Open Floor Plan

Question:

Please help!

My husband and I moved into our new home over a year ago. When we picked out the floor plan, we loved the idea of the “open concept”, but didn’t realize the trouble it would cause in finding decorating solutions! Attached are a few pictures of our living room. In the background is a small dining area, which is adjacent to our kitchen. All three rooms are open to each other.

I would love some help with choosing a rug, accessories for the walls, lamps, other furniture pieces…..the works! I am willing to move/replace all items currently in the room (with the exception of the sofa).

Thank you from a long time Ballard Fan!
Maggie

Answer:

Dear Maggie,

We are so happy that you’re a long time Ballard fan. We think you have a wonderful space, but we also understand the difficulty of an open concept room. Making it work requires you to think outside the box. Not every piece of furniture needs to be placed against a wall. Try placing your sofa in front of the fireplace (at an angle). Adding accent pillows in the blue tones and a few in the chocolate brown tones will define your sofa as the main focal point of the room. A console table like our Benedetta Console placed behind your sofa with two lamps and some accessories would help anchor the area. Placing a rug in front of the sofa will create a welcoming environment. Our suggestion would be the Norah Rug or the Suvero Rug for a punch of texture and color. Place your cocktail table on top of the rug to complete the look.

In the space that you now have your sofa, try creating a small conversation area with two Leyland Armless Chairs upholstered in a white textured fabric or perhaps a blue print in tones similar to your wall color. Our Terrific Trio Table with a Burlap Tablecloth would be perfect placed between the Leyland chairs. Choose an interesting lamp to place on the table between the chairs. We have a great selection online and one of our favorites is the X Table Lamp.

A cabinet like our Louis XVI Sideboard in Distressed Off-White placed on the wall to the right of the master bedroom entrance would certainly provide extra storage, and with our Garden District Mirrors above the space will come alive. Our Blue Reflections Print placed above the fireplace with a few well chosen accessories should complete the look.

As far as the dining area, we do suggest that whatever rug you choose for the living area, should be repeated in the dining area as well to pull the two areas together.

We do hope that some of our suggestions work for you. The bones of the room are perfect, you just need the finishing touches to make the room soar! Let us know if you have any further questions or drop us a line and let us know what you think of our solutions.

Good Luck!
The Style Studio Team

Posted 6/30/09