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Farmhouse Living Room Update: The Sofas I Designed For The Space Are Here (And So Many Changes)
I “finished” the living room over 2 years ago, and while I was never 100% happy with it, I couldn’t put my finger on what/why, and loved it enough (and we had to shoot it for a magazine, so yes, I might have chosen some things based on timing). Now I want to be clear – I know intellectually that it was super, super pretty and functionally it worked so well for our family, but all I can say is that I know when I nail a room and I wasn’t there YET with this one. Today, friends, we are getting so much closer, thanks to my new sofas arriving (and some surprise swivel chairs!). And I feel like I might even know the three things that I could change to get it to the 100% true love phase (which I feel for our sunroom, kitchen and family room – good design takes time).
My Alice Sofas!!!
Alice Sofas | Suz Swivel Chairs
I am in LOVE with these sofas, both visually and functionally. The arms are so pretty, the seat is cushy, the back curve is so elegant, and that darker green pops so well in here. I loved the two facing sofas in here, and our prior sofas from Lulu and Georgia were so comfortable, but the dogs lying on top of the back cushions made them almost unsittable unless I did the daily Herculean effort of taking off the back cushion and pushing, stomping, or jumping on it to make it a rectangle again. It was so annoying. I fixed them daily or avoided sitting on them altogether. So every morning since we’ve had these has been such a treat.
Wait, Do The Dogs Not Sit On There?
They sure do, but these sofas were designed as a tight back yet deep sofa, meaning it doesn’t need the two back pillows that come with it – they are optional. Since they are deeper, you might want the pillows, but they are so pretty without them (with throw pillows). As of now, we are using the back pillows but setting them flat on the sofa seat during the day while the dogs lie all over the sofas, and then they are so easy just to prop back up when ready to sit (they are small, lightweight pillows instead of one huge back cushion). I may end up not using them and just using throw pillows (which my dogs will also sit on), but I love the streamlined look in here.
If you are wondering why the sofa isn’t centered on the rug, I have a rambling reason for you. At first we shot this room with the Soho home chair (the blue velvet). The sofa and chair clearance was different. But Gretch was like, “Shouldn’t we just try the Suz chairs?” and we did, and they needed to be off the carpet (or fully on) since they are swivel. So we just forgot to center the sofa or move the rug!! You probably wouldn’t have noticed! But it’s driving me nuts 🙂
Coffee Table Vase | Wooden Tray
OH MY. How I love that shot. I joked a lot that it’s a very “Go Ducks” room (green and gold), but my team assured me that normal non-Oregon Duck-obsessed people wouldn’t think this. I think with all the blues and deep burgundies it doesn’t feel that way. I’m LOVING the Suz chairs in here, mostly because of the additional seating, how it feels more filled out, and the swivel is so fun. You can turn and look out into the backyard.
Striped Velvet Pillow | Throw Blanket | Striped Table Lamp
The Alice looks really firm, but it’s just streamlined with a lot of give. I know I’m biased, but I hope you trust me that I wouldn’t say something is super comfortable unless it was (I know you’d tell me!!). It’s not something you flop onto and sink 4″ into (like our Oscar), but it’s cushy and has a nice soft give. It’s perfect for our needs in here, which is mostly morning coffee with our laptops and lots of conversational hangs with our friends or games with our kids. But I assure you that if it were your TV sofa, you’d be so happy as well. It’s very comfortable, just looks more streamlined intentionally.
I’m really loving how they look in here. I LOVE this deep dark green in a super family-friendly velvet, especially with the darker coffee table. It just feels so rich. The dog’s hair sticks to it as much as the other velvet sofas, which is not very much (our dogs shed twice a year, but otherwise aren’t huge shedders; they are a huskie-poo mix). If you have heavy shedding dogs, the Alice also comes in a nice cream linen that has a lot of different tones to mask hair.
The sofa is just so pretty and streamlined, but with that arm and leg that says, “I’m not boring, I’m special.” The roll on the arm gives it a slightly traditional look, but obviously not hyper traditional (not a tuft or carved wood).
Regarding the fireplace – I’m still not happy with how cold it looks, but you guys, I can NOT decide on what color to paint it!! My latest idea is to just wallpaper above the paneling and leave the fireplace white. My MIL got in my ear that painting it might feel too bold, like a big dark block in the middle of the room that would stop your eye in a bad way (I thought it would just look like a proper focal point). But I really do see her point and I fear she is right (also paint is just paint- like, Emily, JUST PAINT IT AND SEE, it would likely take one day!! ). But perhaps a soft wallpaper on the walls would help give it depth, texture and definition? I’ve ordered samples, and I can’t wait to belabor this for another 3 years.
