Living room decor, living room renovation ideas in Louisville
What do the persimmon and woolly worms predict for the winter weather?
The Courier Journal’s annual folklore forecast predicts points to a a mild winter with cold and snowy snaps at the beginning and end
- The article highlights three distinct living room designs: eclectic, colorful, and coastal.
- An eclectic living room successfully blends various styles by using a consistent color palette.
- A colorful home uses neutral walls and flooring to balance bold furniture and decor.
- A coastal-themed living room incorporates seaside decor and a calming blue and white color scheme.
When severe weather leaves half the country holed up at home, it has a way of shifting priorities — and getting people to think differently about the spaces where they spend most of their time. Comfort, warmth, and flexibility start to matter more, and the main living area of a home becomes a sort of refuge.
These three previously featured living areas each offer a distinct aesthetic, but they all share a common thread: a comfortable, inviting spot to settle in when conditions call for staying put.
Mixed and matched
When Jordan Laws of J L Interiors got to work on this Signature Point home, she had one primary goal: to create a playful place for her client to return to at the end of each workday.
“(The homeowner) was pretty eclectic in what she wanted,” Laws said. “She didn’t really have any set style, so we mixed a bunch of things to (create) her own, unique style.”
This eclectic aesthetic is especially evident in the living room, which features a velvet green sofa; mid-century modern chairs; bold, Asian-inspired accent pillows; and rustic touches throughout the built-in and along the mantel. These include a large circular mirror, horse bookends, various jars and vases, and necklace sculptures.
“You can see things that look found or handmade,” Laws said. “(It’s) just all those little eclectic pieces that we’ve put together.”
Laws adds that while the living room features a wide array of prints and pieces, it is the consistent color palette that pulls it all together.
“I think that’s one thing that a lot of people miss and don’t understand,” she said. “They’ll go out and buy all these things that they love and that they throw together — and it looks hodgepodge. If you have at least one overall theme in mind — whether that’s the color palette (or) the style — that really helps (homeowners design) on their own.”
Crayola-inspired colors
Saba Kamaras knew that when she and her husband, Elias, began remodeling their Prospect property, monochrome design was not an option.
“I always wanted a very colorful house,” she exclaimed. “I love color in all aspects of my life.”
With the help of Louisville design firm Natalie O Design, Saba sprinkled pops of bold hues throughout the abode.
“Everything inside is just like a Crayola explosion,” she laughed. “We really worked with Natalie and her team to kind of push the envelope as far as we could with color, without making it too overwhelming.”
To accomplish this, they anchored the space with white oak flooring and kept most of the walls neutral. But bright pops of color are seen nearly everywhere else.
Multicolored rugs just inside the front door lead to the living room, which boasts a dark blue tiled fireplace that extends to the 22-foot ceiling. A bold strip of blue keeps the look flowing across the ceiling, which is adorned with five large, neutral pendants.
The fireplace is flanked by two bright yellow seating nooks that face the extra-large baby-blue bookshelves, Saba’s favorite area of the home.
“Ever since I saw ‘Beauty and the Beast’ when I was a little kid,” she said, “I wanted a bookcase and a ladder that rolled around, and I actually have one now.”
She adds that they didn’t want much dead space in a room with such high ceilings, so the bookcase was custom-made to use as much of the wall as possible. Now completed — and filled with books belonging to the entire family of four — it provides a fun space to get lost in a book for hours on end.
“It’s a really fun expression of what our family enjoys and the little things that make us who we are,” Saba said.
Coastal charm
The front door of John and Alison Cardoza’s Polo Fields Golf & Country Club home opens to a large, coastal-themed living room, outfitted with beachy decor and photos from their travels to Florida, Belize, and other seaside destinations.
“We brought our love of beach-life vacations back with us into our home,” Alison said. “We escape from a long day at work, back home in our coastal oasis.”
In addition to the photos, her favorite items in the living room include a blue-and-white mosaic whale-tail sculpture and white ceramic alligator bookends. The built-in shelves these pieces rest on still have more space for the family’s future trips.
“The more we travel, the more we will collect,” Alison exclaimed.
The Cardozas also gave the space a whole new color scheme: calming blues and pale whites that evoke a seaside vibe. These hues are complemented by light gray furniture and pops of green via various houseplants.
“When we first moved in here,” Alison said, “we were attracted to the slate floors and fireplace, and we kind of have stuck with blues and coastal themes ‘cause it reminds us of all our vacations that we’ve been on.”
Know a house that would make a great Home of the Week? Email writer Lennie Omalza at [email protected] or Lifestyle Editor Kathryn Gregory at [email protected].
nuts & bolts: Mixed and matched
Home: This is a three-bed, three-bath, 1,800-square-foot transitional home with a 1,000-square-foot basement. It was built in Louisville’s Signature Point community in 2020.
Distinctive elements: Green & rust color palette paired with dark and light natural finishes; hall style foyer with rattan pendant lights; Asian-inspired wallpapered dining room; locally made custom rope wall decor; mix of styles for an eclectic interior.
Applause! Applause! Furnishings, wallpaper, updated lighting, and decor by J L Interiors; custom wall hanging commissioned by Zoe Luvisi from Dope Rope Designs; photography by Jacob McRoberts.
nuts & bolts: Crayola-inspired colors
Owners: Saba Juneja Kamaras and Elias Kamaras. Saba is the co-founder of adaptive fashion company Spoonie Threads, and Elias is a software consultant. Also in the home are their children Ori and Lina.
Home: This is a four-bedroom, five-and-a-half bath, 4,200-square-foot contemporary home in Prospect. It was built in 1981.
Distinctive elements: Oversized Cumaru front door; multicolored 3Form panels on staircase; floor-to-ceiling tile surrounding living room fireplace nested between custom built bright yellow seating nooks; giant bookcases in living room with rolling library ladder; clean faced cabinetry in the kitchen with orange island, blue pantry, and yellow vent hood; kids bedrooms with lofts and folding ladders.
Applause! Applause! Langan and Matt Hollowell at Karzen Langan + James, general contractor; Emily Paprocki at Rock Paper Hammer, architect; and Natalie Officer at Natalie O Design.
nuts & bolts: Coastal charm
Owners: John and Alison Cardoza. John is the director of pre-construction at East and Westbrook Construction. Alison is a certified personal trainer and group exercise instructor at Baptist East Milestone Wellness Center.
Home: This is a 5-bed, 3-bath, 4,600-square-foot, ranch-style home that was built in 1994 in the Polo Fields Golf & Country Club.
Distinctive elements: Blue-and-white mosaic whale tail, alligator bookends, and white coral on built-in shelves; dentil crown molding throughout the entire home; coffered box ceiling and slate floor in the family room; wine-barrel style tile flooring in the kitchen; large telescope and “Atlas Shrugged” oxidized metal picture in master bedroom; mermaids in the bathroom; family vacation photos throughout; hammock in sunroom; in-home gym; U of L helmet and footballs from John’s football years; handprints of Alexa’s friends, as well as movie posters and cartoon artwork in downstairs movie room; botanical wreath on the front door; fairy garden in the backyard; brightly colored reptile figures on rocks and walls.
Applause! Applause! The Cardozas would like to thank their family, who helped transform their house into a home.
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