Emily Henderson's Blog, page 268

15 Ideas for Hanging Art We Got From You Guys (+ a Fun Reader Challenge)

Our #ehdweekendmakeover hashtag on Instagram is not a new thing for us. We took a dive into it (oh wait, maybe it was #showemyourstyled) over the holiday season in a big blog post about all the seasonal decor this amazing community was doing in their homes and sharing. We also regularly dig in for inspiration and occasionally run one on the Instagram feed that has us excited, but other than that, it’s mostly just a place where your guy’s designs and dwellings can be seen and that frankly feels like a wasted opportunity for us…until now.

We’re bringing #ehdweekendmakeover to life and making a big move toward being a part of it ourselves on an ongoing basis. This team has a TON of projects right now personally (so many makeover takeovers brewing and just general “new year” refreshes happening), and we bet you do, too. Each month—maybe even a few times a month, depending on how the design zeitgeist is feeling—we’ll throw a weekend project challenge your way via Instagram, and want you to share, share, share with the hashtag so that we can then go through and share back, both on the blog and on our social channels.

To kick things off, we’re starting with a project that likely EVERYONE can engage with. Raise your hand (or hide your head in shame…either way), if you’ve had art leaning in corners of rooms around your house slash shoved into the back of closets slashed stacked under beds for…years? There’s something that feels so permanent about hanging artwork, so you put it off because maybe you haven’t figured out a cool enough arrangement, or maybe you haven’t bought any frames…either way, we get it. Jess, whose living room and kitchen you’re going to see THIS MONTH…we’re shooting it TODAY, has been working on a gallery wall for probably about a year. Michael JUST hung a wall of art after months (also maybe years?) of hemming and hawing. Arlyn doesn’t even want to tell you how long she’s had art unframed and ignored that she actually really loves, just hasn’t bothered to put up. I know I absolutely have some stuff I need to get on my walls. THIS IS THE WEEKEND!!!! Who’s up for the challenge of taking some time this weekend to grab some frames, dust off your diptychs (or even get those downloadable prints actually printed), and commit to getting some art up on those walls?

We mined through what you guys have already tagged recently to get you started with some ideas in case you’re stumped or just need a little spark of inspiration…all in rooms that YOU GUYS designed, which we love nothing more than to share your beautiful, hard-earned work.

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We shared this image from @chelseamohram on our Instagram recently (you guys loved it as much as we did) for SO many reasons (the eclectic mix of chairs, the mix-and-match cabinets) but today, we’re including it on the blog because of the art. Hanging multiple pieces can bring out all your doubts and uncertainties…do you have to line them up, do the frames have to match, how do they look all good together? You can certainly hang whatever you want next to whatever you want, but here, this feels eclectic yet pulled together because all three artworks are oil portraits (picking a theme for a gallery wall is my go-to fundamental tip for that). As for the alignment, a good rule of thumb is to place your largest “anchor” piece and then pick if you want to line up art at the top, center or bottom (there is no wrong answer here)…and build from there.

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I’m pretty sure this is not how @goldalamode’s dining room looks anymore in terms of that sweet, soft pink molding, but since we’re here talking about art, it’s worth mentioning the art of the “off center” frame. I think we’re all somehow conditioned to put art smack dab in the center of either a big wall or vignette, (did they teach us this in school or something? how to center art on a wall 101?) but choosing to shift the eye and do something a little unexpected really pays off in terms of visual interest.

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This is actually pretty genius on multiple levels. @dinexdesign skipped the works on paper altogether and went instead with a super punchy rug hung on what I’m guessing is a curtain rod? Here’s the genius part though…there’s a TV behind that. If you suffer from must-hide-my-black-box-itis, you no longer have to choose between something pretty and something practical.

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@fieldtheory rocks the modern line art diptych. The white frames here fall in line with the mostly creamy palette, while the black punch from the prints adds a welcomed tension and contrast.

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One of the questions we get SO often is…what to do behind a sofa. And while there are a bunch of options (gallery wall, one large piece, a wall hanging, a mirror, nothing), we rarely see the whole shelf + leaning art option in this room from @house.becomes.home and like…why not? It might make me a little nervous in “earthquake country” but if you live in a place where the ground isn’t prone to shaking things up and personal items not at ground level flying around a room, it’s a nice option. Keep in mind you’ll probably have to pull your sofa away from the wall an inch or two more than the depth of the shelf to avoid head bumps, though.

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Another regular “please help me” quandary we see is what to do above a bed. It’s totally fine to go without anything above your bed, but the four-poster here in a room from @suzannahstanley really helps to frame out a spot for a quiet moment. Don’t think you always have to totally fill a space with art…sometimes, some open white space sings louder than an overload of styling.

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Oh how I love this shot from @jennasuedesign. Is this technically a wall mural and not “art”? Sure! But who needs a 16×20 portrait when you’ve got a WHOLE WALL OF BEAUTY? Please note the molding details along the corners. We’ll always sign off on a feature wall when it looks like this.

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@mrorlandosoria knows how to build a killer gallery wall (I wonder where he learned it from…). And the reason this one is so special is that it’s not just abstract prints and cool line drawings…it’s his parent’s personal mementos and family photos (see more of this room here). This is my absolute favorite way to do a gallery wall: nearly top to bottom but with a tight focus.

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Never underestimate the power of an overscale piece of art. Period. (Thanks @mymoderndom for the inspo.)

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Speaking of really big art installations, I will never not love a giant map that takes up the majority of a wall. I’ve spent many a late night searching for a vintage one on Etsy and Craigslist and have yet to find something that sets my heart ablaze, but my (and your) best bet is likely digging through flea markets until you make a big score like this one similar to @nicolewear.

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@sunnycirclestudio always has such fantastic inspiration and I love the risks in each of her designs. A polka dot wallpaper paired with a playful modern print will always be a winning combo.

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Another wallpaper + framed art winner from @sunnycirclestudio, but this time with more traditional oil portraits. I think this one works so well because they are still in line with the color palette established by the quirky paper.

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If you missed our house tour of @thegoldhive’s San Diego home, here’s a sneak peek (but head here to see the whole thing…it’s SO lovely and full of tons of doable DIYs). One detail that immediately caught our eye was the traditional photo rail she installed (to match the one in her dining room original to the 1930s).

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An oil nude where you get all oily (or bubbly) in the nude…why the heck not? I’m assuming @undecorated_home placed a slender shelf or the likes behind the tub as not to have to drill into tile for hanging. Oh…looking again, maybe it’s just leaning on the tub, so in real life, maybe this isn’t the most practical, but it sure looks fun styled to camera.

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And finally, this vignette that we love so so much in the home of our friend Mandi from @vintagerevivals. Yes, the card catalog itself is a work of art, but also, the off-center picture ledge with the leaning print is another example of not always having to be dead center. She could have easily added a taller plant to the right side to balance it, but the round mirror also does a great job of filling a little space and breaking through all the straight lines.

Like we said, we plan on doing an #ehdweekendmakeover feature once a month birthed from a prompt we’re going to give you, but don’t feel like you can’t use the hashtag on any image of your home you want us to see. Head to our Instagram Stories this weekend to see what I’m going to hang up this weekend. Plus, if you story your own #ehdweekendmakeover art edition, we’ll share on our stories (as long as you also tag @em_henderson, otherwise I don’t think technically it’ll let us). Good luck this weekend, can’t wait to see what you guys come up with. Xx

The post 15 Ideas for Hanging Art We Got From You Guys (+ a Fun Reader Challenge) appeared first on Emily Henderson.

