A Fresh Traditional Living Room: Project Concord Shingle Style REVEAL!

 

Yay! I finally have a new reveal for you. And, believe it or not, it’s a semi-formal living room for a professional couple in their 30s. AKA, Millennials.

My clients sent me inspiration images of very traditional living rooms chock full of blues & whites, golds and merlots, brown furniture, formal window treatments, and Oriental rugs. They wanted a RETREAT and entertaining space for grown-ups, but durable enough a room for kids learning how to behave in a civilized manner.

 

I think it’s interesting how many couples in their 30s are now seeking dedicated grown-up spaces, after a decade of touting open concept living areas and forgoing things like living and dining rooms. I think it’s a not-wanting-to-clean-up-the-toys-before-sitting-down-to-cocktails type of thing. I KNEW they’d come around!

 

My aim was to “youthfulize” the style they showed me into something fresh-but-timeless for a young and growing family.

 

I went into the “before” pics and the nitty gritty of designing this room in detail in this post, so head over there if you are interested in the problems this space presented and the creative process we went through to address them.

 

But now, for the pretty stuff!

 

All images by Emily O’Brien Photography.

 

You see a peek of the ceiling light fixture in the mirror. LOVE!

ALL upholstery (chairs, sofa, settee, bench) were covered in performance fabrics.

 

 

I really wanted to go for unapologetically pretty and luminous color in this living room.

The pale beige paint from floor to ceiling just glows, and new millwork on the walls & ceiling adds dimension to the long low space. The ceilings are less than 8′ high, but the gorgeous floral glass flush mount doesn’t think the room needs to apologize for that!

 

 

The Federal style cocktail table is a lovely “brown furniture” addition. The inlay on it is simple, but so pretty, I didn’t want to cover it up with a lot of styling items.

The curved sofa fits nicely in the bend of the piano.

 

 

These chinoiserie panels are a youthful, watercolor twist on the traditional hand painted versions. The husband really likes these because they mimic the lushness of their backyard  — out the French doors is a veritable garden of Eden with decades-old 10 foot high rhododendrons.

 

 

This room originally had zippo light fixtures. Creating layers of light was imperative. In addition to the overhead flush-mount and lamp lighting, we added 4 double-twist sconces to distribute light around the room.

The New Hampshire craftsman-made demi-lune was one of the few pieces of furniture the owners had chosen for their new home prior to engaging me. It now has a fitting place framed by millwork and accented by one of the lovely sconces.

 

 

Formal silk window treatments don’t feel old or stuffy when you add a lucite drinks table!

These 4 bookshelves were a BIG styling job, as the clients really didn’t have that many books or decorative items of their own. We worked in their treasures and added some that fit their style.

 

 

While the clients would were very interested in using grasscloth on the walls in this room from floor to ceiling, they also have a cat.

Cats + grasscloth = climbing gym = lots of crying over messed up grasscloth.

So we used a tone-on-tone grasscloth inside the bookcases to add dimension and subtle shimmer.

 

The little vintage photo in the gold frame was of the house during the ’50s when it was fairly new.

 

 

I ADORE how this landscape plays with the custom pleated lampshades and the sky blue silk drapes. And a little leopard print pillow never hurt anyone 😉

 

 

Again — unapologetically pretty drapes.

 

My clients pay me for my designs, so I can’t link exact items here (well, the floor lamp is pretty common, so that one is linked 🙂 ). However, I put together a get-the-look with items you can access via retail.

 

Emily & I were able to shoot this and one other project during one wintry day up here. So, remember that when I post another reveal later this spring showing snow outside the windows!

 

I hope you’ve enjoyed this reveal! Do YOU think that separate grown-up spaces are on the rise again? I hope so!

See you next Saturday!

-Amy