV viewing.
Consider using swivel chairs that can easily turn to face the TV if needed.
Designer Secret #2: Choose Streamlined Tables
For this tight Living Room space, we used a glass coffee table that disappears into the room to make it look bigger. I’ts sleek lines, transparent glass top, and open shelves make the piece feel light and airy, and helps you see through the whole space. This trick also works with side tables. Using a transparent side table, open legs, or slender silhouettes always make a room look bigger than its bulky counterparts.
I also chose this coffee table because it has extra storage options under it. You could use simple baskets and bins to corral away less attractive items like remotes.
Designer Secret #3: Know Which Furniture to Skip
Side Tables
In the perfect world I would love to have side tables flanking every sofa. But when you are tight on space, this would be the first item I would skip. The point of any accent table is to give a place to set down a cup or a book. In this case our Living Room grouping is so tight, that every seating space is within reach of the coffee table. In this case I chose to do a floor lamp (due to the lack of ceiling lights). But another choice could have been to use wall mounted sconces to free up room for a side table (where the floor lamp was).
A Second Chair
Again, in a perfect room, I would put in as much seating as possible. However, this tiny footprint meant that this wasn’t possible. We needed this open floor space to walk past the Living Room and access the bedroom. A second chair would have blocked this. Instead I created a mini desk area with a gold chair that can be brought in easily for extra seating. They can also bring in their dining room chairs for the rare times there are larger groups are gathered. An alternative option would be something small like poufs that can be moved in and out when needed.
Designer Secret #4 Think Ahead with Pillow Covers
I love me some pillow covers. Honestly, I think they are the only way to go. For both my own home and all of my clients, I always suggest them. I start with investing in high quality pillow INSERTS. I love the ones from Pottery Barn myself. Don’t skimp on your inserts, as the more expensive ones will hold their shape and fluff over time. If you aren’t sure what sizes to start with, 18″x18″ is the most common size of pillow. Then I like to find covers (Etsy is my favorite source) that make a statement. The two advantages to pillow covers:
You can take them off and wash them. This is especially great with kids, pets, and for vacation homes and rentals (like this one).
You can swap them out for the season, or for a whole new look in the future, at a fraction of the price.
Designer Secret #5: Design How You Live 90% of the Time.
I often have clients who want rooms to function well for a few-time-a-year events such as the holidays. And I always want a room that can be flexible with different needs. However, the number one priority for a room isn’t how it functions one day of the year. Instead you should focus on how it works best for every day life. my best piece of advice when you are laying out a room:
Design Your Room for How You Live 90% of the Time. Then Have a Plan for the Other Times.
In this one bedroom condo, there likely aren’t going to be more than two people here 90% of the time. There is no need to try to cram seating for 10 into this tiny room. Instead we focused the budget and design for DAILY life. And that meant spending more on a nice sofa, then trying to spread out the budget on multiple seating areas. And if they want to invite another couple over, this Living Room and Dining Room can easily flex to seating for four.
But what happens when they entertain guests? If you are thinking of an annual event, like hosting Thanksgiving, think outside the box. You can rent extra dining room chairs, you can borrow from your neighbor, or temporarily bring in some extra seating such as a bench from the end of your bed. But these are the rare events when you can be flexible, these aren’t your daily needs.
Modern Dining Room Makeover
And the next area we tackled was the open Dining Room area. Because we had such a small space so we had to go with small scale pieces, and I knew ahead of time we could only fit in a four person table. But to emphasize Designer Secret #5: 90% of the time they won’t need seating for more than two! If you know you will be hosting often, you can use a Dining Room table with self storing leaves.
Modern Dining Room In a Small Space
Designer Tip #6: Use Single, Large Scale Pieces
This tip can work in any type of space, but works especially well in a small space. Clutter immediately makes a space feel smaller and more constrictive. To keep a sleek and airy look, go with single items that can make a dramatic impact. For the Dining Room makeover, this single CB2 vase and leaf add a pop without fuss or clutter. I used the same effect with a single, oversized print over the blue velvet Article sofa (the sheep print came from Society 6). This single piece of art makes the space feel larger, but still gives a great focal point.
And P.S. With this Dining Room table I also used Designer Secret #2! This Dining Room table has a glass top and streamlined legs to make the space feel larger.
A Modern Home Office That Can Fit Anywhere
And we managed to fit in a VERY important, and unexpected area into this tight 700 Square Feet: a Home Office. Normally when we think of a Home Office, we picture an entire room dedicated to this. However, just a few linear feet of space can be the most used area of the room.
Designer Secret #7: Just 3-4′ Can Make All of the Difference
Sometimes a few feet of open space can be the most hard working space in your whole room. In just three or four feet, you can fit in a tall bookcase, a small table that doubles as storage, or in this case, a Home Office. This sleek, small desk from All Modern is only about 42″L, and the gold chair (also from All Modern) has a faux fur pad for extra comfort. And this chair can easily be moved a few feet for extra seating in the adjacent Living Room. Just like in Secret #2, these open grid chair and sleek desk keep open silhouettes that make the space feel larger. This fun print is from Society 6.
We staged this desk area with a stack of books, but for more practical purposes, you could add a stack of lidded boxes. Inside you can store clutter and less attractive items such as paperwork. But it all stays tucked away for a clean look. I actually do this in my very own Home Office to store all of my material samples for clients!
Other Modern Living Room & Dining Room Projects
I hope this small space Living & Dining Room makeover gave you some inspiration…whether you have a lot or a little space to decorate. These 7 Designer Secrets are ones I use nearly every day when working on my client’s projects. But if you need some more ideas for a Modern looking space, here are a few more projects I think you will love:
5 Ways to Go Modern (But Still Comfortable) in Your Home
Mixing Modern & Traditional In a Living Room
5 Ways to Create a Warm Modern Kitchen (Without a Full Makeover)
Free Designs: Free Living Room & Dining Room Designs (And More!)
But my most favorite source of Free Design Ideas for you are in my Free Resource Library. Inside are dozens of free designs, Mood Boards, Shopping Lists, Worksheets, and more. When you sign up you will get an email with the link and password to access the Free Resource Library 24/7. You can find these freebies like “How to Style a Sofa” and more right here:
Access the Free Resource Library
If you have any questions about today’s Modern Living Room & Dining Room makeover, or if you have questions on how How Online Interior Design Works works you can check out my Postbox Designs or email me at kristin@postboxdesigns.com!
Cheers,
Kristin
Amy says
Hi Kristen! Love! Where is the rug from?!
PostboxDesigns says
HI Amy, I love that rug too! Unfortunately I don’t have a source for it as it was the homeowner’s. However, I love Rugs USA as one of my favorite rug sources for this style! Hope that helps!
Shari says
Looking for the rug you used with the blue couch in the small room makeover. Where can I find that to purchase?
PostboxDesigns says
HI Shari, I’m so sorry but the rug was the homeowner’s so I don’t have a source for it! You can try a place like Pottery Barn or RugsUSA to find a similar look!