Let’s face it, Maine can feel dark during the Winter months, especially in Mountain homes where there’s a lot of wood and gray Wintery skies. So, it wasn’t surprising when a BFF recently asked me for some design ideas on how to brighten her ski house space.She came to me with some decorating requests of her own, including the desire to incorporate blue and red, as well as the need to use existing furniture, but she needs help adding to those thoughts and pulling this space all together.
These friends have a Scandinavian heritage, which they’d like to honor, so our charge is to brighten this mountain home with a twist of Scandinavian style. Here are two BEFORE photos. (LOVE the pooch, who’s name is Bear.)
While white and modern may come to mind when imagining homes in Sweden, Denmark and Norway, there is also a world of color in these houses too, which helps to keep the Winter blues away. The Scandinavian homes often have an eclectic grouping of furniture too thanks to many wonderful hand-me-downs, SO, there’s no need to paint this condo all white OR buy new furniture, but we do need to add some style to this space. Here’s what I’d suggest:
1. Add a red “tape” or “banding” to the inside edge of the curtains to create more interest in the window treatments and take some of the focus off of the wood walls. Consider one of these options (0ne is playful while the other a tad more traditional):
2. The couch is SUPER comfy and rugged, so it’s worth making a slipcover for the couch. Taking into consideration her request to use blue, here is the right color of blue to use for a tailored slipcover.
Source: scandinaviandesigns.com via Laura on Pinterest
3. The left side of the couch should also have a taller table lamp (either polished silver OR a blue lamp with a white shade) and a complimentary, shorter lamp should be on the righthand side too.
4. The extra (third) pop of color should be yellow for the sofa pillows…here are some options.
5. A throw blanket would be terrific to add to the couch. Something like this…
Source: shop.finelittleday.com via Laura on Pinterest
6. The chairs should be recovered in a yellow faux leather.
7. The coffee table needs to be a tad larger (and can be wood) and a red colored book(s) should sit on top.
8. A red, metal floor lamp should be added into the mix, along the wall next to the accent chair.
Source: housebeautiful.com via Laura on Pinterest
9. And lastly, the dining table chairs could be red too. The option is to paint them OR to buy chairs similar to one of the below styles.
Source: apartmenttherapy.com via Laura on Pinterest
Source: homedecorators.com via Laura on Pinterest
I hope you found this helpful. I look forward to sharing some “after” photos once we get started. Enjoy the journey and LOVE YOUR SPACE! LG