Living Room Inspiration {Scandi-Boho-Chic}

Do you remember the dilemma I had over my newly wallpapered feature wall last summer? I only had myself to blame…I chose the goddamn stuff! Well after a few months of living with it but cringing and dying a little bit inside every time I walked into the room, I decided that the geometric wallpaper had to go. And this also gave me a good excuse to makeover the whole living room, the inspiration for which I’m going to share with you today.

The Brief

I set myself two main requirements. Firstly, to make the space a lot lighter and brighter. It has a low ceiling and doesn’t get much sun so I knew I’d have to think carefully about the colour scheme, lighting and furniture. And secondly, it had to go with the cream shaker-style kitchen and floor that was here when we moved in, because it’s the lounge part of the open–plan kitchen and lounge. I am dying to rip up the floor, tile the kitchen, paint the kitchen cupboards or replace and reconfigure the kitchen in its entirety, however our budget and the fact that we are soon to become a family-of-four (Yikes! How did that happen?) means that a kitchen makeover will have to be put on the backburner for now.

The Colour Scheme

I decided to do what I do best and stick to a crisp white as a basis for the colour scheme. Rich always takes the piss out of me and says my love of white interiors is very sterile and stark, but the clean, simple, airy feel of an all-white room just makes my OCD heart happy. To add warmth, and prove Rich wrong, I thought I would add in lots of natural hues and elements such as wood, hessian and jute.

I’ve also injected the space with some moody tones and textures – black picture frames and cushions, and vases of varying shades of grey. And I have jumped right onto the Pantone Color of the Year bandwagon by adding in greenery through a mix of real and faux plants. I never thought I’d embrace green but it is amazing what a pop of palm can do to a room, and it looks so good with white.

I’ve included in the header above and the gallery below some of the Pinterest images that helped me figure out the look I was going for.

Can I Get a Shelfie

Yes, I have dedicated a whole section to shelves.

I knew I wanted shelves on at least two of the walls to display our pics of Lyra and other pretty nick-nacks. The shelf behind the sofa was a no-brainer – I needed a super thin one so we didn’t bash our heads against it every time we sat down. I went for a couple of these photo ledges from B&Q. The shelves for the wall behind the TV were a trickier decision – I wanted to make a feature of the wall, but could not for the life of me decide between leather strap shelves, string shelves like those in the header, felt strap shelves, a circular shelf, plain white shelves…the list went on. One night I even dreamt about shelves. I know what you’re thinking: Lisa, you need to get a life. Ha ha. Find out in a couple of weeks which one I went for.

Are you in the process of decorating a living room? I would love to hear about it. And if you would like to see the finished result then pop back in a couple of weeks.

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