DreamDesignLive's Blog

Being from Southern Virginia, growing up I was surrounded by plaids, toiles, heavy florals and the colors of Ralph Lauren and the big bow aesthetic of Laura Ashley.  As such, my initial design style was indicative of my roots–traditional, heavy and very layered (like a toned-down Calico Corners ad).  Through the years, my style has morphed and changed many times. Today I find that I desire more of an eclectic design style where antiques are mixed with mid-century modern pieces, acrylic, and asian-inspired pieces with both white lacquer and dark woods. 

Little by little through the years, I have been reworking my old south design aesthetic to update it with who I am today.   One of the rooms in my home that was in desperate need of a makeover is my den.  The purpose of this small space off my kitchen is to provide TV viewing, a conversation area, storage and a workspace for various projects.  Over the past few months I have totally redesigned this space, transforming it from a dull, heavy, traditional space to a modern and sleek space with vibrant colors and hues.  Now that the transformation is almost complete (we are about a month away from the final results), I’d like to share what I’ve selected for the space.   When it is finished, I will definitely show the before and after shots so that you can see the amazing transformation. For now, here are some parts and pieces of my space:

First let’s start with my inspiration for the room–this dining room by Jonathan Adler. 

The green of the chairs became my wall color, the turquoise blue in the drapes is my pillow and chair fabric, the black and white zig-zag rug is very similar to the one I purchased for my space, the white in the walls is found in my leather sofa and cabinets, and the black of the doors is found in one of my sofa pillows as well as the rug. The other item I added to my space is zebra wood door fronts on my media cabinet. I absolutely LOVE this palette!!!

Here are the core colors.  Pale Avocado from Benjamin Moore (the Natura line with no VOCs) is my wall color. I can’t wait to share it via photos. 

My color palette: dark brown, light and bright greens, turquoise, black and white.

BLUE/GREEN: I have been on a blue/green kick, so those are my main accent colors. The green shows up in my wall color, pillows, ottoman and throw. The blue, which is more like a turquoise, appears in pillows and a beautiful Julian Chichester chair that I bought at market this spring.

WHITE: White is a big part of my room. I went with a white leather Natuzzi sofa (below), white entertainment center (with two zebra accent doors) and white desk and shelving. Hence, most of the major furniture pieces in the room are white. My window treatment panels will also be white and simple, with fun and funky black trim along the border.

BLACK: Black is an accent color used in pillows and trim. It will also show up in black upholstery nail heads that will be used when I recover my ottoman (still on the to-do list!). Finally, it appears in my rug, which is black and white with a cool chevron pattern.

DARK BROWN: The dark brown/dark zebra wood is a warm addition to my space that cuts the contrasts among the other colors while it also adds a new pattern. I recently had new hardwood flooring put in my den in this dark brown (Mirage).  Other browns appear mainly in my two zebra doors on the entertainment center and on the legs of my Julian Chichester chair.  I will share a photo of the chair in the final post. 

Here is an example of another room with a similar color palette - love the energy!

Here are a few of the fabrics that I will be using in the room for various pillows, window treatments and the ottoman. There is a lot of texture in these fabrics, which will stand out dramatically against my white leather sofa.  I also added trim throughout as the space is small and needs a little subtle “umf” to make it sparkle. 

This is brighter in person, but as you can see, this is a great turquoise fabric that has tons of texture! It will be used to make pillows.

This black Duralee fabric is textured with a velvety floral design and will be used for pillows.

This Osborne & Little fabric, also floral and velvety, is bright green and turquoise. It completes the series of textured pillow fabrics and will be trimmed out with beading for the Julian Chichester chair.

On to Furniture and Accessories…

Here is the Natuzzi Echo sofa that I bought. My version has two seats and a chaise lounge - not the whole sectional pictured above (my space is too small). I love this sofa for its low-profile lines, adjustable headrests and reclining seats - it is really comfy and a great place for the doggies and me to relax!

Another shot of the Natuzzi showing the headrests. What a nice feature!

Working from my inspiration room, I found this great black and white chevron rug, which goes well with my couch and accent trims. It sure adds visual interest to the floor and helps pull the room together! Love it!!!

Last weekend I installed this light fixture, replacing the asian-inspired one that was in the space. My chiropractor is not happy with the effect the installation has had on my neck and back, but I certainly love the aesthetic this fixture brings to the space. I originally wanted a Dale Chihuly inspired fixture, but didn't like the price tag. So, this cool, sleek fixture (which was less than $400) is a great alternative. Wait til you see it!!! It adds just the right amount of sparkle in the space--like my own private ice-cycles.

I found this desk at West Elm. It definitely continues the idea of 'blank canvas' that was started with my sofa (and ends with my entertainment center). It is simple and white like many of my pieces, which makes it a subtle statement when seen with the rest of the room. And, because it is white lacquer, it makes the room look larger than it is and helps balance the new dark walnut Mirage hardwood flooring.

Now for the entertainment center. It is also white - surprised?! You shouldn't be! This is not the exact version I purchased because I added two small zebra wood doors below the TV portion, but otherwise it is pretty darn close to what I got. It is finished in a high gloss white lacquer, which is kind of hard to see here.

These are the zebra wood doors that appear on the bottom center of my TV unit. They help balance out all the white in the room, providing a great complement with the walnut flooring.

For window treatments, I stuck to the simple and elegant theme. White base fabric with "u-shaped" black banding on my top-down/bottom-up flat fold roman shades.

Rather than stick with the standard cord lift mechanism that comes standard with the shades, I upgraded to a much nicer pull -- black with polished chrome!

There it is – my den design in a nutshell. I am excited to show the finished product, which I plan to post in early September…Stay Tuned!!!