ONE ROOM CHALLENGE: LIVING ROOM TEXTILES

Chaise lounge with Pierre Frey Le Grand Corail with embroidered border curtains in bay window on Thou Swell #oneroomchallenge

We’re halfway through the spring One Room Challenge and this year’s living room update is heavily focused on unifying the room through the textiles. I have some exciting sneak peeks this week of new upholstery and curtains which have already changed things so much in the room. As you might remember from the before pictures, the sofa is a metal daybed that was originally on our old porch. It was reupholstered around five years ago to convert it to an indoor piece, but it still wasn’t quite living room ready. I designed new cushions that would provide a bit more structure and cushion to the piece and used a beautiful solid velvet to simplify the patterns in the room. See how it transformed below, and don’t forget to check in on all of the other ORC participants’ updates here.

Living room One Room Challenge on Thou Swell

Cream velvet sofa upholstery in One Room Challenge living room design on Thou Swell #oneroomchallenge

I’m so thrilled with how this new upholstery transformed the sofa. It’s so comfortable now! I used a warm ivory Baker Lifestyle velvet that is super reasonably priced for the quality. I threw these old red pillows on the sofa but I’m having a lumbar made with this gorgeous red stripe! You can tell I’m a sucker for pretty velvet.

Cream velvet sofa upholstery in One Room Challenge living room design on Thou Swell #oneroomchallenge

For years I’ve gone to Fast & Great Upholstery for my design projects, and they did another great job on this project. Look how fabulous the ottoman turned out…

Blue Scalamandre Zebra fabric on ottoman upholstery in One Room Challenge living room on Thou Swell #oneroomchallenge

I looked through hundreds of blue fabrics on DecoratorsBest but when I saw Scalamandre’s iconic Zebra pattern, I knew it was the perfect centerpiece for the room. It’s iconic and although more expensive, perfect for making a piece like an ottoman a treasure in the room. I love how the black and white stripes speak to the embroidery on the new curtains below.

Installing curtains in a bay window with Ballard Designs embroidered curtains on Thou Swell @thouswellblog

Installing curtains in a bay window with Ballard Designs embroidered curtains on Thou Swell @thouswellblog

Hanging these curtains in the bay window was a bit trickier due to the angles, but I simply used regular rods and left the finials off of the ends on the inside. The curtains completely softened this end of the room and provided a nice clean contrast with the border that looks beautiful behind the chaise.

Check in next week for another update from the living room!

Kevin O'Gara signature on Thou Swell

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