A Fresh Start for Empty Nesters

Professional Photos: Doris Thompson Photography

Interior Decorating and Design: Go To Your Room

Contents

A blue-grey sofa has 3 pillows on the right end: a pale pink corduroy round pillow and two rectangular pillows in pink and grey. The wallpapered wall behind is Rebel Walls "Petals" in Sand colorway. A boucle ottoman sits in front of the sofa.

“After Photo” updated living room with calm, neutral but lively color scheme.

The Client Back Story

After relocating across Canada two years prior, this couple, along with their three young adult children, settled into their new home, formerly the wife’s parent’s home. '

Having had time to adjust and reflect on how they would use their new space, they were ready to make some thoughtful interior changes that would suit their personal preference.

Design Requirements

The first priority was improving functionality. They envisioned transforming their formal living and dining rooms into one cohesive family room and office space.

As they grew more familiar with their room, it became clear that their existing furniture no longer suited the room’s proportions and the colors and tones were from a previous time in their lives.

A clear petite vase has a peach colored ranunculous and white waxflower in it.

Decorating Updates

That’s when they turned to Go To Your Room for support in creating an improved functional layout while selecting as much Canadian made or locally sourced furnishings and home decor that would enhance both comfort and the room’s overall visual appeal.

Living Room Before and After Photos

Living Room Bay Window Seating with a Garden View

One challenge the homeowners faced was how to incorporate seating into the bay window area.

They had hoped to keep their favorite recliner in the new design, but they were no longer attached to its ochre upholstery and weren’t sure how best to update the furnishings or layout.

Living Room “Before”…

Before before of a dated reclining chair with rolled arms and brown legs. Traditional style. The color is a brown-orange camel color. It sits in front of a large living room bay window and a peaked vaulted ceiling is above. A black lamp is behind it.

Before: Vaulted ceiling & Single Recliner

The bay window area also featured a vaulted ceiling, which allowed for an impressively tall Christmas tree—a seasonal focal point everyone enjoyed. Because of this, nothing permanent could be installed in that space.

A short side table called Braiden by Renwil has an 18" brown stained wood top, gold post and marble base. It is a new side table in a living room next to new swivel chairs. The table has 2 marble coasters on top and a glass round vase with sand.

Interior Decorating Solutions & Improvements

One of the floor-plan options included a pair of apartment-sized swivel chairs. Curvy from every angle and just a 33 inch width, they offered the homeowners additional seating for friends and family, along with effortless views—whether toward the TV or out to the garden.

…Living Room “After”

A calm, newly updated living room receives new bold brown Sycamore Tan paint color in the vaulted peaked ceiling in front of large bay windows. Two light grey swivel chairs and round side table are in front of the bay windows. White oak furnishings.

After: Vaulted ceiling is painted with Sherwin Williams Sycamore Tan SW 2855; a pair of customized, made-to-order Olive swivel chairs by Van Gogh Designs sit in the bay window.

To give this area of the living room its own distinct character, Kelly suggested a deep, rich paint color. It would help frame the tree trunks in the garden, provide visual balance to the large desk on the opposite side of the room, and—when the holidays arrived—create a dramatic backdrop that made the Christmas tree lights sparkle even brighter.

Console Table Area Before and After Photos

White Oak Tambour Console Table

A newly updated living room features a stone stacked fireplace in cream, grey and orange colors. Beside is a tamboured, white oak side table from Wayfair. Black lamp and accessories sit on top. An organic shaped mirror is on the wall behind.

The narrow space between the TV and the side wall previously housed an old wooden media unit used mainly for storing cables, but it contributed little else to the room.

Because of its bulk, the unit needed to find a new home. In its place, a sleek, perfectly scaled tambour console table was sourced—light, bright, and modern looking—a perfect piece with curves to soften the tight nook.

The modern white oak finish of the console table ties seamlessly to the white oak found on the new ottoman table, while the black accents complement the TV and the smaller decorative pieces throughout the room, creating a unified and updated look.

Fireplace before photo shows a large dated and rectangular orange-brown wardrobe furnishing. Squeezed in a space beside the fireplace, it looks like it doesn't belong there. Woven baskets and boxes sit nearby.

Before: The walls are painted a creamy yellow; a large orange wood media unit is bulky for the space.

