Feel like your living room needs a little refresh? Where better to look for design inspiration than some of the living rooms that you feast your eyes upon on a weekly (or daily—binges are real, people) basis? The team at Neomam Studios joined forces with UK price comparison website Compare the Market to do just that.
They pulled color palettes from eight of your favorite TV show living rooms in hopes of helping you get a hint of your favorite television characters into your home. Want to live large like the Crawleys? Get some mid-century glam like the Drapers? Or cry your eyes out while watching “Dirty Dancing” amidst the comforting earthy tones of Jess and the boys’ “New Girl” loft? It all starts with color.
Jerry’s Living Room
With all the hilarious insanity taking place in Jerry’s Upper West Side apartment, it was smart to stick to cool blues and greys for the color—it let the antics of Jerry, Elaine, George, and Kramer take center stage. To achieve this look—which feels very on trend today for a show that ended twenty years ago, no?—start with a salt box gray and add some chambray blue. Keep your wood accents darker, like Mr. Seinfeld does, to have them really pop against the cooler colors.
Monica’s Living Room
Monica’s iconic living room has been inspiring people to go purple for decades. But with such a bold color on the walls, what’s the rest of the color story? For as tidy and anal retentive as your girl was, Monica didn’t stick to neutrals everywhere else. She has pops of yellow and red in her textiles, and goes for a willow grove shade of green in her paint color accent. The lighter wood color of the coffee table adds to the eclectic mix. It’s a tough combo to get right—no wonder she was less than thrilled to give up her apartment after losing it during Ross’s trivia game. Damn you, Miss Chanandler Bong!
Don and Megan Draper’s Living Room
It’s time for a little 1960s glam. To achieve Don and Megan’s enviable apartment look, Neomam and Compare the Market suggest started with a neutral cream color on your walls, building the palette with a darker brown sofa (choose leather for extra drama), and then adding in some pops of color with accent pieces. Teal, violet, army green? All of these work. Of course, as hard as you try to recreate the Draper’s Manhattan apartment, you’ll never be as smooth as Don. People have tried. It’s impossible.
The Crawley Drawing Room
Who would’ve thought such uptight, high brow people would have so much pink in their living room? But if you’re aching to turn your hang out spot into one fit for a Dowager Countess, you’ll have to be cool with going pink. From dusty rose to Millennial pink (Violet would clutch her pearls at the thought), the drawing room is full of it. But that cheery color is offset with some muted greens and a blue silk wallpaper. Decorate with the most ornate objects you can find—you have a reputation to uphold, after all.
Penny’s Living Room
[Knock. knock. knock.] Turquoise. [knock. knock. knock.] Turquoise. [knock. knock. knock.] Turquoise. The star of this living room is Penny’s turquoise couch. The bold pop of color informs every other choice, like the cream walls, beige carpet, and lighter wood accents. But even with a statement sofa, Penny doesn’t completely shy away from other colors—you’ll still find brick red, plum, and avocado green around that keep the place as bright and as playful as Penny herself.
Ted and Marshall’s (and Lily’s) Living Room
Is Ted’s couch bright red because he’s such a romantic? Seriously, that is a big color choice for a small New York City apartment, but as Compare the Market points out, by sticking with warm colors elsewhere—yellow walls and orange accents—the room feels cohesive and inviting. Inviting enough to lure someone into feeling safe and comfortable right before using one of your slaps. Hey man, slap bets are ruthless!
The Loft Living Room
The “New Girl” loft is no place for a fancy man, which is why it is perfect for Jess, Nick, Winston, and Schmidt. The L-shaped brown leather sofa is the focal point of the room, and the earthy tones elsewhere really complement it. To have a bit of a contrast and keep things interesting, Compare the Market notes the air force blue paint on the interior doors and kitchen walls. Ah yes, the perfect backdrop for a rousing game of True American.
The White Family’s Living Room
New Mexico was just as important of a character on “Breaking Bad” as Walt and Jesse were, so it’s no surprise the the muted, earthy tones associated with that area are brought into the White family’s home. Deep browns, sandy, muted yellows, and rich reds fill the room. No blue meth to see here!
Any of these color palettes strike you? Have you ever taken design inspiration from your favorite TV show? Tell us about it in the comments!