Room Transformation: Zen Paradise

At the beginning of the summer, my boyfriend and I were excited to upgrade our living space from a tiny one bedroom to a stunning Spanish style 3+ bedroom house.  With more adult square footage than we could have imagined, we’re attacking this open space by focusing on one room at a time.  Because it’s 1930s build, all the rooms are separated.  There is a formal dining room, but there is nothing formal about us.  Matt is a musician. He comes off tour and dives into heavy into meditation, reading and record listening to relax and ground himself after weeks on the road. As you know, I am a professional dancer and choreographer and believe that daily self care, yoga and recovery are essential.  For these reasons, we decided to fill the formal dining room with things that allow us to breathe and create a Zen Room.  We wanted to build a space that’s relaxing, clean, comfortable, current, fresh, open and light so we immediately thought of Urban Outfitters Home. 

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BEFORE

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AFTER

ZEN ROOM TRANSFORMATION

Boho, but not BOHO:  While the idea of the room is the definition of bohemian, I didn’t want the space to scream BOHO. Rather than throwing any Buddha or macrame item I could find into the Zen Room, I keep the lines clean and areas open so I can roll out a yoga mat without moving any furniture.  We kept everything low to the ground, covered the room with soft textiles (Ivy Fringe Throw Pillow), cool ceramics and living things (Brina Planter and Stand / Loren Leather Hanging Plant). 

Muted colors vs All White: We toyed with the idea of an all white room because many of our reference photos for the space were pretty colorless.  In the end we decided we’d be afraid to cuddle up and truly USE the room unless it looked lived in. I chose the UO Hannah Printed Rug first and shaped the feel and color palette of the room around it. 

Variety of Shapes:  I made sure I found furniture pieces that varied in shape to enhance the flow and add a softness to the room.  A rectangular Hopper Daybed, square Reema floor cushions and a circular Marte Ottoman keep the space from looking like a puzzle. The Marte Ottoman is my favorite piece in the space.  Every morning I grab coffee, my computer and pull up my Walden meditation pillow and plow through my inbox while Matt reads on the daybed. What a life. 

Hopper Daybed, Rohini Daybed Cushion, Marte Ottoman, Hannah Printed Rug, Ivy Fringe Striped Throw Pillow: Urban Outfitters Home

White and Grey Meditation Cushion: Walden

Wall art, macramé and pink floor cushion: Society 6 

Reema Floor Cusion, Reema Back Cushion, Ivy Fringe Stripe Throw Pillow: Urban Outfitters Home

Leather Ceramic Hanging Planter x 2: Urban Outfitters Home

(I added additional leather to the low hanging planter)

Brina Planter and Stand: Urban Outfitters Home

Thanks to Urban Outfitters Home, Matt and I are on cloud 9 with the transformation of our Zen Room.  Namaste. 

Photos by Cara Robbins