Sometimes a room just needs a little rearranging.
Vickie has some very nice items in her home, and her Family Room looks perfect. Her Living Room, however, was giving her trouble.
When I arrived, the first thing I noticed was the awkward arrangement of furniture. But this was fixed in a matter of minutes. All we had to do was break a little sweat. Moving the furniture into a conversation group oriented toward the foyer made a world of difference.
Now all we needed to do was rework the arrangement of art. We created a grouping by first laying it out on the floor. Using the items that had been spread out in the room to create one cohesive focal point created somewhere for the eye to fall.
One last suggestion: a new color for the wall. (Shown in this new photo–Thanks, Vickie!)
One “busywork” project: to create a gallery wall using similar frames.
Lofty Impressions
Hanging pictures can be such a hang up. But really, it is quiet easy, once you know the strategy.
When in doubt, hang it lower. When hanging art over a sofa, between the bottom of the frame and the top of the sofa back there should only be about 18 inches at the very most. It should be possible to view the sofa and art as a coherent group. The eye should not have to travel up from the furniture to the art above it.
Another sign of confusion: A pair of pictures hung staggered horizontally. Sometimes they are hung with the left one higher, sometimes with the right one higher, and often over a bed or on a blank wall. Either way—always wrong. Glance through decorating books and magazines. This is something you will never see done by professionals, yet homeowners do it all the time.
If two or more pictures are stacked vertically, they need not always line up on the center axis, but they should be stacked in relation to something else. Note in this photo how the vertical arrangement reflects the form of the secretary.
Sometimes pictures are “worked in” to make a cohesive grouping. In the image below, hanging the art centered over the console would be odd, since the “wall” is really the stairs. The lamp and statuary balance the grouping and add dimension.
I don’t think it is a mistake to sometimes place an area rug on top of wall to wall carpet. Many homes (and especially condos) are mostly carpeted so defining separate areas can be more of a challenge.
Using a contrasting area rug can solve the problem by grouping an area visually. In the photo, although this area is in a separate room, it is open to the more formal space next to it. The addition of a deep, dark, textured rug emphasizes the point–This space is for reading and TV viewing.
I just finished writing a Design Recap for the clients I mentioned on Saturday. I am absolutely and completely enamored with their Alexandria split level.
I can’t believe how perfect the tiles in the bathrooms are. They are beautiful. AND SOME ARE PEA GREEN. (really-pee green..)
For the blue tile in the Hall Bath, I chose a really golden green, Sherwin Williams Independent Gold. Yea, more pea. (pee.) Ten years ago I would have said “Rip it out!” I have to confess.
Today, I am envious.
Yesterday a client asked by thoughts on the above pictured quilt and sham from Pottery Barn. It is hard to tell from the catalog photo, but the fabric has silhouettes of song birds intermingled with the leaves and branches. Bird motifs have been gathering steam since Christmas and now I have noticed this as a full blown trend for Spring.
More bird silhouettes are on an interesting runner from West Elm. This would certainly make a statement in a foyer or in a long, dull hall.
Even the little icon on the address bar for Anthropologie is a sparrow. (What IS that thing called?) They carry the Bird-cut Armoire. And at nearly 2 grand this trend better last more than a season.
I can’t help but laugh at this one. Even with my younger daughter in the local community theater’s production of Honk!, I still don’t think I would want a plate with a duck on it.
I will, however, consider buying her a Troll Bead for her hard work.
A home that pleases YOU can change your life.
I met with a holistic health professional to discuss our businesses today. She noticed that simple changes in her clients’ environments help facilitate their healing. This is no surprise to me. I am under the firm belief that beautiful spaces change lives. With one caveat. Beauty is most certainly in the eye of the beholder. This is why creating spaces that please the individual is so important to me.
When we view something we perceive as beautiful our brains get quiet. We relax and calm down. We enter the more creative and intuitive alpha mode.
Here in a metropolitan area with all its hustle bustle and its lack of green space, this is exactly what we need to return to at the end of the day.