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The Makerista

I'm Gwen, a modern traditionalist who isn't afraid of color. Kansas City.

Laura’s Living Room: Addressing the Form and the Function

The first two questions I like to consider when decorating a space are “what do we have to work with?” and  “how does/should the space function?”  Laura’s living room is really long and narrow, which can be a bit more difficult, but I knew the confines of the space could be a shining point.  And how does the space need to function?  Along with the typical needs of a family with young kids, Laura and Craig planted a church last fall and their house is hustling and bustling with gatherings several nights a week.  While design is important to them, they need the space to function for everything from adult meetings of 5 to small groups of 20, with gangs of children running around too.

My approach to any big space is to think in terms of smaller areas but keeping things consistent throughout the room with color.  We decided on 3 distinct spaces: the main living area – specifically for TV watching and entertaining, a place for built-ins and reading, and a smaller conversational area.
We started with the main living area and the biggest piece of furniture: the couch.  Laura fell in love with Room and Board’s, Hutton, but when she found a similar shape and size on craigslist, we decided to order the fabric she was going to have the Hutton made in and have the craigslist couch reupholstered.  It ended up costing almost half of what the Hutton would have been and the uniqueness of a vintage piece is always a plus in my book.
Since we saved with the couch, we decided to splurge on the ottoman.  It’s a custom order from Nell Hills, and it’s like butter.  It’s comfortable to put your feet up on, loads of extra seating and something that looks better with age (the kids eat breakfast on it daily, and Laura hasn’t had any issues).
The rug is another craigslist score and has to be the silkiest Persian I’ve ever stepped foot on.  I love the pattern it brings to the space, yet the colors are neutral enough to work with almost anything. We wanted to bring in something conversational to this space, so we purchased the womb chair (and that beautiful marble tulip table) from Overstock.

 

We got that far and weren’t 100% sure what to put on the other side of the sofa.  While we wanted to designate spaces, the idea of them working together when need be was ideal.  That’s when I stumbled upon the Clancy daybed from Arhaus, and I think it really makes the space.

 

Not only does it allow your eye to flow through the room, it acts as seating for either area.

Arhaus‘ upholstered furniture is available in an incredible amount of fabrics – this piece could be ordered in over 500 – and many of them at no additional charge.  We went with View Grey, which is a beautiful, velvety material that has held up wonderfully to kids thus far.

 

Have you had to work with a long and narrow space before?  What did you do to break it up a bit?

Here is the reveal and the details on the bookshelves.

 

*This post is in partnership with Arhaus.  Thank you for supporting those who make The Makerista possible.  

 

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Comments

  9. Lina says

    I know this is many months past, but did you ever mention where the library ladder is from? We've been searching for a budget solution for literally years!