The Nine (Other) Promises We Made When We Got Married…and How We Are Faring 12 Years Later

Happy Valentine’s day, world. We aren’t typically big “celebrators” of today’s holiday, despite my intense love of all things “romance” and ability to create sentiment out of the most benign situations. But I started this post a few months ago after you guys asked for it, and well, today felt appropriate and kinda sweet. Besides, these days I sure as hell celebrate a successful marriage because I know it’s not something to take for granted. After 19 years, I’m very, very very happy that I still love that guy and actually want to hang out with him. A lot.

If you missed it, a few months ago, I posted part one of  “marriage promises” that Brian and I wrote together on our honeymoon (over a bottle of wine, surely). These promises were meant to hold our future selves accountable to our youthful, innocent and naive ideals. If you are just getting married, I STRONGLY recommend doing this because boy, has it made me ask myself some hard questions.  Holding up a mirror to your own set of past beliefs is nothing but good, sheer, terrifying self-analysis. This round is way less about our marriage and far more about what kind of people we wanted to become, or actually the kind of people we wanted our futures selves to avoid becoming. It’s highly self-indulgent, more like a journal so if you aren’t into reading others self-analysis then come back tomorrow. Meanwhile, let’s see how we did.

Good to know that my penmanship hasn’t changed in 12 years. I should get it analyzed and find out what it really says about me…

#1. Once a week we have a date night.

The original intent: We wanted to make sure that we always connected outside of friends and TV, the other big distractions in a marriage that can make it seem like you are spending time together, but you aren’t really connecting. 

How we are doing: HA. We definitely don’t do once a week, but I’d say at least twice a month (when we are good, when we are in a slump we’ll forget for over a month). This is obviously due to kids because before kids we would do date nights like at least two or three times a week. Right now, Brian is in a play, rehearsing every single night (except for Mondays when I get my break from parenting and he takes over) so right now, it’s extra bad. This is something to work on, but I will say that usually, Friday family night is hard to forego, then often we hang out with friends all day on Saturday so we often just feel like staying in on Saturday nights after we put the kids down. This is the most boring story I’ve ever told. Maybe thats because we have gotten boring. You HAVE to plan them and while many will say even an hour at your local restaurant is a good thing, we have found that in order for us to connect and get over the basic stuff (kids, schools, work, politics), we need a full night (3 to 4 hours) and just going to a movie without dinner doesn’t count. You can’t ask your partner “How are you? No, really? Are you happy right now?” the second you sit down at a burger joint. And that’s the stuff you really need to talk about on a date. Not your kids and not your friends. You need to get to the  “are you happy right now” convo and that takes a little while (for us at least). 

Definitely, need to get better on this.

#2. We do not become obsessed with our kids.

The original intent: We think that was to prevent us from neglecting ourselves, living vicariously through our kids and not letting them be their own people.

How we are doing: I’m not sure. We don’t think we smother them, but we are pretty obsessed with them. They are so little that aren’t you kinda supposed to be obsessed with them at this age and loosen the reins later? I’m not a helicopter parent, maybe that’s what we were trying to avoid? I’m not sure what level of obsession is healthy if any…thoughts? Brian says we are the right level of obsessed, which is “very” but we still have our own lives and go on vacation without them. 

#3. Every decision we make will be good for us individually as well as our family.

The original intent: This is the whole “happy parent, happy kid” thing that we’ve always believed. This was to prevent us from moving to the suburbs where our thoughts, similarities, cultures, would be discarded for a better school district and bigger yard for our kids. This was also to avoid one of us getting a job we hated in order to pay the mortgage. I remember thinking ‘why would you ever do a job you hate just to support your family when you could scale back, rent forever and just send your kids to public school?’ (ha. see #4) It’s not wrong, it’s just very naive because most people don’t necessarily have any other option (or just have different priorities). 

How we are doing: What you can’t predict, what you don’t know until you have kids is that the happiness and well-being of our kids actually largely determines your happiness, and that security and feeling safe plays a huge part in feeling happy. The suburbs do provide things that living within a city doesn’t. True story: Two years ago, we were desperate to move to a suburb of LA to get more of that life before we bought this house, but were deterred by the school district. Our friends were appalled at the idea of leaving “the city” but we just kept saying wait ’til you have two kids and need space and quiet. Listen, with these kids and two jobs, it’s not like we are going to concerts and art openings every night. We are definitely constantly eyeing suburban living, just getting outside of the city and having more space, less traffic and a generally more family-oriented community. We also know that we are idolizing this and we aren’t seeing the failings of such a suburban life. In fact, the reason we haven’t moved to the mountain house is because we know that while the kids would thrive (for now), we probably wouldn’t. We might get bored, miss culture, miss diversity, miss the hilarity and intellect of our friends, so I guess we are kinda choosing our happiness while trying to prioritize them. For now.

We’re Up to Top Secret Stuff…

It seemed rude to go all winter without letting at least part of my team experience the polar vortex, so I stole some of them for a fun executive retreat in Minneapolis for a day of top-secret Target stuff.

So the posts that we had scheduled and drafted for tomorrow weren’t totally ready because our fingers are actually frozen. And we have no internet.

Budget Room: 3 Renter-Friendly Bedrooms for Your “Adult” Apartment

photo by Tessa Neustadt | from: sara’s bedroom reveal

Hi EHD world, Ryann here again with another installment of our budget series, The Starter Apartment. If you don’t recall, when we last chatted about living and dining room combinations, we discussed some of the ups and downs of adult apartment-ing. I admitted to the internet that I’ve been living for over six months without a dining table in my apartment and expressed my overall adult design questions (of which there are many). Once again, Jess and I teamed up (she pulled the Get the Looks together, and I encouraged in the form of my excitement over styling inspiration) to give you three budget room options, this time for the bedroom.

Now taking into consideration some of the tips we learned from the last post, let’s dive in.

Little known fact about me: I have a special love for bedrooms. I remember when I was in my early teens and full of angst, I would burrow myself in my room for hours on end listening to music, journaling and crying over unrequited love (true story). Coincidentally, at a very young age, I felt strongly my bedroom was my space, and always wanted it to be a real representation of me. There is something about being a teenager that calls for creating a space that feels like you, so I couldn’t help but wonder (à la Carrie Bradshaw), does this get lost as we further ourselves into adulthood??! As someone who is newer to design, learning what works with what is one thing, but creating a space I love has become another, much harder thing. 

You see, what I loved most about my teenage bedroom was that everywhere I looked, I was reminded of the things I was interested in and in turn was constantly inspired. I don’t know what this says about me, but I’ve always needed tangible items in front of me to be able to touch and stare at (creating inspiration boards on my laptop drives me crazy just as reading an ebook is pure misery). I am a very visual person but I need things in front of me IRL.

All that said and being in the thick of styling my bedroom, I am on a quest to incorporate my personality the way I did when I was in my teens. I want to style my bedroom in such a way that when I looked around, I can see myself (I think we all want that, no? in all our homes…you don’t want your rooms to look like just anyone could live there, right?). I absolutely do not want my adult bedroom to be boring and devoid of all things me.