After image of the area beside the fireplace. It has a nice low white oak tambour side table with black handles. On top are two vases and a black lamp and some books for decor. A beautiful irregular shaped oval reflects the wallpaper on opposite wall

After: The wall behind is painted in Sherwin Williams Barcelona Beige SW 7530; a white oak tambour console table with black accessories.

Sofa Before and After Photos

Lighten’ Up Already…

Van Gogh Design's Sooke Aveline Sofa in Breton Storm blue-grey chenille fabric. Cute custom pillows sit on top including a round corduroy toss cushion from Renwil.

The homeowners had long loved their deep, puffy brown sectional—a cozy spot for family lounging, pets included. But with the new home came new choices, including a modern stacked-stone fireplace in soft greys and creams that shifted the room’s overall direction.

They wanted the living room to feel light and bright, yet they were realistic about needing a sofa that could stand up to everyday family use. A medium grey-blue chenille was ultimately chosen as the grounding element. Its durable, soft texture complements the fireplace stone and helps create a cohesive, welcoming space.

An assortment of toss cushions on a sofa make it interesting in the room instead of boring. They include one rectangular cream check square pillow; one solid brown square pillow and one soft pink corduroy round pillow from Renwil.

Pillows in a variety of shapes, sizes, color, pattern and texture! Various tones of “neutral” to help add some visual interest to the sofa.

The edge of a neutral colored stacked stone fireplace is beside a low console table made of white oak and tambour wood. On top are two vases: one black glass from Torre and Tagus and one tall white cream oval vase from Renwil. Faux branch West Elm.

The stacked-stone fireplace includes a soft grey-blue tone that helped inspire and confirm the perfect color choice for the sofa.

New sofa from Van Gogh: Sooke model in blue-grey Breton Storm. Five toss cushions in random size, color and patterns enliven the solid sofa color. Style In Form Forest Ottoman in Truffle Boucle greige color with white oak sliding table.

NEW Living Room Sofa in Van Gogh Design’s “Sooke”, with customized size and pillow collection.

Before photo of a brown leather sectional which has dog blankets on it for protection and super flat sofa toss cushions doubled up for comfort when laying. Also a dark brown living room table is in front of the sofa.

Before: Brown, leather sectional is large and dark in the living room, absorbing the light and space.

A Pair of Swivel Chairs

A pair of Van Gogh Olive Swivel Chairs customized with a Maxwell fabric are the stars of this updated living room with new blue sofa and greige fabric ottoman with sliding white oak C-table top.

Pair of small swivel chairs meets the needs of extra seating in the small bay window area.

Customized & Coastal

Swivel Chairs

Van Gogh Olive Swivel Chair customized with a striped back on the back; and a solid light grey color on the main body..

Maxwell Fabric Bendito #335 Feather was selected to further customize these made-to-order swivel chairs.

To enhance the light and bright feel the clients envisioned, Kelly sourced a pair of swivel chairs perfectly suited for the bay window.

Upholstered in a soft grey tone, the chairs were elevated further with a custom Maxwell fabric wrapping the backs, adding a refined, tailored touch.

The palette—gentle beach-inspired hues of grey stone, sandy beige, white waves, and weathered green sea-glass—introduced subtle coastal references that softened the space and provided the homeowners with a reminder that they’d returned to the West Coast.

Van Gogh Olive Swivel Chair in light grey alongside a small side table from Renwil. Brown wood top about 18" diameter, gold metal stand into a round marble base to hold it up.

7” thick crowned foam and fibre seat
cushion helps the seat be extra comfortable.

How CAD Helps to Visualize

Wallpaper Installation

Feature Wall Wallpaper Installation

A CAD image ("computer automated design") shows what the newly proposed layout could look like with a new blue-grey sofa and Rebel Walls Petals in Sand wallpaper on the back wall behind, could look like. This helps the client visualize their space.

Using a CAD (Computer Aided Design) software helps to
visualize the impact of the clients’ chosen wallpaper.

The homeowners were excited to incorporate wallpaper into their update. Because it would function as the largest “art” piece in the room, we took our time reviewing multiple options to ensure the final choice would offer long-lasting appeal and create a calming presence in the space.

Kelly initially identified the living room entry walls—the two side walls and the main wall surrounding the doorway—as the most impactful location for the installation.

The "After" photo of the newly updated space, showing the real sofa and pillows in front of the newly installed wallpaper (Rebel Walls "Petals" in Sand colorway).

Homeowner “After” photo to show the large wallpapered wall.

