Hello all! I'm Kendall from Finesse Your Nest! I've created this new little blog as a resource for my "on the side" decorating jobs for friends & acquaintances. This is the site I will direct them to, to see their decorating plan, inspiration boards and anything else related to the job!

Thursday, March 4, 2010

Neutral Living Room with Turquoise & Lime Accents!

Here is the Polyvore inspiration board for the living room.

I chose to omit the navy accent color and focus on the turquoise and lime green as well as infusing lots of textures and accessories.


1.  Furniture - You have great furniture.  My only suggestion would be to consider replacing your coffee table with a round table, wood or glass top to break up all the rectangular shapes in the room.  You could also bring in an iron or metal round table, just to break up some of the dark wood.
 
  
Love this!  What a conversation piece!


 
  
 




The console table that is currently up against the large niche wall, should be moved behind the sofa (flush)

Also, can you create a little sitting area over by the fireplace?  A nice rattan lounge chair or a little barrel fabric chair in a neutral color would be good.  Add a turquoise or lime throw pillow to tie in with the rest of the room.
 
  
  
 

 

 
 
  
don't forget to tie the chair back into the room with a solid or print throw pillow in your accent colors
 

2.  Accessories -

Throw pillows - The green you have on your sofa now will work.  Add 2 turquoise solid and 2 turquoise/lime print (pref 2 different prints.  You don't want the pillows to look too "groupy")  Get a lime or turquoise throw to sling over the arm of one side of the sectional or drape over the chaise section of the sofa.
 

Lighting - Replace the ficus tree in the corner with a large floor lamp, preferably one that arches a little over the sectional.  You can choose your finish (bronze or silver). If you like the lamps you have, you might consider painting the bases either white or black (every room needs a touch of black or white!) and getting barrel (not flared) shades.  The barrel shades are a little more contemporary and fresh.  You should have a lamp on the left side of the console table if you are facing the large niche and another lamp on the end table.  They don't have to match, but should coordinate.  
 
 
 
  
 


Art/Mirrors/Frames - For the large turquoise niche, you can do a picture gallery wall one of 2 ways.  Either fill the whole niche with pics or hang a round mirror in the center of the niche and do pics on either side.  Either one would look nice.  I would like to suggest that you paint your frames WHITE.  You have a lot of dark furniture in the room and a little white in the way of accessories will really pop on that wall.  Another option would be to go with silver or champagne frames.  
  
See how great that looks?  And it really complements the dark furniture nicely.
 
If you don't use a round mirror in the large niche, use one over the fireplace.  For the mirror, stay away from a dark wood frame.  You've got a lot of dark furniture in the room.  I would look for an interesting metal, frameless style, or a natural material like driftwood or rattan.  You need more round shapes in the room.  If you use a mirror in the large niche, do a piece of art that incorporates the accent colors (and keep in mind with art, it should have the lime & turquoise in it, but could also have additional colors like yellow, orange or red) over the fireplace.  

 
  
  
  
  
  
 



Other accessories - Keep the top of the mantle fairly simple since it is small.  I would just do a low oblong wood bowl or basket with votives or small decorative balls.   
 
 
These pears on a flat tray might look cool on the mantle also (especially if you do a mirror here, instead of art)
Bring in the lime color in standing urns (2 to 3 different sizes) on the left side of the fireplace and have a large basket filled with blankets on the right side.
 
  

  
You could also do some candle lanterns (big) in place of the urns or do a combination of both.
These different textures will help soften up the hard lines of the fireplace and make it feel more "homey".


Here are some other cool accessories I found:

  
 Aren't these cool?  Would look great on your console table behind the sectional with the dough bowl and candles you already have.  

  
Lucite mag rack.  This would look great sitting by the sectional on the side with no end table.  Again, it just introduces another material which keeps things exciting in the room.

 
Love these grid baskets.  Use for storage under your tables or in your media center.
   
 
I think every room needs a little quirky touch.  I love the wire bird.  The suitcase trunks are great!  You could stack 2 and use as an end table.  And, I would TOTALLY do that orange color even with your color scheme!  You can find old suitcases at Goodwill and spray paint them!

  
  

Love these finials.  Again, another group that would look great on the sofa console.  They would be great in white or silver too!

Floor coverings - I would place rugs in the space, even if you aren't doing the plank flooring immediately.  You CAN put a rug on top of carpet.  I would do a seagrass or other natural fiber rug in the sofa sectional area.  Either have the sectional completely on the rug, or completely off the rug, depending on how big you get.  Half on is not good.  For the sitting area by the fireplace, I would consider a round print rug that incorporates the accent colors.  Having 2 rugs will also help define the 2 spaces within the living room.
 
Seagrass rug (sofa sectional area)
Round rug ideas for fireplace area:

  
This rug is yummy isn't it?  Because it is for the fireplace area and will be relatively small, you can get away with doing a semi-wild print.  Also, the seagrass rug on the other side of the room will help balance it.

I love these big cushy floor pillows.  They add a pop of color and you can stack them casually by the sofa or coffee table.
 
 


Okay, so that's the living room.  

Still to come...
1.  Plan for entryway and catch-all spaces
2.  Alternate color scheme (just food for thought)
3.  Fireplace re-do inspiration photos (carpentry)
4.  Cabinet staining info

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