So, what does this mean and why do you care? Well, maybe you don’t care and that is A-okay. But if you are still reading, and if you too are styling your bedroom, I implore you to try and incorporate things you already have and love. These three looks we put together are a good foundation. There’s A LOT to work with here for either a starter apartment or just any home that’s has a budget focus. If you want these bad boys top to bottom, that would make one heck of a styled bedroom, but any chance you get to inject YOUR into a room, take it. Display your favorite books, frame a poem or a photo you took on vacation, throw a special family heirloom on a shelf, put your favorite record up on the wall, shower your place in plants. Let your personality shine. That is my advice to you. Free of charge. 

Alright. Enough about me. Let’s get into the good stuff:

1. Cool Eclectic: $2,534

1. Brass Table Lamp | 2. Nightstand with Drawer | 3. Decorative Bowl | 4. Framed Art | 5. Bed | 6. Flushmount | 7. Curtains | 8. Pink Bud Vase | 9. Side Table | 10. Rug | 11. Bookshelf | 12. Ombre Bud Vase | 13. Tray | 14. Ring Dish | 15. Duvet + Pillow Cases | 16. Sheets | 17. Plant | 18. Planter | 19. Dresser | 20. Wood Table Lamp | 21. Mirror | 22. Faux Sherling Pillow | 23. Gray Velvet Pillow | 24. Burgundy Lumbar Pillow | 25. Throw Blanket

If we are judging these strictly by my desire for an exciting, non-boring adult bedroom, this is the clear front runner. Would I have ever contemplated getting a dijon mustard-y colored duvet? No. Do I want one now? ABSOLUTELY. Paired with that rug that I need immediately, I am sold. This room is really making a strong case for mixing colors that I would never have thought to put together. Case in point, I am now putting that burgundy pillow in my cart along with the duvet.

Speaking of things I am learning every day here at EHD, Jess schooled me the other day by telling me that she has replaced light fixtures in every apartment she’s ever rented. WHAT? I was so shocked and thoroughly impressed. Now I can’t help but imagine replacing my hideous circa 1990s chandeliers and ceiling fans with gorgeous lighting, like that flushmount. The only caveat is to make sure you know what you are doing and maybe consult a professional before attempting to mess with electrical units. This is serious adult business. Oh, and be sure to hang on to the original light fixtures (maybe store them under your bed if there’s room?) so you don’t have to leave behind your precious pieces when you turn back in your keys.

Here, Jess addresses a long-debated topic in, I’m sure, many households: do nightstands have to match? Well, depending on what you’re going for, yes…and no. If you’re into a really traditional, refined look, maybe go with a matching set, but in something a little more carefree and eclectic, two different style bedside tables will really drive that point home.

Okay, onto simplified modern, which was maybe my favorite style vibe from the living and dining room post…let’s see how it comes together in a bedroom:

2. Simplified Modern: $1,710

1. Ring Dish  | 2. Blue Spot Vase | 3. Marble Tray | 4. Mid-Century Block Print | 5. Mid-Century Block Print | 6. Curtains | 7. Sconce | 8. Nightstand | 9. Bed | 10. Rug | 11. Floor Lamp | 12. Vase | 13. Marble Box | 14. Dresser | 15. Birch Wood Hanger | 16. Poster Hanger | 17. Nude Sketch | 18. Laundry Basket | 19. Plant | 20. Planter | 21. Duvet | 22. Stripe Sheet Set | 23. Lumbar Pillow | 24. Waffle Coverlet | 25. Blue Blanket 

We did not include plants in our last budget post (whoops) but in my opinion, an apartment is not complete without them. My favorite place to buy plants is Lowes because they have a massive selection and reasonable prices (great for a serial plant killer like me :/) and The Sill is a close second. I’ve ordered two plants from them so far and can’t say enough about how useful their plant care tips are for someone like me. Plants are my favorite eye candy and I will never give up on trying to be the best plant mom I can be.

Now that we are really getting to know each other, do you ever feel like when you lived without something for so long, you get to a point where you’ve built it up too much and now you are like: who really needs it? No? Well, either way, that is how I feel about bed frames. I honestly have not even considered buying one because so many other things seem so much more important (art, a dresser, a floor lamp, books). But I can’t lie…this bed is special and I guess now I realize why adult humans have them. You win, America. The fact that it’s a platform bed maybe eases my transition and feels SUPER cool kid adult. I dig it. 

I was nervous about how to mix the woods from the bed to the nightstand to the dresser, etc. but the EHD design savvy told me it’s all about tones. The bed and the lamp are both deep, warmer walnut-y tones, while the dresser, art hanger and hook rail (which would be great for jewelry) are softer, blonder. The black nightstands are the great equalizer (or so I’m told).

While I was writing this, I had to ask Arlyn and Jess why there were so many bedding items here…I was like, wait…there are two bedspreads?? Arlyn, who takes her bedding VERY seriously evidently and has reached ultimate bedroom adulthood, informed me that the white one (#24) was a COVERLET, and #21 was a duvet cover. Oh, and #25 is a blanket. SO MANY LAYERS. Here’s the order she says you should put these: sheets, coverlet, duvet/comforter, blanket at the foot of the bed. Sounds like a lot, but, her confidence makes me think she knows what she’s doing here.

And like we have throughout all these rooms, the art above the bed and also in the wood hanger (#17) are printable from Etsy, so you can pick the size that works best for you. Oh, and those sconces are super renter friendly because they are plug-in. You do need to screw them into the walls, but that’s an easy patch job with some spackle upon move out.

3. Neutral Oasis: $1,812

1. Sconce | 2. Shelf | 3. Beach Print | 4. Nude Sketch | 5. Oblong Pendant | 6. Curtains | 7. Vase | 8. Marble Box | 9. Nightstand | 10. Bed | 11. Rug | 12. Vase | 13. Round Tray | 14. Tray | 15. Sheet Set | 16. Duvet | 17. Plant | 18. Planter | 19. Dresser 20. Table Lamp | 21. Sham Set | 22. Lumbar Pillow | 23. Throw Blanket

This bedroom gives me all the warm fuzzies. I am inherently drawn to this style and the neutral color palette gives lots of opportunity for personal flair. I want to sprinkle in eclectic vintage vases and objects, tons of books, and maybe even some cool flea market finds (if I can ever drag myself to the flea market early enough).

Last but not least, perhaps the savior and star of starter apartment styling is printable art, like I mentioned earlier. Let’s face it, budget art styling can be rough. Walls that are completely barren are sad, and cheap art is well, cheap. What I love about printable art (there are SO many on Etsy, it is mind-blowing), is that it looks good and you don’t have to sacrifice your taste. You might not have printed art for the rest of your life, but they are a good place holder until you find the piece that really speaks to you, the one that is absolutely worth the splurge. We did a piece a while back with some information on where to get these printed (if you want anything larger than your home printer can handle), so check that out if you’re curious. 

I tip my hat to jess for thinking of that round rug. Honestly, I don’t think I would have ever thought to do that, but it works so well and is a nice surprise. Also, those IKEA nightstands look totally cool and Scandi and a style I think can work as a home evolves.

This bed doesn’t have a headboard, which, for someone without a bed frame currently, isn’t as shocking and less fussy. What do you think about it? Oh, and it’s already been established I love some foliage. Fiddle leaf figs can be a little tricky to care for, but we linked to Home Depot who evidently will let you turn in plants that you tried really hard to keep alive (but didn’t) for another one, so that takes the pressure off. (Though Arlyn has successfully kept one alive and says they just need lots of indirect sun and only need to be watered when the top inch of dirt is dry…she does once a week in the summer and every two weeks in the winter…and says good luck).

