Get The Look: A Craftsman Living Room Update

What’s not to love about the charm that comes with a craftsman home? It has a certain amount of familiarity in the details. Craftsman homes are classic and cozy...kind of like your favorite jeans! Naturals materials like wood and stone combined with simplicity in composition make this home style a crowd favorite. But there is something more to this style of home that makes it extra accessible; these homes also provide homeowners with a timeless, functional layout. However, just like your favorite jeans, sometimes they need an update. Here’s how we took this classic style and updated it for a young, modern family while accenting and maintaining all the period charm.

Color Palette

Let’s talk craftsmen traditional colors - muted, earthy – think grandma’s floral curtains.Dusty rose, creamy beige, sage green....so much BROWN. Not exactly the most modern color palette to highlight all those warm wood tones! We wanted to bring in an airy lightness and energy to this family home, so we flipped the color wheel and went with a cooler range of colors to accentuate the vintage woodwork. Cool grays, rich navy, and pops of yellow create an updated feel, and work harmoniously to create that homey vibe that the craftsman style is all about!

Benjamin Moore Gray Owl

Navy accents

Marigold for pops of color

Call in the Pros

Large, awkwardly placed radiators took up valuable space by the windows. Don’t get us wrong, we’re not knocking radiators, they just get in the way of design sometimes. But instead of fighting the placement, work with it! We had the pros build a radiator cover that doubles as a bench seat to help create a seating area that doesn’t add bulk with heavy furniture. The radiator cover built of rich, stained wood brought in more of that traditional, natural warmth that compliments the original features of the home. Add a few plush pillows, and viola! Instant reading nook.

Furniture

Timeless, functional and unique. Sound familiar? We are in a craftsman! There is nothing fussy about this space. The long room allowed for two living areas that needed to work harmoniously together. We wanted a lot of plush seating for the main television watching area. Cause please...this is where you want the comfy, right?? This sectional sofa paired with an open framed, tufted ottoman makes use of the entire space while keeping it from feeling cluttered. Every family member has their own cushy spot for movie night and the ottoman doubles as a relaxed environment to put up your feet or pop some snacks on a tray, or both! Yes. It’s movie night after all - no room for formality here!

The other side of the room is more conversational, but no less cozy. The rattan love seat adds a little of the unexpected with it’s lightweight design in comparison to the heavier pieces in the space. This space feels even more conversational by adding a mid-century modern armoire that doubles as functional storage and a hidden bar! One more cocktail anyone?

Décor and Accessories

All this craftsman simplicity and functionality ends when it comes to the accessories. Time to mix things up! We purposely kept the foundational elements neutral so we could bring in COLOR. Oh yes. The rugs, the pillows and decor had to pack a little punch to stand up to all those organic details. But we bring organic back in with plants and a woven basket wall. See what we did there?? First thing first, nothing adds a little trend to a traditional space like rugs can! A little texture goes a long way in this space. We used this as another opportunity to amp up the color factor, too. (We can’t help ourselves, ok?)

And who doesn’t love a gallery wall? For this room we incorporated two (albeit very diverse) gallery walls! One is personal to the family with personal photography and the other is more art based. It’s all about the balance. We like the way the brass frames add a bit of metallic to play off the fireplace mirror while highly contrasting the woven basket gallery wall opposite to it. These inexpensive, yet really chic brass frames from Target add just the right amount of bling!  Mix it up with some pictures in mattes and some in floating frames to give your gallery wall the opportunity to continuously expand while not taking up all the visual wall space.

Now let’s soften up all those angles! This large, round mirror is the perfect addition to the focal point of the room - the fireplace!

Wrap it up

Looking to create an updated craftsman style? Embrace the simplicity, functionality and natural materials of the home’s natural design. Ditch the muted color palette and the outdated florals in favor of a cooler color palette to accentuate that rich, warm wood! Clean, functional furniture pieces hold true to the fundamentals of craftsman style, but don’t be afraid to mix it up with a unique piece or two from another era. Fun and interesting accent pieces just add to the charm and give you the opportunity to make it your own!