New living room: details and sources

It's such fun to share my new living room!  Today I'm delighted to share with you the room's details.  (See this post for more photos of the room.)



First, the floor plan.  This room had always been a puzzle to me regarding furniture placement, so I sought the help of a professional.  I almost always do my own interior designing and decorating, and I love doing it.  But when faced with the prospect of purchasing new furniture, I didn't want to make expensive mistakes.  I knew I needed some help, and Darlene Weir of Fieldstone Hill Designs was the answer to prayer.  Now, we had some money set aside for purchasing new furnishings, but we didn't have a lot to spend on design services.  Darlene's services were very reasonably priced, and I truly believe that her help ended up saving us money in the long run--not to mention sanity!

If you're not already familiar with Darlene's business, you should know that she offers online design consultation.  She works with clients to help them define their style and their needs, then gently guides them through choices to end up with a room they love.  Let me tell you, she's a master at this.

Here's the furniture placement plan Darlene created--the very thing that had always eluded me when trying to make this room work for our family.

And here's the design board she created.  Darlene produced this after weeks of working with me regarding every element of the room, always leaving the selection of pieces up to me.



You see those numbers?  Those are linked to a master list of products and sources, most of which Darlene had found online.  Here's what ended up in my room.



Walls: Fieldstone by Benjamin Moore. Bookcase backs: Twilight by Benjamin Moore.  Choosing paint colors was a hoot.  Darlene asked what I was wanting for the room, and I mused aloud to her I was thinking of something lighter than I'd had previously but still dark enough to contrast with the white woodwork, maybe something sort of grey-green-taupe-ish.  Her immediate reply was that she thought I'd like Fieldstone.  One sample pot later and I was hooked.  Then I emailed her and said I'd wondered if we should paint the backs of the bookcases, and she replied that she was just about to contact me to ask if I'd be open to that!  She suggested Twilight for that color, and I love it, even though it took four coats to get full coverage.

Sofas: 96" Kensington by Restoration Hardware.  Having two facing sofas was my dream; Darlene made that a reality.  After Darlene recommended a chesterfield sofa, we looked at a lot of them; these from Restoration Hardware were our choice.  And because Darlene so carefully worked out the details of the floor plan and we were confident in our choice, we were able to get them on an incredible clearance deal (so low that no returns were allowed--we had to be sure!).



Rug: The rug is bigger than most commercially available rugs, so at Darlene's suggestion I found a wool carpet I liked and had a 10' x 13 1/2' piece bound into a rug, which was a great way to get a custom-sized rug.  This pattern is "Bonaire II" in Prairie by Karastan.

Chest:  I've owned this for many years; it was one of the pieces I wanted to keep in the room.

Coffee table:  "Troy" by Williams-Sonoma.  Again, we shopped carefully and got this on sale with free shipping.

Wing back chairs: I already owned the two chairs.  They're Steelcase chairs I purchased back in 1997--very sturdy chairs that I knew were worth re-upholstering.  Darlene described the kind of upholstery she envisioned for the chairs, and I found a fabric I liked at Not Just Linens in Durham, North Carolina for $7.99 per yard!  Having these two chairs reupholstered was so much cheaper than buying two new chairs.

Small brass table:  Addison by Ballard Designs.  I used a great coupon that I found in Southern Living magazine for this purchase.


Ottomans:  Funny story. Darlene sent me the idea for two ottomans along with several suggestions for sources.  I walked into Target one day and found ottomans that seemed to me to be just what she was describing, so I sent her a photo of the Threshold X-Bench Ottoman.  Neither of us liked the brown leather upholstery, but I knew I could easily re-cover the tops.  The fabric now on the ottomans is from Online Fabric Store, which I recommend very highly.

Lamps: Walnut Turned Column Wood Floor Lamp from Lamps Plus.  Another funny story: The lamps on the back wall weren't quite as tall as we'd envisioned that they'd be, but I really liked them.  So I glued round wooden bowls to the bottom of each lamp to make them taller!  You can read more about that little decorating adventure here.

Urns: Aged French Urn by Wisteria.  Darlene suggested these, and I couldn't have been happier with the suggestion.  I used a coupon to purchase these and got great service from the folks at Wisteria.

Mirror: Scallop Edge Mirror by Wisteria.

Painting over fireplace: We've owned this for years. It's an oil painting (artist unknown) in the Flemish floral style.

Fabrics: Premier Prints Towers in Village Blue from Online Fabric Store (a fantastic resource for fabrics with great customer service at very reasonable prices) and Scoma 519 by Kravet from InsideFabric.com (a good resource for designer fabrics).  Again, Darlene and I collaborated on fabric choices.  She suggested a floral and a geometric and gave me lots of choices without trying to sway me one direction or another.  When I'd made preliminary choices, she urged me to order fabric samples, which was great advice.  I sewed the pillow covers myself using this technique and stuffed them with down inserts I'd collected over the years.  I think the pillows turned out great, and they ended up costing very little except for my time.



Small accessories: Darlene made suggestions and listed potential sources for accessories.  For the most part, I used her suggestions as guidelines and then made my own choices based on what I liked and what I could afford.

Large platters at top of bookcases: Pottery Barn
Laquer tray on chest: Pier One
Turquoise bowl of apples on coffee table: Pottery Barn
Vases on mantle: I spray-painted and glazed two vases I already owned
(I used Krylon Bahama Sea spray paint, Valspar mocha glaze)

One other funny story: Darlene suggested a very large wooden tray for the coffee table, but I couldn't afford the beautiful one she found.  However, I owned a large teak tray table that I used on the porch occasionally--I'd bought it years ago at HomeGoods, but it was beat-up and just sitting in my garage.  I simply stained it a rich mahogany color and finished it with a high-gloss polyurethane.  I'm tickled with the way it turned out!



Whew!  I think that's everything.  Let me know if you have any questions; I'll be glad to answer them if I can.

Note:  I am not affiliated in any way with the companies listed above, except as a satisfied customer, nor did I receive any kind of compensation for mentioning them.  Just wanted to share good sources with you.

Linking to Weekend Bloggy Reading at Serenity Now
The Scoop at Stone Gable