Inspiring Home Décor: La Dolce Vita

{This nook in our formal living room features a vintage Bruer chair, Circa Lighting Pimlico Tripod Lamp, Mark Rothko prints in gilded frames, and a convex mirror.}

Hi everyone! I’m Paloma from La Dolce Vita, a style blog where I write about the things that make up “the sweet life”: interior design, travel, fashion, art, food, as well as interesting people and places. I am so excited that Caitlin asked me to be a part of this wonderful series. It is always so nice to get a peek into other people’s homes. Truth be told, I was a little reluctant to share my own home until recently. I am not an interior designer and for the longest time I felt that my home would never compare to the gorgeous interiors I feature regularly on La Dolce Vita. But recently, I decided to throw caution to the wind and have let my guard down.

Recently, my husband and I revamped our formal living and dining rooms by painting them a rich mocha color, hanging new ivory silk dupioni drapes, and adding a few new accessories. I find this room inspiring because I feel that it is a very accurate depiction of my style and it says a lot about us. I think the most special and beautiful rooms are the ones that give you some insight into their owners. This area of our home will tell you about our favorite colors, one of our favorite artists (Mark Rothko), our love of travel, and the fact that we are a couple of lamp tramps!

I adore these vintage Knoll Brno chairs! We had considered reupholstering them in a cognac leather, but have decided to keep the original burnt orange velvet upholstery. The fabulous, little aluminum table is from my favorite place, Tarjay!

The framed maps are not vintage, but gift wrap from Cavallini & Co. They are printed on really nice, archival-quality Italian paper and are gorgeous for $5 a pop! We used IKEA frames, so each print ended up costing around $35. Fabian and I love to travel and I am a bit of a linguist, so the maps feel very special and personal to us.

While I don’t love the loveseat I have in my formal living room, it will have to do for now. In the meantime, I like to add fun pillows. I recently bought these at Homegoods. I think they work beautifully with the Brno chairs and help pull the room together.

This spot has seen several lamps come and go in the four years we’ve lived in our home. I guess that is one of the perks of having a husband who works for one of the best lighting manufacturers in the world. This Carousel Lamp designed by Barbara Barry for Circa Lighting has been here for the last year or so and I still really like it.

{Looking into the Dining Room from the Formal Living Room}

The walls used to be more of a tan color and I had garnet-colored dupioni silk drapes. I love the new combination of mocha walls and ivory silk drapes so much more! If you were to keep walking past the dining room, my kitchen and breakfast room would be on your left and the family room would be on your right. Sooner than later, we will change out the carpeting for dark hardwoods.

{I often get compliments on my plate wall, which adds a fun pop of color to the room. Needless to say, my little pup Tate garners quite a few compliments himself!}