Before & After: Rustic, Colorful Living Room

Yesterday I had the pleasure of styling for a couple hours at a beautiful home in the woods. Nichole had contacted me about spending some time going through her home and helping with some “problem areas” that she wasn’t quite sure what to do with, as well as give some advice on future design plans that she and her husband have for the house.

We spent the majority of our time in their living room. As you can see in the picture below, they already have great style and beautiful bones to their home, but Nichole just wasn’t sure about the arrangement of the room. The room felt a bit unbalanced—heavy on the left and empty on the right. So we started moving furniture and…

… here’s where we ended up! Since their couch is curved, the corner ended up being the perfect place for it.  Moving the chair to under the large window helped to balance out the room, as well as create a more conversation-friendly area. The room now feels more cozy and intentional.

Nichole also wanted some help with the large shelf on her bookshelf. You can see in the first before photo that the shelf was originally filled with adorable photos of their kiddos. Despite being cute, it lacked depth and variety and was a bit busy. So I simplified it a bit by only including two matted and framed photos layered with a couple different vessels and a plant. The two vessels were part of a basket of decor I brought along with me for Nichole to choose from and purchase if she liked, and they added nice variety to the #shelfie.

The three colorful vintage books were also among the decor I brought and they added the perfect pop of color to the otherwise monochrome mantel. I’m always a fan of a stack of vintage books to add color and/or height.

Nichole was an amazing first client! We had a wonderful time discussing home design, their future hopes and plans for the house, killer places to shop in the Twin Cities, and her kiddos. They have a beautiful home, but just needed some direction and an outside opinion. I hope that the new living room arrangement works well for their family for this season of life and that they feel like their space is a bit more cozy!  Thanks, Nichole!