And thus concludes another budget room! So, what do you guys think? Do you struggle with bringing your personality into your interior styling or are you all naturals like Emily? Tell me everything.

 

 

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Mountain House Mondays: Where We Are With The Family Room

One of the biggest surprises of my adult life is how much I came to LOVE this family room. Before we renovated, this was the ugly duckling of the house. Someone actually dubbed it the ‘creepy church day-care’ and they weren’t wrong. Here is what it looked like:

We didn’t take photos of us living up there in this room but trust me that it was full of toys and just generally dark and because of the stairs. It was far less functional. Another problem was the two focal points and high pass-through traffic…basically another furniture layout nightmare.

Remember when a few of you told me to get rid of the unnecessary second stairway (that one) and the biggest ‘light bulb’ ever exploded in my head? You were SO RIGHT. Bu-bye stairs that caused so many layout problems (for both floors) and hello new squared off room (and master bedroom above).

As a reminder this room opens to the dining room (that load-bearing column could not be moved) and kitchen, so it’s an obviously play/family room.

I had no idea the potential that this room had. I knew I wanted it open to the backyard, but it was always more of a throw away room.

Now when I sit at the dining room and look into that room I just say to myself over and over, I can’t believe how pretty that room is now. 

To be fair, there were some hiccups. At one point we thought we were going to do this:

We wanted to put built-in cabinets on both sides of the new centered fireplace and benches, but then my contractor built the benches too long on both sides and the surround was bigger than predicted. They were already done and plastered. So we had to either demo out that beautiful plaster hearth/bench or just scrap the built-in idea altogether. If we demoed the benches it would’ve made them much shorter (and almost awkwardly small) and caused a huge delay. So “scrap-it” we did.

Don’t be sad. I’m not. Those would have cost $2500 each at least to execute and ultimately it wasn’t necessary (plus we were done, like physically, spiritually, emotionally and financially DONE with the renovation of this house). You guys didn’t want more custom stuff done here, and we were right there with you. We’d employed the more ‘make it work’ style of decorating which is far more my style.

The day that we moved in it looked like this:

And by the time we left we had lived in it more, added a rug and some makeshift storage.

It’s such a happy room now, guys, I can’t even explain to you. The light is GREAT. That fireplace is so warm (and on a remote that is so easy and effective) and while it looks like the TV is high the sofa is far enough away (and so low and deep) that it is absolutely not too high. Plus I had been hoarding that Frame TV since I did that partnership a year and a half ago. I was SO excited to put it up there and BOY, boy boy boy boy I can’t explain to you enough how amazing it is to have a smart TV that turns into a lovely piece of art 22 hours a day (not automatic, but this is the house that the kids don’t watch TV). IS it a bit big for that fireplace? Maybe, but it doesn’t bother me AT ALL.

The rug was from the Portland living room and it’s so soft and cozy and disguises the occasional play-doh and food. Full disclosure, wool rugs SHED, so be prepared for that. It stops after months of vacuuming and wear, but just know that its normal.

The plaster turned out so pretty (and makes me want to do the entire living room fireplace in the same plaster), and while those benches were meant for seating we’ve found that there are enough places to sit besides the benches and the kids use them more to play.

To note: our architect at the beginning didn’t like the idea of those windows because they didn’t really look out onto anything pretty – the stairs to the upper deck (on the left) and an empty lot. But I’m so glad we put them in. The natural light is worth the slightly less perfect view you get.

Had we known the ‘flanking cabinet’ plan wouldn’t work we would have probably spread out those windows to be more even in the room or enlarged them but they are centered above the benches and it HONESTLY doesn’t bother me. Only in those photos did I actually even notice it.

Ok … next wall …

In lieu of the cabinets we are going to do what I like to do most – a credenza vignette. This is probably one of the only walls in the entire house that can actually have a large storage piece with art and lamps. The easel might stay and our ‘store’ might stay or move locations and head up to the play attic. Regardless along that wall will be a piece of storage to house the games, puzzles, and toys that our kids need to pull out and destroy the room. When they are older we will likely make this more of a game room with less toys. But as they are small they still want to play near their parents, so the legos will be housed here.

That flooring from Ross Alan Reclaimed Lumber is just ridiculous. Those scenic doors from Marvin are stupid good.

As of now there isn’t a CHANCE that we are putting logs under the benches. Might we for a shoot at some point? Maybe. But not for real life (I like to give myself outs and disclaimers on future Emily ideas at all times). It’s a room for our kids and us and not for the bugs and bark that logs attract and shed.

I have such a love and hate relationship with storage, but since this house has ample closets I’m going to TRY to not have any exposed hooks or areas that give permission in which to house a pile of coats. For the winter I might put a coat rack where the lamp is, but it pains me to look at it. I’m also considering a shoe org situation on that left wall, but I actually would much prefer a pretty basket. I really want the kids to hang up their own coats, but unless I provide low hooks for them I can’t expect them to. I feel like all I’m doing all day long is picking up after them and the common disease of ‘house pride’ is enflamed when I’m up there. I just want this house to be clean and uncluttered and piles of coats, gloves, shoes and hats drives me MAD. So I’m basically hanging them up all day every day. If anyone has an idea of how to provide warmth for my children outside without clutter inside that would be great. I’m considering medical surgery to seasonally attach coats/hats/gloves on their limbs and head (towels and swimsuits in the summer) to ensure that I don’t have to pick them up and put them away all day every day. We live in LA, surely there is a plastic surgeon for that.

There is a hall closet in the  hallway (duh) so maybe I should put a lower rod that they can reach and insist on them hanging them up all day every day. One of my best friends from Oregon was in town with her two boys last year and the second they come into a house they remove their shoes immediately and place them nicely. I was FLOORED by this, until I realized that if/when you live in a muddy climate “shoes off” isn’t an option (should it ever be?). So how can I brainwash my children (I’m pretty sure that’s called “parenting” and “teaching”) them to always hang up their coats, bags, hat, gloves and shoes??

Larger conversation, I know. But it was driving me NUTS over the break and last weekend …. just piles of clothes EVERYWHERE.

Anyway, part of the process of designing this space was me wondering if we should just use pieces that we already have and not get everything all new. So I asked Julie to pull together some mood boards with some options. These are in Keynote (it’s a Mac program we use before we take the time to put into Photoshop and make them look nice).

She sent through some options with what we had, but maybe changing a few things.

The above is a lot of what we already have … with the addition of the credenza and a faux tree. Yes, I’m joining the faux tree trend. Do you think I can possibly own a tree after TREE-GATE at my Glendale house? The one that dripped sap over all my furniture and created more guilt than any child ever has? Nay. It’s a weekend house, meant to reduce my stress not add more of it.

She played with different rugs and coffee tables, and I liked some of them but not enough to change out what we already had.

You are hilarious, Julie, what with your ‘white sofa’ proposal. Although so very pretty, my sticky fingered children would promptly destroy it. Also those shaker baskets are my favorite but at $90 a pop, I dare say that multiples of them aren’t happening to house my kid’s garbage, I mean “toys”.

The only real thing up for debate is the credenza, but I think I know what we want to do. But for the sake of debate here are all the credenzas we were thinking about.

