Inspiration Board: Melanie's Living Room

HAPPY MONDAY!

So one of my best friends in the word, Melanie is getting married this spring. Melanie currently lives in a one-bedroom apartment on Capitol Hill. But once they get married, Mel and her fiance are looking to expand...hopefully to a house down the street from me (totally selfish wish)!

Melanie's mother just bought her this amazingly gorgeous Karastan Oriental Rug (see below) so she asked me to put together a room board around this rug for her new place.

 

She wants the room to be traditional, but not stuffy. She wants the feeling to be young, fun, and cozy.

Here's the inspiration board I put together for Melanie...
(full disclosure: the majority of these items are from Potterybarn. The reason is, I like to create inspiration boards that people can actually execute. Although I love thumbing through magazines and dreaming about $5k sofas and $2k coffee tables it's not realistic. I wanted to pull accessible pieces together in a way that was fresh, fun and sophisticated...just like Melanie!)

With such a beautiful and bold rug, I wanted to keep the walls and curtains light. I used Benjamin Moore's Dove White, with white curtains from West Elm, and a neutral sectional from Potterybarn.

I love the way the light blue pillows from Potterybarn pull the subtle colors of cream and blue from the rug. And the black and white pillows from West Elm will add texture to the room without competing too much with the rug's design.

I kept the furniture conservatively traditional with espresso finishes on this Potterybarn end table.

I always use leather ottomans in living rooms, because keeps the room young and relaxed...and everyone loves to put their feet up when hanging out. This one is from Potterybarn. A modern white lacquered tray from West Elm on the ottoman not only brightens the distressed leather, but it offers a place to put remotes, glasses, magazines, and even candles!

Plus every good Southern girl should have a bar in her living room...for those impromptu gin martini and Mint Julep requests. 

The mirror with the black panes reminds me of a window and will make any room feel larger.

The art from Z Gallerie is a nod to Melanie's fiance who is 1/2 British, and creates the youthful vibe Melanie was looking for to the room.

The vases from Potterybarn are a mixture of cream ceramic and mercury glass. I love the different textures--that really work with all styles.

With all of the espresso furniture, I wanted the table lamp to be glass. I love that this one from JCPenney is a see-through cylinder.

Lastly, the easiest way to make sure a room doesn't get too stuffy is to fill it with photos. I really like the idea of doing a shelf with frames of various sizes and candles like this setup from Potterybarn. This is such a great way to display your favorite photos, and keeping the frames off of tables makes it easier for guests to view the photos, and doesn't look too cluttered or old-fashioned.

Miss you Mel!