Is it done yet?

Pretty sure my husband said “is it done yet” 10x in the past few years as I added, tweaked and worked to make our living room complete! What I learned during the process…live in your house before you make it your home.  Don’t rush it.  Buy pieces (furniture and accessories) that will make it feel like a home.

The mistake I made with our living room was rushing to buy a couch before the living room was finished during the build process.  It’s not that the couch doesn’t work or that I don’t like the color/ fabric but we didn’t have a chance to “live” in the space to figure out the best way to lay out the room.  So, I have worked around the couch and made it all work together to be part of our home.  I am sitting on that very couch tonight writing this post.  Looking around the room tonight it makes me happy (design happy).  It’s a room we spend most of our time in as a family so I made sure it is comfortable but also brought in the various elements of color and design that I love.

As I work through my posts I will share my rooms that are complete and some that are still a work-in-progress (yes, even 3-years after moving in).  People say that there is always something to do with a house once you are a home owner.  Is it bad that I love the never-ending projects?  I do.  Home projects make me happy and keep me up a night brainstorming new ideas.

I can’t wait to share all of my ideas and projects with you on btb Style and Design and I hope to inspire all of the little or big projects you are taking on.

Living Room Details

• Where to shop:
  • Couch from West Elm
  • Lamps (one of my favorite finds!) & various decor items from HomeGoods
  • Bamboo chair (my fav) from Ballard Designs
  • Coffee Table + pouf from Rue La La
  • Side Tables, TV Console and Arm Chair from Boston Interiors
  • Mirror from Ethan Allen but I spray painted it!
  • Pillows from Serena and Lily
  • Matching Ottomans/ Seats from Target
  • Frames from Mariposa

This bamboo chair for Ballard is the best

Great table from Rue La La- lightweight and easy to move around

Ceiling fan = must for all living rooms

These lamps are EVERYTHING!

I probably re-style these shelves 1x a month

I will always show you what it looks like in “real life” – so lots of pictures of my family!

Close-up…trays make everything look better

The couch – love the deep navy color

Representing my home town- Long Island and my new home- South Shore!

One of my favorite items in our Living Room- a tide clock (we use it every beach day in the summer!)

Shopping for our sectional

The other week we visited the nearby West Elm to look at some of the couch options we had seen online.  While they didn’t have the exact sectional we are moving forward with it was great to see the style and fabric in person.  We landed on the Paidge 2-Piece Chaise Sectional in the Ink Blue performance velvet.

We are currently working with one of their in-home stylists to layout the sectional in the great room.  She provided the below mock-up today.  We decided to put the TV and across from the couch versus over the fireplace as we really wanted to separate the TV versus fireplace area in the room…personally I think they serve different purposes and I don’t love having the TV over the fireplace.  In seeing the layout from the stylist I love that we could fit a chair as well as the sectional on the wall- this will create more seating options in the room.  We should be moving forward with our selection this week- lead time is 8-12 weeks so we want to have it here and ready for move in day!

I haven’t selected other furniture pieces or accessories for the room yet but other colors will be incorporated…I am thinking orange, grey and maybe a little yellow.  For the chair it will definitely be a print fabric and I think the pillow we select will be an orange/ coral color (saw some great options at West Elm on our shopping trip- more pictures to come from that visit!).

This is one of the bigger purchases we will make for the house so it is great to have this layout to help us envision the room- We have had a great experience with West Elm so far and looking forward to seeing the finished product in a few months!

HGTV Before & After

HGTV is a great resource for any size project.  Small or large, renovation or re-design they have an idea for you.  I stumbled upon this segment on HGTV that focused on before and after makeovers by stylist, Emily Henderson.  This segment really shows you that sometimes all a room needs is a little love.  You don’t need a full renovation to change a room.  A coat of paint, updated layout and some new pieces of decor can make any room brand new.

Here are a few of my favorites…

Do these help motivate you to take on that room update you have been wanting to do??  Feel free to reach out (contact info on the right) to brainstorm ideas for your next design update.  Or share your pictures or recent design updates from your home!

xo Kris

Design Ideas- Great Room

Tonight’s post was inspired by a little research I was doing for our Great Room.  In catching up with our good friends Alexis & Dave last week I had to ask where they purchased the couch they have in their NYC apartment.  I absolutely love how they decorated their NYC apartment and I especially love the sectional they have in their living room.  Turns out they purchased it Room&Board– and just my lucky they are opening a store in Boston in early 2014!  Perfect timing for when we will start our furniture shopping.  In browsing the Room&Board site tonight I couldn’t help but create a design inspiration board for our great room.  Thanks again for the recommendation Lex & Dave!

Great Room Design Ideas

Product Featured can be found at:

Sectional, Side Table, Lamp- Room&Board

Rug- Rue La La

Maps, Mirror, Pillows- One Kings Lane

XO – Kris

Building- Fireplace Design Inspiration

One of the rooms I am looking forward to most in our new house is the Great Room (or Living Room).  Between the Great Room and the Kitchen, these two rooms will be used the most out of the entire house!

For the Great Room we are going to have the gas fireplace on the main wall.  While the  room and furniture will not be fully focused towards the fireplace (in terms of layout) it will be a focal point for the room and be the first thing you see as you look into the room from the kitchen.

Note- we are not putting the TV above the fireplace.  To me the TV and fireplace serve separate functions and it is important that they both have their own space in the room.

We need to start giving our builders our inspiration for what we want the fireplace mantel to look like- I have started digging into images for inspiration and here are a few of my favorites:

This might be one of my top choices- I love the darker wood on the mantel, it brings a great look to the room

Photo by Christopher Developments. See more traditional living room designs

This is a little more clean and sophisticated but I love how the marble is laid out on the fireplace and surrounding it on the floor

Photo by Emerick Architects. See more victorian living room designs

Great lines and details in the woodwork- prefer it to be white, but still a great image to show for the craftsmanship

See more traditional living room designs

This is perfection- not just the fireplace, but the whole room

Photo by Paul Moon Design. See more traditional living room designs

Another great option with the darker wood mantle

Photo by Theresa Fine. See more traditional living room designs

The tile around the fireplace is so fun- while we may not go this direction it gives you motivation to do something different!

Photo by Great Neighborhood Homes. See more transitional family room designs

 

Which is your favorite?

-KB