Incorporating Balance in a
Wallpaper Installation

A CAD ("computer aided design") image showing clients what their new space plan could look like in 3D, with actual furnishings selected and put into the visualization model.

Using a CAD (Computer Aided Design) program helps both the interior decorator and client to see the potential outcome of an updated room.

When the living room was modeled in the CAD program, a view from the office area highlighted the symmetry of the bay window and the two walls framing it.

Living Room “After” Photos of updated space including new paint and wallpaper mural treatment.

Showcasing the newly painted beige wall behind the new white oak tabmour console table. The side wall has wallpaper and the other side has brick fireplace. Three different textures all working together to make the space feel cohesive.

A single black lamp acts as a grounding piece in this otherwise neutral space.

Rebel Wall "Petals" wallpaper in Sand colorway is on the back wall, while the wall in the foreground has old stripe textured wallpaper that has been painted in a color found in the wallpaper, to help this dated wall become updated and cohesive.

With this new visual insight, it became clear that the wallpaper should begin on the far left wall (as shown in the image) and continue seamlessly onto the (right) main feature wall.

This approach would create a stronger sense of balance in the space and provide a cohesive visual connection throughout the room.

Wallpaper: Rebel Walls “Petals” in Sand colorway. Square frames: Opposite Wall

Reupholstering Living Room Furniture

Before photo of a traditional recliner with rolled arms. The color is orange-brown camel color. A standing black lamp is behind the chair and a dark brown side table is beside the chair. All in front of a bay window with a garden view.

Keeping Your Favorite Furnishings

Before: Living Room Chair and dark accessories…

Living Room Recliner Chair Updated for the New Space

Sometimes it makes sense to keep furnishings in a room makeover — when a piece fits the client, reflects classic style and aligns with our commitment to sustainability, we love giving it a new life.

For this particular project, the recliner worked in the new space plan. And as part of the decorating plan, Kelly sourced a fabric that would coordinate with all of the other elements in the space, allowing this favorite piece to stay right where it belongs and continue to be enjoyed for years to come.

An "After Photo" of a traditional, rolled arm reclining armchair that has been reupholstered and received an update with new soft beige chenille fabric called Downie Wheat Kings

After: Living Room Chair and new elegant side table...

Gold Accent Side Table—Biophilic Nature Inspired Design

A gold side table, weathered and relaxed, but still elegant because of the fine structure of the legs, this elegant side table sits next to a newly upholstered reclining chair in a soft beige chenille fabric called Downie Wheat Kings from Van Gogh.

Adding a new side table to pair with the newly reupholstered recliner chair helps to update the space further.

The weathered gold tone and textured metal offer a blend of casual charm and understated elegance.

The abstract shape is reminiscent of the trees branches just outside, helping to blend the indoors with nature and continuing to feel connected to the outdoors.

A soft colored, neutral but not boring, living room update. Up close is a metal gold side table with a weathered patina and branch like legs which are reminiscent of the branches viewed directly across the room, outside in the garden.

The abstract silhouette of the side table subtly echoes the tree branches just outside, creating a seamless connection between the indoors and the surrounding natural landscape.

Refresh Your Ottomans with New Fabric

For this project, a pair of cube ottomans got a much-needed refresh.

A pair of cube ottomans are slightly dated with the traditional 4 buttons on top of the seats. They look worn from a lot of use.

Before: Pair of ottomans with traditional button detailing

Neutral in color but traditional in style—and a bit worn from years of use—they were the perfect accent pieces to keep in the space; they just needed a refresh to complement the newly updated living room scheme.

A pair of square cube ottomans have been reupholstered in Tonic Living's "Quince" in Petal Pink Colorway. They pattern is modern swirly like clouds.

After: Updated ottomans with new seat foam and a fresh modern fabric

The poufs served as the perfect bridge, bringing a touch of softness to the desk, visually tying the two areas together (office and adjacent family room), and offering additional seating whenever needed.

A "Before" photo of an office, which is in an old dining room, so the original dining chandelier (an open 4 light linear in a black frame) sits above the desk. The large dark brown desk chair and the tall brown bookcase in the back all look dated.

Before: The office felt open and disconnected from the adjacent room

An "After Photo" of a newly updated office space whereby the painted wall, new large artwork and ottomans and plant all help to make the space feel intentional. The designer, Kelly Grimes, is rearranging the flowers in the vase in the background.

After: The updated ottomans help soften the large dark desk and connect the spaces

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