Modern-Vintage Living Room
Consultation Notes Shannon and Ethan live in Grand Rapids, MI with their pet Doberman. Ethan just started nursing school, and Shannon does marketing for a local law firm. They have been slowly updating their 1910 Eastown home and have been struggling particularly with their living room. According to Shannon, “It's long and large, has three sets of windows plus three entrances, which makes it awfully difficult for me to grasp a concept for furniture layout. We've held off on purchasing new furniture for this room simply because I don’t want to make the investment only to have it not work, and we're finally at the point where we just need someone else's eye and advice.” Both Shannon and Ethan like non-cluttered, clean, open, and simple spaces. They are drawn To netural colors like beige, gray, and black, but also like colors that are pale. They’d describe Their style as clean, bright, light, folky, and vintage. The living room needs to be a place where they can hang out comfortably as a family, watch television, and host guests. Our goal is to put together a plan that is inspiring in design and maximizes the potential & flow of the space (floor plan). We want the room to remain modern and neutral, but want to be intentional in recommending a balance of textures, color, and scale of furniture that will make the room feel effortless.
Recommendations We were very inspired by your kitchen space & works of art, so we’d like to incorporate the wood, white, and vintage elements into the living room as well. Additionally, we’d like to utilize pale, soft accents that play off the wall color in the dining space to just add a touch of playfulness to an otherwise completely neutral space. As we discussed, we recommend keeping the wall color gray as a neutral backdrop. The floor space should be anchored with a large rug. Since your room is so expansive, we recommend a very large (approx. 8 x 10 or 9 x 12) area rug for the floor to define the space. Rugs this size can break the bank, so we recommend this rug be something flat & woven (which are much more affordable at that size). Then, to warm up the space, use a smaller, rug with more texture on top to really add that comfort and pile (and functionality for your dog). One of the most common problems people have in their room is rug size. When a rug scale is too small, it can make the room feel awkward. As you can see in the floor plan, the right rug size makes a huge difference in making the room feel complete.
We also recommend you utilize your existing dresser, but move it under the television as more of a credenza (and get rid of the black existing unit). In place of the dresser (and on the other side of the entry if desired), add floor to ceiling wall unit (in a similar wood shade to the dresser). This will extenuate the height of the ceiling, fill the wall like a “built-in” and provide storage for your space (and a place to display curiosities and “smalls” that you like.
We recommend a simple curtain so as to not compete with the artwork & rugs. A subtle, but great choice would be adding super light dusty rose curtains. This is close to using a beige, but with a slight punch (and is a very modern look). It would also compliment with the accents/color in the dining room well. If you are afraid of this option, a white or off white would do the same (just with less punch J).
See layout & rationale for recommendation of switching from a sectional to a standard sofa (but large- this pictured leather one is the 99” Dekalb sofa from West Elm). Your sofa should be the biggest investment piece for your room. Twice a year, West Elm has a 20% off sale, and this extra-large sofa could be as low as $2400. That’s not cheap, by any means, but it truly would last forever and would be a good investment. Regardless, for the sectional or sofa and chairs, we recommend using a combination of leather and gray, white, or black linen. Using a mix of these materials will warm up the space & make it feel more livable/comfortable. If you use a leather sofa, pair it with linen side chairs. If you do a linen sofa, pair with leather chairs. It’s all about the balance & your preference.
To bring in a modern element (and diversify materials as we have so much wood/textiles at this point), consider bringing in some white lacquer or metal with the coffee table, decorative elements, etc. Also, we recommend the coffee table be round to compliment the squared edges of the other furniture in the space.
Art/accessories and lighting should be a mix of what you already have, plants, and items in the black, white, beige, pale schemeremembering to mix a variety of textures/shapes.
As noted before, we recommend switching to a non-sectional style sofa to keep the room open. It will also help to make the pair of chairs feel less awkward. Additionally, pulling the pair of chairs off the wall will help the room feel a little bit less expansive and will pull the conversation inward. You will also have a better view of the television from all areas. In this layout, you have a direct path to all entrances without it feeling to invasive or too long and narrow.
So, what’s next?
Whew! That was a lot of information. Now that you have seen the inspiration/recommendations, soak it all in. Let us know if you have any questions. After processing the information, you have a couple of options. ü Call or e-mail to set up an appointment to discuss your likes/dislikes of the design and how we can move forward together with Hunt & Gather managing the project (we would discuss what items you would like to purchase yourself, what we should be hunting for, budget, and timeline). ü Start working on the room on your own (purchasing items, hunting for things, etc.) and only call us when you need clarification, recommendations, or final styling. Remember, the WHY is more important than the WHAT, so if you don’t like a pillow/lamp/etc. that we recommended, find something with similar lines or a similar purpose (or a cheaper price) and consider purchasing that instead! ü Nothing. This wasn’t what you were looking for, and you would like to discontinue working together. Additional pricing for services would be given at the follow-up meeting that fit your specific needs. Hope you love the design concept! Can’t wait to hear from you!
THANK YOU Kelley Howley & Fernando Ramirez Hunt & Gather 740 Curve St. SW design@huntandgatherGR.com