Cozy textures, cool soft blues, and graphic layered plaids all come together to create a wintry-inspired family room.

Today I’m excited to reveal our cozy wintry-inspired family room with you all. I worked hand in hand with Calico Corners and Crypton over the past few months to create this space and I couldn’t be more thrilled with the result.

We put our white sectional to the test over the past couple of years from the One Room Challenge in 2016, but Simon was jonesing for a chair of his very own (read: RECLINER). With the U-shaped arrangement of that particular sectional, it didn’t really allow for any additional seating (also kind of an issue with the architecture of the room and the traffic flow). So — when he (finally) found a chair that he loved, I knew that we needed to make a few changes to accommodate his needs. More on that chair at a later date — but Simon’s super picky so once he finds something that’s perfect, I had to jump on it.

Well, not actually jump on it…

THE DESIGN PLAN

My initial design boards came together — I was feeling super inspired by the mix of lighter blues, whites and natural woods (shocker, I know – haha).  I wanted to stick pretty closely to the existing color scheme – the  console I had custom made along with those tomato red x benches are still holding up well (despite their Sharpie escapade a few months back) and I wanted to continue with that particular color scheme.  But what if we did a sofa with a chaise in that pale blue color? I hopped into the Dallas Calico Corners shop over the summer and started pulling fabric samples that would work with the existing console and landed on Crypton’s Synergy fabric in Haze blue. It’s crazy soft and velvety and the color is perfectly grayish ice blue.

For the shape of the sofa, the boys loved having the chaise element of our previous sectional, so I kept it on one side, but requested a bench cushion on the right arm facing side of the sofa. (designer note: a bench cushion is one solid seat cushion; many sofas have 2 or 3 individual seat cushions). I like the cleaner look of a bench cushion — it feels more modern to me somehow. It’s totally customized exactly to our needs — and it’s designed to be a workhorse not only from the frame build but also in the performance fabric.

And that’s where Calico is so great — every piece of their furniture is custom furniture and made primarily in North Carolina. But custom doesn’t have to mean unattainable. They’re the perfect way to gain access to to-the-trade resources which means you as the consumer gets complete control of the finished product from top to bottom. While many similar retailers consider “selecting a fabric of your choice” as custom, Calico’s is truly custom in that you can select from over 5,000 designer fabrics, add custom details like contrast welt and decorative trim, use 2 or more fabrics on a frame, and select your wood finish. The bench cushion request is not necessarily a standard option for most retailers; but Calico was able to make it happen without batting an eyelash.

In addition to over 200+ frame choices, Calico also offers the Classic Home and Custom+ Collections – in which you can customize even further by choosing your arm and base style.   The Classic Home Collection (which is what our new sofa is from) is the top selling collection and is available in a ton of different styles:  Sofa, Demi Sofa, Loveseat, Chair, Swivel Chair, Swivel Rocker, Ottoman, Chaise, and Sectional.

The sofa itself is scaled slightly larger and deeper than our previous sectional, and it can comfortably accommodate all 4 of us at once. I’m definitely glad we went with the greater depth in here — the room’s scale can handle it.

LAYERS & TEXTURE

The main elements of the room were decided with the upholstery and Simon’s recliner. But it also seemed like a great opportunity to experiment with added texture. I saw this Annie Selke Moroccan-inspired Denim Zags wool rug at market a few weeks back and loved how it felt underfoot. And the color scheme was perfection. It’s a little more boho than I typically design with ,but I think it’s set the tone of the room — more casual but also extremely cozy. And a fun contrast to my more preppy style. And it’s crazy soft underfoot — doesn’t it feel like the perfect piece as we head into winter?

I’ve also been adding lots of natural textures like the woven basket (Target), woven coffee table (Amazon), and the natural wood star-base lamps (hard to tell from the photo above – but they’re a pale washed wood).  The ladder is from our Christmas workshop last week, and I’ve put all our favorite blankets on display there.

I’m already in the throes of decorating for the holidays, and I based my entire scheme around the icy blue color scheme with pops of red. The white tree still makes me so crazy happy! More on the holiday decor once we get past Thanksgiving.

WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT CALICO

Right now there are tons of great Black Friday deals already happening — you can get 30% off furniture at Calico which is an enormous savings. I also always get asked where consumers can purchase Crypton fabric by the yard, and Calico has one of the biggest selections. You can get samples delivered pretty quickly too if you’re not quite sure which color(s) you need. Additionally, Calico also offer window treatments, reupholstery, tons of designer fabrics by the yard, and free design services.

Thanks so much to Calico Corners for sponsoring today’s makeover and for supporting the brands that keep Pencil Shavings Studio going. 

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