Comfort. It sounds like such a basic concept, right? But if you’ve ever sat in a formal parlor and felt like you couldn't move for fear of breaking a porcelain figurine, you know that true comfort is actually quite rare in high-end design. Bunny Williams has spent several decades fixing that problem. When people talk about Bunny Williams living rooms, they aren't just talking about expensive curtains or blue-chip art. They’re talking about a specific way of existing in a house that feels both grand and completely lived-in.
Think about the last time you were in a "nice" room. Was there a place to put your drink? Was the lighting so harsh it felt like an interrogation? Williams, a Hall of Fame designer and protege of the legendary Albert Hadley, hates that stuff. She builds rooms for people who actually like to hang out.
The Secret Sauce of a Bunny Williams Living Room
It starts with the floor plan. Honestly, most people mess this up by pushing all the furniture against the walls. Williams does the opposite. She creates "islands" of conversation. You might have a main sofa facing a fireplace, but then you’ve got a small game table in the corner and a pair of slipper chairs by the window. It’s about layers.
She’s famous for saying a room is never "done." It shouldn't look like a showroom that arrived on a single delivery truck. To get that look, she mixes things that shouldn't work together, but somehow do. An 18th-century French commode sitting next to a wicker chair from a porch? Yeah, she’ll do that. A contemporary abstract painting hanging over a traditional fireplace? Absolutely.
The goal is a sense of history. Even if you just bought the house last year, a Bunny Williams living room makes it feel like your family has been there for generations. It’s the "collected over time" vibe that everyone tries to copy but few actually nail.
Scale, Proportion, and Why Your Rug Is Probably Too Small
Size matters. Not just the size of the room, but the scale of the stuff inside it. One of the biggest mistakes Williams points out in her books, like An Affair with a House, is the "postage stamp" rug. If your furniture isn't sitting on the rug, the room feels disjointed. In a classic Williams space, the rug is often a sea of natural seagrass or a massive patterned dhurrie that anchors everything.
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Then there's the height.
Most modern furniture is too low. If everything is the same height, the eye gets bored. It’s flat. Williams brings in tall secretaries, high-backed screens, or oversized floor lamps to draw the eye upward. It’s a trick that makes a standard eight-foot ceiling feel like it's ten feet tall.
Let's Talk About the "Drinks Table"
This is a non-negotiable Bunny-ism. Every single seat in a living room must have a surface within arm's reach. Period. No one should have to lean forward or stand up to set down a glass of wine or a cup of tea. It doesn't have to be a massive table. It can be a tiny martini table, a stack of books, or even a garden stool.
She often uses garden stools indoors—a move that was considered pretty radical when she started out but is now a staple of American style. It adds a bit of "outdoor" texture to a formal room, which keeps things from feeling too stuffy.
Lighting Is the Vibe Killer (Or Maker)
If you turn on the overhead "big light," you’ve already lost. Bunny Williams almost never relies on recessed ceiling lights to set the mood. Instead, she uses a ridiculous amount of lamps. We’re talking five, six, maybe seven lamps in a single living room.
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- Table lamps for reading.
- Floor lamps for corners.
- Picture lights for art.
- Candles for the soul.
And she’s picky about the shades. You won't see many stark white shades in her projects. She prefers cream or off-white paper shades because they emit a warm, golden glow that makes everyone in the room look five years younger. It’s basically the interior design version of a soft-focus filter.
The Myth of the "Perfect" Room
Here is where a lot of designers get it wrong: they want perfection. Bunny Williams wants character. She likes a bit of clutter. A pile of books that looks like someone actually read them. A bowl of matchboxes from favorite restaurants. A dog bed—usually with a real dog in it—right in the middle of the expensive rug.
She isn't afraid of pattern. Florals, stripes, animal prints, and batiks often live together in her designs. The trick is the color palette. If you keep the colors in the same family—say, various shades of moss green, terracotta, and cream—you can mix ten different patterns and it won't give you a headache.
Real World Inspiration: The Manor House Style
If you look at her work at Manor House or her own home in Connecticut, you see the "Great Room" concept executed perfectly. These aren't rooms for "special occasions." They are rooms for Tuesday nights.
There's always a sense of architecture, too. Even if a room is a plain box, she’ll add crown molding, chair rails, or built-in bookshelves to give it some "bones." You can't just throw furniture into a vacuum. The room itself has to do some of the work.
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Common Misconceptions
People think "traditional" means "old-fashioned." That's a mistake. A Bunny Williams living room is traditional in its layout, but it's often quite modern in its function. She was one of the first to really embrace the idea that a living room could have a TV, as long as it was hidden or integrated properly. She doesn't believe in "museum rooms." If you can't put your feet up on the coffee table (or at least an ottoman), it's not a successful room.
How to Get the Look Without a Bunny Williams Budget
You don't need a million dollars to channel this aesthetic. You just need an eye for the "find."
- Shop Secondhand: Go to estate sales or thrift stores. Look for "brown furniture"—the stuff everyone else is ignoring. A solid mahogany side table has more soul than something made of particle board.
- Layer Your Rugs: Put a cheap, large seagrass rug down first, then layer a smaller, prettier patterned rug on top. It gives that instant designer look.
- Change Your Lamp Shades: Throw away the cheap plastic shades that came with your lamps. Replace them with pleated fabric or high-quality paper shades.
- The Sofa Test: If you're buying a sofa, make sure it’s deep. A "Bunny" sofa is one you can nap on. If it feels like a waiting room chair, keep looking.
- Books, Books, Books: Fill your shelves. Don't color-coordinate them—that looks fake. Just stack them.
Actionable Steps for Your Space
Start by taking a photo of your living room from the doorway. Looking at a photo helps you see things your eyes usually skip over. Does the furniture look like it's "floating" without a purpose? Is there a glaring empty corner?
First, pull your seating in. Create a core conversation group where people can talk without shouting.
Second, audit your surfaces. Sit in every chair. Can you reach a table? If not, find a small pedestal or stool to fill the gap.
Third, turn off the overhead lights. Add two more lamps than you think you need. See how the mood shifts.
Designing a room this way takes time. It’s a marathon, not a sprint. You're looking for pieces that tell a story, things that mean something to you. Bunny Williams has spent a lifetime proving that the most beautiful rooms aren't the ones that look like a magazine cover—they're the ones that look like home.