Living Room Makeover
Modern Scandinavian – Black, White & Warm Interior
Today, I’m walking you through how I designed a recent client of mine’s living room.
This particular client found me on YouTube after seeing some of my other work and wanted me to design her living room since she loves the modern Scandinavian design style!
If you would like help decorating your home too, please reach out and get in touch! I would love to work with you!
Living Room Makeover
Her house is a very long, open layout, so she wanted the design to be cohesive in her living room and kitchen.
Below are the before and after pictures of what her living room originally looked like and what I ended up designing for her.
Let’s get into this living room makeover!!
For the living room, we discussed:
- A light colored U-Sectional to seat a large family, but take up less space than the current set up
- A coffee table instead of an ottoman
- Keep the family sign the design for wall decor
- Something different for the wall where the TV is — ideas for what to do with that wall
Overall:
- She likes unique choices in her home
- She likes to keep it minimal
- They are homebodies and family-centric so being comfortable at home is really important
TIP: Look for common denominators in your Pinterest inspiration boards to help you get a better idea of what you want
Getting Started
When starting the e-design, I added the flooring that they currently had which was a warm tile. Then I added a neutral light paint color to the wall. After that I added a black curtain rod with nice white flowy curtains.
One of the main things I needed to take into consideration in this design was the new sectional. She mentioned that she wanted a sectional to seat at least 8 people with a left chaise and a right corner. This is one of the larger pieces of furniture in the room, so it is a key part of the design.
The sectional that I selected is from Interior Define which is completely customizable – from the depth of the cushions, fabric selection. This store is a new favorite of mine and probably where I’ll buy our next sectional.
Finding the Details
The next thing that I wanted to find was a contrasting coffee table.
My client didn’t want an ottoman since they’ve used ottomans a lot in the past. I was lucky to find this coffee table from Pottery Barn.
Not only is it in this warm walnut wood, which she likes, but it also has storage inside of it. If they need to store extra blankets, pillows, dog toys etc., it has that function as well.
Next, I layered in some lighting. I added a black floor lamp to the left of the sectional which arches over. On the right side I did a wood end table with a white lamp.
Decor Pillows
The next component that I wanted to work on for the design was the decor pillows.
Because my client wanted to keep the space very light and bright, I decided on going with very neutral decor pillows. She also likes to keep things minimal, so I didn’t wanna go overboard with any crazy patterns.
The decor pillows that I chose were neutral and didn’t take up too much space. I then added a black lumbar pillow with a dark gray throw blanket for contrast.
Pulling it All Together
By repeating a color in the space, you can create a cohesive and well intentioned look. In this living room makeover, I created a triangular effect with the black lamp, the black pillow and then the dark gray throw blanket.
My client also wanted to incorporate their black family sign on their wall, so it worked out perfectly with the design and color palette.
For a few details on the coffee table, I added black, white and beige books and a plant, but of course you can do anything with coffee table decor. I also added some foliage to the corner with an olive tree.
Here is the final design for this part of the living room:
Designing the Fireplace & TV Wall
Here’s what we started with:
For the wall in front of the sectional, my client had a large TV and fireplace. The question was: what do we do with this very large wall? One idea I had was using the power of floor to ceiling flow – I wanted to create a statement on the wall where she could outline the TV in the fireplace with either stone, slat, or a flute wall to give the TV in the fireplace it’s own framed space instead of it being overwhelmed by the wall.
The Fireplace
Originally underneath of the TV I added a wall-mounted electric fireplace. Recessed fireplaces are for when you’re putting it inside of the wall, whereas a wall mounted electric fireplace is one that you can hang kind of like a picture frame.
So I added a wall mounted electric fireplace to the design.
Making Symmetry with Decor
Because this wall is so large, I thought it would be nice to hang two long black framed mirrors on both sides of the fireplace, creating great symmetry and also reflecting more light in the room, which is important because she wanted more of a bright interior and mirrors help reflect light in the space.
To layer and bring together the mirrors and the fire place, I added two large floor vases on both sides of the fireplace. I included a tan/brown floor vase with a small white pot on the left and a white one on the right. Inside the floor vases, I added branches that I found from her Pinterest boards.
Floor to Ceiling Design
The other big thing about the space that I thought was a unique opportunity to design was this large vaulted part of their ceiling.
The idea that I had was to take the design from floor to ceiling. So whether they decide on the stone or slat wall, I’d take it all the way up to the ceiling. It creates visual interest; it’s unexpected, and it’s also less visual clutter.
For the other areas up top, I thought the best solution would be adding clusters of either vases or her favorite decor to keep it simple. Sometimes some spaces are really better off left alone.
TIP: Floor to ceiling designs create visual interest, are unexpected and give off less visual clutter
Based on all of her Pinterest board inspiration and the direction she wanted to take the design, I would definitely say that this living room makeover e-design nailed it – and I’m happy to report that she also really enjoyed the design!
If you’d like me to create an e-design for you, you can view my design services here.
As always, I have everything linked below if you want to take a look and shop for yourself.
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