2/17/10

Living Room Inspiration

I'm shopping for a sofa for the living room and I'm still in the brainstorming stage. I have a danish modern chair and we have a giant TV and a simple white ikea TV stand at the moment. Otherwise, everything else is up for discussion so I'm really able to start from scratch. We've got two little girls and a lot of video game action happens on the sofa so it needs to be durable/comfortable and stain resistant. But it's also the first thing you see when you come in so I want it to look amazing!

Please chime in with favorite styles because while I love mid century and all things modern, there's a vote over here for tufting. Yes you heard that right, Big E thinks something with tufting would be....awesome? So here are some living room ideas in no particular order:


Here's our living room for reference. It's not huge, but there's room for something awesome.


A bright color and neutral furniture from apartment therapy.


My original inspiration via Domino. I love that it's modern but warm.


Total Mid Century Inspiration with lots of color from apartment therapy.


Sophia Coppola's place is glamorous, modern and well... comfy.


Lydia Pearson's Home in Vogue Living is chic and simple. Via Happy Mundane.



I'm a sucker for anything Swedish like this living room from desire to inspire.


Beautiful Parisian Mid Century apartment on Design Sponge.


A bold burst of color in a sleek room. It's fun, it's liveable, but it's still risky. From flickr.


AB Chao's living room is crisp and white and modern but with cozy traditional elements.



Love love love Jeana Sohn and her cute living room with little plants and plenty of empty space.


I like some glam elements like the coffee table in Cassie's Living Room.


And I want to make sure it stays light and bright like this image from Domino.

21 comments:

LaShaune said...

Personally, I love the sofa in the "desire to inspire" photo. Good luck with your sofa hunt. I know I am going to hate it when I have to do so soon.

Shayna said...

love the sofa in your first domino inspiration. the couch looks comfy, cozy and clean. i'd be scared of anything white but i'm a klutz! can't wait to see what you decide...

Kendra said...

I like the inspiration of light neutral walls and a pop colored sofa. I would go with a cotton clipcovered sofa. That way when the kids and video game action get the sofa dirty you can simply wash the slip cover, or even replace it when needed. You could also change the color of it as your mood or tastes change.

Then use whatever color you pick for the sofa as a starting point for a comfy patterned rug, side chairs, and accessories.

atomique47 said...

I like the Clark Sofa from Room & Board. They have the sectional version in the Culver City store and it's really lovely in person.

http://www.roomandboard.com/rnb/product/detail.do?productGroup=19167&catalog=filter&menuCatalog=room&menuSubcategory=201198

The Andre from R&B is also tufted and Mid C.

http://www.roomandboard.com/rnb/product/detail.do?productGroup=3047&catalog=filter&menuCatalog=room&menuSubcategory=201198

The Anson is really fun too and sort of Jetsons like.

http://www.roomandboard.com/rnb/product/detail.do?productGroup=19079&catalog=filter&menuCatalog=room&menuSubcategory=201198

Good luck!

Amy said...

I have many of those same images saved in my inspiration files.

You are already getting a lot of good suggestions, but I'll chime in with mine anyway. I wanted the mid-century tufted look like the R&B Andre mentioned above, but was on kind of a tight budget. Based on online reviews and an in-store sitting test, I went with Macy's Corona:
http://www1.macys.com/catalog/product/index.ognc?ID=251335&CategoryID=30362&LinkType=EverGreen

I also really like CB2's Parlour: http://www.cb2.com/family.aspx?c=102&f=5682

Amy said...

Sorry, one more. The Petrie might be perfect: http://www.crateandbarrel.com/family.aspx?c=931&f=6643

jen said...

I have the Pottery Barn sofa with the squared arms. The big one with the classic lines. Veeeeeery comfortable and slipcovered which is awesome.

Kisha of Sahara Blue said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
kay* said...

as soon as i read your post i thought of sophia coppola's rolled arm sofa! it's the sofa i'm coveting right now :) i actually found a few look a likes at jayson home & garden and lee industries. good luck! will be interested to see what you decide.

Kristina said...

I adore Room & Board's Hutton sofa. The studio sized version (75" long) in Indigo velvet is on my living room wishlist. It has a MCM shape to it and has tufting (but only on the seat), plus it sits upon darling tapered legs. *sigh* I just get all dreamy even thinking about it. good luck on your couch search!

Laura@mtp said...

I too covet the Sophia Coppola sofa, but a version with higher arms.

Debra said...

I like the total mid century it's comfortable looks durable and it seems to show more open space and that's what you need with children especially if this is your only gathering room no den or another family room but of course all of them are pretty amazing.

Kari said...

Ha, I think I'm going to suggest the same sofa Kay references above:

http://www.jaysonhomeandgarden.com/product.php?productid=5512

I've been loving big comfy linen sofas after seeing them pop up in Livingetc over and over. That's my dream sofa at Jayson... I just need to get a bigger living room.

Dianna said...

Simple lines, low arms so it's comfy to lay down. The sofa in the photo desire to inspire.

Diana Windsor said...

Really it is so lovely that i can't resist myself by seeing this post again and again.What I loved it light neutral walls and a pop colored sofa.
Colorado Springs Carpet

laure said...

thanks everyone! is it wrong that now I have a whole new batch of inspiration photos and am no closer to narrowing things down? ;)

Amanda Lee Smith said...

have you checked out Steven Anthony's lovely mid-century designs? He's LA-based and I've been trying to source his stuff in Toronto to no avail. http://www.stevenanthonyinc.com/sofas.php

down pillow said...

LOVE Sophia Coppola's place & that powdery blue sofa.

Emma said...

The Sofia Coppola sofa looks beyond comfortable and family friendly.

Cleaner Didsbury said...

I absolutely love AB Chao's living room. I think you've just given me inspiration for mine. Thanks

VICTORIA BELLOW said...

Truly inspirational living spaces!everything looks gorgeous with their own furniture and color mixtures.They are all soothing and chic.