solutions for a two story living room

When some sweet readers contacted us about working with them to come up with some ideas for their living room space, we were more than happy to put our heads together.

This family really had an awesome start to it all, especially with color. They’d just painted the room Sherwin Willimams Copen Blue and installed these fabulous floors. They needed needed a little help polishing it off to complete the look.

They use the space for just about anything from a room for working out to the heart of their home and just hanging out as a family. With dogs and children, they requested forgiving furniture for the space. The man of the house also requested a recliner, and they stated that they wanted to keep their chair {in the far corner, though it could be reupholstered} along with a glider that could be moved.

And then she said this: I LOVE cottagey stuff…the house from The Holiday makes me swoon. We want to create a cozier space…

And she had us at the house from The Holiday. Because who doesn’t love that house? We really thought it would be fun to use it as a bit of a muse, with a nod to that old English cottage feel and design.

So we brought in some fun pieces for an inspiration board with great pattern, color and interest to bring a lot of character to the space. We believe it’s a great combo of forever investment pieces, great bargain finds and timeless accents from sources and searching the flea market, that take your space to a new level. It really helps express who the people are that dwell there.

The greatest challenge with two story spaces are basically making them feel a bit more cozy, pulled together, and intentional. We saw four main areas as a solution for a two story living room to create a little more ambiance.

So we focused specifically on the mantel, curtains, chandelier, and rug. {More on that below.} The beauty of all this, is that the space can be added to over time, which seems instinctual to the cottage vibe. {In other words, it doesn’t have to be finished, all at once.}

So here’s our favorite things we chose for the space:

And here’s the furniture plan with how we suggest placing it all: 

3. 5. 6. & 8.

Furniture to give them plenty of forgiveness in the family/wear and tear department was important: These are the main investment pieces for the space, to give them a lifetime of use. We chose them in subtle patterns that reflects the collected cottage feel and so that they can easily change their colors and look over the years, if they wish.

3 • This sofa from Ballard Designs has a washable cover and we love it in the Sandalwood ticking stripe finish. It’s a bit of an English touch with those rolled arms. A great subtle pattern in a slipcover with the flexibility of being washed, but looks a little more customized and refined. You can even order a swatch and try it out with other fabrics before you make the big commitment.

5 • A fun little addition for resting feet and displaying pretties in front of the sofa- a great little tufted ottoman that definitely reminds us of that house from The Holiday! We chose a classic color to disguise any mishaps, and it will last for years in different backdrops of color, as a neutral. It serves as a bit of a coffee table without taking up too much space for those workouts!

6 • We always love to give the men of the house exactly what they want in the design arena, since it’s definitely a family space, and he requested a recliner. Of course, they don’t have to look like recliners, and so we went straight to the experts on the matter, La-Z-Boy.

They have this classic wingback look, which lends to the cottage feel, but also recline into a comfy place for him. And you know they’re comfy because, well, La-Z-boy. We paired two together to bring the space a little symmetry {and space for a reclining buddy, too} – This is the Jennings recliner in Flax (H132532)

8. • Something else we pulled from the idea of The Holiday was that great drum table we spied in the photograph. {We borrowed the inspiration image from here} How fun would it be to find an old bass drum at a garage sale/craigslist/flea market find, and have it topped in glass? You can get a nice sturdy glass cut affordably at your local glass shop, or even use a piece of wood to top it. It would make a great convo piece for years to come. We’re probably doing this for ourselves, we love the idea so.

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1. & 2.

1. • These pillows and fabrics are what will truly bring a great character and splashes of color that they love to the room. We chose a few fabrics WITH pillows so that they have a little more versatility with the look of it all:

• Base fabric – This great hint of classic chintz that will give the space an organic flair and great depth of color – we would use maybe two pillows in this

• This fantastic little pillow cover takes the chintz and makes it a little modern with a geometric contrast and fun color.

