Jett’s first project is a blank slate living room with a fireplace as the centerpiece. The homeowner, Carrie, wants this living room (one of two in her home) to function as an adult entertainment space. Jett proposes a dedicated area to mix cocktails and store liquor bottles. Imagine a drinks room with a handsome bar cart. Adding a nice lamp gives this corner extra charm and rounds off the space.
2. Play with texture
For a room that already has nothing in the way of window or floor coverings, Jett recommends drapery “with a rod hanging higher above the window” for added softness and a textured rug (think burlap, hemp, or sisal) underfoot to tie the room together. To brighten up the bare white walls, Jett suggests a new coat of faux-textured paint. His trick? Limewash painimewash painimewash painimewash paint to keep the walls from looking “so flat and so new”. Then complete the living room by placing artwork for a dose of interest.
3. Add curves to seating arrangements
The next homeowner, Carol, describes her living room as “stiff” and wants something fresher that will flow into the adjoining dining room. To update the room’s boxy sofa and chairs, Jett suggests a new seating group around the fireplace, something like a squiggly Vladimir Kagan design or a neutral off-white sofa with soft curves that people could take into the room. Pull. “When you walk through the door, you see this shape guiding you around, almost like an arm hugging you,” he explains. For the other chairs around the fireplace, he prescribes softness, such as you would find in an upholstered bouclé armchair.
4. Increase the contrast with earthy paint
A room has “much more impact than [you] are not afraid to play with color,” notes Jett. His suggestion? Painting all walls and ceilings terracotta to warm up the “imposing architecture” of the space. “When you have something that’s light and white, sometimes it can feel too big and a little too impersonal,” he explains. And when everything on the walls is richer and moodier, it enhances the feeling of lightness evoked by the creamy seating arrangement.
5. Fix cluttered spaces with sleek storage
