Hi Friends,
If you have been hanging out with me for awhile now, you can see a took a little break from posting these last few months. Between COVID, some life changes, and a big move to a new house, life with my three little ones has been fun but crazy. But I’ve still been working with my amazing Postbox Designs clients on some great new makeovers!
And I wanted to share this one with you today-a fun Living Room Makeover in the great state of Texas! My client had put off this room for a long time because of a long and skinny floor plan that made furniture placement tricky. So not only did she need all new furnishings for her neutral living room makeover, but she also wanted some major insight into how to arrange everything. So just like a jigsaw puzzle, I played with multiple combinations until we had a winner…read on to see!
Neutral Living Room Design
We started this design with this gorgeous neutral Arhaus sofa (which I’m in love with) and a couple of leather armchairs. Leather truly does look more gorgeous over time, and lends such a comfy, warm feelings to any room. But we also glammed it up with some marble and gold side tables, this farmhouse Pottery Barn coffee table, and mixed some of this traditional furniture with a more modern rug from West Elm. And as you may know, Etsy is almost ALWAY S my go to for throw pillows. Custom made, gorgeous fabrics, and supporting small business=a winner in my book. We layered on neutral but fun patterns to give her furniture some personality.
You would think fireplaces are always amazing…and they are, they are beautiful and usually a great focal point of a room. BUT when you can’t (or don’t want) to hang a TV over the fireplace, that can make for some tricky furniture arrangements. Which is the focal point of the room? Should the furniture face the fireplace…or the TV? And that is one of the reasons I always give my clients a Design & Budget Questionnaire, partially so I can know how they want to make use of their space. So in this case (and you can scroll down to see the floor plan layouts), we wanted to make sure the furniture worked for TV viewing, as well as being able to expand for big groups.
So I added in these ottomans for extra seating, and this modern TV stand that has extra storage in it as well. This faux plant takes up some room in an empty corner and brings some greenery to the space as well-always a plus!
How To Style Open Shelves
One of the trickiest things around…how do you style those open shelves? My client had a beautiful fireplace with built-ins on either side, and needed some help in decorating them. The last thing I want is to suggest “stuff” just to fill up shelving. So I always try to incorporate some existing items, or items my clients already own (such as picture frames and hardback books-amazing for stacking smaller items and filling up space). Plus my clients are proud Texas residents so they wanted to pay tribute to their home state as well. One place I love finding inexpensive vases and decor: Afloral.com! Several of these items came from there and are at a great price point.
How To Arrange Furniture
So my clients needed a space where:
It could work for daily living for their family
Expand for family and friends
Work with TV viewing and enjoying the fireplace
Furniture that worked with a long and skinny room
I actually did multiple furniture layouts, but here with the final two layouts once we decided on her final furniture picks. (I also do a revision after I send the first design to my clients so we can fine tune everything!)
And there you go…a Modern Neutral Living Room Makeover! If you want to see rooms similar to this, just search “neutral living room” on my BLOG for more ideas, room makeovers, and more!
And always feel free to drop me an email with questions or to chat more about your custom room design at kristin@postboxdesigns.com
Cheers!
Kristin