everyone. What started out as “Let’s shoot Barb Sofa here and give her some love for marketing” turned into “Oh my god!!! … Is this really the life I want to live???” (in a good way). A few weeks ago, I showed you Alice’s sofa here, which I literally designed just for this room. Remember all those problems with balance and tone that we talked about? Well, here they seemed to be resolved. I still love Alice’s sofa, but I’m shocked to say that the sofa here might work much better!!! But you may disagree… (social media was mixed at the time of the poll). please:
If you move the slider back and forth, you’ll actually get two completely different vibes. While the greenery feels richer, more impactful, and in a way “advanced design”, I felt like I needed to change other things in that setup, like the fireplace, curtains, wall color, and rug. This balance of intensity on the symmetrical sofa made the rest of the room feel unfinished (many people had great suggestions for things like neutral colors and more textiles). However, the moment I placed these two colors in an asymmetrical layout, a whole new good vibe was created in the room. It screamed invitation and coziness, not to mention better scale and balance.
The uniformity of the tones, the warmth, the atmosphere…the openness of the layout!! The lack of contrast really worked in a way I should have known too, but I didn’t think it would work so well in Oregon (that airy Scandinavian feel worked so well in LA, I didn’t think it would here!). Strangely enough, even though it’s lightweight, doesn’t it make the room feel warm? You might need to ask a color scientist to weigh in on why that’s a problem. I didn’t buy anything new for this, so I could make some tweaks to make it even better (like putting brightly colored pillows in the dining corner).
I think it’s just that soft colors match this airy vibe and dark colors might go well with dark walls (I knew that, but I was just trying to make it work).
With this setup, you don’t even need to paint the fireplace or add wallpaper. It’s calm and cozy, with depth but not too much contrast. I mean, there’s always room for improvement (again, it took me about 3 hours to style it, just pulling it from inventory), but I’ve walked into this room many times over the weekend and whispered to myself, “Oh, I love it.”
Green draws you in with intensity, while blue/pink invites you to feel relaxed. Brian and I both agreed that it felt more casual. I also think Barb’s scale is large. She has big arms, a big back, and a big pedestal. In this large room it works better. Maybe it’s because I went for a more relaxed style?? No, it’s definitely the color and layout.
I loved sitting in the blue barb and looking out into the kitchen. I love how the blue/gray primitive French cabinets look more blue (less gray).
But wait, aren’t the dogs sitting on the cushions again?
no! ! I mean, this is literally why I didn’t put Barb here in the first place. I really thought my dog would climb on top and relax. And they do…but it’s been a week with this setup and they sit on the sofa bench but not on the top cushion. I think it’s too expensive. Maybe the density of the foam (which is perfect by the way) doesn’t squish it enough like the down feather mixes on other sofas?
my only big fear…
Go with me on this one. Have you ever known a woman who has the exact same hairstyle she had in her 20s or 30s, and it still looks outdated? My theory is that they’ve had their hair the same ever since they felt their hottest, most beautiful, and youthful. I mean, I do (I rarely stray away from my long blonde wavy hair). This color palette is nearly identical to what I had in my Glendale home right before we moved. look?
In fact, I still love that room, but some parts of it are a little dated (it’s been 10 years now). We stared at it and agreed that maybe it was a rug, maybe the type of photo (all white, very bright and airy, very 2014), maybe a pouf. So my fear is that I’m going back to the old fashioned state I was in when I felt like I was at my best. I know that warm Scandinavian design isn’t what it used to be, but it’s always been this design that I’ve been drawn to living in (along with a little bit of a good old Victorian vibe). But another way to look at it is that no matter how unfashionable they are, these are my comfort colors and just who I am (to be clear, there’s nothing “outdated” about them, just not part of the current super-trend layering old world patterns, moody colors, and European machimarism).
So which one do you leave?
At the moment, we have a long pink couch and a blue barb turned upside down and facing each other with the tree in the middle (opposite the fireplace), but I don’t really like it (it’s not symmetrical, which bothers me a bit). But in terms of color, atmosphere, and tone…I like this one more.
But wasn’t Alice’s sofa designed just for your living room?
It certainly was. And yeah, it feels kind of silly not to keep them here. Would you like Alice in these colors instead? Yes! But I think it’s also the previous layout that is working. I didn’t like it that much.
But there is one thing I don’t love so much…
Brian pointed it out and I was already feeling it. Looking into the living room from the kitchen will make it feel more cluttered unless you really have the perfect style. This may be due to more cushions being thrown or flattened by your dog on the ground, making them look messy. However, the symmetry of the two sofas facing each other gives it a really clean look and calms the viewer. I still prefer it that way, but it’s more eclectic and asymmetrical, so I need to keep things in place.
This will continue in the future. I also shot this room in a sectional, but I needed to photograph the house decorated for the holidays in two different ways. One for this year’s blog and one for the magazine that will be published in October 2026. I am photographing a green sofa for a magazine to make it look unique. I think it will be a lot of fun.
Truth be told, I quite like both, but the pink and blue color scheme flows better and calms down the need to “fix” any remaining balance issues (painting the fireplace, wallpapering the walls, changing the rug, etc.). But I’m really interested in what you guys think. I’m very close to it and my judgment is, well, very clouded by my own opinions and preferences 🙂 I’m not saying I’ll follow what the votes say, but I’m genuinely curious as to which one you like better (as is) or if you’d like to change/combine them???
*Photo provided by: caitlin green
Source: Emily Henderson – stylebyemilyhenderson.com
