Exotic Urban Living Room

The young, fashionable couple loves the wide-open nature of their living room, which leads out to a beautiful private garden. However, the style trappings left behind by the previous owners, including a cast-iron stove and terra-cotta flooring, didn't fit in with their modern design aesthetic.

They didn't know how to make the stark, barren room work for them, so I gathered my crew together and geared up to transform this big, uninviting space into a welcoming, urban environment and change it from industrial-cold to ultra-cool!

The old room had great bones, but was not cohesive in its look, so my job was to dispose of the mishmash of styles and make everything flow seamlessly. To start, I painted the walls in a fresh coat of soft green. I painted the longest wall in the space a deep chocolate brown and turned it into a photography gallery to showcase the incredible photos taken by Rahul and Radhika, who are both accomplished amateur photographers.

I then put down new flooring directly over the dated terra-cotta — a pre-finished, wide-planked wooden floor done in a hickory finish.

To lighten up the space, I installed a mixture of recessed lights and hanging pendant fixtures, but the real feature is a modern halogen track system that drops down from the 10-foot ceiling to highlight the new photo gallery. In addition, I mounted a flat-screen television on the wall so the couple will have a place to display a constant loop of their photographic talents.

I then got started on the room's big focus — an ultra-chic fireplace. I ripped out the old-fashioned wood stove, and relocated the chimney to allow the new long, sleek gas-burning fireplace to be placed along one wall. I surrounded the fireplace with porcelain tile and put in a stunning dark wooden bench below, complete with recessed lighting. I also put up a new, industrial fan with two rotating heads to circulate the fireplace warmth throughout the room.

I chose an earthy color palette for this room to really bring it all together: dreamy greens, light linens and deep browns. I also added an exotic feature fabric with a floral pattern that combines all of these colors and brings a little bit of the outdoors inside. To further give the space an indoor/outdoor feeling, I put up wooden blinds on the windows that are adjacent to the patio.

The space was long and narrow, so I broke it up with custom-designed furniture that mixes contemporary and comfortable: a rich, chocolate leather sofa; two upholstered button-back chairs in light linen; and a couple of midcentury-inspired, avocado green slingback chairs.

I then added a host of accent pieces, including an area rug and some exotic pieces of art, and the space was complete.

This living room was lacking in personality and style. With some contemporary furniture and finishes, rich accents and colors, and a "stop-them-in-their-tracks" fireplace wall, I changed this space from icehouse cold to warehouse warm.

(Interior decorator Candice Olson is host of Home & Garden Television's Divine Design. Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service.)