Fantasyland

While out shopping for actual clients yesterday (and who am I kidding, myself too), I ran across some really cool items that no one technically needed. So, of course, I immediately came up with a fantasy client. She's single and lives in a small, but lovely little apartment in a big city. Having just landed her first "real" job, she doesn't have a lot of money to spend, so thrift store and antique mall finds are a necessity (lucky for her, that's my specialty). The pair of matching loveseats I found today feature a great vintage fabric that's in good shape and immediately reminded me of Nick Olsen's apartment with his vintage sofa.

Source: design-crisis.com via My Interior Life on Pinterest

He loved the fabric and kept it as is. I would opt to do the same with the loveseat I found today. Not that the fabric is at all similar to Nick's sofa, but embracing the fun vintage fabric would save my "client" a lot of money in upholstery costs now (and it could always be recovered later) while creating a unique centerpiece in her room. None of her friends will have the same sofa, that's for sure. I was drawn to its primary colors, and oddly enough, I kept running across other pieces that would complement it. So, here's the sofa that set off my reverie . . . 

Isn't it cute? In small apartments, loveseats/settees are great options because they can move with you to a larger space one day. Today's main furniture piece can easily live at the end of a bed one day or be worked into a larger living room arrangement in the future.

Some of the chairs I found that would work well with the loveseat . . . 

 and/or . . .

I probably wouldn't do too much rattan/wicker in one space, so I would have to choose between either the first chair or the last. I like the scale of the white peacock chair because it contrasts and balances the lower caned/upholstered chairs. The bright shot of color of the first chair is nice though, so I would opt to paint the white chair a vivid hue like yellow or red. The upholstered chairs would need to be recovered, but considering their size, that wouldn't be a major expense. I would suggest something a bit geometric to balance the feminine floral on the loveseat like this . . . 

Source: serenaandlily.com via My Interior Life on Pinterest

Then, there's the art I found. An edgier, modern piece to offset the girly aspect . . . 

Some bamboo framed pieces (we could easily switch out the art):

And a vintage peacock painting for some whimsy . . . 

I would pull out the green in the sofa cushions for the walls to make a enveloping emerald jewel-box of a room. Vibrant yet cozy . . .

I also found some accent furniture pieces that would finish out the room. This amazing bolstered bench is a beautiful blue velvet that would hopefully be great with some cleaning. If not, recovering it is another option:

I also spotted a tray table which would be perfect as-is (no paint required) lending a little natural element to the room. It could serve as a small cocktail table in front of the sofa now and easily be moved later.

Also, just found a cute vintage kilim rug from Craigslist that I think would add a nice layer to this space.

Combine all these finds with other affordable accessories and lighting from West Elm, IKEA, Etsy, World Market and Furbish, and you've got a great layered space. All on a budget.

While this is a fictional client, I do this for real people too. Please shoot me an email if you need help finding the perfect pieces for your home.