Living Room for Entertaining

When I first met this client at her midtown home in Toronto I knew that her space was not a reflection of her personality at all.  She's a busy family physician who loves to golf, travel and entertain regularly.  But, her living room was lackluster and hardly being used. She also loves art ... which is why she called me.

She was looking at making a major purchase in original art and wanted to know how to decorate her space not only to show off her colourful 40"x60"purchase, but to make the space more inviting, more interesting and definitely more sophisticated.

Here's what the living/dining room looked like BEFORE:

 

beige walls

bad furniture proportions

poor layout

dismal lighting

no pizzazz!!

I knew what to do with the layout right away, but the colour scheme was going to come from the diverse selection of ART

The original horses and east coast red farmhouse paintings were destined for the living room.

Marilyn was going to be in the glamorous dining room, already decked out with a modern crystal chandelier.

There was also a series of nautical photographs of my client's east coast home town that were grouped together in the family room.   Artwork all sorted out, on to the furniture.

We decided to keep the fairly new slipper chairs and have them recovered.  

I also took the black striped side cabinet to get a fresh coat of paint and some new blingy hardware.  

Here's the before shots of both with the client's mirrored coffee table that was also staying.

I wanted a streamlined sofa to be placed on the longest wall that would accommodate the two largest pieces of art.  So I selected this piece with a cushion back and a narrow sculpted arm in a navy blue chenille fabric.

Now I had the opportunity to bring in two more chairs that were a bit more sculptural and add some sophistication to the space.   

 I chose a dark peppercorn finish for the wood with a powder blue velvet for the fabric and pewter nailheads.  This chair is one of my favourite pieces in the room - and there are two of them! 

I wanted the pillows to bring in the colours from the artwork... pumpkin, gold, turquoise and cobalt.  So I came up with a fabric scheme to complement the upholstery fabrics selected.

It started with this textile festival ...

and was narrowed down to this final selection of 50 shades of blue, 

golds, and a bold hit of pumpkin orange in a floral medallion pattern. 

A geometric art silk rug sits in the background.

Once all the main piece were selected and fabrics for pillows and drapery chosen, we moved on to the accessories and I found some fun pieces that my client loved

Here's a closer look at the custom drapery in a luxe silvery chenille fabric with 6" fabric banding 

to match the pillows on the chair... so yummy!  

Client already had the custom roman blinds in a graphic silver & gold pattern, 

so I worked with them when choosing drapery fabric.

The final reveal comes in two parts

Part one - without drapery 

(note to self: don't order them so close to the holidays!)

It's amazing what a bit of paint and some new hardware can do for your dated furniture!

Part two - some new pillows added but without the rug 

- it was accidentally soiled by the family dog the night before I arrived for the photo!

Love ending the post with these gorgeous chairs!

My client has been entertaining a lot more since this room was completed.

Just goes to show that living rooms can be transformed for contemporary, real-life living!

Masculine Chic Design

Who says guys don't want to have chic spaces too?

Have I got your attention?
If you thought Adam Levine was cool before, check out his LA home that he helped designed here!

One of my favourite bachelor clients contacted me recently to help him with his main floor renovation.
I did his spa bathroom a while back, and now the kitchen, living room and dining room needed updating too.

We will be taking down two main walls between the kitchen, dining room and living room for an open concept space - totaling about 23' x 18' including the foyer.  Not a huge space, but it has a lot of potential.

The look he wants includes clean lines but classic too; is modern but not stark;
and very functional but not overly stodgy... no problem!
He has NONE of this now by the way and, not a lot of furniture or storage either.

 The kitchen currently looks like this

I pulled some inspiration shots to get him thinking about the feel of the space. 

Here are some ideas for the kitchen

This kitchen feels very masculine - reclaimed wood beams, industrial lighting & hood vent,
stone backsplash, even the hardware on the cabinets is "manly"



We'll be doing something interesting on the end of the kitchen island
because it has a clear view from the front hall and living room.

We are going with a palette of light cabinetry (probably off-white or dove grey)
Dark quartz countertops
 Hardwood floors throughout the main floor

Cabinetry in a classic shaker style

Lighting and hardware aged bronze industrial, maybe forged iron

          

My client also wants to store his liquor somewhere in the kitchen....um, so not cool!

I'll make space for it in the living or dining room so that it can be displayed nicely 

and be easily accessible when needed...kind of like this!

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In the living room/family room/everything room, he needs shelves for books, storage and minimal display - there would probably be only books if he had his way, but as a designer, I can't let that happen;
we need some styled shelves for this open plan space.

The living room's wood-burning fireplace isn't working so it will be replaced with a new gas insert and flanked with shelving & storage and a place for a new TV.  

