I’m so excited to share progress photos from my Bachelorette Pad project in Austin! Here’s a peek at the living room so far. Plus, how we started designing a room from scratch, why we chose what we chose and what’s still to come!
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Sectional: Joybird Briar Sleeper Sectional c/o | Rug: Loloi 'Panache' rug; disconttinued but similar here c/o | Gold Bar Cart: Frontgate; no longer avaialble but similar here c/o | Pink Balloon Art: Art of Vieve 'Ripple Effect' c/o | Beach Ball Art: Kim Genevieve c/o | Pink Lamp: Target | White Palm Leaf Lamp: Target | Face Vase: Target | Pink Elephant Pillow: Target | Just Keep Going Art Print: Katie Kime c/o | Soft Grey Wall Paint: Curator Paints 'Hackle Feather' c/o | Clear Acrylic Coffee Table: Target | White Mongolian Fur Pillows: Frontgate c/o | Pink Pillow: Target | | Gold Double Curtain Rods: cb2 | Pink Velvet Curtains: Ikea (more options below) | Side Table: Ikea | Pink Round Velvet Ottoman: Overstock | Yellow Soho Swivel Chair: Frontgate c/o | Boxwood Topiary: Frontgate; no longer available but similar here c/o
Where To Start When Designing a Room from Scratch
When designing a room from scratch, it can often be overwhelming deciding where to start. I’m hoping that by sharing the method I used below, it will help you too!
Here are the 7 Steps to Designing a Room from Scratch.
Step 1: Choose One Piece That’s the Most Important to You
Melissa, my friend and resident of what we’ve dubbed the Bachelorette Pad, knew without a doubt that she wanted a sleeper sofa. Melissa has some darling nephews and nieces who love to visit, hence why the sleeper sofa was important to her.
And despite not having a huge living room or space (this is a 1-bedroom apartment), she really wanted a sectional. Who doesn’t want the coziest spot possible to curl up and Netflix and binge?
After some debate on whether we’d have room to do a sectional, we finally decided we did and I’m SO glad because this Joybird Briar Sleeper Sectional looks like it was made for this space.
And it’s is SO comfy too! The fabric is so velvety and soft and feels extra good against bare legs. We chose this beautiful Royale Cobalt blue color, which is so classic and will be great for years to come, in future homes.
I know buying a sofa online can seem risky, but this is my second experience with Joybird sofas now and they’ve both exceeded expectations (here’s the pink Joybird sofa we have in our Palm Springs house, Villa Golightly). In full transparency, both sofas were gifted, but I wouldn’t steer you wrong.
The sleeper sofa has already been used multiple times and everyone has reported back that it’s been really comfy. Not like old sleeper sofa beds of yore.
Step 2: Choose a Color Palette
The next step is to develop a color palette.
Since the Royale Cobalt blue Briar Sectional was our first piece and our hero piece, the next decision was to choose a color palette that complemented the rich blue.
Is there anything better with navy or royal blue than blush pink? I think not. Plus, Melissa was really open to feminizing her space. As she told me “I always gravitate towards neutrals, but that’s because I can’t see how other colors will work together.”
She was very sweet in entrusting me to do whatever I thought was best and, as my best friend since college, I wanted to give her a dreamy, feminine, optimistic space that was sophisticated yet playful, where she would feel happy and calm. Her respite from the crazy, chaotic world and that felt like a cozy chic boutique hotel.
While I decided royal blue and blush pink would be the main colors, it’s always important to have another hue or two to both complement the main ones and to offset the main ones to add a pop.
Which brings me to our paint color and our “pop” color…
Step 3: Select Paint Colors & Accent Colors
Painting the walls all pink would likely have felt too young or juvenile or too overwhelming in this space, so we decided to go with this beautiful classic delicate grey from Curator Paints called Hackle Feather.
It’s such a beautiful neutral and feels like you’re enveloped in a soft hug.
We used Curator Paints on our front doors in Palm Springs too!
More on accent colors shortly…
Step 4: Choose Art & Accessories
Having the soft grey walls allowed us to add in pops of color through art and accessories, like the blush pink drapes, pink ottoman, and pillows.
What goes great with navy blush and blush pink? Yellow! You can see just a peek of this Soho swivel chair from Frontgate mustard yellow, which feels like a spot of sunshine.
I’ll show you more very soon!
Speaking of art, these are prints are by Kim Genevieve! Aren’t they joy-inducing?
Melissa loves Southern California, and one day I will convince her to move there, so these sunny prints were perfect. Honestly, they are just so happy, optimistic, bright and dreamy, all things I want Melissa to feel in this space.
Kim Genevieve is launching her online gallery SUPER soon, so head here to get on the list now so you’re the first to know when you can get these fine art prints…and so many more! They’re limited edition and I know they will sell out fast!
Those furry white pillows on the sectional are from Frontgate! The pink pillow and pink elephant pillow are from Target.
The green boxwood topiaries are from Frontgate.
Step 5: Select Rugs
The next thing we decided on was the rug. Since the hardwood floors are dark and we went with a rich, darker sofa, we needed to brighten things up with the rug. I can’t tell you the difference it made once we rolled this Loloi rug out. I’ll share before + afters in a future post so you can see!
But I love the palette of this rug and the pattern. It’s classic and perfect in this space.
Step 6: Choose Accent Furniture & Metals
Once you have a few of your main pieces nailed down – the sofa, chair and rugs, you can start thinking about accent tables and which metal(s) you’d like to go with.
I knew that I wanted to go with gold because it’s such a pretty metal that adds glamour and warmth to a space.
The gold bar cart from Frontgate feels like jewelry in this room! It’s just one of several gold accents in this room, along with the golden brass curtain rods and the gold rim on the bottom of this blush pink ottoman.
As I mentioned before, the living room isn’t very big, so we opted for a clear acrylic coffee table because it adds the function of a coffee table while taking up minimal visual space. I also love that you get to see that great pattern on the Loloi Panache rug through it.
Step 7: Choose Lighting
This room had NO lighting on its own (i.e. no overhead lighting). So we choose some cute super affordable lamps (this pink floor lamp + this white palm leaf table lamp) to be our temporary placeholders until our final lighting from Hudson Valley Lighting arrives. Think classic, artful, sophisticated. I can’t wait to show you!
For now, that’s it for designing a room from scratch! But there’s much more to come…
What’s Still To Come…
Bookshelves:
I have a VERY fun project I’ll be doing with Curator Paints on these bookshelves. You may have caught it on my Insta Stories recently… Did somebody say ink ombre bookshelves?! It’s going to be SO fun!
Curator Paints is a luxury paint brand from Ireland and their colors aren’t only gorgeous, but each has a story behind it. It’s exciting to showcase so many colors (and stories) in this way, so STAY TUNED…
Living Room Final Final:
And we’ll be revealing the final final of the living room with the updated painted bookshelves, lighting and styling.
Entryway:
We’ll be revealing the entryway soon (hint: prepare to see this Katie Kime Goddess wallpaper)…
Dining Room:
We’ll be revealing the dining room soon (original moodboard here), which I hope you’ll love as much as I do, and is directly across from the living room! Think Golden Girls chic…
What Do You Think?
I would love to know what you think so far!
Let me know in the comments + a huge thank you for reading xo!
Thank you to our partners Joybird, Loloi, Frontgate and Curator Paints, Kim Genevieve, and Katie Kime for teaming up so that we can share fun content like this!
PHOTOS by FRED MOSER
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