Mid-Century Modern & Marvelous

The owners of this fantastic mid-century home, designed by the famed Victor Hornbein, asked me to help put the finishing touches on their home. Isn’t this living room fantastic?

The owners had the sectional sofa—from Holly Hunt, which they found at a consignment shop in Vail! (Can you believe it?) We found a rug at West Elm to anchor the furniture area, and then added the chevron poufs and little silver pedestal, also from West Elm. The Jonathan Adler pillows add a bit of geometric pattern and color.

The key to a space like this is being selective about how much bold pattern you use: We knew the contrast in the chevron pattern and the bright pillows would brighten the space without overwhelming the subdued pattern. And with gorgeous details like the birch ceiling and stacked flagstone wall, this room didn’t need a lot of flashy elements.

Family Room Furnishings + Some of My Favorite Sources

This great room-kitchen space belongs to a family with young kids, and we knew they would spend the majority of their time here. So when the time came to buy furniture, we paid close attention to how they live and how they wanted to use the space.

We started with a custom-size jute area rug from Synergy Floor Covering at the Denver Design District to create our "furniture area." Using rugs to designate intimate spaces within a large room is an easy and effective design trick. I like to start with where the furniture goes, place the coffee table and measure 18 inches to the sofa and/or chairs; this will give you plenty of room to walk around and sit down/get up. From the backs of the sofa and chairs, add about 6-12 inches (depending on how much space you have in the room) to see how large your rug should be. People tend to choose rugs that are too small, which makes the furniture feel like it is "floating" and not anchored to the floor.

Then we teamed up with a local upholsterer to design a pair of sofas, which we upholstered in fabric from Zoffany and Lee Jofa. The Zoffany fabric is an indoor/outdoor fabric made of Teflon; we wanted something that would be indestructible! The pillow fabric is the pop in the room. (Every room needs pop!) The chairs (from McGuire) are from the clients' former house.

I love the French bistro counter stools, which we chose because we knew they'd be great for a family with young children. 

The coffee table was the last element we needed. In design, some things come together really quickly, and other things take a while--and the coffee table falls into that latter category. We tried to find one "off the floor," but nothing quite worked, so we turned to a local woodworker who built this piece to the perfect proportion for the space.

BEFORE

 AFTER

Design Secret: How to Fix a Big, Blank Wall

Before my clients moved into their new home, I snapped these photos of the family room. The wall where the TV hung was so stark and needed much more interest.

The solution? A built-in, which holds the TV, books, photos, accessories, and media equipment. By using a similar finish to the finish on the nearby kitchen cabinets (the kitchen and family room are actually one big space), we made the built-ins feel like they have been there all along! 

We used a carpenter provided by our contractor. If you're looking for a great finisher in your area, ask around: A furniture store that has high-quality pieces you really like should always have a few recommendations.

Notice the cabinets below the windows. We're in the process of changing those slightly to fit more with the built-ins. Stay in touch to see the new lower cabinets in the next few weeks!