We are so excited to finally share our living room makeover! We’ve been working with the amazing team at West Elm, since May, designing our new space. For us, the living room is one of our most used rooms in our home. It’s where we hang out with friends, have movie nights, spontaneous dance parties, and binge watch Netflix. We knew that moving in to the location that we’re in meant sacrificing a bit of space. This living room is a little smaller than our last (see our first apartment here), measuring about 10 x 12 feet. After going back and forth a bit and weighing out all of our options, we decided to start from scratch and create the living room we always dreamed of. We loved each of the pieces in our old place individually, however it never truly felt like it all came together for us. So we sold some of our old furniture, gave a few pieces away to friends to enjoy, and started with a clean slate. We really wanted our new space to feel fresh and airy, yet still cozy and inviting.
Since moving out west, we have been so inspired by the desert boho style and all the neutral tones. We definitely embraced that with with this room, bringing in a lot of wood furniture and plant life. We’ve always been big fans of 50s and 60s furniture design and of West Elm’s mid century line (we have it in our bedroom and spare room/office) so we figured we why not incorporate it into the living room as well? We chose an indigo blue as the accent color, bringing in various shades, to keep an organic and earthy feel. Urban Outfitters accordion side table | West Elm kilim rug, floor lamp, sofa, coffee table, lambskin pillow | Shibori pillows by One Fine Nest and Boho PillowWest Elm floor lamp | Anthropologie and Standard Wax candles West Elm lambskin pillow | Shibori pillows by One Fine Nest and Boho Pillow After a few ideas for above the sofa went sour, we had the idea of creating these floating wooden shelves. We wanted something just simple and clean to hold some of our favorite treasures.
Luckily two of our best friends, Cody and Andrew, (owners of The Perspective Shop — coming soon) are super creative, so we recruited them to help us. Even though we had to drill into brick, it turned out to be a lot easier than we thought. With just one plank of wood, some stain and sandpaper, we were in business in just a few hours! We brought along our ‘War Is Over’ print from our old place and filled our shelves with candles, keepsakes, and of course a plant or two. This wall hanging piece was actually the last piece we added to the room. We usually keep things pretty minimal, but felt that corner needed an extra “something”, so we quickly whipped up this wall art and are so happy we did! We love the texture it adds to the space, with the cotton piping and brass bells. It’s quickly become one of our favorites and has inspired us to create more pieces for our home. Cue the DIY posts! West Elm kilim rug, coffee table and basket tray | K We really wanted to make sure that anywhere we looked in the room, was a piece we loved or that brought joy. T
he room is full of some of our favorite books, meaningful postcards and notes, and little souvenirs we’ve picked up along the way. We decided to fill the terrarium on the coffee table with our polaroids. It’s a fun alternative to traditional picture frames and is always a conversation starter when friends are over. One of the things we were immediately drawn to with this place was the great light that pours in. Our living room and bedroom both have these huge floor to celling windows that let in the most beautiful sunshine throughout the day, so we wanted to take full advantage of it and create a plant wall. We’re constantly visiting our local nursery and bringing home new plant babies. There’s just something about having plants in our home that makes the space feel full of life and warmth. Together with Cody and Andrew, we made these hanging shelves to create homes for some of our plants. We love the varying heights of the shelves mixed in with our floor plants.
West Elm tree stump side table and mid century chair | Anthropologie matchbook | S One Fine Nest shibori pillow | I This leather accent chair is one of our favorite pieces in the room. Its mid century design immediately drew us in and we love how the black leather creates a nice contrast to the tan and wood pieces in the room. Although we didn’t have too many options with how the room was laid out, we are pretty happy with its placement in relation to the couch. It really creates a good flow when entertaining. Urban Outfitters ladder | West Elm media console and coffee table We’ve been in our new home for about a month and a half now and it feels so good to have this room complete. In the past, we would constantly be moving furniture around, switching out accent pieces, and changing color palettes, but we’re happy to say we haven’t had that urge with this room. We can’t wait to share this space with family and friends! Check out our feature over on West Elm’s Front + Main Blog to read more!
*This post was made in partnership with West Elm, a company we love. Thank you for supporting the brands that help support this blog.Beloved for its sophisticated take on bohemian style, the Los Angeles–based AD100 design firm Commune has now partnered with West Elm on an eclectic—and pleasantly well-priced—collection of furniture, lighting, and decorative objects. Comprising more than 50 pieces, the mix draws inspiration from the aesthetic traditions of Mexico, Scandinavia, and Japan. The overall look, nonetheless, is quintessentially Californian. “We wanted the line to reflect the joy and ease of the West Coast lifestyle,” says Commune cofounder Roman Alonso. “So we made the pieces light in palette and playful, with details that honor the integrity of the materials.” A modernist lounge chair pairs a sculpted oak frame with supple stitched leather, a storage bench with sliding black and white panels recalls classic Eames shelving, and an array of wall art features geometric forms in graphic compositions.