Samantha’s Design Dilemma
This open floor plan is primed for a major makeover and we’re all too happy to help. Here’s Samantha’s letter:
Is there a way to make the living room and office into ONE cohesive room to make the house appear larger? We would also like to make the living room work as a multifunction space, since there will be a dining area placed right outside the kitchen (how can we define each area?). I am open to getting rid of EVERYTHING and starting over (our Ikea sofa/chairs are beginning to feel a little too modern but we’re open to new slipcovers if you think you can make them work and to replacing them if you can’t). We’d also like new colors for all the walls (in the front door hallway, the living room, the office and even the fireplace that’s currently painted white). We’re putting in new wood-panel flooring in about 2 weeks and need to repaint before they’re in. We like colors that will give the room a warm and cozy feel. We have a huge TV that doesn’t seem to work with the room. We’re not big fans of large armoires or entertainment ctrs, but if you think you can make it work… (or we’ll just move it to the bedroom and save up for a flat screen). The styles that most appeal to me are modern meets traditional with LOTS of comfort and nothing that’s too sleek or cold. Also, if you can suggest pieces with storage that can help hide toys and still look good, please do (although it’s not a priority). Once we complete this space, we will definitely send you pictures and will probably begin enlisting your help for other rooms in the house in the near future! Thanks! -Samantha
This open and airy space is bursting with potential. Here’s the plan:
And now for the mood board breakdown.
1. It’s clear from the pillows in the living room and office area that Samantha is drawn to warm and cozy red tones, so we decided to spice things up and add function and cohesion to her open floor plan with some rich garnet red hues tempered with some chocolate and tan. Adding a dash of orange and yellow (introduced through the rug, which we adore!) will really polish things off and create an inviting retreat in no time flat. To unify this open floor plan we would actually suggest painting the office, living room and hallway all one color: a soft soothing tan (try Sand White by Glidden or Benjamin Moore’s Cedar Key). This soft neutral will work with the existing wall color in the adjoined kitchen while complementing our red and chocolate accent tones so the room isn’t loud and chaotic but warm and enveloping. For the fireplace (hidden behind the big TV) we’d suggest a lighter creamy tone (not quite white since creams and tans work better with this palette). To find the perfect fireplace color, Samantha should pick the lightest tone on the color swatch that she decides to paint her walls (which will be a tone or two darker than the fireplace for some gentle contrast).
2. Baskets are our favorite way to deal with clutter (while adding some chic texture) and these affordable options from Ikea are a great resource for that toy storage that Samantha mentioned. We’ll explain how these can tuck into another furniture piece that we dug up in a moment…
3. These sophisticated curtains (in “camel”) will add polish to the open floor plan while working perfectly with our deliciously warm color palette. We’d love to see them in the dining area, living area, and office to instantly tie everything together and create some great drama and height. We also love the brown blinds that they’re paired with in the picture, so if Samantha wants to control the light even more, she can pick up something similar at her local Target, Walmart, or JC Penney.
4. Samantha really emphasized that she wanted her new space to feel homey and welcoming, so we thought these soft little bird’s nest prints would warm up her nest. At just $9.99 for each of them (here’s one, here’s the other), these prints are quite a frugal find! And they’ll look lovely (framed in dark wooden frames with a crisp white mat) hanging on top of one another on the wall behind the sofa.
5. Any open floor plan usually needs things to help magically pull it together and define different zones. The answer: a coffee table and a big area rug in the living space. These two things never fail to ground a seating area and create a little room within a room with obvious boundaries (which makes placing other furniture pieces a breeze). This x-detailed coffee table is a handsome piece that will add polish and sophistication to the space while neutralizing some of our brighter items (like the rug and the slipcovered chairs) so the space feels cozy and not crazy. Plus remember those baskets that we mentioned above? A few of them can tuck right into the lower shelf for easy and accessible toy and remote storage.
6. Samantha indicated that she’d like the office and the living room to feel more cohesive and the best way to accomplish that is to keep the color palette consistent in both spaces. By adding a red slipcovered parson’s chair to the office area, along with this new dark wood desk (on clearance!) centered under the window, it will feel tied in to the nearby living area in a snap. And speaking of the office layout, we’d also love to see the mirror that’s leaning by the front hallway in the third picture brought into the office and leaned up against the back wall to the left of the bifold doors. This will reflect the living area to tie them together even more (while bouncing around a lot of light).
