My living room looks over the span of almost 20 years. Style isn't innate. It's cultivated over a lifetime. Like a bonsai or a bunion.
The reason rooms designed by professional interior designers or decorators look so good is what they do is really, REALLY hard. And it takes years of practice.
I seriously feel the need to hail the professional designers and decorators of the world. They are not given the credit they deserve, especially nowadays. With the invention of Pinterest and Instagram people think that decorating is easy because EVERYONE is doing it, but it isn't. I repeat. Great design isn't easy, it's HARD. Decorating a room that's so perfect you want to just stare at it? That's as difficult as painting a picture you want to do the same thing with.
And in terms of skill level, most of us (yep, even lifestyle bloggers) are at the paint-by-number level compared to professional designers who are whipping out masterpieces.
Decorator: def: a person who decorates home interiors by choosing colours, carpets, materials, and furnishings. Schooling required to call yourself a decorator? No.
Designer: def: a person who designs home interiors (including structural elements) by choosing colours, carpets, materials and furnishings. Schooling required to call yourself a designer? Yes.
It's only in the past year that I've got my dining room and foyer to the point that I really like them. I'm sure I'll change things at some point. Maybe new chairs in the dining room or redoing all the bookshelves in a different way but for now I smile every time I walk through it as opposed to having a 5 second long anxiety attack when I make my way through it from the hall to the kitchen.
The foyer? Same thing. I like it. It works. It could use some more layering (a trick that actual designers and decorators are particularly skilled in). It took a long time, a lot of trial and error, but other than having to recover the two chairs in it, I'm really happy with it and love looking out into it from my living room every night. One place you'll never find me is in the foyer looking fondly into the living room. For the 20 years or so I've lived in this house I've never been happy with the living room.
I kind of hate it.
Let's take a moment now to take a look at what I've done with my living room in the past. From the beginning shall we?
Living Room Looks
2001: I think the word we're all looking for is YIKES. K. I didn't really have my style down at this point in time, lol. Nor did I have any money. Every cent I had went into the custom tight back red velvet couch with a single down cushion. Everything else in the room was flea market, garbage or family cast offs. I actually really like the lamps and wish I'd kept them. The vibe I was apparently going for was "My house is old, I like old stuff, I don't like shopping at Sears."
I wish I could say I was channelling my inner Bunny Mellon but I didn't know who she was at the time. Plus I don't think this room would be Bunny Mellon approved.
Special shout out to the Fred Flintstone television to the right of the fireplace which I kept for a lot longer than I probably should have.
This is actually a shot from a newspaper feature. Once a week the Toronto Star (I think it was the Star) would feature the home of a celebrity and this week I was the celebrity. This was pre-blogging, during my television career.
What I like about this room? Well it certainly had personality.
What I don't like about this room? It had a personality disorder.
2009 I finally stopped trying to make all of my old crap work and bought actual furniture from furniture stores. In fact if you haven't read about it, in 2009, I got rid of pretty much EVERYTHING I owned and started from scratch. The redo of my house started with buying the couch which was a floor sample. Looking back at the room now it isn't bad but it's a long way off from the look I've evolved to now. It's pretty bland and I was SO excited about having new, contemporary stuff instead of found in the garbage old stuff that I went a bit overboard with it. The coffee table, the sofa table, the lamps on the sofa table, the Ikea gooseneck light ... all sleek and modern. It's not a terrible room - it just isn't there yet.
What I like about this room? Having a rug in it.
What I don't like about this room? The rug could use more personality and should either be bigger or smaller.
2015: Enter the gallery wall. Looking back on it, I'm realizing this is my favourite incarnation of this room. From this angle anyway. Gallery walls were having a real moment 5 years ago or so. Because there was so much going on with the walls, I pared back the tops of tables so it didn't quite make your head spin when you walked into the room.
Looking at it now I can also see that I like the low contrast of the whites and taupes but with some really impactful colour on the walls. And black because every room needs some black. And a rug. I desperately need a rug in my living room again. I had to get rid of this Costco shag rug that I bet about half of you owned at one point. It was just a smashed disaster after being down for a few years.
Also it was my only option at the time in terms of size, but I can't say I'm in love with the wicker laundry basket with a piece of glass on top acting as an end table but I like the texture it brings to the room.
