Today I'm sharing a project that I completed last fall- a townhouse living room. The client requested a space that was light, airy and clean with coastal inspired colors to provide a calm and serene retreat. She also asked that I incorporate a "happy pop" of color- either orange or pink. The room was fairly small - approximately 16 x 13, and had to include a seating area, media center, a piano and because the front door opened directly into the living room, a console table to drop keys and mail. This was our starting color palette:
And here are some inspiration photos for the mood we were trying to create:
My client loved the blue planking on the back of this bookcase and wanted to incorporate it in her bookcases. If you remember, I did blue planking on my dining room hutch, only placing the planks horizontally instead of vertically.
Take a look at these "Before" photos...lots of issues to be addressed for sure!!! Pink walls with smoke damage up by the ceiling, 80's country wood furniture, bland tile in front of the fireplace, too much clutter...
Lots of brown...with shutters that only went two-thirds of the way up the windows.
A piano and chunky chair-and-a-half squished up against one wall, and more brown wood trim and stair railings.
And here it is now!
The room does not get a lot of natural sunlight, so we kept the walls light with Benjamin Moore's Gray Owl at 50% and crisp white trim. The room had a challenging layout...there was only one wall to place the tv on, and the opposite wall (where the couch would go) had a window right above it. Due to the awkward placement of the windows, we chose wide white plantation shutters.
The piano fit nicely in the nook...
We had the stair railing painted white to blend in rather than stand out, and added a parsons console table. This is located across from the front door, so she can drop her keys and mail here as she walks in. The greek key ottoman cubes can be pulled out for extra seating...and I like how they break up all the vertical lines of the spindles.
The fireplace got a new "marble" hearth...real marble tiles were going to be too thick to match up with the wood flooring, so we chose a porcelain tile that looks just like the real thing.
A wool dhurrie rug from West Elm grounds the space. We gave one of her end tables a coat of blue paint and a unique drawer pull from Anthropologie.
As always, feel free to leave a comment or ask questions in the comments section below.
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