A Small Den

I have a great friend who is moving to Rockville, MD this summer.  They just bought a house and we've been consulting on paint colors, furniture, flooring, fabric, etc.!  She is a mom of 4 children (ages ranging from a 4 month old to a 6 year old) and while she would love to dedicate more time on decorating her home, she just doesn't have the time.  This is where I come in!!

We're working on her family room and I saw this oldie, but goodie from Anne Turner Carroll, which was published in Southern Living, and I think it is a great example of how to make a small space work.

This is what she started with...

After working her magic, this is what she ended up with.....

Beautiful, no?

This room was challenging in that all three walls had either doors, windows or a fireplace not leaving much wall space for furniture.  Here, she used two club chairs pulled into the center of the room and paired them with a patterned upholstered ottoman.

I really like how the ottoman's pattern adds interest by not being too matchy matchy, but still pulls in the color of the club chairs.

In the opposite corner of the club chairs, she re-upholstered a vintage chair and added a floor lamp to create another reading nook.  Behind the vintage chair is an antique empire chest that houses their flatscreen t.v.

She enhances the small space by putting nesting tables between the club chairs to add more surface area and installing floating shelves on the wall behind the chairs to create a stylish bookcase.

She painted the fireplace and the floor so that it would work seamlessly with the rest of the color scheme.  I really like everything about this space.

It is just proof in the pudding that you can really make awkward and small spaces work for you!

To see full article, go here.