A Neutral Living Room Alongside Citrus Accents
It feels like years since I made my last mood board (you can see over 125 of them here). What the heck is up with that? So I am breaking the dry spell with this simply-for-lively creation that I tossed together with some cheerful and sunny summer color. I hoped to pick some lively accessories that anyone with a neutral toned sofa and neutral colored walls could use as a springboard for pulling together a room with a warm, glad, and inviting vibe:
1. The color palette for the room is full of warm tones like sunny orange and yellow along with some rich dark wood tones, some basic neutrals like mocha and tan, and glossy white trim. As for the exact wall color, since I cobbled this board together with the intention that these items would seamlessly slip into an already neutral room, I brought in that strip of warm cream paint along the top of the board to represent the wall color (like Water Chestnut by Glidden), but truly any warm-ish neutral on the wall should work.
2. I in fact thought a bunch of these lively plates with a pop of citrus-y orange from Crate & Barrel could look excellent hanging on the wall in a little cluster above a mantel or over the sofa to add interest and dimension. They are only $3.95 a pop (on clearance) so you could grab ten of them for around $30 and simply mount them on the wall in a big cloud-like cluster using plate hangers from the craft store.
3. This is the pillow that began it all. I enjoy it so much, and thought it would be lively to build an imaginary room around it. So it got dragged into my little photoshop doc first (yup, I use photoshop to make these, but I have heard strong things about mydeco.com and polyvore.com – which are both free). Anyway, ain’t she a beaut? Two of these on the mocha sofa along with one solid pillow in one of the colors of the patterned pillow (like orange or yellow or even pink) should do the trick.
4. Since I was making this imaginary board for someone with creamy neutral walls and a tan/mocha sofa, I figured they’d already have some standard wood end tables. So instead of a matchy-matchy wood coffee table I thought it might refresh the room if they switched out the coffee table for these nested little texture-filled woven tables. They could be casually placed in front of the sofa and work along with the basic wood end tables they already own. Simply to bring in another tone/texture/finish instead of more wood. Oh and I bet they are DIYable for anyone with the patience to make them out of hardware store wood and wrap them with rope for the same effect.
5. These Ikea curtains are elegant yet playful – kind of like fancy little coffee bean sketches dancing up the wall. The cool thing about them is that they are especially neutral so they’ll layer into the room so easily (while adding a bit more texture thanks to the geometric detail). And they are simply $15 a panel even though they are extra long. Ikea for the win.
6. These strong sculptural lamps will add even more interest to the room while allowing the pillows, wall plates, and rug to be the glad little punches of color among other classic and neutral touches. Oh yeah and they are simply $49 each (down from $100 a pop!).
7. This handmade Thom Filicia rug from Overstock.com had me at hello. First of all, it is truly well priced (simply $143 for a 5 x 8). And second of all, while some folks would be scared to bring in color with a rug, sometimes it is simply what a room with neutral walls and a neutral sofa needs! Take our old living room which sported a cheerful yellow rug with a cream sofa and tan walls for example.
8. This is simply a mocha sofa that I threw in to “complete” the picture (even though I was assuming that folks might already have one). If you do not have a sofa this color (say it is cream or soft sage or white or something else) simply bring in the accessories that you like and see how it goes. It could totally work. You can consistently go for a slipcover if you think the sofa color is the only thing throwing the room off (they sell them fairly affordably at places like Bed Bath & Beyond and Target- although I am not sure how well they’ll fit your individual sofa, but you can consistently try them and return them if it does not look right). And if slipcovers do not do it for you (or your current sofa is shot), this guy is only $699 thanks to a big JC Penney sale (he was originally $1200!).
So there you have it. My little imaginary neutral room mood board. If you end up getting some of the items and pulling them into your house I’d enjoy to see pics over on our Facebook page! Do you have any go-to things? I am kind of in love with the rug and of course that pillow had me at hello. Ah pillows, you make me glad. Have you folks been making any mood boards these days? Do tell.
Psst- We announced this week’s giveaway winner. Click here to see if it is you.
