Welcome to Designer’s Challenge 101!!

Amanda Burdge at AB Home Interiors had the great idea to have a group of design bloggers come up with a design for a living room using a $6,000 budget.

The idea is to show you that although designers and decorators can’t perform miracles with the budgets we’re given, we can still come up with  pretty good room designs. Hopefully today’s Designer’s Challenge 101 living room posts will inspire you to stretch your budget and your imagination, and maybe even create the living room of your dreams :-)

  ELLE Decor: Monique Lhuillier’s living room

Process behind my living room design

Because we don’t have a very good selection of home decor stores here in Ottawa, I’ve done a lot of sourcing for my living room online. When I shop in Ottawa, HomeSense is my go-to store for everything from furniture to accessories to cushions to mirrors. (HS is similar to HomeGoods in the US). The selection varies from week to week, but if you go back enough times, you can usually find what you’re looking for. The prices at HS are anywhere from a few dollars less to half the price of the same items elsewhere. So before buying the items for my living room, I’d check out HS to see if I can find what I’m looking for there.

My living room includes pieces ordered from online stores, some great buys from Ikea and HomeSense, and original abstract art from a fantastic Canadian artist. Also, my home owners already have lots of accessories and some artwork, and there are pot lights in the built-ins (Amanda said we’re allowed to make assumptions like that!!), so I don’t need to squeeze everything into the budget :-) I’m definitely going to add an awesome chandelier to the space. And I’ll show you how you can combine expensive pieces with inexpensive pieces and shop from a variety of sources to create a beautiful and cohesive room.

So with no further ado, here’s my $6,000 living room design... I’ve created two spaces in the room — the main seating area close to the fireplace, and a reading area in the nook across from the fireplace wall. This is just a REALLY ROUGH sketch to give you an idea of the furniture and lighting layout.

Paint colours

The colour scheme is grey with teal as the accent colour. It will be used on throw cushions, artwork, a super-sexy reading chair, and the back of the built-ins. (All paint from Sherwin Williams, except Night Tides from CIL.)

• Walls: 7663 Monorail Silver
• Ceiling: 6232 Misty
• Trim, wainscoting, fireplace mantel, built-ins: 7006 Extra White
• Back of built-ins: 10BG 14/296 Night Tides

 Left to right: 7663 Monorail Silver, 6232 Misty, 7006 Extra White, 10BG 14/296 Night Tides

This isn’t the actual living room, but it gives you an idea of how the colours in the room will work together.

Colour scheme created with Sherwin Williams Visualizer

Seating area

Purchasing furniture online isn’t ideal, because you can’t sit on it and try it out before you purchase it. And returning an item that’s shipped to you can be complicated. But if you find something online that you love, it could be worth taking a chance!!

Soho Sofa from Z Gallerie. The lines are simple, and the button tufting on the back cushions is a nice detail. The bench seat cushion means nobody has to sit on that annoying crack between the cushions!!

Metropolitan console table from Z Gallerie. Sleek and sexy, just like the sofa. It will hold a pair of lamps and some accessories.

Two Sweep arm leather chairs from West Elm. The curved lines of the chair balance the straight & square lines of the sofa nicely. The nailhead trim is a great detail that adds some sparkle.

Turquoise ceramic drum stool from Lamps Plus. This gorgeous turquoise stool will sit between the two arm chairs and provide the perfect spot to put down a drink.

Bridge Coffee + Side Table from West Elm. This two-part coffee table provides more flexibility than a typical coffee table. The moveable “bridge” section can be positioned wherever it’s needed, or can be removed altogether. The light natural wood is a nice contrast to the darker woods in the room, and adds an element of warmth and nature.

Maskros PS chandelier from Ikea. It’s big, it’s bold, it’s funky, and it’s NOT a budget buster!! This 32” super-cool chandelier will make a real statement in the room for less than $100. Can’t go wrong there!! Victoria is using one of these in her client’s space and painting it silver — that could be a cool look, and I just might steal her idea to glam up this living room just a bit more :-)

Chelsea lamps from Restoration Hardware, purchase similar at HomeSense. A pair of lucite table lamps will sit at either end of the console table behind the sofa.

Customized floor lamp from Lamps Plus. For less than $200, I’ve created a customized floor lamp that will provide light for reading in the nook.Hologram curtain panels in Platinum from Z Gallerie. The colour and pattern work nicely with the other elements in the room.

Chrysanthemum area rug from West Elm. The large flower pattern is contemporary and echoes the large pendant chandelier that will hang above.

Reading nook

Eddie Accent Chair from Z Gallerie. This super-sexy turquoise leather chair inspired the entire design for the room. Two of these beauties would bust the budget, so I’m putting one in the reading nook for a cozy place to curl up with a book.

Wood stump side table from West Elm. Provides a spot to put down a book or a drink. The light natural wood of the stump table ties in the with light wood of the coffee table, uniting the two areas of the room.

Artwork

Original abstract art from Matt LeBlanc Art. Matt creates beautiful paintings at great price points. If you don’t see what you’re looking for on his web site, he’ll create a custom painting especially for you to your exact requirements.

Wire Capiz Sunburst Wall Mirror from Target. This large sunburst mirror is the perfect piece to hang above the fireplace and add sparkle to the room.

Throw cushions and accessories

The budget is just about gone at this point, but luckily the homeowners already own a number of cushions and accessories that we can use in the room. So rather than specifying items, I’m providing sources where they can purchase additional cushions down the road when they have some more money to put into the living room.

Etsy is a great source for handmade cushions and cushion covers. These are just a few that would look great in the living room…

   Etsy: Nena Von Pillows

 

Etsy: The HomeCentric

From Z Gallerie, left to right: Mediterranean, Bukhara, Totem

If the homeowners decide they want to inject some more colour into their living room, all they need to do is replace some of the accessories or throw cushions. The walls are already neutral, and teal looks great with lots of other colours…

   

And finally, here’s the storyboard for the room:

And here’s the pricing breakdown.

• Turquoise ceramic drum stool: 85.91
• Soho Sofa: 1,099.00
• Eddie Accent Chair: 1,199.00
• Metropolitan Console Table: 349.00
• Tree stump side table: 199.00
• Sweep arm accent chair: 599.00 x 2
• Bridge coffee table + side table: 179.99 + 299.00
• Maskros PS chandelier: 89.99
• Hologram Panel – Platinum: 39.95 x 2
• Chrysanthemum rug: 549.00
• Painting: 200.00
• Wire Capiz Sunburst Wall Mirror: 79.99
• Custom floor lamp: 199.00
• Table lamps: 69.99 x 2
• Cushions: Ranging in price from 19.95 to 69.95

GRAND TOTAL: 5,946.76

(Plus the price of cushions, which may or may not put it over 6,000.00!!)

Hmmmm, I guess the price for the paint should be included too. Well, we can tweak things a bit to make the budget work… oh, did I mention that my home owners work for Sherwin Williams?? ;-)

So there you go, a brand new living room from scratch for less than $6,000!! I hope I’ve given you some ideas and inspiration for decorating your own home. And I bet the other Designer’s Challenge 101 participants have lots of other good ideas for you!! Be sure to visit them all and see everyone else’s living room designs:

• Kelly Berg at Arte Styling
• Amanda Burdge at AB Home Interiors
• Kathy Passarette at Creative Home Expressions
• Dayka Robinson at Meditations on Life and Style
• Susan Snow at Moving Designz
• Traci Zeller at Traci Zeller Designs

I’d love to hear what you think about my grey & teal living room. Love it or hate it, don’t be shy, let me know!! And if you like what you see, hey, why not hire me!! I’d love to design a room for you :-)