Living Room By Havenly

I had so much fun writing last week's post about preparing your home for selling.  I was out showing homes to a client this weekend and felt that familiar thrill that comes with the start of the Spring market.  These particular buyers are looking for a fixer upper and when we stumbled across this early 1900's shell of a home, I have to admit it made my heart pitter patter.  I've got time for another project, right?

Speaking of projects, I'm revisiting the evolution going on in my living room this week.

A few weeks ago I introduced the concept of eDesign, the process of working with a designer virtually to pull together a room in your home.  In short, a back and forth, online collaboration to achieve a finished look for a space.  You can read more about how I used eDesign in my Master Bedroom here.

This is a great solution when you have a designer you follow on social media whose style you know and love and would like to replicate in your home.

In the case that you don't have a particular designer you are head over heels for and you are unsure where to start, I'd like to introduce you to Havenly.  Havenly is much like the Stitch Fix of home design.  You start by creating a style profile - describe your style, look at these pictures and tell us which ones are most in line with your style, do you like this chair or that one, etc.  From there, you are given a style category that you fall within, i.e.: traditional, glam, boho, rustic, etc.  Next you look through a list of suggested designers for your project.  You can preview their take on each of the different style categories.  You can read each designers profile and look for one that you feel would be fun to curate your room with.  Once you find one, you initiate the conversation and get the ball rolling on your project.

There are two different packages you can choose from with Havenly.  The Havenly Mini costs $79 and allows you to work with a designer to find a direction for your room.  You will collaborate with the designer to establish a vision and mood for the space.  In the end, you will have a pulled together look of suggested accessories, artwork and furniture pieces that fall within your vision.  The Havenly Full costs $199 and includes everything in the Mini.  In addition, your designer will create a space plan of exactly how the room will be laid out as well as a shopping list of everything you need to make it happen.

In a previous post about my living room, you know that I've had more than my fair share of designers weigh in on the space.  One of those designers was through Havenly.  I was excited to give it a try and for $79, I figured I didn't have much to lose.  I went through the steps of assessing my style (I'm traditional by their standards) and selecting a designer.  From there she reviewed images I had submitted as inspiration and we got the conversation going about what I needed for the room.  Here was a glimpse at my inspiration, do you think I have a thing for dusty rose couches?:

(image via)

(image via)

(image via)

(image via)

Part of that conversation was specifying to what extent I wanted to be involved in the design process.  I have a sneaking suspicion that I seek out these designers for the sake of being able to talk incessantly about my favorite pastime.  So of course I absolutely wanted in on the dialogue.

Midway through her design process, she sent me a mood board.  She asked that I give feedback on each of the pieces within it.  What do you like?  What don't you like?  Why?  Am I on the right track?  A week or so later, I received my finished product.  Here is what I received.

My designer proposed two different concepts for the room - one a more muted and subtle palate pulling from the colors already living in the space and the second, a more eclectic and playful version, undoubtedly due to my undying love of Anthroplogie.  I could easily click through the design to a shopping list with details on each product and a link to purchasing them.

Overall, I liked what she pulled together.  Of the two concepts, I felt the more muted palate was most aligned with my inspiration images and the look and feel I wanted for the space.  But I have to be honest that I hit a bit of a roadblock when it came to laying the suggested pieces out.  I loved the white cocktail cart she suggested, but I'm short on wall space as it is, where was I going to put it?

The same could be said about the fur covered ottoman - a fun piece, but I'm already dealing with an awkwardly laid out room, where would an ottoman make sense?  I was excited about the pale lavender velvet curtains, but when I picked up a test swatch of the fabric, it really fought with the pink rug I already have in the room.

So was it a fool proof, affordable solution to my design woes?  No.  I will say, however, that I fell so in love with the blue bird artwork she suggested in concept 1, that it was worth the $79 just to find that beautiful print.

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I also loved the gilded gold mirror and the Gray Malin beach print from concept 2 and thus began the jumping off point for a gallery wall above my couch.

If you follow me on Instagram, you know I sought great inspiration from this gallery wall at Gabberts Furniture in Edina.

I'm typically one for symmetry, but the off centered nature of the mirror really caught my eye.  My living room is extremely lacking in the natural light department, so I liked the idea of incorporating a mirror to reflect the light coming in the window on the opposite wall.  I also determined that additional lighting needs to be a part of this gallery installation because this room is unbearable during the dark winter months.

So after all that, would I recommend Havenly?  I actually would.  It was fun if for no other reason than to just gather input and have a fresh set of eyes look at a space to the tune of $79.  If I did it again, I would spend the extra money to have the space plan included so that I know for sure each suggested piece will work in the room.  A friend of mine recently turned me on to Modsy which appears to be a similar service.  If you are in the market for a designer but are skeptical about the expense, consider a service like one of these.

Next week I'll share with you just how I do a gallery wall and the steps you can take if you are thinking of doing one in your own home.  Spoiler alert: gallery walls are the way in which I exercise my extreme OCD tendencies, so it's going to get detailed over here.