1. Oak Ligna Sideboard | 2. Lap 2 Door / 2 Drawer Credenza | 3. Bios Sideboard | 4. Shale 2 Drawer / 2 Door Dresser | 5. Mid Century Modern Style Eclectic Credenza | 6. Industrial Storage Media Console | 7. Grove Storage Cabinets | 8. Audrey Woven Media Console | 9. Nelson Credenza | 10. Rochdale Credenza | 11. Natural Wood Media Console | 12. Kinley Media Cabinets

Thoughts? Feelings? Opinions? The family room is good as-is, but I’d love any and all ideas on how to make it better. xx

The post Mountain House Mondays: Where We Are With The Family Room appeared first on Emily Henderson.

Link Up: New Furniture, Podcasts And A Controversial Design Material…

photo source

Getting snowed in last Monday at the mountain house wasn’t exactly the way I envisioned starting this past week. I’ve been living in sunny LA 10 years and was TOTALLY unprepared to be side railed by “actual” weather. But after Brian came to our rescue (all three adults and SIX children) I was able to jump into a pretty awesome week of two shoots and more book location scouting. Dare I say that is one of the best parts of writing a design book…peeking into incredibly beautiful and well thought-out homes. Yeah, it’s heaven. But right now it’s Sunday and the only thing on my agenda is cuddling, relaxing and sharing my and the team’s interesting and thoughtful finds of the week. Please enjoy this weeks linkup with a coffee in hand. Feel permission to put on a cartoon for your kids or partner.

In case you missed it, my friend Victoria Smith aka SF Girl By Bay just launched her awesome furniture and collab with The Inside. It’s full of fun patterns and color and I can’t wait to get my hands on it. Victoria also has an AWESOME, very well curated online vintage shop that you should most definitely check out.

I know This American Life is an old podcast but I love it and have listened. This episode is SO good. I’m a sucker for a good coincidence story – the first one is cute about two HS friends, but there’s one very serendipitous love story in the middle involving a $1 bill (is this what inspired the movie Serendipity??) It’s happy and feel-good, go listen!

Speaking of the magic of podcasts…Jess has already ordered the book Dark Horse: Achieving Success Through the Pursuit of Fulfillment. After listening to Ryann’s high praises of the podcast, Armchair Expert hosted by Dax Shepard and Monica Padman, she heard an interview they did with the author and completely identified with the subject matter. Shouldn’t we all value fulfillment over “success”?

Now JanSTEWary may be technically over but we have not stopped cooking…or souping. Arlyn (avid chef) has a bunch of amazing cooking tool recommendations (stay tuned for that post) but in her opinion, this 10-piece glass mixing bowl set is an absolute kitchen staple (she uses them nearly every day).

As I said, I have not given up on soup because it’s basically my favorite thing to consume. #feBROTHuary:) With this love going strong I’ve made this insanely easy instant pot recipe three times in the last two weeks.

This week’s home tour comes to you via one of our favorite Australian design sites, The Design Files. They featured a completely elegant yet super playful converted warehouse that embodies our “perfection is boring, let’s get weird” motto.

Arlyn is obsessed with Drunk Elephant products, and recently discovered their gel cleanser which she was suspicious about whether it would fully take off her makeup, but it ACTUALLY worked to take off a full face of makeup without making her feel too squeaky and dry. Overall review: It’s nice and balancing, removes makeup well and doesn’t have an overpowering fragrance, PLUS this brand is cruelty-free!!

Speaking of elephants, Water For Elephants came out in 2006 but it’s STILL Michael’s favorite book. He told me he used to buy copies and just give them out to everyone he knew as a “just because” gift. Kind of a genius and thoughtful gift idea, right? It’s a magical story with romance, drama, humor and one very special elephant that’s set in a backdrop of a traveling circus in the 1930s.

On a trip last fall Julie was having some travel anxiety and picked up the Herb Pharm Anxiety Soother at a store. At first, she thought it was just a placebo effect but now uses it about once a week. You just add one dropper amount to a glass of water or juice but warning, it has a very potent lavender taste/smell so you must like that or proceed with caution. It’s a great natural alternative. 

Jess promises she doesn’t only read articles that make her cry and is a VERY happy person but this beautiful article that was featured of Cup of Jo is a must read in her opinion. This letter, written by Julie Yip-Williams, to her young daughters about how she wants them to move through life post her dying is nothing if not inspiring, truthful and ultimately comforting…especially if you have experienced a loss.

My favorite Target mules (I have the mustard and bone colors and half of the team also have pairs) came out with a black and cognac color. Thank you Target (and Grace, for alerting me). You bet we are all hitting Add to Cart.

Have you seen Maxwell’s house in House Beautiful? (founder of Apartment Therapy) I stumbled upon in, not knowing it was his and I said to myself ‘this looks like a better version of my style’. So fun to find out that its indeed a friend of mine’s and boy is there a lot of inspiration to gleam.

One of our design crushes is betting that this controversial material is making a comeback…thoughts?

Thanks for letting us be a part of your Sunday. Hope you laughed, cried and maybe got a little inspired.

Goodbye Sweet JanSTEWary and Hello To What’s On My Body This Week

Well, we all kinda felt that it was time to move on from JanSTEWary mostly because the only word we could come up with for the next month was FebSTEWary and it would cheapen what was a run of pretty super puns (see how I DIDN’T go there?). What we get DM’d the most is ‘where is that shirt from, where are your pants from?’ etc, so on Saturdays for a while, we’ll show what I put on my body. These are not perfectly curated outfits that are meant for hundreds of thousands to see, but they are what I chose because likely they are comfortable, flattering and feel like me.

I do wish that I would take more risks, but well, I clearly didn’t this week. So here it goes …

Monday:

Sweatshirt (similar) | Sweatpants | UGGs

It’s rather unfortunate that we are starting out this series with that “outfit”. Way to really hit you with my fashion force. But my team was like ‘no you have to include it’ and I obliged. On Monday we traveled back from the mountain house in this showstopper. I can’t wash the sweats fast enough (I should probably own two pairs) because I wear them most mornings, to bed, and a lot of the weekend, only opting for a different pair if they are in the laundry. Why? Because they don’t cut in at the waist or crotch, and are extremely soft and not unflattering (that lump on the side was just how I was standing that created a ripple in them) Most of Lou and Gray’s clothes are super soft, by the way. The Great sweatshirt was sent to me and at first I was like, ‘am I doing the daisy trend?’ But I wear it a lot, so I guess I am. And my friend Suzanne gave me her hand me down UGGs which I put on every morning, night and weekends much to Brian’s dismay.

Tuesday:

Blazer (similar) | Free People Ripped White V Neck Shirt | Universal Thread Pants (similar) | Nisolo Chelsea Boot | Giving Keys Necklace (similar)

I got my act together on Tuesday and threw on a blazer to assert my professional ‘bossness’. That blazer is my favorite (slim arms, but oversized in legnth) and the pants are from Target and strangely slimming. I wear a lot of Nisolo shoes as you can tell, and these are my current favorites because they are comfortable and I love how the pointy toe is more flattering, making your leg look longer. I bought that Free People shirt in 3 colors and for the record Brian Henderson really likes it (it’s a ripped up, kinda see-through low-V-neck so nobody is shocked here).

