Room of the Day: Art an Inviting Presence in a Formal Living Room

When interior designer Enza Ricco meets clients, she goes to great lengths to get to know their tastes and personalities. She’ll ask permission to troll their homes on treasure hunts and learn about their travels, favorite colors and interests and how they live their lives. “I want my clients’ homes to be personalized and a true reflection of them,” Ricco says.

This Toronto family had recently completed a major renovation of their Victorian-era home, concentrating on a kitchen remodel and the bones of the house — installing new flooring, bringing the electricity up to code and applying fresh paint. But the living room off their front entry sat unused. “It was cold and empty, and no one ever went into the room,” Ricco says. By getting to know her clients, she was able to create a living area full of energy that matched that of the family, who loves edgy style but also wanted comfort and warmth.

Photos by Still Moments Photography

Room at a Glance
What happens here: A family with 2 children in elementary school hang out, converse, entertain, read, play with Legos and relax
Location: Toronto
Size: About 200 square feet (19 square meters)
Designer’s advice: Rather than buying everything new, look at things you already have with fresh eyes and repurpose them to personalize a space.

The homeowners had only painted the walls and added this sofa in the living room. “I often ask clients if I can dig through the rest of their homes so that I can find things to help personalize the space,” says Ricco, of Fig Interiors. She found the artwork over the sofa propped on the floor in another room. As it turns out, it was painted by one of the homeowners’ mothers, and its color and the branches were a perfect fit for the rest of her design. Made with love, the piece now hangs in the prominent place it deserves.

Lamp: Robert Allen


After getting to know more about her clients’ lifestyle, Ricco began by finding the right core furniture. “This couple is urban, very cultured and edgy. They love to have unique things that no one else has, to entertain, to travel and to go out to new hot spots and gallery events,” she says.

The comfortable distressed leather barrel chairs have the look the couple likes and offset the weight of the sofa. Ricco placed two metal nesting tables between them and topped them with an art book and brown and gold horn boxes she culled from bookshelves in the couple’s office. “People often have all these great things hiding in cupboards or shelves where you don’t really notice them,” she says. “The boxes were a gift from friends and now they are in a spot where they can really enjoy them. Plus, they add to the texture mix.”

A patchwork hide rug grounds the room in softness and a mix of warm cream and gray tones. “There are not many hard lines in here,” Ricco says. The curves maintain a soft, family-friendly feeling, while the mix of materials and the artwork give the the couple the original style they love.

Wall paint: Elephant’s Breath, Farrow & Ball; sofa: Van Gogh Designs; barrel chairs: Elte


An important piece in the room is this stunning tree composed of blocks of wood. After installing a beautiful chandelier by Brothers Dressler as part of their kitchen installation, the homeowners decided the furniture designers would be perfect for creating a custom art installation. Note how one of the tree’s branches wraps around the corner.

The wire chair has an interesting sculptural shape, introduces dark metal into the room and doesn’t clunk it up with a lot of heft. It contrasts the tree sculpture without competing with it.

Biscayne Wire Chair: Elte


The carefully balanced mix of textures plays a big role in the design. The coffee table’s top is a faux shagreen in shades of gray. The brass urchin brings in a warm metal. The table is kid friendly — no sharp edges or glass top to get covered in fingerprints.

“This room is for the whole family; the kids bring their Legos and crayons in here to play on the table,” Ricco says. She added a few big, soft throw pillows in a corner that they can pull out and flop on when they are on the floor.

Brass urchin, Milo Shagreen Coffee Table: DwellStudio


The couple was interested in exploring a more modern mantel and fireplace surround, but Ricco persuaded them to keep the original Victorian-era wood- and tilework. “What makes this room interesting is incorporating the original traditional elements and mixing in more modern pieces,” she says. “Every room should tell a story, and the original unique features, like the moldings and mantel, help tell the history.”

Her clients fell in love with the painting over the mantel, by artist Sarah Phelps. “It’s striking, bold and it has such wonderful energy,” Ricco says. “I like to find art with energy that mirrors the energy of the clients.” The deep blues and golds in the painting helped her round out the rest of the color palette, enlivening the neutral creams and grays.

9 Reasons to Buy a Painting


Ricco says images of the artwork on the screen don’t begin to convey how it feels to stand in front of it in person, but you can get a good sense of the painting’s texture and deep jewel tones and the way it reflects the light from this close-up. Ricco added more texture and colors to the room via glass and ceramic vases and trays.

Collect With Confidence: An Art-Buying Guide for Beginners


Phelps’ painting inspired the refined throw pillows Ricco chose for the sofa. “I kept it simple with just two throw pillows on the sofa, to complement the art without overwhelming it,” she says. This silk velvet pillow’s ornate embroidered trim stands out rather than getting lost in a big group of throw pillows.

Throw pillows: Elte



The other pillow has a rich woven texture and elegant gold woven trim with silk balls.


The couple had been using this inherited teak bench in a hallway and was thinking about getting rid of it, but Ricco persuaded them that it just needed to be repurposed. “The teak is warm, and the bench is not too weighty. It complements the tree, and it provides extra seating when needed,” she says.

Her clients found the tree painting at an outdoor gallery, and Ricco gave it a big thumbs-up. “It’s deep and dark and moody in a good way,” she says. “It adds drama and relates well to the dark tones in the gray leather chairs across the room.”

The once-unused living room is now a popular spot. The whole family hangs out there, TV free, when they want to relax together and socialize with guests.

See more Rooms of the Day

URL: Room of the Day: Art an Inviting Presence in a Formal Living Room http://www.decor-ideas.org/cases-view-id-25187.html