White to Bright Style Challenge

Chairish, an online marketplace for buying and selling vintage furniture, invited me to participate in their White to Bright style challenge. The goal is to design a mix styles room, with a color scheme based around an accent chair. If you know me, you know that I like vintage furniture and I love styling rooms and picking out home decor. My kind of fun!

I selected to use their Bergere chairs with orange upholstery. Aren't they pretty? Great lines! As soon as I saw them, I knew they were the ones I wanted to design a room around. Since I have a tangerine wing back chair in my living room, that also happens to be a vintage find, I was all the more inspired. I'm not afraid of color and mixing old and new styles.  

I learned two cool things while designing this room. First, I discovered what Chairish is. It's such a great site for buying, selling and browsing. I could look around all day! So many unique pieces. And not just furniture, but lighting, art, rugs, small decor and more. What a wonderful way to be inspired - and keep your eye out for diamonds in the rough at garage sales and flea markets. Shop for Chairish accent chairs here.

Secondly, I discovered Polyvore. Am I the last one to know about this? It's got style boards, fashion, home decor, and trends galore. Seriously. Why didn't I know about this? You can make your own boards and pick and choose from hundreds and hundreds of images. It's a collage makers dream come true! If you're looking for a specific item, such as a blue ottoman, you can run a search and find every blue ottoman that's out there. Uh. Maze. Zing. When I was a little girl, I literally used to cut pictures of furniture out of magazines and glue them to paper to decorate pretend rooms. I was so ahead of my time!

Here is the room I created, based on the pair of orange Bergere chairs. I designed it in Photoshop (because I use it all the time and found it to be more flexible for me), but if you don't have Photoshop, Polyvore is your new BFF. 

What goes with orange? I chose navy blue and gray with gold accents. I'm still a fan of light gray walls. It's a wonderful neutral that almost any color can work with. The dark gray floor length curtains create a nice backdrop for the room. The orange chairs really hold their own, so I chose complimentary pieces that helped them stand out, yet look like they all belong together. I like how the gold lamp, mirror and chandelier add shine and sophistication, but aren't too fancy or ornate. The navy blue love seat pulls everything together and helps anchor the room. The blue and white ottoman plays off the love seat and adds another layer of texture and pattern. The rug also introduces a subtle pattern, with a warm straw color that works with everything and looks great against the wood flooring. 

I don't know about you, but I would like to live in this space! It feels modern with a vintage flair, yet looks comfortable and approachable. I'd say this room is definitely not boring white, but cheerful and bright! 

Thank you, Chairish for the opportunity to create a fun room! I hope you'll be as inspired as I was.