Our Suz Chairs!!
Round Burgundy Pillows | Throw Blanket | Suz Swivel Chairs
Y’all. These chairs are so good. There are million swivel chairs on the market but these are special. Mal (on my team) designed them for Room Service, and they def have more of a regency vibe, which we love. They are deep and the seat is so comfortable. I put these round Schoolhouse dark burgundy pillows on them, which look pretty great, IMHO. And if you are wondering if you can have too much velvet in one room, we decided, collectively years ago, that “no, no you can’t.” It’s just so pretty and soft and therefore wins every time.
Which Chair Do You Like More???? Two Options…
Ok, so when we started shooting that day, we had the Soho home chair in here (above), and it looks really good (she’s a big lady). As you know, I love a really tight color palette (mostly so I can go nuts with my accessories), so this blue/green world works for me! Also, what you don’t see here is that I brought back the floral chaise in the corner (it looks way too dark/crowded in this angle, so we removed it for the sake of a better shot). I haven’t shot it yet (just ordered a rug for underneath it. But ANYWAY, that’s the blue chair version, and now check out the Ochre Suz swivel chairs option:
Ochre Swivel Suz Chairs
GAH! When we looked at the laptop screen, after clicking the photo were like, “Whoa, this looks so much better”. Which we totally didn’t predict!! It’s just fuller, more balanced, looks like a better design.
Wait, What Are The Other Changes You Made??
Well, for you eagle-eyed readers (thank you!), you’ll notice that I swapped the midcentury cabinet and the French farmhouse cabinet, and my goodness, it’s so much better. The blue cabinet looked sad and grey over there and it gets way more light where it is now. And the richness of the midcentury teak piece is a much better backdrop to the green sofas and balances out the Suz chairs.
I DIY’d pleated lampshades!! Look at me! Of course, I did it on the weekend and didn’t shoot the process, but honestly, I just copied how Lone Fox did his and didn’t want to steal credit, so please watch his tutorial. It’s SO EASY. I used a stamped thin batik from Etsy that is so forgiving, meaning that these are not perfectly done at all, but you can’t tell. They don’t give as much light as the white shade, which we hope is fine in the winter, but meanwhile, I LOVE the more traditional pattern popping off the wall (but will make selecting a wallpaper slightly more challenging).
So, What Changes Do You Still Want To Make??
Ok here me out. Again, I recognize this is a great room but no, I have still not nailed it. Here is on my list to slowly tweak:
A Bigger Rug
This room always wanted a 12×15 rug. My RugsUSA collection didn’t come that big (I begged and begged and begged) and frankly very few rugs do. And I love a big Persian rug, but the colorway I want is so hard to find, and they aren’t nearly as cozy (and just so expensive). I sold my brother my OG 12×15 rug, which didn’t pop in here nearly as much as I wanted it to, and looks so much better in his house. A 12×15 rug would allow the full swivel chairs to be on it (we think). However, this current rug is the most cushy, comfortable, and forgiving rug on the planet (for being so light). I can’t link it because it was a one-off from the now-gone H.D. Buttercup, for $2k, which is not bad for a 10×14, but if I could link it, I would sell it all day, every day, because it’s famously the best rug I’ve ever had. I tried to recreate it with RugsUSA but they couldn’t figure out how to make it so cushy, to have so many different yarn colors, and stay within their standard price point. It’s like sitting on a cloud, and yet it doesn’t look like a shag (I also have a memory foam carpet pad underneath), and you can’t see any dog hair and barely even stains. So I’m hesitant to downgrade our comfort in the name of upgrading the design. But I’m so in love with this rug from Lulu and Georgia that does come in a 12×15, and I think could really punch up the room, so I might do it. We used it in my friend’s dining room, and it’s just an incredible colorway and pattern. It’s still forgiving but not as cushy (because no rug is, Brian and the kids are going to be so bummed if I change it). But then part of me is afraid of it being too bold. So Gretch mocked it up for you…
I also ordered a sample (3×5) of this rug (Arvin’s denim rug from his old collection) to see if it would do the trick and not add the busyness of the above pattern. It’s such a pretty color in person, but it’s a magnet for our dog fur, so I don’t think we can do it (but I was impressed with the color/texture). I bought the round version in camel for underneath the chaise since our dogs don’t really lay there (I’ll show you soon).