Of course, the first question he asks me is "how big of a TV can I put in here?".   

My reply,  "let's see what works in the plan first".  

Good thing he's actually not a huge TV watcher, so I don't have to decorate around a 60-inch screen.

I love the warmth of the caramel, tufted leather with the dark walls and velvety teal (or navy) pillows.  

This may be the start of a very chic colour scheme for the living & dining room!

The contrasting textures make this desk area really interesting:

grasscloth walls

lacquer & chrome desk

leather chair

wooden accents on wall and desk

black glossy paint on mirror and lamp

So Delicious Dahling!

as Martyn Lawrence Bullard would say!

Here's the living room now... dark & dated, no lighting and no personality!

I've got my work cut out for me but I love a challenge.

Sourcing for fireplaces, fixtures and tiles - then the dining room next.  

Stay tuned!

All images via my Pinterest Boards - Masculine Spaces & Kitchens

Eclectic Living Room

One thing I've learned over the years decorating spaces is that people put too many labels on themselves and that it makes even less sense to label your style at home.  I find that most people like a mix of old and new, classic with some modern elements, and varying degrees of colour and pattern throughout their homes depending on how they use the space.  I truly believe the label doesn't matter as long as it "feels" right for you.

Over the last couple of weeks I've been putting together some inspiration images for an "eclectic" living room project I'm working on.  The clients have two young children, including a toddler who's toys have taken over their very small living/dining room and they are in desperate need of good storage, seating for entertaining and a more grown up space overall.  They want the space to feel curated and are considering both refurbished/recycled items as well as new items.  With several projects around the house needing attention, we have a very limited budget and a short timeline to get this space done.

We have a very narrow hallway with no closet that opens up to the entire main floor with only a 4'x4' knee wall for delineation.  So, with limited space for furniture I'm looking for an interesting wallpaper to help make a bold statement when you first enter the home.  I love this Thibault wallpaper and gorgeous chest and vintage sconces.

Thibaut cork metallic wallpaper - stunning!

cork metallic paper up close

Since all of the living room furniture is to be replaced, and we didn't have any existing artwork to draw inspiration from, I decided that we would start with a gorgeous over sized rug to both delineate the living and dining room as well as become the foundation for the colour scheme for the room.  My client wanted something traditional in style but was open to bringing in a mix of patterns and colours.  I found this rug from Hellenic called "the Tree of Life" and the client loved it.  It's herbal dyed wool and hand made in India and has all the earthy colours we were looking for with pops of red and pink that really adds to the lively essence of space.  

The client likes earth tones and wanted a traditional space but with a bit of cultured, Asian-Ethnic touches.  I selected some fabrics with traditional motifs but more interesting colour combinations.  The patterned fabric for the chairs was chosen in muted tones to let the rug take center stage.  The drapery fabric is fab and will work very nicely with the darker wood tones of the existing dining room furniture. 

Fabrics & Rug

I'm also sourcing cabinetry for the dining room and living room.  We are playing around with a mix of purchased credenza's and built in book shelves.  Here are some ideas:

living room option via

dining room option via

living room option via

For the extremely narrow hallway our options are a narrow bench or console.  I love this hand-made beauty, from Urban Tree Salvage made of Manitoba maple, which I featured in my IDS post here.

Alternatively, a shallow console and mirror will work nicely too.  This one picks up on the red accents we will have in the space and has an artisan quality to it. It's always practical to have storage drawers in the front hall for all the little mitts, mail & keys.

via

We'll be out looking for upholstery soon.  Although the client was hoping for a sectional sofa and they generally work well in tight spaces, this living room needs storage desperately - so we're looking at a smaller sofa and two slipper chairs to optimize the layout and get as much storage and seating as possible at the same time.  

I love this eggplant velvet beauty from Barrymore.  Although this fabric is not practical with a sticky-finger toddler running around, this is the look we are going for.  A three-seater with slim, padded arms allow us to get maximum seating without wasting any space on bulky arms.  The thin legs also add sleekness compared to a skirted sofa style.

As for chairs, we have the option of one larger chair, in a wing back or club chair style, or alternately, two smaller chairs that can also serve as extra seats for dining when entertaining larger groups.  

For a single chair I like to feature something with great lines in a solid fabric, whereas with a clean-lined chair  a bold pattern really adds interest to the room while keeping the sofa in a sold colour.

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As you can see, the range of furniture styles are very broad in an eclectic scheme, but ultimately they will all relate to each other based on the colour scheme, shapes, textures and materials.  As we add each element to the plan, we change up the mix and that's what gives it a truly curated feeling.

That's it for now, I'll be back with updates as we go.