Blank Slate to Blooming Beauty: Living Room Decor Coaching

Hi there! Lisa here to tell you about another decor coaching project Jillian and I recently had the pleasure of working on. Decor coaching has been keeping us busy recently, which is why you haven’t heard from us for a while, but we’re excited to share this room transformation with you today! Our client had recently moved into this house, and had nearly a blank slate for a living room. The room is spacious and bright with neutral-colored paint on the walls, which she wanted to keep, and a pretty fireplace as a focal point. Right before hiring us she had purchased two matching light beige couches, which she placed facing each other perpendicular to the fireplace, and a carpet with a soft mineral blue-green pattern. She was open to reusing a coffee table she already owned, but otherwise needed to fill the room with furniture, window treatments, accent pieces, accessories, and art. She also needed some help with ideas on how to lay out the space and pull it all together.

Here are some before photos of the room.

First, we came up with a color scheme. As the couches and wall color were both light neutrals, the only color we had to take into consideration was the soft blue-green of the carpet. We wanted to bring in another color, and our client expressed that she liked red. With the mineral green we were working with, we felt that a deeper, almost burgundy shade of red would be a good counter color, and would offer some depth to balance the airiness of the light blue-green. To round it out we threw a medium gray into the mix. We picked out some mineral and burgundy throw pillows and scattered them around the room to add pops of color on the neutral furniture.

With that color scheme in mind we wanted to tie it all together with drapes. There are several windows in the room, so the drapes would definitely have impact, but the neutral walls meant we could play with some pattern. Here at The Brick Nests, we love fresh, modern florals, and our client was down with that idea. We found a gorgeous fabric for her which she made into beautiful drapes.

Next we moved on to the layout of the room. The wall opposite the fireplace is the only wall in the room without windows and it’s quite long, so it needed something to break up the space. We chose a console table in a weathered gray finish centered between the couches and directly across from the fireplace, topped with two sea-green table lamps. We found her a large mirror to hang above the table which will reflect the warm light from the fireplace. We also suggested flanking the fireplace with two dramatic floor lamps and hanging a colorful piece of art above the mantel.

There is a beautiful large window at the front of the room, and it was just calling out for a tufted bench to give it the feel of a window seat. To create a reading nook in one of the back corners of the room we chose a beautiful chair with spindle details, paired with a Moroccan pouf in a warm leather as an ottoman. We also suggested a deep red velvet chair, and our client happened to have a similar one in another room, so she moved that into another corner of the room. She also had a very cool antique secretary which she had put in her dining room, but she just wasn’t feeling it in there as it felt crowded with the other dining room furniture. We suggested finding a new home for it in the other back corner of the living room, and it was a perfect fit!

And now it’s time for the after pictures! Jillian and I, and more importantly, our client, are so pleased with how the room turned out! It’s soft and pretty, with a harmonious balance of space, color, and pattern.

This blank slate turned into a blooming beauty of a living room with floral drapes, a beautiful color palette, interesting accent furniture pieces, and some great accessories. It’s now the perfect space to relax and entertain!

We look forward to showcasing more of our projects here on the blog as we continue to grow our decor coaching business. If you have home projects and are interested in our decor coaching services, we’d love to hear from you at thebricknests@gmail.com!