Our great room is finally complete and I’m so excited to share it with you. When it came to the design and decor of this room, I began with a vision board full of inspiration gathered from browsing PINTEREST over the years. The decor and furnishings are sourced from online retailers (linked below) as well as local shops. Our great room is definitely the most used space in our home, so it was really important for me to keep the decor and furnishings comfortable and functional.
Keep scrolling for photos of our finished Great Room and be sure to follow all my home posts on INSTAGRAM!
GREAT ROOM DESIGN & DECOR
DECOR
With two little kids in the house, I was limited to the type decor I could use in this space. I decided to keep things clean and simple with the majority of our decor displayed on the built-in shelves. I added some linen blend pillows and cozy throws to create a comfortable and inviting space for our friends and family.
One of the furnishings we recently replaced in this room was our coffee table. We choose an OTTOMAN for this room. Now that we have 2 little kids running around, it seemed like the safest option. I also found this perfect OVERSIZED WALNUT TRAY to place on top. It’s a long, shallow tray that makes this piece so much more functional by allowing us to use it as a coffee table. It’s also creates a great spot for styling!
The fabric we chose for the ottoman is TWINE CRYPTON, which is a performance fabric. We’ve had this piece for 6 months and it’s held up SO well. We’ve had a few spills and zero stains! Don’t be afraid to go with a lighter fabric (even with kids!) as long as you use a quality performance fabric like this one.
(TAP/CLICK ON ITEM TO SHOP)
Two of my favorite neutral books for styling are AD AT 100 and LIVE BEAUTIFUL. They’re the perfect size to stack on top of one another to add some height.
(TAP/CLICK ON ITEM TO SHOP)
I love displaying florals and greenery in all the rooms of my home. As much as I love real florals, over the years I’ve realized that faux flowers are the way to go! I’ve spent a lot of time looking for realistic faux flowers and these FAUX HYDRANGEAS are so good! They come in a set of 2 stems (which is how many I have displayed in this vase.)
(TAP/CLICK ON ITEM TO SHOP)
The pillows on my couch are great quality and from TARGET! The cases are 26 x 26 and come in a variety of colors. I replaced the insert with the BEST DOWN ALTERNATIVE INSERTS from Amazon. I purchased the 28 x 28 inserts to fill these Euro pillows to make them super plush and supportive.
To see the huge difference these pillow inserts make, visit my post THE BEST PILLOW INSERTS for a before/after. I also found a great chunky knit blanket that looks just as beautiful to display as it is to cozy up with.
(TAP/CLICK ON ITEM TO SHOP)
CONSOLE TABLE
A console table was the last piece of furniture added to our great room. It was the perfect piece to fill the empty space under our staircase. I love how the natural wood tabletop and black metal frame complement our exposed stairs. This console is a great simple, modern design for a very affordable price. Console tables also provide a great area to style through the holidays/seasons!
Keep scrolling for links to everything used to style the console table.
(TAP/CLICK ON ITEM TO SHOP)
(TAP/CLICK ON ITEM TO SHOP)
(TAP/CLICK ON ITEM TO SHOP)
(TAP/CLICK ON ITEM TO SHOP)
(TAP/CLICK ON ITEM TO SHOP)
BUILT-IN SHELVES
Built-in shelves are one of the most difficult things to style in my opinion. It took me almost 3 years to get to this point with mine and they’re still a work in progress! There are so many things to think about with every little grouping of decor – style, size, scale, color, texture, etc. I’m happy with how far I’ve come, but plan on adding more fun pieces as I find them in the years to come.
(TAP/CLICK ON ITEM TO SHOP)
If you’re looking to recreate a vintage style framed canvas, try this simple DIY project! Simply purchase a beautiful landscape print from ETSY and display in an antique or vintage-look frame. I purchased this PRINT from Etsy and a VINTAGE-LOOK FRAME from Amazon.
