31 October 2010

Inspiring Living Rooms

Our living room is a long, bowling-alley of a space. It's been a design challenge since we first moved in. Most of the time we have furniture clustered in one end and the other end is basically unused. In the six years we've lived here the space has evolved, but it is still lacking in some specific needs: lighting, toy storage, landing strip/coat hanging, and seating. I've been collecting inspiring photos around the internets.

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1. Here's a picture of an entryway that I love. I wish I had this type of space but my area is much smaller. Elements I love: natural wood, white, simplicity.














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2. The Expedit from IKEA is one of the most fabulously-adaptable pieces of cheap furniture ever designed. I've seen it adapted for dozens of different applications. Here's what we need--toy storage plus television/electronics. Elements I love: white, pops of color, vintage toys.












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3. Here's another white space. Do you sense a theme here? I love the white, the natural wood tones, the midcentury modern furniture, the ceramics. and that green, that perfect mossy green that makes me happy deep down in side.











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4. And then there's this one that makes my heart sing too. The white, the natural wood, the midcentury modern furniture. Check! Check! Check! And I also love the way toy display/storage is worked into the coffee table. And the geometric print rug and the globe and those pillows! Yes, please.











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5. This one makes me happy because it's clearly a place where children are welcome to play. Of course I love the white--white trim, white curtains, white couch. But I don't think I'm ready to commit to a truly white couch or a white floor since I live with two large indoor/outdoor dogs. We already do at least one load of laundry everyday. I have no need for more! I love the poppy pillows, the yellow rocker and the green rug.

It appears there are some themes clearly identified: I'm loving white walls, natural wood, bright pops of color, and of course my midcentury modern furniture. Looks like I've got my work cut out for me!

If you find any inspiring blogsites, photos or shops you think I would like, please, please send them my way!

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Unfortunately, I didn't record the sites of origin of these photos but they are most likely to be from Design*Sponge, Apartment Therapy, or Remodelista. If you haven't checked out Remodelista, I highly recommend it for simple, clean, classic style.

4 comments:

Brenda said...

I like the white also. I have been looking at kitchens and found myself drawn to the white cabinets. I love wood but I decided to go with white cabinets and am wondering about white countertops as well. I was interested to see so much white on white in your photos. I am not very secure in my tastes so it is good confirmation that I am not alone.

Andrea + Mike said...

very fun! we have a tiny little house and baby gear storage is really starting to become important!

elle + josh said...

i LOVE your blog re-design!!! and these photos you've collected are now inspiring me, too. i think i'll need to add them to the inspiration folder on my desktop! thank you, deb!

Admin said...

Wow thank you for those pictures, We are moving to a new house in a few weeks, and we are thinking of painting the interiors white, your pictures just gave me a confirmation how prety and sophisticated it would look! Thanks, Im a new follower...

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