From the other end of the room looking towards the fireplace it was a bit hectic with the gallery wall and the bookshelves, but that could be solved by minimalizing (is that a word?) the bookshelves. Or even getting rid of them entirely and putting chests, tables or just large pieces of art there.
What I like about this room? How the gallery wall makes the room feel bigger and the ceiling higher. I also like that it feels cozy. It's sophisticated and kind of worldly without feeling stuffy or formal. A good mix of casual and comfortable without resorting to a pair of puffy La-Z-Boy chairs with a built in cooler in the arm. Which we can all admit we'd secretly love to have. It's O.K. You can admit it. This is a safe space.
What I don't like about this room? The curtains but I dealt with that issue when I built my interior wood shutters last year.
2019: This is my living room as of last week. There's no rug. I need a rug. Also getting rid of curtains, no matter how awful they were took some much needed texture and softness out of the room. I need to remedy that. The couch is pushed back much further than it was in the "gallery wall" picture because I got rid of the sofa table behind it. It's not bad and still feels much better than how it started out 10 years ago. There's art but it's not a gallery wall which feels calmer. Also I hate that coffee table. I LOVE it as an end table but hate it as a coffee table for some reason. The room is nice but it's missing texture and layering. It doesn't feel like it's wrapping you in its arms and that's the feeling I want.
What I like about this room? The floors are beautiful. Yay to ripping out and refinishing my orange floors! I like that there are a lot of things that I love in the room like my old riding boots, my barn beam bench and a huge vintage antler.
What I don't like about this room? It only feels halfway done and the whole thing just doesn't feel right. Not like my dining room and foyer and kitchen. I don't have it figured out yet. I'm not sure when I'll have it figured out but I do know the "inspiration" folder on my laptop is soon going to explode.
Seriously. I'm cultivating my taste like a madwoman over here. And my bunion.
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Nancy Ann Page
Hi Karen,
I can't believe all these....sniff...superior comments...Houses evolve, tastes evolve. It's your house you can do whatever you want. I love my house, I live here, and I don't care what anybody else thinks....
Nancy Ann
Leslie Barnard
Maybe you need a nice, big cowhide rug- at a slant. And a coffee table that's a different shape- like a big round drum or those old grape vine bases with a glass top...?
connie
Hi Karen , thought i'd throw my 2 cents worth into the mix as well, just to make your head spin a little more ;) First let me say I absolutely adore your kitchen! omg ...its warm and just so perfect. Wouldn't change a thing. Want it in my house! Ditto for the dining room - keep those chairs! But i agree with you on the living room, something is missing. A bit too stark , lacking the warmth of your other rooms . Luv the couch but think it should be moved forward 2 or 3 inches. Perhaps some patterned neutral /black/ gray pillows. A sisal or fur/hide rug ( did I see one in another room?) would look great . Maybe spray the coffee table frame matte black? to ground it . Throw a shearling/mongolian fur over the ottoman for texture. Linen/textured window drape panels in white or soft neutral to add softness and vertical lines. and i would edit the bookshelves . And last , the white canvas-makes me think you're covering something up. I want to paint a question mark or go all |Jackson Pollack on it.
With my own house i'm always tweaking and moving stuff around 'til it feels just right.
And once its "right " it tends to stay that way foreverrrr.
I've been following your blog a long time and you're one of the most creative and out of the box thinkers I know. I can't wait to see what you come up with :)
Mary
What about a Ben Ourian rug? Works with any style and it would bring in the black and white from the rest of your house.
Mary
I love your little cottage. I love the dining room with the panton chairs (don’t get rid of those! They’re one of my favorite things in your house besides your Carol Reed 😍 kitchen. The bookcases, portrait, bench—you got it going on.). The foyer, another home run. Hugely jealous of your tulip table. My new obsession. I saw my first REAL tulip table in Hudson, NY this summer and now I know what all the fuss is about. Gorgeous. The one suggestion I might have is to try black (leather?) cushions on the pair of chairs. If you could manage to find me on Instagram (mfrancesduffy) I posted a picture of my friend joyce’s living room and she has a chair similar to yours with black leather cushion and the contrast with the antique chair is perfection. She lives in a little cottage too and it’s stunning in its simplicity, esp the livingroom and kitchen. And to your livingroom, I have the same problem—just can’t quite get it. Have you thought of finding a great rug and working up from there? Then I think I would invest in some great lamps. And ps I like the chrome coffee table—it’s a little unexpected and I like the way chrome perks up antiques. PSS made your turkey pot pie again last week.
