Our Two Story Living Room Reveal

Our living room is two stories so that totally merits a second living room post, right?!? Several weeks ago I shared “My Dream Living Room” which focused mainly on the fireplace wall in the living room. It also featured artwork over our fireplace instead of a huge, black eye sore. Otherwise known as a television. As you may remember from my Mantle Wars post from September, we have a war going on in our home. Mark and I rarely, if ever, have design wars but for the last two years we’ve had one continuous battle. Okay, I might be exaggerating just a tad. We haven’t actually had any knock down, drag out fights over it but I just make it known that I wish we could find a new home for our television. And I might be planning our entire living space in our new home around putting the tv somewhere else. My brain thinks in photography terms. I can’t help it but I literally design around the “big picture”. No pun intended.

Anyways, today’s post focuses on the other side of our living room. And to be quite honest, you want to know the real reason I photographed it separately? Because our home is so open that the other side of our living room opens up to lots of other rooms. Which means I’d have to clean. And that day, I just didn’t feel like doing all that jazz.

BEFORE

THE PROCESS

I might go really far and say that this is actually one of my favorite room reveals ever. Three things that I really focus on when I design a space are on full display in this room: scale, color and the element of surprise. First, scale… I truly think that scale is one of the most neglected elements of design. Or maybe misused or misunderstood is a better term. A room with a lot of little things looks busy and no matter how amazing each element may be, they’ll all get lost in translation. My advice: GO BIG. Obviously going big is key in a large room but you can even make it work and make it amazing in a smaller space as well! For our living room, I chose a 4′ tall chandelier to really create a stunning showpiece that accentuates the room as well as the ceiling. I also did a large area rug, a huge sectional and other large elements in the room. Second… color. You all know that I love color but I also really really love when I can make it work and flow into multiple areas of a home. Although no room “matches”, they all flow with the help of central design elements. Finally… the element of surprise. This one just might surprise you! One thing that I literally love MOST about designing a room is adding those unexpected elements that keep you wanting more. That make you want to peek around every corner. The things that make you say “WOW!” For this space, there are so so many elements of surprise… the two wallpapered side walls, the whimsical artwork hanging 15′ high, the wallpapered hallway that peeks down from the upstairs hallway, the bright teal butler’s pantry, the black coffered ceiling, the wallpapered bookshelves. See what I mean? So here’s grand tour numero deux!