Edina Formal Living Room

Project: Edina Formal Living Room
Designer: William Beson, ASID, CID, IFDA
Firm: Beson Kading Interior Design, Minneapolis, 612-338-8187

This is not the first time Billy Beson and the owners of this home in Edina’s Rolling Green neighborhood have worked together. Their relationship began twelve years ago after the couple saw Beson’s handiwork in a friend’s home. Since then, Beson has designed the interiors of their sprawling northern Minnesota log cabin and their previous Edina residence. The trust earned throughout their relationship has resulted in a brilliant collaboration for their current home, expressed in a fearless use of bold color and innovative pattern.

Beson says that too often he sees homes of this style done in floral chintz, heavy woods, dark leathers, and classically lined furniture (that’s too small). Although popular, the look is tired. With that said, the most significant problem he sees is a lack of symmetry and disproportionate scale. “For a historic-style home of this scale, it’s essential to pay attention to proportion,” says Beson. “There are certain rules you just don’t break.”

In addition to making some serious cosmetic changes to the interior architecture of the ten-year-old home, Beson also used furnishings that are classic in style, yet grand in scale. For example, the reproduction of a George III–style settee is forty inches deep versus the more common twenty inches. Two Chow-style coffee tables in a weathered finish appropriately fit the settee’s proportion, and a pair of tufted tub chairs in a creamy Clarence House velvet balance the fine lines of the settee and the size of the sofa. The symmetry created by the tables and the tub chairs is maximized by the addition of identical black, granite-topped, demi-Lune console tables and oversized mirrors that flank the settee.

Beyond symmetry and proportions, one of the most stunning aspects of this formal living room is the use of neutrals to temper the bold persimmon and fuchsia coloring. The carpet was custom made in Thailand in colors that mimic those in the striped Pierre Frey fabric on the settee and the English wing chair. Sage and cream, the base colors of the carpet, are repeated in the tufted tub chairs, the sofa, and in the grass cloth wall covering. The abstract quality of the oversized floral graphic within the carpet gives the rooms a more youthful vibe, while accents of black and gold lend a masculine edge.

The resulting space, and the rest of the home, is ideally suited for a young family. Beson has given it a kick and vibrancy while editing it down to a single story line.