From a style perspective, I think the living room is the most important room to reflect the “personality” of a home. It is a place to entertain guests, congregate as a family, and in the Troy home, it’s the first room you see upon entering the home. With young children, it’s often hard to find a balance between the elegant décor we’d like to have for guests and the functionality that we need as a family.
Initial Impression: The living room in the Troy home is the largest room and the first you see when you enter the house. Initially, the room was very beige and dark. With ivory carpeting, dark brown curtains, paisley pink and green wallpaper, and only two dated light fixtures, it needed a complete makeover. Since the space is L-shaped, the client initially had the room split into two parts—formal dining room and living room.
Photo Credit: Gary Castaneda
Mom’s & Dad’s Priorities/Wishes: The clients goal for this room was to reflect elegance and sophistication, while keeping the room a functional place for everyone to gather as a family. “We wanted a place we felt good entertaining adult company, but we also wanted the children to always be welcome in this space to play games and set-up their toys.
Linda’s Inspiration: The inspiration for the Living Room re-do began with a photo that the client sent me from Pinterest. It showed a sophisticated living room with silver gray walls, sectional, and area rug.There were upholstered chairs in a saturated blue-green fabric and an oversized abstract painting in grays and teals. My clients love the cooler grays and a light/bright environment, so we selected new carpeting in a silvery gray and Sherwin Williams 7672 Knitting Needles to create a soft, serene background to the furnishings.
Living Room
Photo Credit: Gary Castaneda (left), Kim Hoover- Apple of Our Eye Photography (right)
Photo Credit: Gary Castaneda (left), Kim Hoover- Apple of Our Eye Photography (right)
The Results: Goodbye 80s!We certainly won’t miss the dark, drab, dreary room or paisley wallpaper. Bright, stylish, and sophisticated, this room sparkles and inspires! After the silver/gray carpeting and cool gray walls, we chose a deep teal to spice things up. Two interesting and elegant teal chairs on the far side of the room were placed to extend the room creating a circle of conversation. We bridged the 2 areas with a bench by the cocktail table. A chaise, sectional couch was picked, so family and guests would feel welcome to put their feet up or get cozy. The client has a nice sized breakfast area in the kitchen, so she preferred not to have a formal dining room.
Although lovely with gray and teal, we decided to spark the room with an accent color. We found a gorgeous fabric from Robert Allen Fabrics which combines our palette with a poison yellow tone. We repeated this color in the bench, canvas over the sofa, and accessories (a technique known as mapping).
Photo Credit: Kim Hoover- Apple of Our Eye Photography
Having an active family with two small children, all of the fabrics chosen are durable and user-friendly.Keeping with that, the draperies could not be too fussy, so we dressed them on the casually-elegant side.Working on a budget, we also reused her beautiful, classic armoire as well as two nice end tables and a cocktail table.
The secret to maintaining this as a “family” space was utilizing smart storage for the children’s things. The large armoire holds toys, games, books, and play sets. The bench has a large space for storage as well, currently holding monster trucks, cars, and dinosaurs! The large open floor space allows the family to spread out their games and play sets, which they do on a daily basis.
Photo Credit: Kim Hoover- Apple of Our Eye Photography
Photo Credit: Kim Hoover- Apple of Our Eye Photography
Mom’s Comments: Oh my gosh!I CAN have nice things! Just sitting in my living room makes me happy, no matter what else is going on in the house. My daughter calls this room “The Giving Room”. Although she created this name simply because it’s where we play “games” together and it’s the “living room”, that name means so much more to me. This is our place to gather as a family—to play games, read, talk, dance, and snuggle. There is no technology in this room, so when we are in here we are focused on one another.I know we will create beautiful family memories here for years to come!
Photo Credit: Kim Hoover- Apple of Our Eye Photography
The Spend: None of our projects were DIY, and professional painters, electricians, seamstresses, and handymen were hired for the work. We were able to re-do this living room, including a new sectional couch, 3 chairs, a bench, new carpeting, wallpaper removal, paint, recessed lighting, and décor, as well as labor and materials, for under $6,000!
Home Series Week 1: Design Challenge & The Designer
Home Series Week 2: Bathrooms
Home Series Week 3: Girls’ Bedrooms
Home Series Week 4: Boys’ Bedrooms
Home Series Week 5: Master Bedrooms
Home Series Week 6: Living/Family Rooms
Home Series Week 7: Family Home Makeover & 7 Tips for Decorating in a Family-Friendly Way
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