Our Guest Cottage Living Room: Neutral Mix-and-Match Style

I never thought there’d come a day when I would say that I was in love with a room devoid of any colour, but the time has come. I’ve totally fallen for this newly redecorated living room in our guest cottage and there’s not a bright nor a pastel colour to be seen. Heck, I’ve fallen for all the spaces we’ve finished in our guest cottage so far, and all of them are in black, white and grey! I’ve finally started to learn the secret of how to decorate in all neutral tones, so let me share that with you today along with a tour of our new neutral, mix-and-match styled guest cottage living room.

Welcome to the newly finished main living area of our guest house! In case you’re new here, you can pop on over to this post to read the story behind our little garage house that we’re turning into a guest cottage this summer. It’s been a lot of fun to renovate our old place, and I’ve been pleasantly surprised with each room we’ve finished – I didn’t know that this teeny space could look so amazing!

The living room of the cottage is a nice open space that needs a defined sitting area.

Here’s what the living room of our guest cottage looked like before:

And here’s how the living room looks now:

A plush sofa, two stylish sitting chairs, a coffee table and an area rug give the room a gorgeous, defined sitting area that has a casual, modern country vibe.

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

Even though this space is in all neutral tones of black, white, grey, and warm wood, I still think it looks welcoming and interesting. Here’s the secret I’ve found when decorating in all neutrals like this: layer on the texture and pattern! Blacks, whites, and greys can look boring or even clinical if all of the surfaces are the same and lack pattern. By introducing a variety of texture and patterns, this space still has life and interest!

Take the pillows on the sofa, for instance. The toile pattern and the ruffle on this DIY pillow make the black and white feel far from bland, and the quilted look on this beautiful white euro pillow from The Brick adds some texture. (Here’s a similar one in grey.)

The area rug I’ve used here to anchor the space is the Taza from The Brick, and it features a bold geometric pattern to liven things up a little.

An oversized knitted throw (you can find the DIY for that right here) adds even more texture to the space, and I love how it looks on these gorgeous chairs (the Hancock Park Arm Chair). These chairs are fabulous for the cottage because they do double duty – they look beautiful in the living room, but we can also pull them up to the dining table that’s near this room for extra dinner seating! It’s always so nice to find furniture that can do a couple of jobs, especially when you’re working with a small home.

The Calistoga Coffee Table from The Brick is yet another neutral toned piece of furniture in the room, but it offers even more varieties of texture into the space: rustic wood, glass and iron.

The tabletop is glass, and the pine drawers can be opened to store books and trinkets. There’s no such thing as too much storage in a smaller home!

I also find that greenery – weather it be real or fake – can also really help liven up a neutral space. Here, I have some faux plants in a vintage looking tote on an antique side table, and a real tree clipping on the vintage dresser against the wall.

My parents are our first guest cottage guests this summer, and they’ve brought this beautiful antique display cabinet that sits in the living room. I love how it adds some warmth and history to the space.

Another one of my mom’s touches is this DIY textured crochet pillow, and I’m definitely going to share the pattern for that with you soon. Again: more texture!

What do YOU think? Could you live in a room decorated in all neutral tones and a ton of texture and pattern?

Happy decorating, and I can’t wait to share with you the dining and kitchen space in our guest cottage soon!

Disclaimer: This post is sponsored by The Brick. As always, all of the opinions here are my own. I only recommend companies that I use and love myself.