Oh Happy Day Studio Tour: Living Room

Today for our studio tour we are sharing the Living Room Area. (Here is the Photo Studio in case you missed it.) I knew I wanted some sort of sitting area or “Living Room” but after managing all that construction I felt completely uninspired. So I called my friend Jenny Komenda of Little Green Notebook and her design firm Juniper Studio for help. I feel really lucky that Jenny agreed to decorate the studio because she does the most beautiful work and is usually unavailable. The Living Area is the first thing you see when you walk in the door so I wanted something special. I told Jenny I wanted it colorful but quirky and little bit sophisticated. Jenny really is a genius and she KNOCKED it out of the park. Her and her team packed up a Uhaul with custom chairs and sofas and drove it all the way from Arizona to San Francisco. It seriously caused a small scene when they pulled up on Mission Street and started unpacking all the awesome lamps and furniture, everyone wanted to buy the stuff on the sidewalk (sometimes street vendors put their stuff on the sidewalk to sell.) It was hilarious.

Functionally I added Ikea Cabinets to the whole wall just so we would have lots and lots of storage, but other than that it was a big blank space. The first thing we should talk about is this amazing art Jenny came up with. She had the genius idea to frame balloons for art! Which was perfect because I just happened to have a few boxes full of rare and beautiful balloons I’ve collected from all over the world. Jenny laid them out until we were happy with them and we framed them in these white vintage frames Jenny found. It matched the space perfectly and even mimicked the pattern on the custom bench.

Speaking of the bench, Jenny ordered the fabric and had the bench custom upholstered with brass legs. It feels colorful and a little bit sophisticated, and when I die I would like to be buried with it. I love it! During the process Jenny sent me a lot of texts with possible furniture and I pretty much told her to do whatever she wanted but when she sent me the picture of those pink chairs I almost died. They are perfectly pale pink and look at the ridiculous cutout on the arms! So good! The coffee table was custom and designed by Jenny (you can order through Juniper Studio.) The legs on that thing are so sexy. She found this big tufted sofa at a thrift store and had it recovered in this bright yellow fabric, perfect for Oh Happy Day. Her and her team even painted the legs yellow to match the fabric. They seriously thought of all the details. The white sofa we ordered from Article, it came so quick and was so affordable. It is super comfortable too. The sidetables were both vintage finds from Jenny. She painted the legs of the one on the left coral pink and made a hexagon custom wood table top. You can also get a sneak peek into the craft area (which we are sharing tomorrow!) But I like that the yellow sofa separates it and makes it a distinct area. That’s a challenge when you have a wide open space.

To top off the space Jenny and her team brought in a ton of pillows, plants, books, and candy dish (!) to make it feel lived in. I think the biggest difference in having a designer help you is they have so many more resources. If I’m trying to decorate a project I check the local box stores and Craigslist but Jenny had a million options for furniture and custom fabrics and had all the resources to make it happen quickly. It was seriously like Christmas as the pulled all the beautiful things out of the Uhaul.

On the wall opposite I used my favorite Ikea Metal Shelves (I seriously have a bajillion of them) to store samples and products for the party shop we use for photoshoots. Of course it’s organized by color. I also found the giant green cabinet off craigslist, it’s vintage. It’s funny but the photo on the listing made it look small and I didn’t look closely at the measurements so when it arrived (I had it delivered sight unseen) it was enormous! It actually ended up working out great as storage for craft supplies because the drawers are so big. It came in a weird color so we painted it mint.

That is the Living Area! Tomorrow we’ll be sharing the Craft Area, stay tuned…

Photos by Paul Ferney for Oh Happy Day

Sources: Wall Cabinets-Ikea, Pink Chairs-Vintage, Sarinean Table-Vintage, Coffee Table-Juniper Studio, Rug-Serena and Lily, Yellow Sofa-Vintage, White Sofa-Article, Tall Brass Lamp-Vintage, Bench-Juniper (fabric is called Arty by Pierre Frey, solid brass legs are from this etsy seller)