Room of the Day: Sink Into This Cozy Upstairs Lounge
Cushy furniture, great reading light and dashes of color make this sitting room a couple’s favorite hangout
Faced with an empty nest, this couple wanted to feather it. They began with a second-floor sitting room that’s tucked among the bedrooms and a home office. Knowing that they wanted to turn it into a place where they’d want to cozy up and spend time playing games, reading and watching TV together, interior designer Maria DeGange helped them find a large sectional sofa to lounge upon, then added all the cozy touches they needed — a soft wool rug, a dash of plaid, good lighting for reading, cushy pillows, light color and soft throw blankets.
“After” photos by Joseph Allen
AFTER: The room’s good bones gave the designer a running start. Among the assets: extensive built-ins along one wall, natural light from the charming casement windows and hardwood floors.
Paint: Agreeable Gray, Sherwin-Williams; sofa: Vanguard Furniture
AFTER: The room’s good bones gave the designer a running start. Among the assets: extensive built-ins along one wall, natural light from the charming casement windows and hardwood floors.
Paint: Agreeable Gray, Sherwin-Williams; sofa: Vanguard Furniture
“My clients love to play chess and board games,” DeGange says. Now that the room is set up properly, they keep most of the games in the built-in cabinets. The couple already had the onyx chess set, now displayed on a shelf over the covered radiator. They also store their family photo albums here.
A large plaid ottoman provides a cozy touch and can double as a coffee table when paired with a tray. DeGange also added an upstairs coffee bar in the hallway, so the couple can get perked up in the morning here before they even hit the stairs. A throw with a geometric print adds color, softness and a favorite wrap for chilly nights.
Ottoman: Vanguard Furniture; ottoman fabric: Michael Weiss
Ottoman: Vanguard Furniture; ottoman fabric: Michael Weiss
A new wool rug defines the seating area and adds more warmth underfoot. Books fill the shelves within reach, and favorite objects are displayed on higher shelves.
The sofa is a heavy piece, so DeGange kept the side tables airy and simple but chose a size that stands up to the sectional’s scale. She then added her clients’ mercury glass lamps for reading. The mottled, silvery glass adds another interesting texture to the room but continues the light feeling. With the cords tucked away, the lamps are no longer in danger of toppling and shattering if someone trips on a cord.
One of the clients “absolutely loves chartreuse, so I brought in pattern and that color via the throw pillows,” DeGange says. She tied the pillows together by using gray as a consistent color.
A Regina Andrew floor lamp provides ample reading light for the comfortable corner of the sectional.
A Regina Andrew floor lamp provides ample reading light for the comfortable corner of the sectional.
More color comes in via four watercolors that the homeowners already had. DeGange hung them in an equally spaced row over one side of the sofa.
A low console across from the sofa serves as a TV stand, with two starburst mirrors overhead.
A cabinet on a metal stand conceals a little upstairs bar. The door on the left leads to a closet; the French doors lead to the home office.
Now the couple has a warm and inviting space to start their mornings and spend quiet evenings together. When their grown children come to visit, there’s enough room for everyone to gather, watch TV and play games.
Show us: Have you reinvented a room in your house? We’d love to see your before-and-after photos in the Comments section!
Get ideas from more Rooms of the Day
Now the couple has a warm and inviting space to start their mornings and spend quiet evenings together. When their grown children come to visit, there’s enough room for everyone to gather, watch TV and play games.
Show us: Have you reinvented a room in your house? We’d love to see your before-and-after photos in the Comments section!
Get ideas from more Rooms of the Day
Who lives here: A couple whose grown children have moved away
What happens here: Hanging out, reading, watching TV
Location: St. Louis
Size: 225 square feet (20.9 square meters); 15 feet by 15 feet
Designer: Maria DeGange
BEFORE: Despite the name, the love seat wasn’t comfy enough for two. The lack of a rug made the room feel cold, and the proportions of the furniture were awkward. “In an older home, electric outlets are often sparse,” DeGange says. As you can see here, this layout meant that cords to the lamps stretched across the floor, which looked bad and posed a tripping hazard.