Shop the Look: Olive Green and Terra Cotta Living Room Design

Do you love the look of rich olive green and rusty burnt orange together? So do I! Recently, I used this color palette for a client who hired me to select furnishings and decor for a $1.5 million, 5,000 square foot, 5-bedroom, 5-bath Spanish Mediterranean home here in Southern California. He was purchasing to stage and sell the house furnished, and unfortunately, he sold it before I could get good photos of the completed project. But this palette blended beautifully with the home's terra cotta tile floors, white walls, and copper accents in the kitchen.

For his home, I chose higher priced items, but I've reworked the design boards with comparable items in lower price ranges for those with smaller budgets. There are two design boards presented here: One with a white sofa, and one with a green sofa. 

The sofa above has down-filled cushions, which are great if you love to sink into you couch to get cozy. But if you want a little more support, or you don't want to have to keep fluffing your down cushions to reshape them, look for a sofa or sectional with memory foam cushions. I selected a memory foam sectional from Living Spaces for this particular client because he didn't want to have to fluff the cushions back into shape every time he was showing the home to potential buyers. Unfortunately, the sofa I selected for him is now out of stock and I fear they might be discontinuing it. I did, however, find a similar one with foam cushions (shown below). It's just not clear in the description if it's memory foam. By the very affordable price, I'm guessing it's not, but it would be a great piece for someone with limited space and a limited budget. Personally, that's a great price for my staging business, so I've got in my Amazon shopping list now for the next time I need to purchase I sectional.

I use this line of art a lot in my home staging business because it's affordable, lightweight, and easy to hang. We don't use the hardware it comes with to hang it. We just use two 1.5 inch nails level with each other and set the frame right on top of them. Be advised, however, that the frames on these are not real wood and the texture is not real either. These are canvas prints. But all that considered, they still look great, so are perfect for anyone on a tight budget.

Below is an alternative rug you could use with this design concept. This one is washable, so great if you have children or pets, and it would work with either of the designs shown on this page. My only experience with washable rugs has been in my staging business and the feedback I've gotten from my design clients who have purchased them. I've learned there are pros and cons that should be considered before purchasing a large washable area rug. 

The pros of washable area rugs: Obviously, the washable aspect. This is important for those with kids, pets, and if you're using the rug under a dining table or by an entrance where people will be tracking in dirt from outside. Next, they are extremely affordable. For this reason alone, I've begun purchasing a lot of them for my staging business. Finally, they are are very soft, which is nice on bare feet and excellent for on a baby's hands and knees. 

Now for the cons of washable area rugs: Any rug large than a 5x7 will need to be taken to a laundry mat with industrial size washers and dryers, because they won't fit in residential size machines. Also, these rugs are very thin, so you'll want to purchase a rug pad to go under them for living rooms and bedrooms, adding to the cost (making them now not quite as affordable). The thinness also makes it hard to use a vacuum on these rugs. The rug usually gets sucked up into the vacuum. These rugs are usually printed, not woven, so look kinda cheap. And the last thing is that I have found the color of the rug is usually a lot darker and more vibrant in person than they appear in the online photos, which is the opposite of the traditional rugs I've purchased (which usually are less vibrant in person). This last "con" isn't necessarily a bad thing. I just have to remember this from now on when purchasing for my staging business because I usually rugs that are on the lighter side.

And now for design #2, which might be a better option for those with children or pets since it includes a darker sofa, especially since this one is covered in performance fabric. No only that, it's velvet, which cats don't like (or so I've been told), which I'm assuming means they won't use it as a scratching post. 

I only used the larger table from the set below in my design, but both will fit together in a larger room with a larger sofa, or you can place them separately in the room. Also, click the link to see how the bases can be flip to give the a completely different look.

I spent an  insane amount of time looking for just the right vases last night for a new design client's coffee table after she sent me an inspiration photo from instagram. Everything was either too tall and would block the view of the TV, and/or I couldn't find any other vases in other sizes that would coordinate well enough to make a set. Then I finally found these! Just the color and sizes she needed, and rustic and organic-looking enough to work in the family room I'm putting together for her.

You'll notice that I've selected pillows and blankets that contrast with the color of each sofa. I advise you do the same. This means if you have or purchase a burnt orange or terra cotta sofa, accessorize it with white and olive green pillows and blankets. For a green couch, use orange and white accessories. And for white sofas, use green and orange.