Floorplan | It's Great To Be Home

Design Consult: A Living Room To Love

August 7, 2009 By Liz - It's Great To Be Home 8 Comments

Lately I’ve been so busy filling you guys in on what’s been happening with the flip that I’ve gotten behind in showing you the design plans that I’ve created for my clients – the shame!! So, today I thought I’d share this gorgeous contemporary space that I designed last month for a lovely family of five.

My client had recently purchased a clean-lined microfiber sofa in chocolate and a pair of contemporary sage green swivel chairs with rounded backs that she absolutely loved – unfortunately, she realized that her awesome new furniture just wasn’t working with the mismatch of furnishings that she currently had in the room. Here’s a quick peek at the “before” of my client’s living room, which is open to the kitchen and dining room:

Since the living room is where my client and her family hang out and entertain, the goal for this room was to create a comfortable yet sophisticated space that is perfect for either family game night or a room full of guests. Working with the existing palette of chocolate brown and sage, I added touches of metal, glass and wood to create this inviting and contemporary design that her whole family is sure to love:

The backdrop for this room is the existing beige wall color – it acts as a great neutral base for the rich tones and pops of color that will be brought into the space. Here’s how the rest of the plan breaks down:

Rug.A fabulous rug can be hard to find, and this gorgeous piece anchors this space and ties the whole living room together. By replacing the existing burgundy rug with this 7.6 x 9.6 contemporary, lighter-toned rug, the living room is instantly brightened and feels more cheerful. The sage and brown accents tie in perfectly with the chocolate sofa and sage green chairs, while the blue introduces a beautiful and somewhat unexpected accent color into the room.

Floorplan. My client and her family have tried numerous furniture arrangements and are comfortable with their existing floorplan, so we’re leaving it like it is – with just a few minor tweaks. Moving the sofa several feet out from the wall will narrow the gap between the sofa and the swivel chairs, and keep the ottoman from floating out in the middle of the room. The extra space behind the couch can now be used for a console table that provides the perfect opportunity for a little personality (we’ll get to that later).

I also provided the client with an alternative floorplan (below), in case they ever decide to shake things up a bit.

Furniture. My client already had some great basic pieces for this room, and I was super-excited to find new furniture to complement the existing sofa and chairs and really up the sophisticated and contemporary vibe of this room. Here are the details on her gorgeous new furniture:

~ Ottoman. The family of five needs room to spread out, so this tufted leather ottoman is perfect for extra seating during Wii tournaments, or they can just put their feet up and relax. I especially love this ottoman because of the slatted base which provides an awesome place for woven baskets filled with games and Wii controllers, folded blankets, or cushy floor pillows. A silver, hammered tray would be beautiful on top of the ottoman and would provide a sturdy place for drinks.

~ Media Center. The long wall across from the French doors is begging for a sturdy entertainment unit. This affordable combination of a media stand and etageres will give the family ample storage for DVDs, and still allow them to display personal photographs and accessories on the open shelving. In a deep chocolate brown, this piece will balance the sofa and add some needed weight to that side of the room.

~ Console Table. This glass and metal console table is sleek and stylish, and its curved metal base is pretty sexy. Centered behind the couch on the back wall, this console table will anchor a gorgeous vignette that the entire family will be able to enjoy from the kitchen and throughout the room.

~ Side Table. I love this side table – its metal base is rustic and the curved legs are so unique. The maple tabletop helps blend the light-toned cabinetry in the kitchen with the rest of the space – and it’s always nice to have a place to set your drink!

~ Dining Table. The existing dining set ties in beautifully with the maple cabinets in the kitchen – however, I’d love to see my client stain the table in a deep walnut tone to blend the wood tones in the kitchen with the chocolate woods throughout the living room. Now they’ll have a beautiful contrast between the blond, graphic chairs and the rich, stained wood of the table.

~ Dining Chairs. This striped outdoor fabric is the perfect choice for reupholstering the chair pads for the dining chairs – easily wipeable, this beautiful cloth can stand up to three kids while it adds another layer of interest to the dining area.

Lighting. Lighting is the perfect way to create a cozy ambience in a room, and my client is sure to love these beauties:

~ Capiz Table Lamps. A pair of these shimmering capiz lamps on each end of the console table will instantly add texture and interest to the room. This duo will frame a beautiful art print (discussed below) that will be hung above the console.

~ Metal Floor Lamp. The addition of this bold, metal floor lamp will brighten the corner to the left of the barstools. These touches of metal throughout the room provide nice contrasts with the smooth, rich woods around the room.

