I admit it.  I know the trees look pretty, but I hate this time of year.  Shorter, darker days.  Dropping temperatures.  Heavy, itchy clothes.  Summer’s more my thing.  What I do like is warming up rooms for fall.  Adding color, laying in some pattern, and layering texture can really add warmth as the temperature drops.   Today I’m sharing a recent room redo using only the client’s own belongings to turn up the heat in a cold living room.

This is the living room in its “before” state.  Not a lot of color or contrast going on in this room.  This is where the couple watches television, works on the laptop, and reads the paper.  And it’s the room you see when you first enter this home.  This was a concern as they will be entertaining many guests for the holidays, and they want to show off their new house to their friends and family.

No, that previous picture was not a black and white photo!  But it looks black and white when compared to the “after” picture.  Cozy up your rooms by adding some warm colors like the chocolate brown and coral in this living space.  Now there is just the right amount of contrast against the light walls and cream loveseats.   What a difference this patterned rug made over the plain cream one that was here previously.

Here’s the “before” of the room from another angle.  The homeowners were having difficulty making their room come together – the furniture felt hodge-podge and the arrangement fell flat.

What they needed was a fresh perspective and a new furniture arrangement to make the furnishings more cohesive and the room seem more welcoming.   By floating two loveseats in the middle of the room, they can easily pass on either side to the kitchen or master bedroom.  Seating is no longer lined up against the walls with a large path down the middle of the room and far from the entertainment center.   The new arrangement makes this room feel more than a pass-through into other rooms – it’s now a cozy and welcoming destination.

There was no artwork or any height on this side of the room.  Because there is a tall entertainment center on the opposite wall, this created a lopsided feeling in the room.  You want to have peaks and valleys in a room – that is, high points and low points.

The grandfather clock and the vivid artwork pulls your eye up and gives the room visual balance.  Have you noticed what a difference lamp lighting makes in these before and after pictures?  Overhead lighting makes everything look flat.  Task and accent lighting truly warm up your space and makes everything more 3-dimensional.  Adding this sofa table on the back wall flanked with matching lamps gives some symmetry and weight to this side of the room.

Do you have an important room in your home that’s been treated like the least important?  Maybe you should go shopping around the rest of your house like I did in this home.  This was accomplished in a few hours and not one thing was purchased.  If  you need help warming up your house for the fall and you are in the Nashville area, schedule an appointment with StoneBrook Staging and Interior Styling before the holidays creep up on you!

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