Karen
Thanks Mary! I'm still not sure what I'll be doing the antique chairs in. :/ I considered leather actually (but a worn leather that's old and discoloured) but I wouldn't do that with the Eames chair in dark, dark brown leather just a few feet away from them. So I really can't cover them until I know what I'm doing in the living room, lol. Ack. ~ karen!
Mary
Black and white herringbone? Haha!
Heidi
Do you like the color of your sofa with the color of your new floors? In the last photo it looks like the sofa is more of a pink undertone tan against the yellower floor. In the other photos it looks like it matches more. Sometimes if something doesn't look right, it's the undertones clashing. I love your willingness to share and accept all this feedback!
Karen
Nooooo, they're not great together. The sofa isn't terrible with the floor but not great either. I'm replacing the couch so I'm not too worried about it. :) ~ karen!
Jennifer
I'm thrilled to know that I'm not the only one who painstakingly redecorates rooms, only to hate them about a year or so later.
Nancy
I have no idea. I’ve been fighting my family/dining room for 27 years and just removed the Ikea daybed from it last autumn when we became empty nesters, and I miss that. But I hated it all those years (it was our only guest room/snoring room) so I have no idea. I read all of these comments and none of them sounded right to me, either. You’ll figure it out. The room in your home I like the best is the dining room, and I think I like it because it has such an eclectic bunch of stuff, which all looks like it’s high quality. My instinct for your living room is to put more Stuff in it. And do not under any circumstances get rid of your recliner!
Kerry
I can’t wait to see what you come up with! Love the feel of your other rooms, too, so I know whatever you do will be beautiful. BTW, I kinda like the idea of removing the bookcases.
Karen
I know. It's a tough call! :/ I remember when I put those bookcases in and was so happy because they made the room feel more complete. ACK! Lol. ~ karen!
Danielle
I’m a trained interior designer and an artist. Thank you for spelling out the difference between decorator and designer (we are trained to interpret the building code and we study things like accessibility standards, as another example). Your home is lovely.
Robyn
You just need to buy more antique Turkish rugs to layer if you want to add more cozy.
Kat
I'd like to see a large, leather ottoman-cum-coffee table replacing your glass table in the middle. I think one large, warm-colored piece of art on the wall would look nicer than the two smaller and neutral pictures that are there now.
Kim E Warner
Hi, Karen, I haven’t commented before, although I’ve wanted to. I really like you and how you express yourself, your life and your home. You are so talented and inspiring! I would beg to be your best friend if I lived nearby, I might even become a stalker. But fear not, I’m in FL and old (ish) with crummy bones. And maybe because of my oldishness (not a word, I’m willing to bet), I am crazy about your first room. Okay, except for the cave man TV. That room feels like it could wrap me up warmly. Keep up the inspiring posts, bestie!
Vikki
Amen to changing out your dining chairs--how about those "ghost" chairs? Love!! the red couch and your old gallery wall. Not lovin' the generic beige couch. But--great floors!! If you get rid of your bookshelves, you'll forever regret it. Keep those little touches but minimalize them. They tell guests all about you--and it's looking good. And your foyer is just beautiful. Keep being You--it's good to see you evolve.
Karen
Um, I'm not changing my dining room chairs. I love the classic Panton S chair. I just mean in 15 years or something I might be sick of them, lol. ~ karen
Jacquie Gariano
I agree about the shelves. Don't get rid of them...Put fewer books on them, some lying down and stacked. Small items that mean a lot to you on a shelf or two. Shutters will close in the room more, I think. Just saying, I know you will find the right, for you furniture for this room so it becomes "you".
Mary W
Maybe stenciling around the top with floor colored paint?
