living spaces.

there are many elements that go into the success of a living room. here are some of my amateur thoughts. (i say amateur because i've never designed a living room of my own; just my own quaint 1-room apartment. i'm excited to do it someday and recognize it will likely be a very daunting task. i mean, how can you/me capture so many great styles and interests into one room while maintaining warmth and cohesion? those decisions seem nearly impossible.)

• not so matchy-matchy  /  you don't want it to look exactly like the catalogue photo, do you? 
• not so eclectic  /  a certain amount of cohesiveness is necessary for the warmth and inviting sense of the room
• practicality  /  do you really want your house to look like a museum? in museums, people are usually not allowed to touch things or bring outside food in--something to think about...
• personal items that tell stories and generate conversations

each of the rooms pictured below demonstrates at least one element that, in my 1-room apartment opinion, would make it a very liveable, likeable, warm and inviting living space.

images courtesy of lonny magazine

one thing i always loved about the house i grew up in and the house i call home now when i return for visits to ohio is how "lived in" the house looks. i'm sure my mother would roll her eyes and disagree--she'd declare it "a mess"--but i like it. it's real life, comfortable, it's a little disheveled, it's lived in. that's how a living space should be. the fact that it looks "lived in" shows it's a place people like to be and isn't that the point of a living space? to me it is.