A new home, the possibility of having the modern living room of their dreams, but after looking at the endless modern living rooms ideas, overwhelming exhaustion left these new homeowners looking for design help. Eventually, they started working with our interior designer, Mario Castillero, to help them turn their new space into a mid-century modern living room that sparked joy and felt like a dream come true.
The Design Challenge
When you first walk into an empty living room, you finally understand why it is difficult to decorate. Usually, you start adding essential items like a sofa, TV station, dining table, and maybe some wall art if you’re feeling fancy. Eventually, after a few months living in your new space, you see it — it makes no sense. Your dream living room looks like a collection of randomly chosen articles that sort of go together, but they don’t.
For this “behind the design” edition, we tackle the challenge of decorating an empty living room. However, this isn’t your average living room space. The couple was going for a modern gentleman look inspired by classic urban interior design styles with mid-century accents. To make it even more challenging, the idea was to have this man cave meets living room meets coffee stand, which also happens to be the living room.
Coming Up with Ideas
There’s no doubt any designer would be intimidated by this challenge. Our online interior designer, Maria, was ready to tackle this project and find a modern living room design that was the perfect fit for this new space.
Maria chose dark woods, dark-toned paint colors, and lots of leather accents to bring out the mid-century modern living room vibe she was going to make it happen. The darker tones, instantly make the room look elegant and upscale, but at the same time warm and inviting. Not to mention, because she kept a neutral palette, the living room seemed more spacious. So, don’t be afraid to choose darker colors for your living room.
“The main inspiration for this room was to create a “Classic Man (Jidenna)” vibe. This room was carefully designed to entertain guests and for movie nights. The dark tones and leather accents were incorporated to make this Man Cave feel elegant and inviting.” adds Maria Castillero, the room’s designer.
Because the owners wanted to add a pool table in the living room, to hit those man cave and modern-gentlemen vibes, the seating arrangement was vital. Everything is set up to ignite conversations, perfect for having friends over or catching up after a pool game.
Finally, the console table was the perfect strategy to create a coffee bar that also adds a decorative accent. Scattered throughout the living room, you’ll see baskets and bookshelves that help keep everything tidy-up without sacrificing style.
The Key Pieces to Make It Happen
For anyone trying to replicate the look of this “behind the design” gentlemen living room, you don’t have to get everything. You can choose some key pieces that will give you the same vibes and help you set the stage for the rest of your modern living room decor.
Start with the Plank & Hide Otis Pool Table to instantly set the atmosphere of gentlemen’s living room meets man cave. We loved the distressed finish of this table that perfectly matches the urban modern living room design they’re looking for.
The core of every living room is the sofa. We love the Essex Sofa from Poly & Bark for this room because of its dark distressed leather. You can pair it with a set of mid-century armchairs in leather or other materials to create contrast.
Finally, something as classic as this leather poof from CB2 can instantly give you a more masculine look. We love how this one is the perfect size to double as a side table or for extra seating space when you have friends.
Need Help Designing Your Dream Living Room?
If you still feel lost when it comes to modern living room ideas, don’t worry, we can help. All our projects are based on your budget, style, and needs. Start a project today and work with our highly talented interior designers to transform your ideas into a reality.