~ Wood & Chrome Ceiling Fan. While the existing white ceiling fan is certainly functional, this contemporary, lighted fan ensures that every aspect of the room is cohesive (and adds a bit more light!).

~ Contemporary Chandelier. This pair of chandeliers is really a star in this design. Centered above the dining table, these sculptural chandeliers are totally unique and exciting, and the glass shades will add a touch of sparkle to the dining nook.

Curtains. Tying in perfectly with the swivel chairs in the living room, these sage green curtain panels will look fabulous hung wide and high on either side of the French doors, as well as the window in the kitchen. The curtains can be drawn during movie-time to ensure that everyone can enjoy the show without a distracting glare. Black or oil-rubbed bronze curtain rods would totally complete the look. If my client wishes, bamboo blinds can be used to add another layer of texture to the French doors and window in the kitchen.

Artwork. Since my client already has beautiful artwork that she loves, I have blended her existing art with a new piece. It would be a great touch for all of the artwork to have coordinating frames and mats – the existing frames can be spraypainted a chocolate brown, and cream-colored mats would look fabulous.

~ Multi-colored tapestry. The colorful tapestry that is currently unframed will look amazing framed and hung on the wall behind the dining table.

~ Framed text. My client already found a great location for her framed text (by the bar in the kitchen), so it’s staying put!

~ Triptic prints. The set of prints is also staying put – kind of. With the lamp placed in the corner, it would look best if the prints were rearranged in a vertical line to the right of the lamp.

~ Abstract art print. This piece is perfect for the space – the blues and greens tie in beautifully with the rug, chairs and curtains, while the unexpected splash of red keeps the living room from looking too “matchy-matchy.” As an added bonus, this colorful piece is a great complement to the existing artwork.

Throw Pillows. The final touches to the space are throw pillows for the couch and chairs. These off-white pillows are crisp and clean and pick up the cream in the rug. – two of them will look great on the chocolate couch. The brown and cream crewel pillows are my favorite, and by placing one on each chair the chairs will instantly mesh with the chocolate sofa.

So there you have it!! A fresh new living room that really captures the family’s style and needs for the space. What do you guys think?

This post is shared with Hooked on Houses and DIY Day on A Soft Place to Land.

Images courtesy of cb2, Pottery Barn, World Market, JC Penney, Fabric.com, Overstock, Contemporary Rugs, Home Depot, and Art.com. Floorplans by Floorplanner.com.

Paint By Numbers

April 1, 2009 By Liz - It's Great To Be Home 11 Comments

Hey there all you paint-happy people! After our renovation was featured last weekend on Young House Love I got bunches of emails from you guys asking about the paint colors that we used, so I decided it’s high time for me to finally spill the paint-covered beans. So hold onto your paint stirrers ’cause here we go!

1. What brand of paint did you use? Our original plan was to use Behr from Home Depot, simply because that’s what we’re familiar with (and there’s a Home Depot about an inch from our house). But it turns out that painters in our area recommend Pittsburgh Paints like it’s going out of style, so we went ahead and gave them a whirl. Turned out pretty darn well, if you ask me!! The coverage is awesome (not too runny or thin) and they have tons of awesome shades to pick from. (My personal favorite is Toasted Almond, but more about that later).

2. Did you use all latex, or did you use some oil-based? We actually used a little bit of both. All of our drywall was painted with a flat latex paint – flat because I typically think shiny walls are a big no-no and latex because the cleanup is so easy, the paint dries in a snap, fumes aren’t as bad and drywall typically doesn’t need the tough finish that oil-based paints provide. However, all of the wood surfaces in our house were painted with an oil-based semi-gloss paint that is super-tough and dries super-smooth. When you’re dealing with wood surfaces like trim or cabinets that are really smooth, you want a paint like an oil-based that will dry without any streaks or brush marks or else all of your hard work will wind up looking kinda funky. Oil-based paint also adheres really well to wood so it helps prevent all of your nice woodwork from getting scratched and nicked over time. And we used a semi-gloss because I love it when wood has a subtle sheen – it makes your woodwork stand out and get the appreciation it deserves.

We wound up going through tons of that oil-based semi-gloss on all of our molding, doors and cabinetry throughout the house, as well as the wood paneling in our den:

3. How did you decide what paint colors to use? Ahh, picking paint colors. I was tempted to fib a little and tell you that it was easy breezy picking colors for this house, but let me tell you – it wasn’t. At first I was all gung-ho about the thought of picking out colors for each room – I got out our trusty paint deck each night after work, picked out colors and discussed the pros and cons of each color with my husband. We had the entire house picked out in no time. And then it came time to actually commit to the colors. And I freaked out.

