Advice on New Purchases and Styling Helped Two Busy Professionals Avoid Overwhelm

Brad and Cynthia have great taste and nice pieces. When they moved into their new house, they asked me to help them create a cohesive look.

The den gets great natural light and just needed some comfortable furniture so the family could enjoy it. I helped Cynthia pick a new wool rug, two red reading chairs from Article, and a tribal-inspired poof. She found the curtains at Anthropologie. We hung four of Cynthia’s paintings and some tribal masks they brought back from Central America that all had a similar bold look.

I styled the shelves by turning some books horizontal and interspersing decorative items to add interest. I made room on the top shelf to showcase Brad’s collection of vintage cameras.

In the dining room, we reoriented their table, which made the whole room feel bigger. We replaced the oversized dining chairs with slimmer more modern ones from Article. We bought standard frames with mats to show off several Audubon bird prints Cynthia saved but never framed. We displayed a collection of green vintage glassware from Brad’s parents on one sideboard and leaned a large gold mirror on the opposite sideboard to bounce some light around. We added a black and white wool rug to soften the space and counteract all the brown from the furniture and floor. They plan to add a lamp and curtains to finish the room.

In the living room we kept the large grey couch they had but replaced the matching loveseat with two velvet chairs from Article. Between them we put a glass-topped coffee table they had from their last house and a tall vintage lamp Brad’s mom had refinished years ago. To balance out the warmth of the wood, we added white curtains and plenty of pops of color with pillows and art.