• A grey pillow to give those colors a little more depth – and we love the texture on this one

• This great velvet ombre pillow for a fresh texture and punch of color.

• Blue pillows seen in recliner can be found here

• And I’m out of order but a little throw like this reinforces some more of that great blue and pulls in a darker hue of it all from that great wall color

2. • They mentioned reupholstering the chair that currently sits to the right of their fireplace. We thought a nice grey would tie in nicely with the rest of the space:

• That chair would look fabulous in this with some contrasting piping {I always wait for sales and do coupons on fabric}

• And a pillow in this gives it a touch of modern fun.

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They obviously have lots of options with those windows, but to unify the space, they may want to consider floor to ceiling curtains. It could lengthen their space, but it also unify the space and work the height to their advantage. Just the quick mockup below shows what a big difference some treatments would make! The bamboo blinds bring in a nice warmth, and they would have the option of leaving curtains open at times to filter in light, but also closing them for privacy. They bring in another dimension of texture and keep the space from feeling too formal.

Their curtains – with a nice off white or grey linen like this. And blinds like this would be a great option for the room.

7. • We got brave, and brought in a chandelier for the space, as well. Please douse your angry mob torches: We know a lot of people {especially in the south} are really possessive about their ceiling fans. We get it and are right there with ya! But we included this because of the instant character and light it would bring to their living room. We’ve removed all of ours, and have loved it – we know it’s different for everyone and we certainly don’t have a second story room so it just depends on what works. But the size should fill their space nicely, and we would hang it at about that height.

A note on low hanging lights in high spaces: we contacted the people at Lamps Plus, and they said to do this, simply order more chain to go with your chandelier, and an electrician can splice it to get it to just the right length. Tada!

10 + 11.

We love the idea of adding to that mantel in their space. They wouldn’t have to change the rock because it’s so fabulous on it’s own, and it would just be a process of adding in some wood pieces to tie it in with the entire look of the space, and lighten up that wall a bit.

If anything, it adds contrast and interest to what they already have. We did something similar here but someone with a little woodworking knowledge should be able to build it, no problem. If they have the right measurements, another option would be to find an old one at a flea market or reclaim kinda store, and alter it accordingly… the possibilities are endless!

This mantel calls for a statement piece: We’d love to see a little art over that mantel. And by little, we mean big. Simple instagram or polaroid photos to capture their sweet family in a great old frame repurposed from a flea market is a little diy without too much commitment.

We built ours, but you could easily do one with a repurposed frame to bring in a lot of personal touches to this space! Another option would be something on this kind of scale of a painting variety would be really pretty too! Just a few options to bring in some personality!

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4. • They mentioned they needed storage in your side tables, so we’d love to see something with a lot of interesting character like this and some sturdy table top lamps for a glint of timeless brass that ups the cottage ante in this.

Vintage books and fun bookends like this just make for some affordable, interesting accessories, and really bring their color choices together in great ways. I might add a few to their media center with some natural baskets to help organize and tie it in nicely.

12. Speaking of their media center, we would love to see some big tobacco baskets for some great textural interest and contrast over that media center. Again, it’s one of those things you collect gradually over time, and I’ve seen tons of them in flea markets. It takes advantage of the height in the space, and adds a lot of character.

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9. • Rugs are usually the very last thing we choose for a space because it kind of brings the space together in the end, by being a bit of a final piece. A great way to tie it all together with that cottage feel in more subtle ways like this striped find or layered under a nice natural woven rug from here in a bigger size to help bring the space together a little more with a better size .

** Please note, out of respect for our clients, we no longer share all of our sources here. Thank you for understanding!**

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Thank you so much again for thinking of us, guys!

We hope that this helps inspire and get them started with finishing up that gorgeous space. Do you have a two story space that you’ve fixed up? What are some things you found helpful to make it a bit more cozy?

{If you’d like to know more about our design services, check out our post here!}

Have an inspired day!