7. Here’s the item that will MAKE this space. This amazingly warm and cozy 8 x 10 rug is extremely reminiscent of a Pottery Barn version that’s selling for $200 more, and it will tie everything together while creating a seating area that will feel separate from the nearby dining area while still allowing for a nice open flow.
When it comes to the furniture placement, we’d love to see the sofa scoot forward about two feet from that back wall (this will all make sense on the rug with our coffee table in the middle) and the red chairs moved about two feet to the right so they appear more centered under the window and more connected to the seating area thanks to the rug. The best way to approach a seating area in an open living space is to use a rug to define the boundaries of the area and create a floating arrangement, which looks a lot more cohesive and balanced than pushing everything back against the walls in the expansive space. And since the TV is completely blocking the fireplace (and a bit far from the seating area- almost infringing on the dining area actually!), we’d love to see a corner unit like this (it’s just $164!) in the back corner of the living space (where the floor lamp currently lives) so the TV can be tucked in there so it’s less of a focal point (eventually replacing it with a flat screen is definitely the way to go).
8.We definitely think Samantha can keep her current Ikea sofa and chairs instead of dishing out some serious loot to replace them. Thankflully there are tons of great slipcover options out there, so we dug up this handsome mocha linen one to transform the existing sofa in a snap (well, a zip actually). We also think using a deep gel stain to make the sofa legs dark brown like the rest of the furnishings we’ll be bringing in will really help to create something that looks more West Elm meets Pottery Barn than straight up Ikea. We also loved this cheerful orange pillow on the sofa to tie in with some of the rich warm tones in the rug.
9. Here are the aforementioned red slipcovers for Samantha’s existing chairs. We think they’ll look casual yet sophisticated while bringing out the clean lines in the chairs without feeling stark or cold. Again using a gel stain to darken the legs of the chairs will create a more rich and polished feeling to fit the cozy and warm vibe that we’re going for.
And when it comes to the dining area, this great round table (in black brown) will keep things feeling chic and open while accommodating more of those red slipcovered parson’s chairs that we suggested for the office (again to keep things feeling cohesive and comfortable). A big orange vase (made of lacquered bamboo so it’s kid proof!) in the center of the table will complete the dining area makeover.
So there you have it. Samantha’s modern meets traditional space with lots of cozy touches. We can’t wait to hear what you guys think!
Update: We sadly can no longer find the time to take on client commissioned mood boards (we now whip up general inspiration boards instead) but if we ever reinstate them we’ll make a big announcement!
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Just wanted to drop a few lines and say “Hello.” I stumbled across your blog this week and fell head over heels in love. The past few days have been spent reading all the way back to the beginning…every post! Everything y’all do looks AMAZING! I am so, so jealous of what you have been able to accomplish in your home. I found these questions in an old post and figured I would oblige :)
1. Amber, 26, from Bluffton, SC just minutes from the gorgeous beaches of Hilton Head, historic Savannah,GA and Charleston, SC, and my favorite little coastal town Beaufort,SC. I am married…7 years this past January and have a quirky little Silky Terrier named Edison. If you add me on facebook you can see him :)
2. The past few days, its all I have done…LOL. I’m sure I will checking it hourly from now on.
3. younghouselove.com
4. What are your favorite types of posts & why? Design Dilemma’s…I love the mood boards and following the links.
5. What are your other must-read blogs? Some of my family member’s
6. For what advice I have for you to make Young House Love even better in year #2? None…I bow to you
7. I would quit renting and actually buy a house…I would LOVE a coastal cottage right on the water.
8. Anything else you want us to know, or just gotta share with the world? I wish that my wedding would have been EXACTLY like yours…I had the big, fancy church affair and although it was gorgeous and I loved it…it wasn’t as intimate as I could have had it.
As an architectural student, I am just DROOLING over this floor plan. Samantha’s home has amazing bones!
LOVE it. Especially the rug, I’m wanting it for myself!!
That slipcover site made me just GIDDY. What fun fabric choices they have! :) With a Karlstad purchase planned, this link was great to add to our favorites. Thanks!!!
