Neutrals are boring. Neutrals are safe. Using neutral is so blah. You’ve heard it all before and while sometimes all three can be true, I was determined not to let that be the case in our living room. This space came together as most loved things do, with time. We’ve been in our apartment for almost a year and I’m just now getting that ‘fin’ feeling. You know the one I’m talking about – when you’ve added the last piece to a room and it makes you go, “yes, this is it!”.
My main go-to’s for creating a neutral space that isn’t boring are texture and variation. Texture doesn’t always look like pom-pom pillows and shag rugs. Sometimes it’s subtle, sometimes it’s layered and most times, it’s the faint difference in fabrics from one pillow to another. It’s by playing with these differences that you’re able to create interest and turn beige into something exciting. Using variation in shape, color or size can take a plain space and really give it lots of character. Everything in our living room has some bit of gray, black, white, ivory and wood tones. But even with those shades, there’s a lot of difference tones. The grain on side table next to babe’s chair is reddish while the raw slat table is yellow tinted. In this tiny space alone, there are over eight woods. They help warm the room from all the large cold gray pieces and also keep things from being to matchy-matchy.
I really focused on curating this space and making sure that each piece was something I loved even if it weren’t apart of the room. Many times we see things and think, “That would look great with that other thing I already have!”, but would you love it if you weren’t pairing it with something else? This is a lesson I’ve been reteaching myself. Loving something without any ifs or buts really help you truly design a space, versus simply feeling it with stuff.
Some of my favorite found pieces are the slatted side table that I flipped over to use pedestal-style and the weighty but small soapstone elephant. They’re not the main attractions in the room but easily two of the more special! I’m so happy with what this space has become and more importantly, how it makes us feel to walk into it everyday. While I’m digging the neutral look and it’s calmness, I won’t say a little more color couldn’t creep in here soon. That’s the thing about what I do. I get to change my mind and act like I’m doing it all just to inspire you guys! 😉 LOL.
Happy Wednesday!
Spaces | DIY and Interior Design Blog by Skoope Home 