Wednesday:

Free People Baggy Boyfriend Overalls | Free People Ripped V Neck Shirt | Nisolo Oxfords | Giving Keys Necklace (similar)

Speaking of …same shirt, different color. This time with my new favorite ‘shoot’ overalls. These overalls are perfect for being on set because they are roomy and have lots of pockets, but are still cool (and very comfortable). I wore them with my other favorite Nisolo shoes but I think that some sneakers would have probably looked better. A fun fact about me is that I don’t believe in laces. In case you are an investigative reporter and you remember my new The Great shoes from last week I will confess you are right, I have ONE pair of shoes that have laces, but the joke is that I make my best friend/neighbor (who works at The Great) tie them for me often. I just don’t have time or patience for laces. If I went to therapy (WHY DO I NOT GO TO THERAPY??) This would be a pretty easy thing to dissect. Or maybe I just want to dress like a a pre-schooler, in play clothes.

Thursday:

Madewell Sweater (similar) | Nili Lotan Pant | Madewell Denim Top (similar) | Leather Belt Bag (similar) | Nisolo Mules

Well, sadly almost none of them are available, but that is a VERY typical “Emily” outfit. Chambray/navy/drop crotch/camel mules/and a bit of “funk” what with the fanny pack. P.S. That was and is my only Clare V. and I do in fact love it. I feel like it really makes a boring outfit look more high end.

Friday:

Lace Top (similar) | Viggos Jagger Ripped Skinny Jeans | Nisolo Chelsea Boot

That shirt is from Urban Outfitters last year and those pants are my new weekend stretchy ‘I’m not jeggings but I feel like jeggings’ set. I’m looking TIRED but good. Again with the Chelsea Boot – promoting my almost flawless lace free record for the week.

Oh and I topped it off with this vintage Japanese canvas coat from the flea market that is reversible. Which side do you like more? #teamplaid

Now to show you that I can actually care, here’s proof:

Dress (similar) | Shoes (similar) | Clutch (similar) | Karen Murrell Lipstick

Brian’s play that he was in last year, Cry It Out, was nominated (AND WON!!) for the Ovation Awards which is kinda the Tony’s for LA. It was at the Ace Hotel and ‘Black Tie’, so we obviously wore navy (accidentally matched) and Brian looked VERY handsome. That dress is from Ulla Johnson last year and I wear it on every special occasion (I really need a new one). It was a splurge so I’m VERY glad that I’ve gotten so much use out of it.

So that’s it. Every day I put clothes on my body and maybe by doing this series I’ll even try to put on more current clothes that are available, even better and more interesting. Or maybe not….

7 Tips For Creating A Unique Home You REALLY Love

If you love vintage things and going to the flea market, you are not alone. Michael, our newest team member is OBSESSED with them. In fact, for years I would run into him at the Rose Bowl, he would stop me and we’d chat all things blog and flea. He has also been showing up at all things EHD for nearly a decade like volunteering at the rummage sale and helping at the shelter holiday decorating event. Naturally, after all those run-ins we became friendly. Every now and again he would tip me off on some new social media app that came out. He was always so supportive and made me feel like someone was actually reading and learning from this blog. Cut to last year when we were desperate for help in all things communication and he texted me saying, ‘how about me?’ Not only did he have a ton of experience (13 years in digital marketing alone, which is basically since the beginning of the internet) but he’s read the blog every single morning for eight years. So as Brian put it after our 2-hour interview, “Woah, that guy is uniquely qualified to work for the blog”. If you think I just hired a yes man, it’s actually often the opposite. He reminds me why people read and have read this blog for years and even shuts down ideas that he thinks are just not what you (the readers) want. He quickly dubbed himself our “Fan Ambassador,” (I like ‘Reader ambassador’ more) telling us what he thinks you want, need, and most importantly how things will be interpreted, or misinterpreted, etc. He’s already campaigned for things like the return of Craigslists finds, DIY projects and more thrift store excursions which I’m so happy we are doing because frankly, it’s all I want to be doing. We’ll get into that in a separate post but boy is it fun to have a one-person-focus-group actually on staff – and I LOVE hearing about what surprises him most being on the inside after watching from the outside for years (hot tip: we make it look really easy). If you want him to write about it, leave it in the comments (maybe we’ll do it on stories?). But for now, it’s time to let Michael take it away. P.S. You should know that Michael is literally the most enthusiastic person I’ve ever met, so if you think his excitement is faux, we promise it’s not. Head to insta stories to meet him in person:) Take it away, Michael.

Hi readers! First off—and I’m not joking—this is an ACTUAL BUCKET LIST dream of mine coming true. As Emily mentioned, I’ve read this blog every day for eight years and I couldn’t help but wonder/have daydreams of channeling my inner Carrie Bradshaw and writing something for this blog…and now HERE I AM?! Over a year ago, I cooked up the idea (long before I ever worked here) to pen a story about “Everything I Know About Design, I Learned From This Blog.” That’s what I get to write about today in my EHD debut…dreams happen, people. And I bet a lot of you have learned tips, too, that I’m hoping you’ll share in the comments once you hear my seven that I’ve applied to my house over the years. (Sidenote: is it me or do we look like Amish siblings in that photo?)

How To Design A Pass-Through Room – REVEAL – The Portland Family Room

A “pass-through room” with lots of doors is a layout nightmare for anyone, including this designer. Welcome to the family room reveal of the Portland Project – otherwise known as the hardest room in this house to design, where we spent HOURS upon HOURS laying out, deciding on scale and location of furniture – until all of a sudden … it worked. This room needed to function as the family hang out room – fine, easy, we know how to do that. The kids can hang out while dinner is being prepped, with the option for a TV (wired above the fireplace but here is hidden by art), and yet it is a pass-through room between the kitchen and the dining room, smack dab in the middle of the house with 3 doors that had the annoying task of ‘swinging’ which takes up even more real estate. Sure we could have turned this into a dining room and boy did we consider it, but then there would be two sitting rooms next to each other (a living room and a family room), which could have worked but we made a choice. And now I’m so glad that we did.

The biggest problem was that the sofa had no obvious place to go. None. In order for someone to watch tv, it obviously needed to face the TV. We even thought about two facing sofas, to create a cozy area and you could lay down facing the TV to watch it. It just wasn’t obvious and it was driving us a little nuts.

Now since we are here to help you learn from our experience, we came up with some very useful tips for designing a pass-through room. This way you won’t have to go through the agony we did.

Find The Right Sofa

Once in the space, we decided that in order to make it a pass-through room and for someone to watch TV it needed to be shoved against the wall. Just floating it would be too close to the TV (as it had to be high to accommodate the indoor-outdoor fireplace which made the TV higher).

My brother even reacted saying, uh, aren’t you NOT supposed to shove a sofa against a wall, and while you aren’t supposed to in big rooms, of course in smaller spaces it’s often only what makes sense and totally works.

In order for that sofa to make sense against the wall it needed to be deep, cozy and low – it couldn’t be this high backed, shallow, fussy settee – we needed to make sure its purpose was known – to create a seating area, anchored by this flop down-able sofa in which to watch TV. It was the right scale for where we needed it to be and trust me when I say it’s one of the most comfortable sofas in which I’ve ever sat in – yet with low clean lines. EVERYONE loved it (including the buyer). It’s from Lulu and Georgia and I seriously considered it for the mountain house 95 times. The big cozy rug is from Lulu and Georgia as well and it’s the perfect amount of ‘busy’ that hides some dirt while still feeling light and airy. I’m very much considering this one as well for the mountain house.

Ovals Are Your Friend

Ok sure, we’ve figured the sofa problem but then what do we do about the rest of the room? It still needs to be a pass-through and we didn’t want to just have a sofa against a wall, we needed a coffee table and some other chairs to create a seating area. When choosing a coffee table we chose an oval shape for a reason. Hard corners like the evil “rectangle” take up more space, whereas an oval usually provides the same function, but with the ability to go around it, thus creating a better “flow”.