(TAP/CLICK ON ITEM TO SHOP)
I purchased this bonsai tree 2 years ago and have been so happy with it. It’s been very easy to care for. It receives indirect light and gets watered once a week The bowl I used comes in two sizes – I used the larger size for this tree (be sure to use an appropriate soil type for Bonsai trees as weell!)
(TAP/CLICK ON ITEM TO SHOP)
TIP: If you’re looking for books to use for decor, go to your local library book sale! Most libraries hold annual events where they sell books at affordable prices. I always go straight to the art history or geographic sections to look for larger “coffee table” style books to display. Always be sure to pull back the paper cover to see the true color of the book. You’re likely to walk away spending only $1 – $5 per book! All the books displayed on my built-in shelves are from library book sales.
(TAP/CLICK ON ITEM TO SHOP)
FIREPLACE + MANTLE
As much as I love the smell of a wood burning fireplace, we knew a gas insert would be a much safer and cleaner option. We have an oversized NAPOLEON 52″ GAS INSERT surrounded by a CAST STONE MANTLE. I love the combo of the two! Both fireplace insert and mantel are available in several sizes (mantel can be custom-made to fit your space.) We wanted our fireplace to be statement piece in the great room and the style/size we chose has done just that! We use this fireplace almost every day in the winter (it has a remote control and temperature settings with the option to give off a lot of heat)
AREA RUG
Saybrook Home: 8×10 rug sourced from Pakistan, Serapi Style in the color crimson/blue.
I really wanted to purchase a new rug with a vintage look for this room. This stunning Serapi Style rug is from Saybrook Home, a local store here in Connecticut. SAYBROOK HOME spends a significant amount of time sourcing rugs to ensure they carry an array of colors and designs to suit all customers’ needs. Each rug is a one-of-a-kind piece, handwoven with dyed wool that often takes years to complete. They truly are a work of art! We went with a rich, colorful rug (a little out of my comfort zone) which ended up being the best decision we made for this room! Surrounded by white walls, this pop of color was exactly what our great room needed.
Twice a year Saybrook Home has a hand-knotted rug sale at the store offering fantastic discounts. Hundreds of new products in all sizes are brought in for the weekend-long sale.
SECTIONAL
The next piece we decided on was a couch. I always envisioned a sectional in this room. In my opinion, sectionals provide a level of comfort and coziness that you can’t get from a standard couch. We will be using our great room more than any other space in our home, so it was important that this room be comfortable and functional.
The SAYBROOK HOME designers suggested a Wesley Hall sectional for us and we love it! It’s part of their Signature Elements Program, which is completely customizable. If you have an awkward-sized space, you can create a custom piece to fit your exact needs. Typical sectionals measure out to about 90”x90”, but we custom-built this over-sized sectional to fit our space perfectly, while also maximizing the amount of seating in this room. Not only can you choose custom sizes, you can also select from a variety of arm, base, and back styles.
Sectional by Saybrook Home: Made by Wesley Hall, in Crockett Sycamore Leather, Mink Finish.
ACCENT CHAIRS
To complement our couch, we chose additional seating in the form of mid-century modern style side chairs. These particular chairs were special ordered from SAYBROOK HOME (not on the showroom floor). Typically I’d be nervous to order furniture without seeing it in person, but we trusted the designers at Saybrook Home to make the right decision. The finished product was perfection! With the addition of these two chairs, we can comfortably seat 10 people in this room.
Accent Chairs by Saybrook Home: Made by Sam Moore, in Luxurious Blue Velvet, Walnut Finish.
At the foot of our stairs we added an oversized arched mirror. We needed something large in this space and the reflection from the mirror makes the space seem even larger. I highly recommend this mirror, it’s a great value for the price!
(TAP/CLICK ON ITEM TO SHOP)
LIKE THIS POST? PIN IT!
SAVE IT ON PINTEREST BY CLICKING THE ‘SAVE’ BUTTON ON ONE OF THE PHOTOS BELOW!
Leave a Reply