Styling My Subs’ Spaces: Aleea’s Modern Rustic Living Room

Get ideas on how to style a square living room with a large window and a mix of modern and rustic decor as I virtually makeover a subscriber’s space!

Disclosure: This post is sponsored by The Brick. As always, all of the opinions here are my own.

This idea has been in the works for quite some time now, and I’m so excited to finally introduce it to you!

Today’s the first project in my new series called “Styling my Subs’ Spaces”.

I’m having a look at photos of my subscribers’ rooms, listening to their pain points about their space, understanding their decor style, and virtually making over their room here on the blog and on YouTube!

Interested in applying to be featured on Styling my Subs’ Spaces? Fill out the application form here.

My very first “client” is Aleea from Canada. Here’s her current living room:

Aleea writes:

My main issue with this space is that it’s a square shape (17’x17’) and awkward to place furniture without blocking windows. The room is too neutral. The only feature wall was painted a cool toned blue grey that doesn’t warm up the space.
I prefer a rustic/ traditional space while my husband prefers modern. It’s difficult to combine both styles.
We love green, teal, mustard. And I love burgundy!

Thank you so much for considering our space! I know you could work wonders. Looking forward to hearing from you.
P.S. We love our large photos of our newborn baby, Oakley.

I LOVE combining styles (my own home is such a mix of all sorts of different decor), so I thought this would be a fun virtual makeover to take on first! Since Aleea is in Canada like me, I also thought it would be perfect to work with The Brick on this styling, because Aleea can easily purchase some of their furniture and accessories if she likes this design.

Here’s a mood board that I came up with for Aleea’s Modern Rustic Living Room design:

1. Brushed Steel Arc Floor Lamp with Linen Shade
2. Oakdale 3-Piece Linen-Look Fabric Left-Facing Sectional – Light Grey
3. Dark Grey
4. Mustard Yellow
5. Cognac
6. Deep Teal or Forest Green
7. Designed2B Fabric Accent Pillow – Fog
8. Taurus Milk Accent Pillow
9. Madison Barn Door Coffee Table – White
10. Robin Leather-Look Fabric Accent Chair – Brown
11. Nashik 20″ Accent Table
12. Fiddle Leaf Fig (real or faux)
13. Bray Accent Cabinet – Antique Blue
14. Topaz Area Rug

As soon as I heard Aleea loved jewel tones, I instantly thought of the Topaz Rug! It’s the same rug as I have in my dining room, and I thought it would be a fantastic jumping off point to pull other colours into the room. Plus, it’s a great mix of modern and traditional!

Next, there was the layout of the room. Aleea mentioned the awkwardness of the large square shape and not wanting to block windows, however I always love how more low profile chairs look in front of large windows. If you get the right arm chairs, they won’t block the light or take up too much space. I thought a pair of Robin Leather-Look Fabric Accent Chairs in front of the windows would be perfect! They’re minimal in look, plus they have a modern style for Aleea’s husband. The brown leather makes them a little rustic, and they don’t take up too much space.

I styled these chairs in front of the big window in my studio to illustrate what I mean. See how these are smaller in scale so they don’t block the light from the window?

(This faux cowhide rug is a DIY, and you can find the tutorial to make it right here!)

A compact accent table like this Nashik 20″ Accent Table from The Brick is a great piece to put in between this chair pair for function and style, too!

 

The wood top is rustic, but the legs are modern all the way! It’s a great blend of styles.

Because Aleea’s room is nice and large, a long sectional would work well against her back wall. It can seat a lot of people, and removes the need for another sofa in the room. I like the Oakdale 3-Piece Linen-Look Fabric Left-Facing Sectional in the Light Grey colour and think it would be a great size and colour for this room. Then, instead of a loveseat on the stair wall, Aleea could put a narrow accent cabinet like this Bray Accent Cabinet in the sweet blue colour here. It could serve as a drop zone or a place to store books or toys, and it leaves a nice wide path for people to walk from the entry to the next room.

Painting the wall behind the sofa a bold colour like deep teal or forest green would be a simple and inexpensive way to update this space and give it a ton of personality! Aleea could even add some DIY board & batten trim to this wall if she wants to give it even more texture, or leave it and add an asymmetrical gallery wall featuring her beautiful baby’s photos mixed with other prints.

For a bit of texture and pattern, throw pillows in rustic and modern prints could be added along with this sculptural Brushed Steel Arc Floor Lamp with Linen Shade.

There’s still room in the corners for baby items or plants, and lots of room to play between the rustic Madison Barn Door Coffee Table and the stairs.

Watch my YouTube video below to get a virtual tour of Aleea’s Modern Rustic Living Room design:

Thank you, Aleea, for sending me your living room photos and asking for help! I hope you found this ideas inspiring as you style your home for you and your family.

Now tell me: What do you think of this living room design? Are you a fan of low-profile chairs in front of windows?