The living room in our house has been through some subtle changes since we moved in last July and after a few tweaks, I think it is finally right! It is both the how a room looks, but more importantly, how it feels, when a room comes together.
While living rooms are not the most used rooms, this room is right off our entry and it is the view when we come down the stairs. It is my favorite place to curl up with my Kindle, and soon it will provide the entry to the Office 2.0 when the doorway is cut to connect it to the house to the right of the fireplace. If you look closely, you can see the Office in progress in a couple of the pictures.
The first challenges was with the original white rug shown below which I looooove – it is a vintage, authentic Ben Ourain rug imported from Morocco. The fluffy shag feels like clouds on the feet, and it fit the space well. The problem is that it is slightly off white and the sofa is pure white which makes the rug look yellow – and I promise the Odin did not leave any marks on there. It is actually less offensive in the picture than it was in real life.
While this rug is no longer in the room, trust me I have it stored for a future use – problem is that it probably will not fit anywhere in this house so it will be in hibernation for a bit. In fairness it would probably work with the new sofa (see below) but I think that I am pretty sold on the West Elm charmer that I swapped it out for. While the new rug is not as practical or cushy, sometimes it is ok to let form win over function in less used rooms.
I custom ordered the sofa from Interior Define. While is it a great sofa, at a very reasonable price, I made the mistake of picking Ivory fabric and when it came it was basically a white couch it looked too stark even though this house is modern in style and basically everyone was petrified of sitting on the white couch.
Not to worry, for around $400 Interior Define has a policy that allows you to replace the sofa which is a key reason that I went with this company. The new sofa arrived in about 4 months which is amazing given the original was 6 months and they are custom made overseas. The replacement has a heathered grey fabric and I am so much happier with it!
Our house was remodeled about 6 years ago by the previous owners and they did a fantastic job! When we moved in it was like new because the previous couple was older, and they had a home in Mexico where I think they spent most of their timing – winning! One thing they did not do was finish the fireplace inserts.
We have a similar fireplace in the family room and these modern fireballs are the perfect touch for a modern look. Since we are in CA there were doubts whether we would actually use them, but March as been pretty cool, we have really enjoyed having a fire in the evening. The dog is the biggest fan!
There was one final touch that is quite simple, but which really pulled it all together – these amazing pillows made from vintage Indian fabric. While they were a splurge – they are worth every penny! They accent the charcoal in the rug which grounds the sofa and really ties everything together.
The lesson here is if you are not 100% happy with something, do not settle. The original design was 80% of what I envisioned but now it perfect! If you have a space that is close but not perfect, start by tweaking the accessories such as coffee table tray, pillows, add plants and flowers. If that does not do it, start slowly replacing the furniture that you get it just right!
Maybe you cannot quite put your finger on what is off, if you send a picture to stephanie@ybarra.com I will give you my thoughts and maybe a recommendation or two!