Adding Wallpaper Above The Paneling
If I could go back in time I would put the white/cream rafael wallpaper in here instead of the entry. Brian gave it a hard no at the time, which I didn’t understand then, but I kinda wish I had just steamrolled it. I know that it’s a popular paper, but it’s PERFECT for what I want (which is to still keep it light and airy, but give the walls some sort of definition). Remember that the room as a whole has so many openings/doorways/panelings that going high contrast would be SO BUSY, you have to trust me. Part of me says just put it up in here and re-paper the entry with something more bold since that tiny room can handle it. But I’ve ordered some more samples of subtle patterns that could work. Stay tuned.
Other Options: Darker Curtains Or Paint The Fireplace
Listen, I went safe with the curtains but they are custom and I really don’t want to replace them. They are really pretty, high quality, and nothing is wrong with them. But I wasn’t as in love with florals and tapestries as much as I am now, so if I could snap my fingers and have a patterned curtain/shade situation, I would, but for now I’m really trying to make the room work without changing them. For the fireplace, I really do want to do something to it, even if we redo the mantel. After we tiled Kaitlin’s fireplace, and it became such an incredible focal point, I got really jealous. I want this fireplace to be prettier, full stop. Oh, and I want to frame that painting on the mantel to be bigger and in a better frame, and hang it instead of leaning it.
Furniture To Add/Swap
I brought back in the chaise lounge where the blue demilune table is in these photos, and LOVE IT. Will shoot/show you soon. I want a prettier cabinet where the midcentury one is (I like that piece, but found it on FBMP the weekend before the shoot). And I want to add a footstool for the swivel chairs (thinking of this one) as well as a prettier fireplace screen (our opening is huge, so it’s hard to find one that fits).
OMG. This has been quite the ramble. This room has been hard! It’s a pass-through room, open to three other rooms with multiple focal points, and needs to be highly functional (dining nook and lots of seating), so it’s just hard to nail. Its so lovely to be in right now, thus the lack of urgency but every weekend I spend hours thinking about it while I drink my coffee 🙂
*Photos by Kaitlin Green
As a major fan of the blue/green color scheme, I’m surprised at how much I prefer the version with the gold barrel chairs. Beautiful!
One thing I notice about velvet-upholstered furniture, seemingly more so than other fabrics, is puckering by the seams. A million years ago, when I dipped a toe in sewing, I was told that puckers are bad. A sign of improper thread tension, I think? I see a tiny bit of it in some of the product photos for your line and wonder about that.
Regarding a [minor] curtain update—you could add a bold trim to any of the edges [I would probably choose the leading edge of each panel, but there are different options]. Maybe figure out the fireplace and rug first, and then choose a trim that echoes the colors and/or forms found elsewhere in the room.
I think you need to paint the fireplace! You’ve agonised over it for years, and it wouldn’t be hard to change if you don’t like it. Do it before you do wallpaper, just to see, as it might change your wallpaper plans (and will be cheaper and quicker). How about a mid-tone rather than a really dark one, like a plum colour or a slate blue rather than a deep hunter green? For my two cents, the issue with this room is that all the bones of the room are light and a bit Scandi farmhouse – oak, white brick, pale pale walls and white wood panelling, but then you’ve added a warmer and more luxe palette in the furniture and the two aren’t blending enough yet. Something in the architecture needs more luxe to bring them together, and the sofas need some textures that aren’t velvet to bring in the smoother, more pared-back aesthetic of the rest of the room. Literally a sheepskin thrown on the sofa might help, they’re a block of saturated colour in the middle of a very white room. Then would you consider changing the back cushion on the nook with the table to a… Read more »
I keep wanting to see more traditional and English country house things in this room/house. more old things. a rich, vintage rug with deep red or brown tones would do wonders. something earthy. if you get a new piece for the wall, make it a vintage piece. how about the cupboard that’s in the carriage house? like, if the vibe is Scandi, a beautiful, old Scandinavian cabinet, maybe with painted embellishments. a tight palette is great, but then there needs to be textural and material variation. different fabrics, stone, old woods of varying colors.
I think the previous commenter was spot-on that there are some gradations missing in the room in terms of texture and materiality. like, it goes from soft, fuzzy, jewel-toned sofas to pure white brick, but there needs to be something else between those texturally and in palette. textiles to the rescue, prints. also some gradations in the age of things; not so much that is new and recently produced. makes it look a bit show-room-ish? I know that’s in a way what the house is, but making it funkier would add warmth and richness and life to it.
