I Transformed My Cookie-Cutter Living Room Into a Cozy Oasis (See How!)
ABOUT THIS BEFORE & AFTER
HOME TYPE: Townhouse
PROJECT TYPE: Living Room
STYLE: Colorful, Maximalist
SKILL LEVEL: DIY
Some people love open-concept floorplans, but when my partner and I were house hunting, an open-concept living room was actually on the “no” list. Still, sometimes when you have to move, you have to make compromises — and as house-hunting fate would have it, we ended up with a main living floor that’s all one space. This was the home that met the most of our needs — and still managed to have a bit of architectural interest despite being a new build — so it was the biggest compromise I had to make.
You essentially walk right into this living room, and because the entry and dining room exist in the same space they all had to work together. However, it was important to me that each felt distinct.
Bold wallpaper gave the room an obvious focal point and made it distinct.
I knew that because the main floor was all one room, I needed to carry the same paint color throughout the entire space. Benjamin Moore’s Cushing Green is the main color we used in the home; we color-washed the walls, doors, trim, and ceiling. It’s a warm green color that doesn’t make the home feel too dark.
To make each room feel separate, I used wallpaper in complementary colors but wildly different patterns. In the living room, we had a fireplace with built-in bookshelves on each side. I knew I wanted to add height to the wall with something bold, so I chose a striped wallpaper from Rebel Walls. For the fireplace paint we went with Benjamin Moore’s Baked Terra Cotta, and for the fireplace and bookshelves we used a semi-gloss finish to make it shinier than the eggshell finish of the walls and ceiling.
I also added copper disco tiles and a scalloped wallpaper border to the fireplace to give it a bit of extra sparkle.
Decorative window decals provided (colorful!) privacy.
We loved how much natural light this first floor got. It’s an end unit, so windows wrap around three sides of this level. When we moved in, there were white shutters covering all of the windows. While they were functionally great, in the winter months when there is less natural light, the house felt quite dark. Not only that, but the shutters were difficult to paint because of the material they were made out of and the stark white really stood out against the deep colors in the rest of the room.
We took down the shutters and added a stained glass window cling decal (from Amazon) to the bottom, providing just enough privacy while not blocking any natural light. Then we added curtains with a subtle coral stripe to tie into the fireplace (curtain rods are from West Elm) and to warm up the space — as well as to allow us to block off the windows completely, if necessary.
A chandelier and ceiling medallion anchor the room.
This is the first home I’ve ever owned that had canned lighting in the ceiling. And while I loved it, the lack of fun light fixtures — which add visual interest to a room but also help make a space feel distinct, especially in an open-concept house — bummed me out.
There was already an electrical box in this room, so we had an electrician come in and remove the cap and hang this chandelier from Mitzi. I also added a ceiling medallion from Amazon to further define the room.
Don’t be afraid of pattern-mixing!
My biggest tip for pattern mixing is that you should mix by both scale and design — meaning larger-scale and smaller-scale patterns, but also things like stripes and florals. The floral couch could have been the only patterned item in the room because it’s so busy. But I consider animal prints to be neutrals, so I layered dalmatian print pillows and then fuzzy ones, too, to mix up the texture. The tiger print rug is from Ruggable, as are all the rugs in my home. With kids and a dog, it needs to be practical. The blue loveseat and white wingback chair manage to be texturally interesting without adding too much busyness.
And I have cocktail tables next to every single seat because I have an obsession with having somewhere for people to put their drinks, in addition to the coffee table in the center (a vintage Lou Hodges design that I found on Facebook Marketplace).
Inspired? Submit your own project here.
Further Reading
We Tested (and Rated!) All the Sofas at Ashley — Here Are the Best to Suit Your Style and Space
We Tested (and Rated!) All the Sofas at Pottery Barn — Here Are the Best for Every Type of Need
