The Hurt's Den

When you first walk into the Hurt’s home one of the first rooms that you see is straight ahead, the den. A small room, right off the kitchen and the sunroom the den is the gathering space for the family. Between the deep leather sofa and the cozy swivel chairs, there is a place for everyone to rest and to recline (including their 60 lb. puppy, Bacon!). The streams of sunlight that fill the space during the day along with the cheerful pops of color found in the oriental rug, bring a cheerfulness to the space while the calming sea-foam color on the walls help to ground it and provide a sense of peace.

Having a natural eye for design, Rebecca Hurt had already sourced a good deal of the furniture and accessories, she just needed some help pulling it all together through styling. To do so we had several styling sessions over the course of a year, slowly bringing the room to life. Before having the swivel chairs, the Hurts had two different chairs in their place that we found didn’t quite fit the aesthetic nor functioned as desired. Replacing them with matching neutral swivel chairs, helped not only to ground the room to provide better seating; allowing people to turn and face one another or the T.V. All of the pillows used in this space we pulled from other rooms of the home. Tying in with the colors found in the oriental rug and basket wall, they do such a wonderful job of adding some pops of color to the room!

From the start of styling process, Rebecca had big dreams of having basket wall on the wall behind the couch, something that we both agreed is yes quite trendy but timeless as well. It was the perfect opportunity to add some playfulness, warmth and texture to the space. There are many approaches that you can take when creating any kind of gallery wall whether you are using baskets, frames, plates, trays, etc. I tend to go with my guttural instinct and start hanging without measuring or overthinking things, however that is the artist in me. It is wise to sometimes take a step back and pause before poking nails in the wall!

When it came to our basket wall we collected the baskets that we had at the time (which was about 3 or so) and discussed possible approaches. We decided to hang the largest one in the middle and start from there. Over the past year, the collection of baskets has grown organically as we have picked them up in local thrift stores or on our travels. Mid-way through the process we decided to weave in a few small pieces of art to the wall as well. The end result is a beautiful collection of pieces that have been curated over time and that tell a story.

A lot of my friend’s know that I am all about styling a shelf. It’s probably the one areas of a home that I can style the quickest, thanks to my background in art and design. Whenever styling a shelf I tend to style it like I would paint a canvas… the eye should travel via color and light; there should be texture and balance through the weight of the objects; the eye should also have a place to rest.

When it came to styling Rebecca’s shelf in her den we choose to take an artistic approach. We knew that the space would be home to Rebecca’s collection of vintage and design books along with treasures picked up over the years and/or made by her children. We wanted the shelf to feel curated and familiar, we wanted it to feel like home.

Everyone who walks into the Hurt’s home immediately falls in love with the unique architecture and design. In some ways it’s very much a traditional home however there are a variety of fun design element such as this painted brick wall in the den. Right off the kitchen, it does so much for the space - reflecting the sunlight that streams through the room; adding some texture to the room; and presenting the perfect backdrop for any styling, as seen above.

For the painted brick wall, we decided to keep the decor fairly natural with pops of color via the plants and texture via the woven elements. Having the T.V. on the mantel place wasn’t ideal but it was practical. As mentioned, this is the where the family gathers to read, watch T.V. and to live life. The T.V. had to stay. Ideally, we had hoped to offset the T.V. a bit from the fireplace instead of having it directly above it but again functionality ruled over aesthetic as the cables only went so far. We made up for it by creating visual interest through Rebecca’s unique collection of pieces.

Photography: Luke & Ashley Photography | Styling: Making Room for Peace