Our Formal Living + New Room & Board Sofa

Welcome to “my” space! This room is my quiet space, my happy space, my little bit of peace- if you will! This is our formal living.

I think many home buyers struggle with, “Do we want a formal living or a formal dining?”  When you have an extra space that can be used as both, you end up weighing the pros and cons of both. Quite frankly, I think both are fabulous…but maybe for different stages in life. We can seat 6 in our dining area and then we have a long kitchen island with black kitchen stools. I don’t really have more than 10 people {ever!} to eat. I just love the dining tables Perth that we bought months ago. Every piece that we had at home was amazing.

I love to have girlfriends over for coffee or a glass of wine and a cheese board. I also like to have a little space where I can enjoy a book or have quiet time and not feel like I’m staring at Fisher-Price Little People strung about. Weighing the pros and cons, we knew that at this stage of life, a formal living would serve our needs best. I can host without cleaning up the family room, and I can always have a spot to take a phone call for work.

So let’s talk design! I let Paul win the battle of a leather sofa in our family room, and I’m so grateful I did! With crumbs and Maxi’s affinity for crayons, I’d be bleaching a slipcover day in and day out had I gone with another option. But you all know how much I adore light furniture, so we decided to go with a lighter sofa for my space. If the leather was the “his” sofa in this house, this is the “hers”. But the best part is I didn’t have to compromise, which I’ll explain below!

For selecting the furniture, our designer, Maddie, told me to check out Room & Board when I visited my girlfriend Amy Beth in the Bay Area for her 30th birthday this past May. She told me she was always pleased with the products and when I told Amy Beth we needed to make a pit stop, she was like, “Wait, you’ve never been to an R&B store?” Guilty!

I already had some chinoiserie panels {sold out} and custom leopard chairs, so I wanted the rest of the room to be transitional as well as neutral. I went with the tufted Macalester Sofa in 80″ in the fabric “Sumner Linen. The style of this sofa could lean modern, glam, or traditional- which I appreciate. I have commitment issues wondering if I’ll decorate a specific style for the rest of my life. The “Sumner Linen” isn’t actually linen, it just looks like it is! This is one of their performance fabrics, which works perfectly for this space because then I never worry when hosting- or if Maxi and Peaches were to accidentally leave a stain. So I get my light sofa and don’t have to worry about stains- win, win!

I added in the Classic Cocktail Table in Stainless Steel {mine is the 27″ size}. Ashley is the one who convinced me to go this route. She told me to have fun with the space and get something modern. I’m so glad I got this coffee table because it doesn’t weigh down the room. This room is smaller, and had we gone another direction I think it would have looked far too cramped. Keeping a glass top allows for sight lines. For a side table, I went with the Aria End Table in Venatino Marble with the White Base. I shied away from marble in most of this home because #KidFriendly, but I had to have a little piece for me in here.

In terms of textiles, you all know I’ve been swapping pillows out left and right here. I appreciate that you can easily do that with a linen sofa. I originally ordered 2 of the Mustard Velvet Pillows {size 21×21}, but we really love those with the leather sofa. They are really comfortable and hide stains, so they work in both spaces.

I added a fiddle leaf tree we got from my friend’s plant shop and I’m still surprised I have kept it alive. I always kill these things. So far- so good! Do you keep these alive?! Now I get a lot of questions on these panels and they currently aren’t sold. My hack is to either go through an antique store {I’ve found smaller scale ones sold for $25/$50!} or get fabric. Order some Chinoiserie fabric online and then get them framed yourself. I think this would honestly be a more affordable option and would allow you to complement your pillow scheme much easier.

Another question I get a lot about this room is the rug. I actually don’t think it fits the space too well {I’m not sure, I haven’t had Maddie look at this rug!} and it is a seagrass rug. There are pros and cons to seagrass vs. sisal vs. jute- and I’m thinking about maybe doing a post on it. But I find seagrass to be more uncomfortable. Granted, it’s nice and doesn’t stain…but not the softest on your feet. This rug seems more comfortable as it feels like silk. Then again, this isn’t a high traffic area so maybe we just leave it be!

I wanted to share this room because I think the dimensions would fit well for a girl in an apartment and, if I was still in my bachelorette days this is totally how I would want to style the space! To help you recreate, I’m teaming up with Room & Board on Instagram to give away this exact classic cocktail table! I shared a few ways I style it in this post, but I would love to see how you style it. Stay tuned on Instagram the next few days for the giveaway. They are committed to sustainable sourcing and American craftsmanship, so I was thrilled they were interested in doing a giveaway for my COF readers!

Let me know if you restyle this space in your home or apartment!

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11 Comments

  1. Katey, your new living room is so gorgeous! It looks so glam and glitzy. I love it! 🙂

    Charmaine Ng | Architecture & Lifestyle Blog
    http://charmainenyw.com

    Published 01 Oct 18Reply
  2. Stephanie wrote:

    It looks amazing!! I actually love your rug and think it would be so fun to layer another rug over it and switch it out for like winter and summer. I can see a white shag rug looking SO chic in there for fall/winter!

    Published 01 Oct 18Reply
  3. Sherry wrote:

    Hi Katey! I was so excited to read this post! I absolutely adore how you decorate each room! My boyfriend and I moved into an apartment not too long ago and I love all the inspiration i can get! Hoping you recover from your sinus surgery ASAP! 🙂

    Published 01 Oct 18Reply
  4. Laura Leigh wrote:

    The space looks absolutely amazing girl friend! I love how you it is and how much fun you had with it!

    xo Laura Leigh
    Louella Reese

    Published 01 Oct 18Reply
  5. Madison wrote:

    Gorgeous! Where is your gold hand vase from?? It’s AMAZING!

    Published 01 Oct 18Reply
    • Katey wrote:

      Hi Madison! Of course! The brand is “Arteriors” and I think I got it off Wayfair! xo, Katey

      Published 01 Oct 18Reply
  6. Annaliese wrote:

    OMG I would love to win this table!! I still don’t have a coffee table in my little Bachelorette pad- furniture is so pricy! This room came together so well. 🙂

    xoxo A
    http://www.southernbelleintraining.com

    Published 01 Oct 18Reply
  7. Love the wall art!

    BlondieintheCity.com

    Published 02 Oct 18Reply
  8. Olivia wrote:

    Yes to the rug comparison post! I am house hunting and will need rugs soon! ☺️

    Published 02 Oct 18Reply
  9. Kathryn T wrote:

    It makes me think of the elegance of the 50’s and 60’s. I really love that and always wanted to recreate that . Like for instance those floral photos…and that bit of Orange on the coffee table. I also saw some curtains in Maxi’s room, I believe, (they looked like the type you pull down to block the sun) …that majorly made me think of my granny’s house..because she has an impeccable home and always has. I see the Chip and Joanna Gaines bringing more character out in homes.. ( well at least on tv…I know in real life it’s so easy to find a home with awesome character and quirks). You have a gift girl!! Plus your blog is really the only blog I’ve found that I really, really like. It’s got that personal touch 🙂

    Published 05 Oct 18Reply
    • Katey wrote:

      This comment just made my entire month- thank you!! I absolutely love the 60’s and always feel like grandmothers have the most immaculately decorated homes! You are so so sweet! xo, Katey

      Published 05 Oct 18Reply