Hey, hey, hey {cue fat albert voice} all you wonderful people! Welcome to the Handmade Home! If you’re stopping by from the Good Mood Living Room Board Party, {hosted by the fabulous Cassity of Remodelaholic} or Home Stories A to Z, welcome!
We’ve hit the ground running this Monday, so here’s to hoping you all had a great Thanksgiving! Ours was jam packed full and to be delightfully honest, we’re kind of exhausted…but sometimes, that’s what it’s all about ;}
Today, we’re totally excited to be a part of this great mood board series, alongside some of the most wonderfulest blogs I do admire. The topic? Living Rooms. And I wanted to feature one of our room winners from this months’ giveaway, who just so happened to want to do her living room. It was the perfect opportunity! So, without further ado…
As you can see, our sweet winner Naomi, provided me with quite the pickle of a design opportunity. I get kind of excited over those. This doozy of a wonderful space with great potential, was my biggest challenge yet. A lot of elements went into consideration for this, from spacial planning to working with the architecture, and about everything in between. Naomi gave me some helpful tidbits to work with:
• Their basic home colors have been blue. They live one mile from the pacific ocean, so she was open to bringing some of that element into their home. {Swoon}
• They live close to their church, and use the space for Bible group meetings, showers, partays, and lots of other awesome events…So, the space needed to be versatile, and I believe, easily interchangeable with the possibility of arranging furniture on a whim to suit their needs.
• Their biggest problem is that there was so little wall space to work with.
• They need open space, due to some specific needs.
Also, Naomi was willing to move on from that furniture, and do something fresh for the room. I love the idea of purging your home of things you don’t really love, or are not attached to, by selling them on something like craigslist, and using those funds to redo your new space. Everyone wins! Just something to consider, for anyone out there who may feel trapped by past, still-nice-to-someone-else, purchases.
So, I went to work cooking up an inspiration board for this great family. I hope that this provided a great springboard for her to work with, and that she feels inspired to tackle it head on in the future! It may seem overwhelming at first, but with little steps at a time, the room is completely doable. As usual, I included a little DIY, and some different elements…so that hopefully she can interchange and substitute anything, as needed in the future.
And here’s the {rough} floor plan:
Just an idea to help you picture how all the furniture will be placed in this space… Of course, I would encourage them to measure everything, to see how it fits, etc. before investing in a major purchase like a sofa. But this should give them a basic spring board to work with. From plenty of seating in a room that flows + keeps the walkways open, and versatile pieces that can easily be rearranged for a party setup…this space is sure to bring some more warmth and excitement to their home.
1. + 11. I love this idea for the colors in their home:
Farrow and Ball’s dix blue paired with Behr’s swiss coffee. {yes, F + B can be oh so pricey. But it’s possible to match it up at your local home improvement store.}
The thing this space already has going for it, is the great white color. So all she really needs to do, is add some simple board and batten, with the white she already has. Read a simple how to here + here, check out our own tutorial here, + some of my fave resources, here. But basically, the idea for this room, will be this look, on a larger scale.
With white below those ledges, and blue above the breaking point. They almost wrap completely around the room, but cannot support much weight. I recommend that they find a way to support some heavier materials, even if it’s something like reinforcement from a strong piece of wood across the top, mounted to the wall for added strength and out of sight.
Large and in charge, personal elements like this, stacked in various ways as displayed above in a gallery manner, would add major warmth and personal interest to this space. A curated display, sure to be quite the topic of conversation. I get all kinds of excited, just imagining the possibilities.
Excuse my silly, sloppy illustration, but I think you all get the jist, without even replacing the furniture…check out the difference well planned walls {and fabulously styled book cases} can make.
Where does the Taupe/brown/creamy color come in as an accent? I’d love to see their doors painted that color. Maybe given an aged look, and set back against the pop of all that white, the idea of painted doors would bring real warmth and charming age into the space in a simple way.
2. Next up, we have these fabric selections: a collection of patterns that don’t necessarily match, but ‘go.’ I’d love to see these scattered around the room, from each sofa, to floor pillows.
