Design Wednesday: Comfortable and Elegant

Couldn't you just lounge on the lovely day bed in this photo and read Jane Austen? I like the mix of modern and traditional in this room. It looks comfortable, yet ready to for unexpected guests to pop over for an afternoon tea or an evening cocktail. I love poring over decorating magazines, but one thing I've always found hard to see as "practical" are the formal living rooms often featured. I don't see myself as being lucky enough to have the square footage for both a formal living room and an everyday living room anytime in the near future. So, I'm always tearing out magazine pages that strike the balance between that formal "do not touch" feel and the casual family room look.