Mary W
LOVE brown - it's spread over your floor and lower level room. How about spreading it higher like ON THE CEILING. How can one design an interesting ceiling without using beams that will close you in? Spread the chocolate love with maybe a large wood medallion or gorgeous carved wooden trim (statement trim) BUT no mirrors LOL. I can't wait to see how you finish this as I know you will make Karen appropriate decisions. I know, maybe statement trim turned upside down sort of dripping down with carving but only on one or two walls so it wouldn't feel like looking up and out of a box. Yeah, crazy but I might try it on my ceiling as this is getting me to think about my own boring 'top of my living box'.
Pat
I love how your style has evolved! But my question has to do with the name of the molding that's in your living room. Is that cove? What's the depth? I'm currently putting together images for my living room and kitchen. I would love to use that size.
Karen
I'm not sure what the size is Pat, but it's a plaster cove molding that's part of the ceiling and walls. I'm not sure when it was done but my guess is it would have been around the 40's? To get a similar look you'd have to have something custom made out of wood or even MDF. Honestly, I'm not in love with it, partly because it makes the ceilings seem lower in a room that already has very low ceilings. Like 7'4"!! ~ karen
AnotherSue
Just found your blog and have very much enjoyed reading through the archives(and I'm not too far away from you, up here in Guelph, so it's nice to recognize some local references from time to time.) I really like your house and your design aesthetic - I live in a small, older house as well, so I can relate to many of your design challenges and choices.
When I look at your living room right now in comparison with the dining room, foyer, and kitchen, it seems both busier and yet colder, if that make sense. I'll jump in with a few thoughts to remedy this, some of which have been mentioned already. Take out the shelves by the fireplace - you have those beautiful shelves in the dining room already - and perhaps paint that wall/the fireplace for some colour contrast. I like the large structural objects like the pillar, the white painting, and the barnboard bench, but the smaller pieces of furniture like the round stool and the coffee table clash with their style and simple clean lines. Tweak the art so it's somewhere between full-on gallery wall and what you have now. If money is no object, replace the couch with one in a different colour - I'm a fan of the English roll-arm style you mentioned previously, but maybe another sectional would give you more seating in a small space. Rug, yes, but I'd keep it simple and add colour - doesn't have to be a bright colour, but maybe a richer, warmer neutral - with the couch. You could keep the Eames chair in the room if you had the right couch, but I also like the swivel chairs option (I have a nice small Sam Moore swivel I got at Orangeville Furniture), or perhaps add a small vintage wicker chair if you want extra seating and more texture - something in the Lloyd Loom style, with a tight weave, not rattan. We have our TV kind of tucked into a corner, sitting on top of a pine blanket box - it's easy to view from the couch, but it's also not the first thing you see when you walk into the room. Thanks for opening up this discussion, Karen, it's fun to 'play house'!
Grammy
I have only one comment to offer, and I speak from experience. While a gallery wall, as an idea, is enchanting, I've never seen one that looked good outside of a gallery, or at least a room as big as a gallery. I had one in my own home until last year when I realized how downright awful I felt every time I glanced at it (which is all the time, it being the living room). Paring our artwork down to fewer nice pieces with enough "white space" surrounding them has made the whole room more appealing and shows off the art so much better.
Other than that, I've got nuthin'. I am, however, amused at how all the comments here (including my own) prove your original statements in the opening of this post.
Linda C Johnston
Hi Karen. I love you to pieces right now! Thank you, thank you for defining Decorator and Designer. You would be shocked at the people who do not know the difference and who can expect them to? Truth is, if people like you who have a large audience don't spread the word, most folks will never know because they don't have exposure to professionals. I get it. I am a retired Interior Designer, Educated and Certified and membership in ASID. I only tell you this to validate my comments. (Not that anybody cares! lol)
Now the point? The point is that most people don't the "next step." They get so far and don't know how to proceed. In comes the professional. You can hire a well established designer in you area (get referrals) and pay for only one hour of consultation! Believe me, IT WILL HOPEFULLY BE THE BEST ONE HOUR FEE OF YOUR LIFE!!! No more guessing, no more wasted time and/or money. Honestly, I can't tell you how many people have contacted me through the years and said I was the best investment they ever made. I'm NOT bragging. No one knows who I am. I am letting all of you know that a good designer is a prize investment.