4. + 6. As displayed above in my color illustration, there are three alcove-like places in this space. One is filled with a family piano, the other two are great areas for a built in bookcase {in the alcove beside the kitchen} and a window seat {in the deeper alcove beside the television area/family room} See the floor plan above, but I thought I’d provide some simple photos for inspiration’s sake:
Oh the beauty of a well placed window seat! Paired with sconces like this, would be amazing.
3. They would definitely need to see the actual size of this lantern, because it would need to be something that can carry it’s weight in the space. But I love the idea of something in this style for the crowning element of a light fixture in their room.
5. + 9.
For the first half of the room, beside the piano and bookcase:
This sofa, paired with this rug,
It would be pretty simple to find a pair of chairs at an affordable price, to have them recovered in a statement making fabric.
Along with a table like this, and awesome lamp to boot. {You could even recreate a look like this with reflective spray paint.}
10. Dividing the room down the middle, and providing a high traffic walkway, is this runner. It creates boundaries with well defined areas in the room, and helps it flow in between areas.
7. + 8.
In the second half of the space, near the window seat and television set area:
An awesome vintage piece like this, to go under the television set…or even some simple, vintage lockers alone, paired with a roomy sectional, {I would definitely search around for great bargains on pieces like these}A painted side table like this, coffee table, and of course, another amazing rug that brings some major character into the space.
So there you have it! Hopefully, I’ve provided Naomi and her amazing family with some fun ideas and a great springboard to work with, to give that wonderful room some great warmth, and functionality.
Be sure to hop on over to the awesome House of Hepworths tomorrow, to check out her inspiration board. She’s next in the Mood Board Partay! And please stop back by the original post, here, to check out all the participants and their awesome designs!
Catherine says
Your rooms always really remind me of Sarah Richardson’s designs. Do you watch her? She’s a hit here in Canada. She always pairs really graphic, beautiful fabrics with a little bit of bling and some classic pieces. You could do your own show! Lovely.
ashley @ the handmade home says
bwah! you are too sweet, Catherine. Hope you have a wonderful week!
Adriane Finkelstein says
Thank you. I’ve been in the saddest mood, but as soon as I clicked on I started looking at the elements I would like when I’m finally able to move in about 15 months.
I’m not weepy anymore.
J markardt says
Happy birthday
Remodelaholic says
This was so fun to read and imagine, how it will look- I am in love with your mood board, and i love how you broke it all down so perfectly! I love the ideas you came up with for the alcoves! I especially love the bookcases, there is almost nothing I love more than built-ins. AND those colors are dreamy! Basically I am ready to move in! I am so glad you were willing to join in I love the inspiration you brought to the party! I hope you will consider trying this out again with us in January!
I hope you are having a great day!
Merry Christmas!
Cassity
cristin @ simplified bee says
What a beautiful design board and floorplan! I love every inch. The rug and chandy are my favs.
xo,
cristin
Naomi W. says
Ashley – Thanks so much on all your work on this design for our living room. I like the two sitting areas, the built in cabinet and the window seat idea. The color pallet is so nice. I like the idea of putting some large items up on the ledge. Should the whole wall with the sliding glass door have the “blue paint”? Next step is to start looking for a builder (we are not DIYers), and some new furniture. We really appreciate the time you spent to give us some fresh ideas.
Have a great Christmas! !
Naomi
Colleen says
So beachy, yet with elegance. Feel like just opened the windows and am smelling the salt air. I like the larger pieces above that draw the eyes upward. Wanting to see a giant starfish & driftwood up there. Colors are outstanding. Go for it!
autumn says
wow!! those turquoise wingback chairs are to die for! i love the playful, colorful fabrics. it’s just the right amount of color in the space. the board is really gorgeous!
Sherry says
This mood board is fantastic. My favorite đ It all just makes perfect sense together and appeals to me on so many levels. Beautiful work!
ashley @ the handmade home says
Thank you so very much! đ You are too kind.