Glam Living Room

via Traditional Home, Gerri Wiley Design Group 

Whenever a client asks me what to do with their "designated" living rooms 

I always ask them "what would you like it to be?"

It's often a decent size space at the front of the house with good natural light

It could be an office

it could be a den

it could be a tea room

it could be a lounge

The last one is my favourite and often the direction the client takes

A space to serve drinks & apps before a dinner party

or for those that don't entertain formally

it can become a lounge for hanging out with a bevy and some friends
before going out or relaxing at the end of a busy day with a stiff drink!

My clients just bought a newly built custom home
and we are furnishing their front room as a lounge for drinks or tea

We start with this chic boxy tufted loveseat with chrome nailhead trim
in a luxe cream coloured velvet

Then we will add in a couple of stream-lined, sloped arm chairs

in a textured cream chenille fabric

I like to mix up the shape of the seating to create interest, 

the clean lines of the chairs is a nice contrast to the "busyness" of the tufted sofa

A patterned rug in muted blue and cream tones

these two are being debated

A glass coffee table with lucite & chrome legs feels light

in the room but still sculptural

anything that goes on this table looks amazing

For our bar cabinet

a mirrored piece with patterned doors to store bottles and barware

while lovely glassware is displayed on top

A large mirror on top and maybe some sconces

Cap off the space with a contemporary crystal pendant

this one is definitely a statement piece

One wall behind the bar cabinet will have wallpaper

we are considering something like this with a soft grey background

and a metallic pattern

We are looking at various artwork options

we may keep ethereal with muted blues, creams & grays

or bump it up a notch with some deeper indigo and cobalt pops

Drapery fabric is going to be a luxurious silver damask I'm still sourcing

The overall plan looks luxurious and inviting

Drinks anyone?

Basement Media Room

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I've recently had a couple of requests from client's to create cozy media rooms.  

For movie lovers, the perfect setup is critical to enhance the movie watching experience.   

But it's also a space where people are entertaining more often in a casual environment and want to accommodate larger groups on occasion (the overflow party room, as it were).

This particular client is a young professional that recently purchased a newly built town home and is on a tight budget to furnish the entire space.   Most of the funds will go to the main floor living and dining spaces.  The media room will be set up in the above-ground basement in a relatively small space about 13'x13'.  So, I have my work cut out for me!

It has a nice wood floor, wooden staircase and a bathroom finished in black tiles with a light brown zebra wood cabinet.  I'm going to work within this palette to create a cohesive space and keep it contemporary.

He wants a modern rustic vibe in this space, so I will be sticking with a black and white palette with hits of reclaimed wood, some metals, and blue/grey accents. 

This is the casual feeling we are going for.

I also have to work with the existing black leather theater seating - 

not my favourite, but the client spent a lot of money on a sofa that looks something like this

In this basement like most, the ceilings are lower than the rest of the home.  We have about 7 1/2 feet in the middle, with less under the bulkheads around the perimeter of the room.  

There are some design tricks that help give the illusion of height and I'll be using them all.

Firstly,we'll be doing a birch forest effect on the walls in a grey and white look with a stencil.  

We are doing a stencil instead of wallpaper because the client may be moving in 1-2 years and we don't want to turn off any potential buyers with the prospect of having to remove wallpaper if they don't like it (something to consider if you are redecorating with selling in mind).

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On the floors, we'll place a large area rug in sisal or wool to warm up the space.  Something with texture but no pattern, in a neutral grey/taupe.  Maybe a dark border.

For furnishings, I will bring in a reclaimed wood tables.  

The glass top on this coffee table helps the piece feel a bit lighter and more airy in the space.

I love the texture on this side table (below) with chopped wood pieces.

we may be able to squeeze in one or two extra chairs in the plan

The classic Ikea Poang armchair fits the budget and
is comfortable enough for TV watching yet compact and streamlined for this small space.
This medium brown finish with grey fabric works well with the vibe of this room.

A large sliding patio door will be covered in a rich cobalt blue velvet drape from floor to ceiling to create that vertical line that helps make the room feel taller.

Not only will it add a lovely hit of colour to the room, but the fabric will absorb sound, which is good for the accoustics in a media room.  The lined fabric will also provide added warmth while blocking out any light while movie watching.

There is a small nook in one corner of the room that has just enough space for a Bar Area.

I like using a cabinet with doors (or drawers) for extra storage of bottles, bar gadgets, napkins, candles, or munchies.  I will style the top with a tray of glasses, an ice bucket and a few bar essentials.  Above will be some open shelves or a large mirror.

For artwork in this room I will curate wall with black and white prints 

of architecture, abstracts and some fun images, something like these

Now here's a conversation piece!  

It's going to be a fun space to hang out with the guys and watch a game or a movie.  

Looking forward to this one.

Decorating with Blue

I must say that I haven't used a lot of blue in my own decor except for the Tiffany blue accents in my office.  

So when my client asked me to zhush-up her already lovely living room, my first instinct was to ramp up the intensity of the blues she loves to add some drama to the space while still keeping it very sophisticated.

As you can see from the Before shot above, the floors are a beautiful dark hardwood, the trim work and paint colour is classic, and the shapely ceiling is a great feature - but the room is relatively "boring" according to my client and really wasn't comfortable for entertaining.  

So the challenge was to create an inviting space that would accommodate several people at once for drinks before and after dinner but also to function as the spot for their upright piano (off to the right side of the above photo) and as a quiet, weekend reading spot.

One of the other key issues that makes this room "not quite right" is the scale and proportion of the furniture.

All the furniture, except the sofa, was purchased for a previous, smaller home.  The accent Persian rug (below) is a sentimental piece for the client, so we are keeping it and using the colours as a jumping off point for the room.  We'll place a much larger, wool sisal rug underneath to help visually expand the space, keeping the Persian as a focal point on top.

The coffee table is also too small and will be replaced with a larger one.  

The settee is going to another room, and we'll bring in two larger chairs and some side tables to accommodate the long, narrow room.

This was one of the inspiration images that really spoke to my clients in terms of the feel for the room.

They wanted to keep a mix of contemporary and vintage pieces; some sparkle with their existing crystal sconces and aged finishes like antique brass and weathered silver; luxurious fabrics, and artwork that creates interest but is complimentary to the colour palette in the rest of the room.

So once the floor plan was done, I started to pull fabrics for the upholstery and pillows.

Here's the fabric scheme we landed on

The damask and leaf patterns are from Joanne Fabrics as are some of the blue/green velvets.

We are adding two of these modern wing chairs that will back onto the dining room

with the sage green velvet on the front and the damask on the back - can't wait to see it!
(a similar pattern is on the dining room end chairs in a gold fabric) 

The clients existing tufted arm chairs will get a big beauty boost

upholstered in this gorgeous cerulean blue velvet - YUM!

I also found this great fabric that will be used for a couple of pillows.  The client has an affinity for French decor and loved it as soon as she saw it.

The other big change in the room will be larger scale art pieces.

We'll add something colourful above the sofa working within the colour palette 

but adding some depth and interest to the well-lit space.

Here's a few pieces we're considering:

I think I see an image of a person in this one - do you?

 Decorating with art really takes a space to another level (as I've noted in another post here).

Given the main purpose of the room is to entertain, a place to store and mix drinks was key.  I looked at open bar carts, but this room really needed a larger piece to sit next to the sofa instead of an end table.

We're going to use this antiqued mirrored cabinet and then glam it up with styling... 

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Oh, the beauty of filled crystal decanters at the office!

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And on that note, I'm suddenly feeling thirsty.