Primavera Living Room Reveal
What do you do when you have a narrow, long living room, and a big family to host on a regular basis? This question is what these clients came to us to answer. Last week, we revealed their new dining room , complete with more seating, new built-ins, and a compact console for additional platters and glassware. Have a scroll through to see how we transformed the living room, which is the first room you walk into from the front door! We weren't kidding - you walk right in! They had seating in this room already, but knew they could maximize the room to suit their two little kids on a daily basis, as well as extended family that come over frequently. They do have great light in here because of the double height space and large windows too! The only thing that really needed to stay was this cognac leather sofa, because it is also a sleeper sofa. They need as many sleeping spaces as possible, and it had a great patina from years of love and use, so that was a great parameter to work with! This soffit is just asking for something to make a statement, which led us to a custom built-in you see below! The scope of this project is substantial, but they wanted to focus on the dining room and living room first to make the most immediate impact on their daily life! Because the scope was a looming expense, the clients found someone who could build this built-in based completely on our drawings, and it turned out so beautifully! We painted it in Benjamin Moore Dark Olive to make it more of a statement against the white walls, and we all love the richness of the color. We also love the brass and leather sconces we added to each side of the built in. It gives them extra light for ambiance, and more visual dimension! I love the walnut inlay in these drawer pulls so much! Small details like this can instantly elevate a simple built-in if you're looking to do a quick update yourself. We used a stained wood top and shelves that had similar tones to their flooring to break up the built-in, and brought in these gorgeous exposed wood frame chairs in an earthy gray to play off the dark olive built-in and the leather sofa. Replacing the previous sofa with chairs allows for the room to feel more open, while keeping the furniture easily moveable when they do need the sleeper sofa, or just have to rearrange based on the event being hosted. The black stained coffee table is a great grounding piece with soft corners to soften the rectilinear lines we have throughout, but also works well for little ones who are prone to running into sharp objects :) We replaced the two chairs near the front door with this bench seat sofa along the window, and a very skinny bench for a coffee table that is meant to set a drink on, and that's really it. By shrinking the footprint of the "coffee table" we were able to add two additional poufs that are seat height as well, and can be used to chat with people either on the sofa, or in the living room set up in front of the TV. We made it a priority to select easily movable pieces here as well, so the layout can change quickly based on what's needed that day. We also used one large rug instead of two, as they had previously, to really combine the two areas into one large living space. This black stained cabinet with rattan doors plays really well off the coffee table , and hides the toys for the kids, as well as any family games that need to be accessed during a get together! The top curve also mimics the curved niches in the built-in as well! And we had to end with this photo of their adorable pup posing for us! He fits right in with our new MND pillows and the vintage pillows on that sofa! What I love about this project is that we didn't change the layout too much, but the transformation of adding elements to a 'difficult' space actually makes it more functional, adds style points, and gives this family so many more options than they had before! If you have spaces like this that have stumped you for a long time, please don't hesitate to reach out to us !