A Cozy Family Room in Toano, Virginia
When moving from California to Williamsburg several years ago, our client did an excellent job of decluttering their home in order to make room for peace! In the years since then, they invested in beautiful pieces of furniture that fit their home and style; however, they still found the design of their home to be lacking. We see this a lot when it comes to our interior styling clients; that while they may have a beautiful home, it doesn’t quite feel finished. Maybe they just moved in or maybe they moved in five years ago - our job is to come in and turn their “house” into a “home”.
This was the certainly the case with our Toano client, who asked us to help them style their kitchen nook, family room and living room. All of these spaces had great bones and lots of natural light; what was missing was the subtle layers that told the story of who they are, what they like, and what they value as a family. It is always such an honor to work on projects such as these, as they require actively listening to our client’s, using our intuition and trained eye to create spaces that will be enjoyed for years to come. Today, we’re walking you through the design of their cozy family room!
BEFORE:
As noted, this room had some great bones. Beautiful trim work, the wall color and some lovely upholstered pieces. However… there were some clear problems: the ottoman was too square and too dark; while the architectural side table was really cool, it didn’t quite fit the space; the large wall art needed to move to the other wall; we needed to break up some of the matchy-matchiness going on.
One of the first things I noticed about this room is how it felt a bit dark and heavy. While you would want your family room to be cozy, it still needs to have a “lightness” to it. We brought that in by simply moving a few of the existing pieces around, bringing some new things in and adding our "peaceful” touch.
AFTER:
What a transformation!!! As you can see, that while we kept the larger pieces (the sofa, chairs and area rug) we brought a few new things in and moved others around. Its always important to us when styling a room such as this, to honor the client and their budget. In our design meeting, we tend to present two different design plans - one that is more budget friendly (and includes more of their current pieces) and a second, that pushes the design a bit more. Often, as was this case in this family room, we blend the two together!
Inspired by the paint color, neutral furnishings and the Toano countryside, we used a calming color palette of light blues, greens, and creams. I had been eyeing this vase from a local antique store for MONTHS before finally pulling the trigger, figuring that I would probably be able to place it in a future client’s home. Well this was the home! Between the eucalyptus green color to the peaceful garden motifs, it was THE PERFECT PIECE to bring some color and peaceful vibes into this family room.
We brought in this painted, cream accent table from their home office, at the last minute and it honestly made such a difference! With all of the hard edges going on in this space, it was important to soften things up - the round coffee table and curved edge of the table leaf, helped to do that.
From the very beginning, I knew that we would want to add a long console table behind the sofa to: bring the sectional forward (making it feel more apart of the room), allow for more light fixtures and to provide an opportunity to add some more color through the decor. We selected this long, narrow console table from Joss and Main, and then placed these beautiful buffet lamps on either side. The interior design store that I worked in after college, LOVED to do this in their designs. With the sectional against the wall like this, I felt that this was the perfect opportunity to implement their design technique.
To further lighten and soften this family room, we brought in this round, brass mirror to hang on wall. The color of the rim added an additional, welcome warmth.
While this large piece of art is a good size piece to hang over a sectional (or sofa), the issue was that it was adding to the dark, heavy feeling of that side of the room. There were a lot of rectangular shapes, dark furnishings and wall art with some deep colors in it. By simply moving it from one wall to another, we were able to lighten things up; and allow the dark colors to spread throughout the room.
I have to say that this is one of the most peaceful rooms that we have ever styled. Between the soothing wall color to the cozy furnishings, its a space that you just want to curl up in with a cup of tea and a good book! As always, it was honor to be able to breathe new life into this space. Being the family room, its one of the most important rooms in this Toano home; being a space where grandkids play, bible study is held, football games are watched. We hope that our client can enjoy the space for years to come.
Interior Styling: Making Room for Peace | Photography: We Are Luke & Ashley
One of the things that I loved about working with this particular client is how organized they were, as well as their amazing style! A mix of traditional and modern, with a touch of coastal; it was right up our alley.