Aimee & Dave are probably one of the cutest couples I've ever met as you can see from the pic below. See the smiles on their faces as they check out their new place?
They have two cutie pies (not pictured) Eli & Lucy (right around my kids' ages) and are a young couple with a really fun sense of style. They were looking for fresh, "coastal," fun, family-focused design. Now since there's really no coast in sight around here, we had to make sure that we didn't get too themey-coastal and instead went with pieces that could work in Virginia but had that easy-breezy vibe. Aimee knew she wanted aqua and from her inspiration photos we settled on aqua, oraange, and black & white for the general color scheme.
The kitchen is open to the dining nook and the living/ family room and Aimee & Dave wanted a place where they can cook, play with the kids, watch TV, eat, entertain, etc. (Basically do it all) Their house is new and open with classic details. The rooms are a nice liveable big-but-not-too-big- sized-rooms and there aren't any wasted rooms in the house. They will be literally be using every room of the house. I love it.
After getting to know Aimee & her style, here's the plan I came up with. (I typically do client plans in a 3-pronged folder, 1 for me and 1 for them to take home... Samples are usually loose so we hold, drape on other things, tweak, etc. I used to do large boards but have gotten away from it recently for the sake of portability... they were fun though so who knows, I might eventually go back.)
Anyway, here's the plan for the living area:
Anyway, here's the plan for the living area:
Here are the fabrics pictured above:
I'm a little bit in love with the sofa fabric which is the large-scale orange floral linen. Aimee loved the fabric but took a long time deciding whether to do it on the sofa or not. Doing a print on a sofa is a big deal. For the past few years we've all heard the general touting: "Go neutral on your sofa and then switch up your pillows and acessories whenever you want," which I definitely think is perfect for a lot of us, but sometimes a pattern is so right, so timeless and so personal, that you know you'll love it for years and you don't want to switch things up all the time. And that's how this orange fabric was. We toyed with the idea of going neutral on the sofa and having pillows made out of it, but Aimee's style is realy fun & bold so she decided to go for it. I am so excited for this baby to arrive!!! We're doing it on this sofa: (which has just been finished this week and is ready for delivery!!)"
We're doing the modern wing chairs in a brown velvet with the black & white fabric for pillows, and then aqua pillows on the sofa.
Here are some of the other pieces we're using:
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We're doing a large seagrass rug on the floors with the black & white Dash & Albert rug over it. Remember the German antique barley twist table with inset needlepoint panels?
Yup! It went to Aimee & Dave.
Here's the living area mid-construction:
...And please don't laugh, I'm not an artist, but the point comes across in this quick drawing:
The brown velvet chairs will go in front of the windows which will have aqua blue curtains and woven shades.
I made some optional pieces we could add in later:
Love that lantern pendant... we're doing one over the island too. And this guy's going above the fireplace:
Here's the dining nook:
Here's a super-quick brainstorming sketch:
And here are the actual pieces:
Aimee & Dave have decided to go with all chairs (no banquette) for now and are having a custom table made. They've also added chalkboard paint to the wall for Eli (who loves it!!) and eventually Lucy. I'll keep you posted & can't wait to show you some "afters." Thanks so much to Aimee & Dave for letting me help you with your project!!
If you'd like help creating a home you absolutely love, contact me about our design services.