Hello Friends,
In my last post, I shared the details of a home office makeover I did for my clients, Geoff and Natasha.
If you missed that post you can catch up by reading about it here.
Today I am excited to give you a tour of their stylish and family friendly Living Room!
Natasha and Geoff and their 3 adorable kiddos previously lived in a condo downtown, before they bought their beautiful home in North Vancouver. Natasha wanted my help sourcing some new pieces for her living room and to help her pull it all together. I always ask my clients how they use a particular room, which is important because I want their space to be stylish AND functional.
They already had some beautiful and functional items in this room that came with them from their condo downtown, but they wanted to get some decor up on the walls and add some new and different furniture pieces to this bright and beautiful large living space.
What we removed from the room:
Some of the pieces like their sofa and chair set (pictured above), were perfect for their new living room, but some of the other pieces were a little small…more condo sized if you will. For example, on our first visit, I fell in love with the beautiful Caitlin Wilson rug they had on the floor, but it wasn’t the right size for the room. The general rule for an area rug, I think especially in a Living Room, is the bigger the better. You want at least the feet of all of the furniture pieces to be on the rug, even if it’s just the front two legs of the sofa and chairs, etc. While the existing rug was too small for her new, much larger living room, it was so pretty that I knew we had to use it somewhere else in the house. I suggested moving it to the front entryway, which Natasha had already been considering, and that’s where it lives now. It looks beautiful and is the first thing people see when they come to the front door! Their existing coffee table, while beautiful, was also not quite the right fit for the new space so we relocated that to the basement sitting area.
What we added to the room
Rug
First up we needed a new rug and I think this one provides the perfect amount of colour and pattern for the room.
I have mentioned this before, but Wayfair is my fave place to source budget friendly yet stylish rugs. Especially when you need one that is a larger size. I think the one we went with was a 9×12.
Coffee Table
When we first met, their youngest little cutie Hudson was present for the meeting – he had just turned 1 and was learning to walk, which meant he was pulling himself up on and toddling around the furniture. Natasha really wanted a new coffee table and we agreed that we had to be mindful of sweet little Hudson and we wanted a coffee table that was super baby friendly. I got busy sourcing round coffee tables, as sharp corners and kiddos don’t mix!
One of the most important factors to consider when it comes to selecting a coffee table is scale. There are some general guidelines to follow when you are picking out a coffee table and this article really sums it up well. I love this graphic “cheat sheet” and it makes the rules of scale really easy to follow.
Source: Emily Henderson
Natahsa’s sofa is quite big and wide, so I was having a hard time finding a table that was both round AND the right size. After lots of searching, we ended up finding the perfect table at Muse and Merchant.
It is an oval shape, so no sharp corners but it is the right length for the sofa. It is metal, so pretty indestructible and kid friendly.
The legs are beautiful and stylish. I couldn’t be more excited about this table … it is the perfect piece for this living room!
Arm Chair
Next up on the wish list was another chair for the space, to provide more seating. The existing sofa and chair were very neutral and traditional, so we wanted to go with a statement chair, and we mulled over a few options. We decided to go with this beauty and I love it in this room!
It’s hard to tell from the picture I took, but the color is called “black indigo” and it has a hint of blue to it…it’s really subtle but striking! And then there are the brass legs….
I think this chair is bold and dramatic and the perfect modern compliment to the room. It’s also a really comfy spot to curl up and read a book or enjoy a glass of wine after those kiddos go to bed!
Console Table
There was a big wall to fill in this room, and Natasha came across this console while at a furniture sale at Moe’s.
She texted me a photo and I told her to go for it! The room is really big and having this table anchoring the far wall was a really great idea and made the space feel more cozy. It also brought in some more brass detailing and is the only wooden furniture piece in the room, which really warms up a space. As you can see, we styled it with some large white lamps and hung 2 floral prints over it.
Side Table
We wanted to add a set of side tables to the space, and these round nesting tables were perfect.
I love nesting tables because if you are entertaining, you can seperate the set and have an extra table for drinks, etc. All of the new furniture pieces that we incorporated had an element of gold/brass – (the legs on the coffee table, armchair and the handles on the console) so the surface of these tables were the perfect fit.
Artwork
Natasha discovered this print online, it’s called “August”, and we both fell in love with it. Our plan was to hang it above the console table between the lamps.
After several different printing attempts, we came to the conclusion that this particular image just didn’t look very good printed out in a large size, so we had to switch things up and instead we used these two prints, Dahlia I and Dahlia II
When you are decorating your space, you have to be flexible. Sometimes things end up being a beautiful oopps, and I actually love these prints on the wall over the console.
Not sure if you have spotted this or not, but I accidentally printed out the same print twice. I had brought the images with me the same day I was photographing so we had to just go with it for the photos, but Natasha has since printed off and framed the second Dahlia print.
We loved the August print and we wanted to use it in the room, so we paired it wth a beautiful black and white drawing that Natasha had, and we leaned the two pieces on the mantle.
I love the contrast between the black and white and the burst of color.
Accessories
We picked out a few favourite colors from the August print which helped me shop for accessories. I wanted to introduce green and coral pink to go along with the blue, grey and black neutrals in the room. I bought these candle holders and coral candles from Urban Barn for the mantle:
Natasha already had some great throw pillows in her Living Room, but we added a few more in our accent colors.
The blush pink one was from Urban Barn and the green velvet one came from H&M. I ordered myself a cool green and black pillow cover from H&M at the same time, and then when it arrived, I knew it would be perfect for Natasha.
Same goes for the soft sweater knit black tassle throw I had ordered for myself…perfect for the couch!
In case you are curious, I did reorder both those items for myself because I was so in love with them. Here they are in my family room…and yes they are Lucy approved!
I wanted to have something to style the coffee table with so I went with this bowl of green balls that I found at Pier 1.
I love the life and color they bring to the table, and again with the warm wood…it really pops against the black table.
The best thing is that Natasha can feel comfortable leaving this centerpiece on the table because there is nothing breakable about it. The greenery balls might get launched across the room from time to time because…kids. It’s a good thing they are soft and won’t hurt anyone or anything.
Natasha had a real fiddle tree in her living room, but it was not looking very healthy. These types of plants are so beautiful, but really finicky and hard to grow.
I give Natasha major kudos for trying! We decided to buy a faux one for her living room so I went to Trims to buy a 5 foot one, which is one of their best sellers. When I use a faux fiddle in a room, the first thing I do is buy a nice basket to put it in, it makes it look so much more real. The basket was a Homesense find.
So there you have it, with the addition of some new furniture pieces and thoughtful accessories and artwork, we transformed this space. It is both stylish but also functional and comfortable. Hopefully Natahsa, Geoff and their kids enjoy this room for many years to come!
Thanks so much for reading, if you have any questions or comments, please leave them for me below!
xo, Kerri