Yes I also crave some warmer tones here. I keep seeing the original fireplace as being an effortless and classic focal point that would anchor the room and tie things together if it were stripped back to the brick. Then you could parge it if you wanted to lighten it up. The fireplace is very classic and could add a lot of period charm if it were allowed to shine. no shade at all, but its almost the only original thing left in the room. I think replacing it with modern tile would look very dated very soon.
They are too low for me but the sofas are beautiful. The feet are killer. Your burgundy outfits look so great on the sofa and tone with the cushions on the Suz, which also look great btw.
The new rug would make the room too overwhelming for me with the abstract art, stripey cushions etc. Too jarring for the eye.
I don’t see a problem in having the same wallpaper in the entry as the living room. Is your reason because as a designer you need changing content, or is there something else wrong with having the paper in two places?
I’ve just bought a new upholstered bed and wanted cream to make more of a serene and larder feeling room, but for practicality I went with dark green velvet and now need to rethink to a cozy enveloping mood rather than simple and classic. I love velvet and agree that you can pile it on and still have it look great.
Can’t you photoshop the fireplace to see what it looks like, like you did with the rug? It doesn’t even have to be a dark or strong colour.
Something earthy like a warm grey or even an off white might add a bit of shadow and dimension. I personally quite like dirty colours in amongst the brights you’ve got to provide some balance (I think that’s why the mustard chairs work).
I find looking at MISSONI pattern mixes and similar gives some really good colour combo ideas or I look closely at all the colours in something like this Schumacher fabric to see what colours off set the green.
Can see better here.
I, too, love your color scheme of green and blue and agree that one can never have too much velvet. The mustard color is striking but I think I would get tired of it quickly. A mustard vase or lamp would be enough for me. Paint the fireplace first and see if you like it. I think you’ll be happy you didn’t take the wallpaper route.
I LOVE the mustard chairs in this room. They pick up the wood tones in the room and make the whole space feel more cohesive. Also love the dark green sofas. Such a great shade of green.
Maybe upgrade the size and frame of your art above the fireplace first before painting/wallpapering. A larger, more dominant piece of art above the fireplace might be the focal point you want (probably not, lol!, but worth a shot).
Overall, love what you’ve done here. So beautiful!
The sofas are gorgeous and I like the mustard chairs more than the blue velvet chair. I think the room could use some pattern. A rug is a great way to do that, but I find those stripes too jarring. I agree with some of the other commenters that the furniture feels more modern than the architecture—adding a more traditional, patterned rug might help tie all of that in. It’s been fun to see how this room has changed!
I love the gold chairs – swivels are so fun. One idea for the fireplace – would it be too nuts to paint just the mantel and the bricks that are supporting it (they look like steps/corbels – not sure if these have a name)? I’d choose a color like the stairs or something else that isn’t TOO bold but will add contrast. It’d also be way easier to paint over or extend the color if you decide you don’t like it! For me, I’m mostly missing the mantel itself popping – I’m not sure you need the whole fireplace section to be a color, per your MIL. Thanks for sharing, as always!
I’d love love love to see the fireplace stripped to its original brick! The texture and tone could be so pretty with everything else in the room!
It’s such a beautiful space, and I love the sofas and especially the colour of the armchairs. I agree with other comments that there is a lot of velvet there now, especially as many (most?) of the throw cushions also look like velvet. I think mixing textures here would help a lot (and I do love a bit of satin for winter, reflects fire- and candle-light beautifully). Re the fireplace, I think you should just replace the mantle with a wood one. This would actually be very easy to mock up in real life by just “giftwrapping” the existing mantle in brown paper. But I think the real issue is the proportions of the seating area. I think the green sofas are too far apart, so they don’t really relate to each other conversationally, and feel very separated by the coffee table, which in turn is too far from either sofa to really be able to put a drink or a tray of afternoon tea on. I think the arrangement also suffers a bit from having so many passageways around and through it. Again, tightening the spacing between the sofas would at least eliminate the passageways between each sofa and… Read more »
Can you just change the mantel to be a rich piece of wood? That seems to be what is missing for me. It doesnt have to be a dark tone. Also, I agree with someone else’s comment that adding mid tones to bridge the transition between the dark rich furniture and the pale walls would help. I also think the grey painted cabinet would look perfect in your 1850s house. I would love to have those swivel chairs. They really add function.