Creating (a stylish) Living Space in a Studio

My old coworker (and fabulous friend) Margot just moved into a Studio (after living in a truly awful situation with roommates for a few years).  One of the BEST things about living alone is being able to make decisions on your own about what YOU want in your space.  You don't need to take other's tastes into consideration, and most importantly, you don't have to worry about your sloppy roommates ruining your new pretty things.

Amen to that!

Well, Margot already has a few things in place, but I was able to help her out a bit, by creating a few mood boards for how I see her studio coming together.  She has white bedding, neutral walls, and this fabulous, bold, cobalt sofa from Ikea.  With that in mind, I pulled together a few fun accessories, to create several ideas of how I see this space coming together.

This first inspiration board was a fan favorite.  This rug (at the time, 75% off from RugsUSA) is the spitting image of the Souk wool rug from West Elm that retails for ~$6x the cost of the Marrakesh Shag rug we found at RugsUSA...

So... you could have this one for $899 (8x10)...

Or... you could pay $187 for it's long lost twin (8x10)...

No brainer right??

Margot really liked the idea of yellow being the accent color in the room as well, so I added in a few cool ikat throw pillows that incorporated a burst of sunshine-y yellow... but then we saw a few yellow and white rugs on sale as well, and it got us thinking...

There was a creme colored rug with an Indian inspired yellow and grey pattern, and then the yellow and white chevron piqued her interest too...

We also tested out a few grey and white options as well...

But we just kept coming back to this beauty...

We figured that the neutral colors would translate into any space - so if she moves, or wants to switch up the accessories, she won't forever be trying to coordinate with a yellow rug, and the shaggy texture is just enough "boho" to be cool, without being sloppy.

We both agreed that in a small space where there is bold color in the sofa, it was important to keep the rug a neutral color with a bold pattern to keep your eyes from feeling "confused" when trying to make sense of the space.

These rugs have been getting lots of attention - just look how fabulous they look in these spaces...

Source

Of course, West Elm's blog has fabulous photos of this rug...

Source

But it's also a favorite of designer (and personal idol) Emily Henderson... she used it in her friend's living room re-design, with lots of pops of color (god, I hate myself for using that phrase)

Source

And clearly, she loved it enough to use it again in her own home... this space is so light and bright, and colorful, and pretty, and crazy all at once, but I adore it.

Source

Amazing right???

Ok... fine... a few more glamour shots from Emily's place... seriously, it makes me drool...

THOSE CHAIRS!!  What I would do for them to be mine...

Source

So are you sold?  I WISH I had a need for this rug... Kris would probably kill me if I brought ANOTHER new rug home... but it makes me happy to know that Margot's space is coming along!

The rug should be arriving any day now...