Red and Cream Living Room Reveal

Designing this living room has been exceptionally satisfying. There is so much planning and detailing that has gone into this space. From getting this oddly shaped room to look and feel like one cohesive unit, to planning every little corner, each vignette, this painting, that candle… But I’m trying to sum up the entire process into one sentence. So let’s take a step back and take a leisurely look at this red and cream living room

The Plan:

We had planned the living room in this post quite a while back. The plan has mostly remained the same. There was only 1 small change. In the original plan we had one large seating area. This we split into 2 to make smaller, more cozy areas. The one to the left with the sofas is the more formal one. The one to the right is next to the bar and a makes a more personal space to catch up with a smaller group of friends.

You can see that this room has a very odd shape. The biggest challenge was turning all the various corners and angles of the room into one freely flowing space. They had to look intentional.. like they were planned that way. I think we did a pretty good job with that.

The dining table fits neatly into the niche. The bar is just opposite the kitchen, which makes it easier to service and refill. The only thing we really pondered over was the little corner at the entrance. It was too big to leave empty and too small to do something substantial with. It’s now a reading corner with a comfortable chair and a little newspaper stand for the day’s papers.

So let’s start at the very beginning.

The Entrance From the Foyer:

We enter our red and cream living room through that large door from the foyer. The Buddha makes a beautiful vignette from the living room too, and you can check out the complete foyer here in case you missed it.

From that door, you get a view of the entire living area.

To the left of the door is the reading corner. The unit on the right was an old bar unit which we didn’t want to discard coz it’s simply gorgeous, but we didn’t really need coz now we have a new bar. It’s a beautiful, high impact piece to have at the entrance. Though it still hangs some wine glasses, we removed the wine rack inside and it is used as a crockery unit. The chair was also an existing chair which we reupholstered in cream to go with our red and cream living room.

To the right of the entrance is one of my favourite vignettes of this home. The table is an old bedside table. We gave it a marble top to match the dining table. All the little drawers are extremely useful for daily medicines, table napkins etc which you want close to the dining table. The clock was a find from Rajasthan and I think the painting and that clock bring out the best in each other.

The sculpture from Bali is of Ram and Sita, and the plants complete the look.

The Dining Area:

Just to the right of that pretty vignette is our dining area. We used a mix of different types of seating.

On the near end we have vintage chairs so you can see the beautifully carved backs from the hall. There are regular, straight backed dining chairs on both sides and a bench that adds the pop of red to this area.

We considered polishing the vintage chairs darker to match the rest of the dining area furniture but decided against it because right now you can see the beautiful teak wood grain through the natural polish. We would have lost that with the darker polish. Our living room furniture is anyway a mix of both natural and dark polish, so we left them as is.

Do you remember how we were wondering what to do with the beam running above the table? Our wooden rafters served their purpose well. Most people just love the lights hanging above the table and don’t notice the reason why those wooden rafters were placed there.

The wallpaper adds the finishing touch. It is a black and white damask type pattern which is bold when you’re at the table but gives an added texture without overwhelming the view from the hall. The bright flowers in the painting giveus the pop of red for our red and cream living room.

While sitting at the dining table you can see the living area on your right… (on the right is the door to the home office.)

And the telephone table and bar area to your left.

The Telephone Table:

Near the dining area we have the telephone table cum crockery unit. (To the right you can see the kitchen door)

This is a vintage piece we picked up from the local market. We got the glass frosted to keep it from looking messy all the time. We added the marble top to this to protect the top from any spills and water ring marks since it is close to the dining table.

That table lamp is a family heirloom. Again, we changed the shade to a bright red to go with our red and cream living room colours.

The Bar Area:

This is our bar area. We have the bar counter against the wall with a cozy sitting for 4 right next to it.

The cabinets were custom made and house all the bar-ware. The shutter on the left houses a bar fridge. The other cabinets and drawers take care of all the bottles, glasses and bar equipment.

After we used that beautiful jaali in our Foyer for the panel behind the Buddha, we had some little bits remaining. I just couldn’t allow that beautiful jaali work to go waste. So we designed the bar counter to include the jaali work on the drawers. A sheet of gold laminate behind it makes it stand out.

The counter top is again in the same marble, so that we don’t have to worry about spills on the bar.

That table was an existing piece and a beautiful one at that, so we didn’t let go of it. I love the shape of the legs…

… and the beautiful carving on the top.

The Red and Cream Living Room:

And finally we have our formal seating area. Red can be an overwhelming colour if overdone, so we’ve mostly used cream with pops of red here and there.

The sofa is custom made. This fabric is one of my faves… understated yet rich because of the pretty woven pattern.

The single seater sofa on the left is one of those large, soft things you want to sink into and never get out of. The cane chair adds the touch of vintage.

We have a bright red painting above the bar… so I really wanted something big, bright and red on this side too. Since we don’t have any other mirror in the living room, a mirror it was. I picked the frame and got it painted this bright red. The Tanjore paintings on either side again add the cream and gold and balance it off.

The lampshade and cushions add a few more pops of red…

…and our red and cream living room is complete.

Before and After:

We have some amazing before and after photos to round off our red and cream living room reveal.

From the entrance:

The reading corner:

The dining area:

The dining wall:

The living area:

The living wall:

The bar:

View from the balcony inside:

That wraps up our red and cream living room reveal. Hope you enjoyed it and let me know what you think! Here’s a little video to sum it up.

Until next time,