Folks, I have to issue an apology because while I always intend to blog recap my day sessions, I almost ALWAYS forget to take before photos. Like, it's the worst and a terrible habit - but so much happens during a day session that I way to often forget. I WILL DO BETTER!!!
But alas, I do not have before photos for this recap...
This particular blog post will recap two day sessions with the same clients—a lovely, lovely family of four, plus one cute pup. They've been in this home a little over ten years, kids are just a bit younger than that, and it was finally time to tackle their main floor furniture plan in a way that felt adult.
Our first session would focus on the family room and breakfast nook, and their second session tackled the entryway, sitting area, and dining rooms. Let's dive in!
The Family Room & Breakfast Nook Furniture Plan
First up, we tackled their most-used room, which is a very large family room open to the kitchen. The kitchen isn't drawn into the floor plan, but it fills most of the space on the upper right side of the floor plan, where the cafe table sits.
The large wall on the bottom of the floor plan has a large central fireplace. The right side looks out into a gorgeous wooded area, and the far left of the room is where they currently have their TV hanging.
My clients wanted to keep the TV in the same location, but elevate the space to feel more grown up and curated. We played with a few different layout options, but this was our favorite and made the best use of the space:
My clients TV was MASSIVE, which I don't always love, but in this case, the room is very large, and I knew I could make it work with the right piece of furniture. We chose a massive storage console with rattan doors in a cute arch motif to balance out the scale of the TV, and opposite of that, we chose a large updated traditional sofa in a mid-darker tone to balance out the black of the TV and console.
Behind the sofa, I chose a simple wood console for storage and as a surface for lamp lighting (because there really is not much lighting in here other than natural light!). I also suggested we add two sconces above the fireplace to add some architectural interest and additional warm light options.
Beside the fireplace, I selected a large comfy armchair that would sit on an angle, and where the room opens to the kitchen, I chose two floating, matching arm chairs in a warm leather tone.
For coffee tables, I wanted something massive, but not overwhelming, so instead of one large table, I opted for four, square, wooden tables that we'd bunch together in the center of the room. This fills the space, and also provides some versatility if my clients ever need to move things around.
For accents, we included pillows and poufs in fund textures, fabrics, and patterns, and also selected a large storage basket for beside the console to store blankets and extra pillows.
Additionally, I chose a funky cafe table for the kitchen breakfast nook that would tie in with the black elements in the space, paired that with two warm oak chairs.
For artwork in the space, we had two large walls on either side of the fireplace where we definitely wanted something. I chose one oversized abstract canvas for the left side of the fireplace, and a similarly sized grid wall of from Framebridge for the right side. This provides some variety while filling about the same amount of space.
Entryway, Sitting Room, & Dining Room Plan
Our next session focused on three adjacent rooms—the entryway, sitting area, and dining area. For orientation, the dining room is just next to the kitchen, which is just next to the family room we just talked about—it's sort of a big circle, like many houses are!
Their current entryway, while the ceilings are quite high, felt very crowded. They had a large chest sitting against the closet wall, which they agreed was much to large. You can see how we laid out the entryway below:
We decided to simplify the area with just a small bench and area rug, along with a large wall mirror and frames along the hallway wall. It's always a great idea to have a landing place for guests to remove or put on shoes, and a simple upholstered bench did the trick here.
Because we were simplifying the furniture/decor in this area, we wanted to do something fun with the lighting and make that our statement. Below you can see our two different options, both of which are very fun and bold:
Lighting Option One
Lighting Option Two
For the sitting room, we planned to reuse only a modern leather sofa they already owned, but the rest would be new. For our layout, we wanted to keep it fairly open since this room tends to function as a walkway. We kept the left side of the room (when looking at the drawing) fairly free of obstacles, and positioned the sofa opposite the entry against the one large wall.
Whenever I see a bay window, I always want to put some comfy seating in it, so we opted for a lighter colored sock arm chair with a smaller accent table for books/drinks etc, as well as a cozy blue knitted pouf so they can throw up their feet and read.
Artwork wise, we went simple but bright and playful, and also brought in lighting all around the room. It's great to mix up your lampshade style, so you can see here that we have both square and round, and additionally a pharmacy lamp specifically for reading.
Finally, in our dining room, we ended up removing all furniture except for the dining table. Currently, they have a long storage piece against the back wall, as well as a very large storage cabinet in one corner. We all agreed that with the small footprint of the room, we'd like to simplify the space and create interest in other areas, like lighting, artwork, and wallpaper.
We chose a textured geometric wallpaper in a soft blue, and chose a woven light fixture with an interesting silhouette. On the back wall, I selected a massive piece of abstract artwork but in soft subtle tones, which will be a great focal accent for the room without feeling too overwhelming.
The chairs will be a charcoal velvet with a metal base and brass accent, and lastly we'll include a large round mirror in a gold tone to compliment the artwork and bounce light around the room.
These clients were so fun - they kept saying, "It feels so grown-up!" as they processed the design plan. I have to tell you, SO many folks say this when we work together! Home takes time to put together, and often, especially for folks who have young kids, it doesn't make sense to invest until the kids are a little bigger. So when you finally do get that pulled together look, it feels just that: grown up!!
Stay tuned while we continue to flesh out their home design and hopefully update you with progress photos!
Work with Lauren Figueroa Interior Design
LFID is a full-service interior design firm serving West and Southeast Michigan known especially for our Designed in a Day service.
We work with clients from Detroit to Novi to Clarkston, and Grand Rapids to Holland to Traverse City—and anywhere in between! We pride ourselves on creating bespoke, people-centered spaces—because after all, people are what this life is all about!
If you have a project on the horizon, get started by telling us about your vision here, and you can view past projects here. Thanks for stopping by!
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