A Glen Ellyn Home, Finished: Entry, Living Room & Dining Room
This family loved their Glen Ellyn home: the warm oak trim, the big windows and the tiled fireplace. What it needed were finished rooms that held up to everyday life. We took on the entry, the living room and the dining room together, so each space could stand on its own and still feel like part of one home.
Our approach is what we call Lived In Luxe: soft textures, natural materials and layered furnishings that balance beauty with real life. For this home, that meant mid-century wood tones, vintage textiles, textured glass, rich velvet upholstery and woven materials.
The entry: one bold moment
An entry is the first thing you feel when you walk in, so we made it count. A dark, graphic wallpaper wraps the front door and plays off the original wood. A drop zone handles keys and bags, and a vintage bench and a long runner give the hall some character.
The living room: built for conversation
We started with neutral anchor pieces that let the home's natural light and architecture lead. A performance-fabric sofa faces a pair of velvet swivel chairs, so the room works for conversation and for movie night. A low mid-century credenza anchors the TV wall and adds storage, and two upholstered ottomans give extra seats and functionality.
The dining room: a banquette that gathers everyone
The dining room got the biggest change. A curved banquette wraps a round wood table, which makes the most of the space and turns dinner into a place people want to linger. A brass statement pendant defines the table, wall sconces frame the windows, and light wood chairs and a patterned rug keep the room airy and cozy at the same time.
How it came together
We kicked off in February, with design development through the spring, followed by sourcing, purchasing, receiving and finally installation. While the finished rooms are what you see here, much of our work happens behind the scenes: setting clear expectations, managing budgets and timelines, tracking every piece and solving the inevitable surprises along the way.
Our client later shared that the weekly updates, transparent budgeting and clear process “eliminated any guesswork” and gave her confidence in our expertise from start to finish. That is always the goal. A beautiful result matters, but so does making the experience of getting there feel considered and manageable.
And because no project is complete without a plot twist, this one gave us two.
When the living room sofa arrived, our client realized that although she loved how it looked, it was not quite right for the way her family actually wanted to lounge and cuddle up for movie nights. Rather than forcing a beautiful piece to work, we jumped into action, found the right solution and made the switch. Great design is not about pretending everything always goes perfectly. It is about having someone in your corner to solve the problem when it doesn’t.
Then came install day. Along with the furniture, art, accessories and styling came an actual tornado warning, complete with a pitch black sky and eerie green glow. Naturally, we kept going. 🌪️
Thankfully, the tornado passed, the house survived, the team survived, and the rooms came together exactly as they were meant to.
The result is a home that feels elevated without feeling precious, honors its 1920s character and works beautifully for everyday family life. The dining banquette has become a favorite gathering spot, while the living room balances the polish of a more formal space with the comfort the family wanted all along.
As our client put it, the process was “completely stress free,” even when adjustments came up. We’ll take that as a pretty good review of both the design and our tornado preparedness.
Thinking about your own home? Heffinger Interiors is a full service interior design studio based in Glen Ellyn, working across Chicago's western suburbs and nationwide. We bring creative direction, a clear process and thoughtful execution together to create spaces that feel personal, elevated and effortless to live in. Start your project.