New Client Project

Big news!  I'm finally realizing a dream that I've had for many, many years.  It took some friends with a big house that has huge potential to ask me for some help in finding some cohesion in their newish to them home.  I'm thrilled that they're giving me this opportunity.  And I'm happy to say that they're allowing me to document the process here.

I'll be tackling a number of rooms including 2 boy's bedrooms, a guest bedroom, a family room, a mudroom, a mezzanine and a great room.  Whew, I'm exhausted thinking about it, but I'm more than up for the challenge.

My clients are huge outdoors people and travelers, so thinking about decorating has not been high on their list of priorities.  But they did realize that they needed some help in unifying, as well as, cozying up their home.  Here's where I came in.

We won't be changing any wall colors because they'd just recently had the whole house repainted.  And we won't be doing anything drastic with the decor because they're modest kind of people.  But I think that you'll agree that from the before and in-progress photos, small changes can make huge differences.

Family Room Before

Um, where to begin.  Notice how all of the furniture, the treadmill, and the exercise bicycle are pointed towards the TV.  Funny thing is, to the left of the picture is a great gas fireplace with built-ins that actually have a section for it.  Sometimes things that seem so obvious to some people, like furniture placement, are not so obvious to others.  This is an easy fix.

My first reaction was why is the TV the focal point and not the fireplace?  I know lots of people decry placing a TV over a fireplace, but this is a family room and here it would absolutely work.  All that was needed was a TV wall-mount and a quick visit from an electrician.

The next thing that needed to happen was to get rid of/donate/sell the couch, chair and bookcase.  They're too small and random for the space.  Do you find your eyes bouncing from one thing to the next?  Luckily my clients were up for changing out these elements.

In the picture below you can see the hugeness of the space.  This is their basement, but it is a walkout and gets great light.  It really needed a large piece of furniture to anchor the room.

 The blue tape is masking out the outline of a new sectional!  Perfect size and shape for this great area.

And a quick visit to Ikea, and we ordered this:

It's the Karlstad sofa, and it is huge, but nothing this room can't handle.

The rug is also from Ikea.  And although I don't usually advocate outfitting an entire room from one store, a few things are ok.

The rug may be too small, and I do have one that I like better, but it's a bit more expensive.  Plus, it's an internet buy and you know how risky it is buying stuff without seeing or feeling it first.

We moved the football table into the alcove.

These curtains from Ikea will be flanking the doors and windows.  Aren't they cute?

This is the rug that I love, we'll see.

I just stumbled across this picture by one of my favourite designers, Betsy Burnham.

 It has a similar feel don't you think.

And I'm hoping to persuade the client into purchasing this ottoman from CB2.  It's a great size and perfect for storing Nerf guns!

I also need to find some cool art and obviously some throw pillows.  You'd think that that would be easy but pillows can be either super expensive or really cheap, small, and crappy.

So, as a recap, here's the before and during side-by-side for your comparison.

See the rug in the corner.  I wanted to put that on the wall behind the keyboard.  Suffice it to say, the client is not sharing my vision ;(

Tomorrow I'll post some pictures of the bedrooms, and show you my plans.  And, I guess it goes without saying, if you'd like me to spruce up your home for you, just send me an email, I'd be more than happy to help.