Coco Chanel's Style for Your Living Room

While trends come and go, style is forever, or in Coco Chanel's words “Fashion fades, only style remains the same

This week I am inspired to show you how to replicate one of the most famous fashion icon’s interior design style for your own home. No less than Coco Chanel herself.  And may I even add that I will show you essentials of Coco Chanel’s Paris apartment’s look, and find products that are in a reasonable price range to create the same look for your living room!

Coco Chanel came up with the concept of the little black dress as one of the must-have clothing pieces in your wardrobe. While I’m sure she didn’t bring work home in her living room like we work-at-home-moms tend to do nowadays, I love the black dress wall art to remind me of one of the biggest fashion icons of all time. Coco Chanel used room dividers and fabrics and luxurious wallpaper to decorate her home, and I think the black dress fabric wall art would bring that element nicely into any living room without over powering.

Speaking of fabrics.. Camellias were Coco Chanel’s favorite flowers, and I  like to incorporate them in some of the fabric prints. These curtains are from Pottery Barn, and incorporate the Chanel-esque color scheme with feminine flowers.

Chanel’s decorating colors were the same as seen in her fashion; beiges, tans, black and white; her apartment was luxurious with crystals, golden accents and lots of mirrors. The glass ball table lamp could be seen in Chanel’s apartment in the 50’s and is trendy again today. Chanel also liked crystal balls – maybe she was able to see into the future that her style would remain current, even today.

One of the most famous elements in her apartment is the entire mirrored wall in the hallway, and you just can’t have a Chanel-inspired room without a mirror or two. Or three. One of her favorite mirrors was an eloganated octagon mirror that is in the same perfect shape as the top of every Chanel no. 5 perfume bottle.

I also like the octagon tray I found from Target – it has the black and gold and the shape of the Chanel no. 5’s bottle top, a perfect addition for your coffee table or on the beige ottoman. The beige suede upholstered couch was her trademark piece of furniture. Back in the 50’s, suede was not used in interior design, and neither were light colors used for upholstering furniture. Mamas, you have no idea how much easier the furniture care is today than it was 60 years ago!  Chanel was revolutionizing not just women’s fashion, but also the use of fabrics in interior design.

Coco Chanel had several statues and sculptures in her apartment, including two large deer sculptures in her living room. Large statues can be very expensive, but look for them in the antique markets – or opt-in for decorating items like the deer statues pictured above (from Pottery Barn).

Did you know that wheat symbolizes fertility, bounty and prosperity? Coco Chanel collected design elements which included wheat, and one of the most famous is the wheat table she had. Why not just get a vase of wheat..?

If you just want a little reminder of Coco Chanel in your home, there are so many great decorating items, including wall decals, to honor the great fashion icon Coco Chanel.