A Few of Our Favorite Living Spaces

Let’s talk Living Spaces.

These are the spaces that work so hard to serve our families day in and day out. Whether it’s the bedtime snuggle zone, the holiday dinner hot-spot, or movie night central, these are the spaces that are sanctuaries in our busy, often chaotic, lives. We’ve rounded up a few of our favorite living spaces from our portfolio for a dose of inspiration.

Artful English Rowhouse

Like many Philly row homes, this space is long and narrow. So many of our clients come to us at a loss for how to furnish spaces like this and we get it! For this particular project, we wanted to create zoned seating areas that allowed for additional social seating when friends and family come around. In the front of the room we created a perfectly cozy spot for two around a restored mantel with a clever mirrored insert to give a feeling of depth and interest.

“What’s amazing about our new home is how Nicole and her team carved different spaces and moments in our compact living room. Even though we are stuck in the house all day and on Zoom, when we have a glass of wine and sit in these club chairs, it feels as though we are in a completely different place and time. These are the moments when it feels nice to be indoors and cozy.””

— Artful English Client

Toward the kitchen, the library wall takes center stage. We painted the millwork the same rich blue as the walls, which keeps the book collection from feeling overwhelming. A sofa and a statement chair round out the seating options with lighting for each spot that works as both functional task lighting and a special sculptural moment. To see more of this project, click here.

Traditional Graduate

In addition to being long and narrow, Philadelphia row homes are notorious for being short on storage and this house was no different. The front door opens directly into the living room and staircase. As we began to dig into the design of this space, creating storage and architectural interest were at the top of our list. We also wanted to eek out as much seating as possible for entertaining. To take advantage of every available square foot we extended a bench off the built in creating additional seating and bonus storage. Storage compartments with hinged lids on the bench seating gave us the perfect place for larger toys, hats, gloves, and the shoes that inevitably gather by the front door. The bench is topped with custom rust cushions in easy maintenance performance velvet. Here’s the link to the full project reveal.

Philly Stone Queen Primary Bedroom

At our own Philly Stone Queen, when we had the opportunity to design the primary bedroom as part of the One Room Challenge, we knew that we wanted to take advantage of the large, window-filled space for a non-traditional floor plan. We broke the room up into two distinct areas - a sleeping zone and a reading/relaxing zone. In the sleeping zone, we updated a vintage headboard to include a sleek matte black finish and contrasting caning. Its low-profile keeps the views through the beautiful bank of windows unobstructed. Soft linens and subtle side tables from tree stumps make for a simple spot to place a glass of water or a book.

The seating area is punctuated by beautiful moss green accent chairs and a modern coffee table, sturdy enough to place your feet on. Task lighting by the chairs provides light for nighttime reading, while an addition of open shelving to a previously unused nook can be used for storing books, moments, and jewelry. A reproduction of Serge Mouille’s iconic 1958 series center light fixture spans the room to provide lighting throughout. By layering the space with mixed handmade furniture pieces that include modern touches of color, we were able to combine different styles that tie together in color palettes. All of the details for this project are available here.

Fresh Focus Old City

Space planning also played a huge role in bringing this living room together. Our client asked us to create a fresh, cozy, traditionally inspired space with design elements that provide interesting focal points. To achieve this we rotated the original furniture arrangement, creating a better flow throughout the long, narrow first floor and drawing the eye to the amazing sunroom at the back. We kept our client's original rug but swapped out the rest of the furnishing for special pieces like the custom window pane sofa with a bench cushion. By adding structured, modern pieces with clean lines the finished space feels collected and warm.

Society Pines

For our Society Pines project we created multi-functional spaces filled with saturated colors, bold patterns, and clever custom-designed solutions so that this historic Philadelphia row house could meet the needs of the young family who calls it home. We wrapped the den in a soft green to echo the elevated garden views which helped to drive the refined modern cabin aesthetic. A custom designed sofa that’s big enough for the whole family doubles as a sleeper when guest arrive. Wall-mounted side tables and sconces make the most of every square inch. A custom petite leather swivel chair balances the room and flexible stools can be moved for even more additional seating while a modern chandelier draws the eye up to the new wood plank ceiling that’s light enough to keep the space feeling open and airy. To see the rest of our Society Pines project, click here.

We hope that this has inspired you to consider investing in your own living spaces. We hear it time and time again from our potential clients - they wish that they had invested in the spaces where they spend the majority of their time. If you’re ready to create the sanctuary that you’ve been dreaming about, we’d love to hear from you! You can reach out through our Inquiry Page and our team will contact you to set up a brief call to discuss your project goals. We can’t wait to make your dream space into reality!