How was I supposed to pick out paint colors for an entire house when I couldn’t even look at our furniture or bedding to figure out which paint colors would look best with our stuff?? That’s right, all of our stuff was still in storage when it came time to paint – talk about scary! So after I freaked out a little, my mom and I went to the paint store and picked up a whole bunch of those little pint samples of the paint colors that we liked and went to town – I swear, our house must have looked like a disgruntled painters’ union ran through it. But in the end, that’s the best thing we could have done – spending just a little money on those samples saved us a ton of money in the long run because as great as those paint decks are they can never really tell you exactly what the paint is going to look like on your wall. So here’s my earth-shattering tip that we all know but try to ignore – try it out before you buy it! And as an added bonus, you’ll have all of those little paint samples left over for touch-ups or DIY projects down the road.

4. What colors did you use? After all the drama of picking the paint colors was over, we wound up with paint colors that we absolutely love. Some of them I know I’ll use in my house forever. Here’s the list:

LOCATION PAINT COLOR/TYPE

Trim, cabinets, den walls Atrium White, 523-1 (oil; semi-gloss)

Office Balsam, 510-4 (flat latex)

Entry Toasted Almond, 414-3 (flat latex)

Dining Toasted Almond, 414-3 (flat latex)

Kitchen Toasted Almond, 414-3 (flat latex)

Craft Room Graceful, 452-3 (flat latex)

Laundry Bathroom Subtle Blue, 452-1 (flat latex)

Laundry Subtle Blue, 452-1 (flat latex)

Hallway Antique White, 516-2 (flat latex)

Second Bedroom Tradewinds, 453-2 (flat latex)

Third Bedroom Antique White, 516-2 (flat latex)

Jack & Jill Bathroom White Sage, 410-2 (flat latex)

Master Bedroom Toasted Almond, 414-3 (flat latex)

Master Bathroom Toasted Almond, 414-3 (flat latex)

All closets Ceiling White

All ceilings (except den) Ceiling White

Den ceiling Atrium White, 523-1 (flat latex)

Hall Bathroom Felicity, 453-3 (flat latex)

You can see most of the colors in action right here (and the rest are coming soon). But for those of you that need instant gratification, here’s a quick visual breakdown of our colors:

[Keep in mind that these colors are only as accurate as your computer monitor. On my screen, the Jack 'n Jill bath looks blue when it's actually green. Weird.]

Here’s a little floorplan of our house so you can visualize where the colors go:

5. Do you like all of the colors that you picked? Yes. Toasted Almond and Atrium White are my total faves – they are glorious. However, if I were to do it all over again I would not pick so many shades of the same colors. At the time I thought that it was important for each room to be slightly different so that the house wouldn’t feel monotonous, but in the end I basically wound up picking the same colors over and over again. It turns out that I like blues, greens and tans and they all work in the house so there was no point in me trying to reinvent the wheel for each room – next time I will just pick a shade of each color and stick with it.

So that’s it! The paint colors for my whole house in a nutshell. What do you think? Has picking paint colors driven you batty? Any tips for picking the perfect shade??

Check out Apartment Therapy for a few tips on choosing paint colors for your home from Farrow & Ball.

A Little Change Will Do You Good

February 17, 2009 By Liz - It's Great To Be Home 9 Comments

Now that you’ve seen the reno pics and the “after” floorplan, I couldn’t wait to let you in on a few more changes that we made to the house. Check out the “before” v. “after” floorplans!

BEFORE

AFTER

We kept most of the walls intact, but you’ll notice that we made these big changes:

removed the wall between the kitchen and den to create one huge living space
converted the old water heater closet into a pantry in the laundry room
added French doors to the office
converted the double closet in the master bedroom into one large closet
combined the dressing area and master bath into a large master bath
converted the master tub into a huge two-person shower by stealing about 12 inches from the closet in the third bedroom
pushed back the entry to the closet in the master bath by about 6 inches to align with the shower
added two new full height windows to the den, looking onto the covered patio
removed the sink from the laundry room and added a utility sink in the garage (using the original plumbing) so that we could have enough space to use a front-loading washer and dryer
flipped the refrigerator from the right side of the kitchen to the left side to accomodate a side-by-side fridge