These Are Some of Our Favorite Living Rooms of All Time

This Valentine’s Day I’m celebrating the special kind of love many of us feel for gorgeously decorated homes. I asked my co-editors here at Apartment Therapy to divulge their favorite rooms from house tours have been… of all time. It was a hard task for us all (there have been so many gorgeous tours throughout the years), but we’ve managed to narrow it down to those rooms that make us swoon the most. Today enjoy the picks of some of our favorite living rooms ever.

Rory is goals. His DTLA space is bursting with color, pattern, and fun. Pink and turquoise, banana leaf, and leopard, neon and gold: you wouldn’t think it works, but it combines to be a bold night out in a tropical paradise. Plus we share the same philosophy: “Logic and boring people advise buying a couch in a neutral color because it’s more versatile and will ‘go with everything.’ I subscribe to accent couches, not accent pillows.”

I think about this living room a lot. Emily Kim is the director of marketing and community relations for Molly Moon’s Homemade Ice Cream in Seattle, and she said in her tour that ice cream actually inspired some of her decor decisions. The space feels so full of life and fresh energy. I actually bought a rattan chair after seeing this photo—and that’s saying a lot, because I probably look at dozens of house tour photos a day (if I bought my favorite thing from every single one, I’d be broke).

This was the first house tour that I ever properly bookmarked. I mostly just pin certain shots or rooms to my Pinterest board, but this house… this one went immediately on my browser’s bookmarks bar with a label that simply read, in all caps, “THE BEST.” I would check it from time to time when I felt uninspired. The living room is my favorite, and honestly informed a lot of my own sense of style in my Atlanta loft (a long way from Bangalow, Australia, but hey—this look is versatile). I loved the fact that the backdrop of the room—the ceiling, floors, walls and perimeter furniture—was neutral, punctuated by bright colors and lots and lots of plants and books and, just, things. There’s a heavy dose of black, too, which I’ve always believed every room needs.

This was a fairly basic (okay gross) apartment when Rhonda moved in, and I love all she did to turn it into a cohesive, stylish space on a budget—without remodeling. The black painted wood floors and window shelves for plants were all high impact changes, and the decor is fresh and modern, yet looks comfortable and livable.

I love the dusty, desert-like colors of this living room and the beautiful spiral staircase.

There’s something extremely inviting yet mysterious about this room. The archway shape resembles the entryway of a canopy, guiding you into this elegant space that quite literally feels like another world (the Japanese screen definitely contributes to that effect).

Okay, I have to admit, often the house tours that stick with me are the styles I wish I could have if I had several extra homes. In real life, my own style tends to trend a bit less glam and a bit more eclectic, but I love so much about this room. It’s like an update of what my grandmother would have done: textured walls, floral patterns, and embroidered pillows, firmly in our current decade. And maybe it’s because I also know the apartment is in Edinburgh, but there’s a slight nod to British country style that feels just perfect here. I know I could also never tie modern, vintage, and glam pieces together so effortlessly.

This whole tour is one of my favorites, but there’s just something about this living room. Everything feels warm, inviting, and so bright and airy. Every time I see this photo I just imagine sitting crosslegged on that cozy rug, drinking a fresh cup of coffee, while Joni Mitchell’s brilliant lyrics drift from the record player.

Dee’s whole house is a gorgeous space, but this shot of her living room makes me swoon each time I see it. The mix of jewel tones on the upholstered seating mingles with just the right group of throw pillows, and it’s all capped off with a bold yet elegant hanging tapestry that looks like a mural. It’s the perfect blend of maximalism meets bohemian style. And yet it’s entirely unique and unlike any living room I’ve seen before.