I love the way you kept the walls neutral and used color in ways that could be more easily switched up – pillows, slipcovers, etc. I also loved that you kept the furniture with the clean lines. With all of the children in our home, I know it’s too easy for things to start to look… well, “used”. The crisp, clean lines in those pieces add structure that seems to say, “Yes, children live here, but they’re *stylish* children – with parents” ;) Well done, again!
Jacci
This might be my favorite mood board you guys have done (possibly because I LOVE these colors and they’re very similar to the look I’m gradually building toward in my own apartment). Great work as usual, and I can’t wait to see the after pics!
Oh wow, I really love their sofa and chairs!
You picked some excellent items for their new-styled room. I particularly like the curtains; JC Penney is my faaavorite place to purchase drapes! Excellent quality and always gorgeous!
You guys are such great designers – keep up the good work! :)
Uh-oh, looks like the rug is sold out! I was looking at thinking I would love to buy it. Am I mistaken?
Nope, we wish you were mistaken but that rug actually sold out since we posted it this afternoon. But not to worry, Samantha is already hunting down a look-alike on ebay. She’s an ebay superstar! There’s also a box on Overstock where you can put in your email address for them to contact you when things come back into stock, so maybe Samantha can try that route too! Can’t wait to see how it all turns out…
xo,
Sherry
Thanks for the mood board and the blog feature! I’m so excited and will do my best to get the room finished as soon as possible. Looking forward to sending you pics. Thank you again!
Like everyone else, I’m in love with the rug and curtains. Wow. It looks great.
L.O.V.E it!!
Nice job, great idea about putting the mirror in the office.
I LOVE your site and don’t want to sound like I’m telling you how to do your job but…have you ever thought about sending the mood board to the customer a couple days before posting it on your blog? I’d be extremely disappointed if I paid for a service that partially involved having specific items selected for me, only to find that one of the items had sold out before I had an opportunity to purchase it. Great deals seem to sell out quickly once posted on popular blogs.
Hey Jamie,
It’s a great idea, and one we’ve certainly thought long and hard about (we just get so gosh darn excited to see what people think- and our clients do too!). Of course we’re all too happy to dig up replacements of anything that suddenly becomes unavailable (in this case the rug is out of stock, but it will be available again, Samantha can just add her email in the box on the page that we linked to and they’ll contact her when it’s back in stock, usually within 2 weeks). But it would certainly make life easier for us if we sent mood boards directly to clients and then waited a few days to share them. Thanks for the comment, it might just be our new system!
xoxo,
Sherry (& John)
Beautiful work. I love the warm color palette of rich browns and warm reds and oranges. I think that the colors as well as the furniture selections are also perfect for a family with children. I also love that the clean lines of the sofa and chair help modernize the floral rug. Great find on the curtains as well.
I really like the curtain/bamboo shade idea. I’d like to try it in my living room, but I’m wondering if we can pull it off with our 2″ white horizontal blinds in place. The view from the living room window is of our backyard, so I don’t necessarily have a picture window worthy view.
Yup! Go for it. You can raise the blinds so they don’t compete with the bamboo shades, and lower them when you need privacy or light control. Don’t worry about the view, pretty curtains and blinds ARE the view! Hope it helps. Happy hanging…
xoxo,
Sherry
love the nest pics…i just bought 3! FYI – use THNKS421 for free shipping at checkout.
This is funny, this is the second time I’ve seen a warm color palette on here that’s similar to what we got (but have painted on yet) for our living room. We’ve going w/ Glidden: Bird’s Nest Brown, Copper Coin (orange), and Oyster White (tan/cream). We are using Oyster for our trim (everywhere in our open first floor). I was thinking about the walls in orange but I’m having second thoughts about it being too bright. We were planning to do the walls orange and the a ‘rugby’ type stripe with narrow brown, wide cream, narrow brown about 2/3rd of the way up the wall. I think I’d rather have neutral furnishings so that if I want to change it up, I can just paint the wall, but I’m trying to warm up to places that have slipcovers so that would be an option for us too. I sooo have to plan an expedition to Ikea (ours is not close).
Off-topic: Can you tell I’m just getting around to looking at things from last month? They’ve been open in tabs in my Firefox for a month. I guess April was a busy month for me!
if I was to paint my house that color tan would you put the trim white?? I have wood trim now.
Yes, it’ll look so crisp and current. I love tan houses with white trim.
xo,
s