We did consider a couple different shape options – a cluster of smaller round tables – could be nesting or a round table with a pouf. Ultimately they were no-gos.

The winner was this Thomas Moser piece and boy is it a beaut. The oval shape was truly perfect. It was long enough to be the right scale with the sofa, but narrow so it allows space to walk and no one is getting bruised by hard corners.

Vary Weight And Texture Of Furniture

This is something specific that I’ve found I have done over and over and over, and works even in non-pass-through rooms. It’ my favorite sofa/chair combo – the upholstered sofa with the more sculptural leather and wood armchairs. These chairs are a great medium scale but are visually light because of the open arms. This really helps make the space feel open and breezy. Now the texture of the leather takes it from basic to more high end and special. The pretty detailing on the wood arms and curved back also help make it special. HOT TIP: Leather/wood + linen and fully upholstered is a winning furniture formula.

And yes, your chairs can have their backs to the TV. You can still have a conversation area in your TV room and in fact, this is a GREAT way to take the importance away from the TV. The future family of this house has an additional media room so this wasn’t where multiple families were going to watch TV. So it’s ok that those two chairs are faced away from the TV.

Don’t Crowd The Space

Once we had the layout it all came together. You could pass on both sides of the coffee table as well as behind the chairs. That in and of itself is a HOT TIP. Make sure you can walk between your furniture pieces. You will be so happy that you didn’t crowd your room, making it feel like it’s closing in on you.

I can’t say enough about the ‘see-through’ fireplace. It’s actually an indoor/outdoor fireplace (I stole it for the mountain house and it’s WONDERFUL) – it pumps hot air both ways, which means that you can sit outside in the winter. I will say in order to make it actually warm out there it has to be up really high which is loud, so at the mountain house we have it on pretty low and its perfect for inside and great for more spring/summer nights when it’s chilly but not FREEZING. But the big design win of this piece is that it makes your room feel SO MUCH bigger and open. If you have the ability to add one of these puppies into your home, do it.

Let’s take a second to dive a little deeper into the rest of the fireplace. We used Ann Sacks tile and Metrie moulding to design the fireplace, and we had to limit the mantle in order for a TV to actually fit on top without it being too high. Having that fireplace definitely limited the design as there needed to be 6″ of non-combustible space on each side of the fireplace. But at the same time, we wanted it high enough to actually see out of when you are sitting on a sofa – almost like another window. It was tricky for sure.

We debated hard about whether or not to put a TV up there to make sure that people knew it was all wired and possible – so they could see their lives (and we would likely put it on a mount that could lean down and angle left and right). But ultimately we had so much art (by MaryAnn Puls and Jennifer Urquhart) that looked so good, so it just seemed painful to me to put a big black TV where we could put art and we didn’t have a budget for The Frame TV, sadly.

Lastly, that fan was everyone’s favorite – my brother wouldn’t stop talking about it so if you are in the market for an attractive ceiling fan, I highly recommend that one.

There you go. The Portland casual family room reveal (did you see the basement media room?). It ended up being a room that we spent a LOT of time in and loved. It is casual and comfortable, but felt “intentional” and done well. In the above photo, I believe we cheated the chairs in so you could see all of them, but there really was enough space to live, walk and hang in this ever-so-challenging pass-through room.

A couple quick call outs of things I LOVE – that black vessel from Mantel by Bobbie Specker Ceramics (I bought it actually and had it shipped down), that wood side table by Vince Skelley from The Good Mod is insane. It was $750 otherwise I would have bought it and lastly, that blanket (not available. SO SAD) is one that I have used one million times because it’s just the perfect amount of pattern in a sophisticated way.

If you are interested in the products we used get out the ‘Get the Look’ below:

1. Abstract Art by Mia Farrington | 2. Throw Pillow | 3. Pillow Cover | 4. Pillow Cover by Rejuvenation | 5. LED Ceiling Fan by Rejuvenation | 6. French Doors by Milgard | 7. Floor Lamp from Schoolhouse Electric | 8. Sofa | 9. Rug | 10. Coffee Table by Thos. Moser | 11. Wood Sculpture via The Good Mod | 12. End Table from Room and Board | 13. Vessel by Bobbie Specker Ceramics from Mantel | 14. Metal Trays (set of 3) | 15. End Table from Room and Board | 16. Leather Chair from Room and Board | 17. Lumbar Pillow (similar)| 18. Banded Stripe Pillow | 19. Throw Blanket by Rejuvenation | 20. Marble Sculpture | 21. Stone Sphere Object | 22. Abstract Art by MaryAnn Puls | 23. Painting by Jennifer Urquhart | 24. House Painting by Jennifer Urquhart | 25. Crown Moulding by Metrie | 26. Candle Holders via Mantel | 27. Wood Flooring by Hallmark Floors | 28. Indoor/Outdoor Fireplace by Montigo | 29. Window & Door Casing by Metrie | Baseboard by Metrie | 31. Oyster White by Sherwin-Williams | 32. Pure White by Sherwin-Williams | 33. Fireplace Surround by Ann Sacks | 34. Fireplace Hearth by Bedrosian Tile

 

***Photography by Sara Tramp for EHD

Design and styling by Emily Henderson and Brady Tolbert (and team). JP Macy of Sierra Custom Homes was the General Contractor, and Annie Usher and the architect.

 

***For anyone following along with the Portland Reveals, make sure you didn’t miss out on any:

Living Room | Master Bedroom | Master Bathroom | Foyer & Staircase | Office | Kitchen | Mudroom | Powder Bath | Dining Room | Upstairs Hall Bathroom | Guest Bedrooms | Laundry | Media Room | Downstairs Bathroom

The post How To Design A Pass-Through Room – REVEAL – The Portland Family Room appeared first on Emily Henderson.

Design Mistakes: How Not to Design a Boring Neutral Room

photo by tessa neustadt | from: mel’s living room reveal

***written by Arlyn Hernandez

We all know someone (heck, some of you might be that person) who is annoyingly effortless. You spend 2 hours getting ready for a night out with a friend trying to avoid looking like you crawled out of a dumpster, and just when you start feeling a little good about your vibe, nonchalantly catching glances of yourself in your rearview mirror on the drive over, you get to your meet up spot and realize you look like the Hamburglar compared to that person. How do they do it? Are your genes that much more garbage than theirs (thanks, mom)? Maybe she’s born with it, maybe it’s actually Maybelline? I’m not here to tell you how they do it, but what I am here to report is that your friend—the one who makes you think they just threw on some ol’ thing, tousled their hair and swiped on some Chapstick—is lying to you. Well, that is if your friend was a neutral room. THAT WAS A STRETCH, HUH? But for real, they relate. Keep reading, folks, because it’s about to get helpful.

Neutral/beige rooms aren’t as “effortless” as they look. In fact, they’re kind of an oxymoron in that most people go this route because it’s “easy”…beige goes with beige, after all, right? It’s not necessarily a difficult feat, but it’s not as simple as just buying everything in the same shade of off-white. There’s a reason beige gets a bad rap and is synonymous with lackluster or uninspired rooms. B is for beige…is for boring. Really good neutral rooms all share similar qualities, including the right balance of texture, tones and a sprinkling of je ne sais quoi (we’re about to dive deeper into all of that, promise).

