A Rustic-Modern Living Room

Hi folks, it’s Melanie from the design team here at EHD (but Em and the crew call me ‘Mel’ if you’re like ‘ew, who?’ or new to the blog) and today we’ve got an E-Design for you that we recently wrapped up! Our e-design client Emma let us know that her living room was craving a family friendly seating area with enough room for her children to have dance parties. (She definitely has her priorities straight). We had a fun budget to play with and almost full range on switching out existing pieces, so we were really excited about it, and her only request was that we needed to keep was the Eames lounger and work it into the new design plan.

Emma sent through a handful of pictures of what the space currently looked like and also let us know that she was drawn to spaces that are Mid-Century in style with soft touches throughout. She also mentioned that she wanted to see neutrals, black-and-whites and pastels worked into the color palette. With those requests in mind, one of our designers Ali started the E-Design by pulling together a handful of inspiration images based on what Emma had initially told us she liked and disliked, and what she wanted the vibe of the room to feel like, which as you can see in these pictures is calming, cozy and stunning.

After sending off the inspiration and hearing great initial feedback from our client, Ali needed to take some time off as she welcomed baby number 3 to the family – CONGRATS! So, I took over the E-design and began designing based on what they had already established – which is why I am here now walking you through this post (in case you were wondering). We started by focusing on layout and textural elements and sent this off to Emma:

“The first design shows two sofas facing each other to create a conversation area with tons of seating. Light grey colors, wood tones and light pink accents speak to your inspiration images and create a cozy but styled living space.  The tall bookcase would go to the left of the fireplace and the Eames lounger would go to the right to make a reading nook by the window. The smaller console would go behind the sofa closest to the door, creating an opportunity for cute vignettes as you enter your home. The coffee table is an amazing vintage find, that is both unique and fitting for the style you’re after. “

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Tall Shelf | Black Leather Pillow | Pink Woven Pillow | Lumbar Pillow | Pendant Light | Floor Lamp | Mirror | Paint Color | Leather Accent Chair & Ottoman | Side Table | Sofa | Rug | Coffee Table (no longer available) | Tripod Floor Lamp | Throw Blanket | Set of 2 Accent Tables | Shag Pillow | Black Striped Pillow | Lumbar Pillow | Console | Plant Stand

As you’ll see in the floor plan below, two sofas which face each other create a nice seating area for her and her family and balances the room quite nicely. But the real questions – is there enough room for dancing?

We also sent over a second option for her to review:

“This design opens the space a bit more and skews a little southwest. We removed the pink accents as black and white pillows best bring out the tones in this rug. The current chandelier is super cute, and would look great with all three designs but… we’ve included a more organic option just for fun! The softness of the light’s shape as well as the warm expansive light it will produce would help make the room feel comfortable and informal.” 

Tall Shelf | Black Leather Pillow | Studded Pillow | Lumbar Pillow | Pendant Light | Floor Lamp | Mirror | Paint Color | Leather Accent Chair & Ottoman | Side Table | Sofa | Rug | Coffee Table (no longer available) | Tripod Floor Lamp | Upholstered Side Chairs | Set of 2 Accent Tables | Studded Lumbar Pillow | Black Striped Pillow | Grey and Black Lumbar Pillow | Console | Plant Stand

It’s starting to feel like there’s more room for dancing in this layout below…

Option number three provides another seating layout and brings back the pastels Emma first responded to.

“This last option showcases a custom sectional with an optional extra chair. This sofa includes the Eames lounger a bit more into the conversation. Clad Home has two sectionals that would be great to customize for your space. The Belmont is a sofa with a chaise whereas the Murray has a back on most of the chaise. We recommend ordering free fabric swatches so you can see the colors in your home and feel all the different textures. Light grey linens would look great!”

Tall Shelf | Black Leather Pillow | Pink Woven Pillow | Lumbar Pillow | Pendant Light | Floor Lamp | Mirror | Paint Color | Leather Accent Chair & Ottoman | Side Table | Sectional | Rug | White Arm Chair | Coffee Table | Tripod Floor Lamp | Throw Blanket | Set of 2 Accent Tables | Shag Pillow | Black Striped Pillow | Lumbar Pillow | Console | Plant Stand | Sectional |

This plan moves the Eames lounger back into a reading nook. The additional chair could potentially fit between the coffee table and the lounger, or be a seat to bring out for larger gatherings.

“As for flooring we recommend a nice medium toned wood. Similar to what Emily used in her own house.  We hope this helps you identify a direction but of course please order samples and see them in your space before purchasing in large quantities.”

Emma’s response was positive and her feedback helped us hone in on the design and provide her with her dream living room:

“I really like designs 2 & 3. I actually tried the sofa arrangement from design 1 when we moved here, and while it looked really good, it didn’t have the flow and open feeling I like in this space. .  I’m leaning towards design 2 because it gives the most seating options and I love the sofa in design 2, but I’m worried about the linen. We have 3 young kids and a dog. Our current sofa has slipcovers that I wash often and it’s still trashed!  What about the same sofa in leather? Unfortunately, Anthropologie doesn’t have the that color sofa in leather, so I realize changing it may throw off the whole color scheme. 

Also, I love the optional ivory Anthropologie chair in design 3. Would 2 of those work as the 2 chairs in design 2? I know I’m taking myself over budget with these ideas, and maybe that’s a lot of leather in the room??! The drop chandelier is lovely but it only takes one 60w bulb and I had one like it but it wasn’t enough light. Any other suggestions?”

We took Emma’s feedback and came up with design number 4… increasing the budget is always fun! There’s nothing more helpful than hearing what a client has tried before and disliked. It helps us avoid a design that won’t work and move right along to a new option. If a client is okay increasing budget, a leather sofa is definitely the most sturdy option. (Although most linen upholstery fabrics are polyester and pretty durable). We really loved the Anthropologie sofa we initially presented but unfortunately it isn’t carried in a typical saddle leather which we think would look best. So we recommended the following West Elm option and as Emma guessed, this leather sofa and two leather chairs would be too much of the same. Luckily the chair we loved came in linen and we recommended Emma order swatches of a few to see what looked best in person.  Now that we have a sofa locked down we recommended 4-6 pillows of varying sizes and welcomed Emma to choose her favorites from the options we’d shown her so far.

Tall Shelf | Black Leather Pillow | Studded Pillow | Lumbar Pillow | Ceiling Light | Floor Lamp | Mirror | Paint Color | Leather Accent Chair & Ottoman | Sofa | Rug | Coffee Table | Tripod Floor Lamp | Grey Arm Chairs | Set of 2 Accent Tables | Black Striped Pillow | Grey and Black Lumbar Pillow | Console | Side Table | Plant Stand

“For over the fireplace we were envisioning the large black mirror. We also saw one of the standing lamps paired with the Eames and the other more towards the plant (as you’ll see on the floorplan).”

It’s so fun to see all of the options we sent to Emma in once place. Which one is your favorite? I’m loving the last one! We’ve yet to see updated photos but we’re sure the space looks great.

Don’t forget if you’re interested in more E-designs and Design Agony posts to check out: A Neutral and Eclectic Living Area,   Updating Basic Bedroom Furniture with New Bedding,  Should We Paint Wood Panelling?, How To Layout A Narrow Living Room, Kitchen Nook Refresh, Cures For A Maple Orange Kitchen, Master Bedroom Refresh Plan, A Rustic Mid-Century Family Room, Neutral (Well Mostly) California Nursery. Or if you have a design problem that you think we could help you on, head over to our design services area.