In fact, when done right, it feels nearly masterful. I’m all for color, but some hue-deficient rooms are done so well that they can take your breath away. You envision what it would be like to live in a home that’s so visually light…I mean, just look at Mel’s previous apartment up there. She couldn’t possibly ever have a bad day in there right? Never once did she argue with her mom about posting a well-intentioned super unflattering photo of her on Facebook. In a room like this, bad photos don’t exist, so said fight would NEVER happen to begin with…

Let’s jump to the “tip” and “educate” portion of this blog post before I start making other unnecessary comparisons, shall we? So, the seven talking points to follow are key elements we pulled out of studying dozens and dozens of photos of successful neutral rooms.

1. Varied wood tones
image source | design by saaranha & vasconcelos

You’re going to notice that a common thread in all the rooms we’re showing you is variety, be that in tones of textiles, finishes and, for this point, wood. Successful neutral rooms need depth and complexity to be special, so picking everything in a matchy-matchy shade will fall flat (unless you have some other factors, which we’ll get into). Here, in this room I wish I could move right into at the very least for a long weekend, you’ll notice that there are both deeper rich tones (like the sweet chair in the background), middle shades from the coffee table, trays and rattan armchair, and some lighter finishes via the bench holding up the art.

2. Mixed shades of beige, white and other neutrals
image source | design by m. elle

Remember that time (45 seconds ago, depending on how fast you read) I mentioned varied tones of basically everything is crucial to a good neutral room? I was serious. This room by M. Elle works so well because of the subtle variations. The walls are a nice crisp white, then a few shades down are the sofa and armchair in a nice creamy hue. The wood tones of the shelving, coffee table and floors are all pretty similar (all which add some really nice warmth), but are separated by the toffee rug. Once that foundation is set, it’s easy to layer in all the extras that bring in some life (pillows, trays, decor, curtains, art…), and kept in a quiet palette, they just perfectly meld into the scheme like butter on a warm biscuit. It’s like the “no makeup” makeup look of interior design.

image source | design by tamara magel

The varied hues don’t even have to be that severely different, as showcased in this bedroom. The walls and bedding are a bit brighter than those buttery curtains that are just barely a shade lighter than the knit poufs, which are a touch lighter than the rug (it just has darker stripes throughout that tricks the eye a little).

3. A touch of black or metallic (or both)
image source | design by Alyssa Kapito

Look, a touch of black will ALWAYS be a welcomed addition to a room. It’s grounding, adds depth, draws the eye…it’s interior design panacea, and it absolutely has a place in a mostly beige room for all the same reasons. Here, in a room by Alyssa Kapito that feels like a deep breath personified, the painted black fireplace surround, the…tooth (??) stools and the peppering of matte black via lamps and vases help the eye to move around the rather one-note cream colors.

image source | design by erin fetherston and Consort

The home of Erin Fetherston has always given me palpitations. Mostly because it’s the type of room I could likely never put together because I swear up and down I only want to live in a home with lots of patterns and colors, but then in my heart of hearts, I realize maybe I don’t want that at all? I’m a very complex person who knows nothing about her own true desires. Actually, I’m polyamorous when it comes to interior design and would gladly take many aesthetic “wives” if I could, BUT back to why this room works. It has a lot of the elements we’ve already talked about (and will talk about): varied wood tones, texture, a touch of pattern and, last but not least a bit of black and brass. These provide much-needed contrast and tension in an otherwise quiet room and this is CRUCIAL to neutral spaces. Do I need to say it louder for the seats in the back? Write this one down.

image source | design by tamara magel

The same thing goes for this room in a home by Tamara Magel. The addition of the black door frames, pillows, coffee table frame and aged brass chandelier and sconces really add such richness and depth that would otherwise be absent here.

4. Interesting shapes and silhouettes
image source | design by emmanuel de bayser

Sure, this room screams I HAVE A TON OF EXPENDABLE INCOME TO BUY CUSTOM AND DESIGNER FURNISHINGS…AND SHEEP! But there are still everyday lessons to be pulled from the Berlin home of Emmanuel de Bayser. When your palette is this pared down, something has to provide visual intrigue. In this case, it’s the rounded and sculptural seating as well as that sinuous coffee table that makes your eyes buzz. It’s like a DING DING DING, this room is interesting. Now, you don’t need an entire room full of insanely expensive furniture, but try to bring in at least two or three things that break the monotony a bit, whether it’s a funky armchair or a super special grouping of side tables.

image source

While that last room was basically a work of art, this shot proves that you really need just a handful of “interesting” items to bring a neutral room to life. Here, that knot pillow, the zig-zaggy sconce and the rustic milking stool take a simple vignette to the next level.

5. Tons of texture
photo by sara tramp | from: brady’s living room refresh with the citizenry

When Brady refreshed his living room last year, he went way more beige and neutral than in his previous reveal. He kept it interesting by bringing in so much texture via the rug (which was already there), slipcovered sofa, and that chunky knit throw and pillows. They’re all in relatively the same shade, but it doesn’t feel stagnant because of all the other elements (black, metallics, wood).

image source | design by Erin Fetherston and Consort

This is such a simple, quiet space that I’ve loved since the moment I saw it. The mix of linen, mud cloth, rattan, caning and seagrass comes together in an insanely lovely and welcoming marriage.

image source | design by tamara magel

This is the third Tamara Magel room we’ve shown in this post, but well, she knows what she’s doing when it comes to neutrals. This shot sings because of the delicate balance of textures between the threading and wood of the dining chairs, the nubby rug, the plush animal skins (which I don’t suspect are faux, but really hope are at least vintage??), and the grain of the table top and ceilings. So quiet, yet it screams of success.

6. A subtle layer of soft color or a statement pattern (but just a little)
image by Alison Bernier | from: a warm scandi inspired house

When you have a pretty neutral backdrop, even the littlest bit of color and pattern will sing, like the Rebecca Atwood pillow and peach throw in Samantha Gluck’s living room.

image source | design by josh young design house

Excuse me while I have a bit of a fangirl moment over Josh Young’s Chicago apartment. It’s homes like his that make me want to cross over to the neutral side (though I know I say that but don’t fully mean it because I am who I am). There’s so much to look at here, but it doesn’t feel cluttered because of the soft, colorless palette. However, it’s those wild tiger-print pillows that take this from sophisticated and lovely to a bit edgier and…younger? Sometimes all it takes is a little out-of-the-box pattern, people.

7. Architectural interest certainly helps
image source | design by kerry vasquez

And finally, we get to something that is likely quite hard to help for most people, unless you plan on moving or renovating, and that’s architectural detail. Designer Kerry Vasquez’s LA home is such an effortlessly pretty study in neutrals, but let’s get real…the domed ceilings, original fireplace tile and woodwork (which you’re not seeing in this photo, but it’s there), add that much-needed sprinkle of character. This is not to say to run out and find a new place to live should you be paying rent or a mortgage in a detail-less tract home or basic apartment, BUT if you are so lucky as to live in a home with some original detailing or spectacular moldings/built-ins/ceilings/etc., remember that that’s nearly enough to carry an entire room without having to bring in a crayon box of color.

So, that’s how you build a really fantastic neutral room. Beige can be beautiful and interesting and full of character, and hopefully now you have the treasure map to that design bounty. Oh also, we want to keep working on Design Mistakes for you guys, so please share in the comments below what specific topics that we haven’t already covered you guys want to read about. We’re an open book!

The post Design Mistakes: How Not to Design a Boring Neutral Room appeared first on Emily Henderson.