Random House Floorplan

This is the dining room before I started switching everything around.  This room is carpeted, which doesn’t make it ideal for a dining room – especially when there’s a space open to the kitchen that is hardwood (it was being used as a living room).   The homeowners LOVE color, especially bold color.  They favor modern design, but with a retro twist.  They are artlovers, as well, and the husband is a gifted artist, so  it just seemed as though their home should have the feeling of an art gallery.  Art galleries typically have a neutral backdrop so that the art really stands out – so we decided to mute the background a bit and add bold punches of color.

Dining Room Before 

The homeowner had a desk tucked back in a corner of her bedroom where she used her computer.  As we talked, it became obvious that with two small children, it would make more sense to have her office area in a place where she could monitor family activity better as she worked.  So, we started moving around the furniture . . .  

New Office, Old Dining Room

After some creative arranging, this former dining room is now a perfectly lovely office space. Can you believe this is the same room?  Here it is from another angle:

The Decorologist

Ok, let’s look at the before of that room from further out.  This shot was taken during the day, and you can see how very bold the color was.  At this point, we had already moved the dining table out and started playing around with the office set-up.  The sheers on the windows were dated and almost country.  There is a large tree outside the beautiful windows here, so they really didn’t need the sheers for privacy.  We just took them down completely.

Office Before

A new paint scheme began developing and some of the walls went neutral.  I highlighted some of the more interesting architecture by selectively using a pumpkin color (Benjamin Moore’s Topaz 70) that worked well with their art, rather than the red-orange they had before.  You can see it in the left portion of the photo below.

The Decorologist

Aren’t these windows gorgeous?  The tree is a perfect privacy screen, so why not just let the light flow in and bring the outdoors in?

The Decorologist

No more working in isolated dark corners!  Now this busy mom has a beautiful place to work adjacent to the living space where she can keep an eye on the entire household. 

New Office by The Decorologist

Now, if you are wondering where the dining room went:  This is where the previous living room was.  The space is open to the kitchen and has hardwood floors.  You can see that the furniture is a bit off-balance from the natural focal point of the room, the fireplace, which made it feel a bit crowded.  Although the homeowners wanted a modern look and feel, they weren’t achieving that with Porter’s Tobacco Road, a favorite wall color of every major builder in Franklin, TN in the mid-1990′s.

 After replacing Tobacco Road with a more modern neutral, the fireplace was highlighted with Benjamin Moore’s Kiwi 544 with a rectangular block of color extending to the ceiling, which actually added an architectural element that didn’t previously exist. 

New Dining Room 

With the square Pottery Barn dining table now on an angle, this new dining room lines up perfectly with the fireplace and is the favorite place for family meals, homework, and craft projects.

Cutey-Pie Homeowner

The homeowners are enjoying entertaining friends and family even more than ever since they threw caution, and their floorplan, to the wind.  If you’d like to see more of this space, click here and “like” The Decorologist on FaceBook so you can check out additional photos from this makeover.  Stay tuned to find out where their living room went . . .

If you need a Greater Nashville interior decorator and color expert, contact The Decorologist to schedule an appointment! 

This room had to include the bed, dresser, and a baby crib/toddler bed.   There’s a balcony off this room, and the green plastic chairs had been brought inside for some reason.  We obviously needed to pull those out, as well as that black chair with the UT emblem. 

The first thing I had to do was to reorient the bed so that it would be the focal point of the room.  Feng Shui says that you should never face the foot of your bed towards to door, something about that being the “coffin” position.  Hmm.  That’s why I DON’T do Feng Shui.  I believe the best position for a bed is exactly that – facing the door!  I switched the dresser to where the bed was before, a much better position visually for a tall piece.  The placement of lamps is also important in warming up a room and making it feel inviting.  Go back to the first picture and notice the difference in regards to the lighting alone – lamplight changes the whole mood of the room. 

The trickiest thing about this room was finding a place for the crib/toddler bed.  If I had placed it on the left wall, it would have been very cramped walking between it and the bed.  I decided the foot of the bed was the best place for it, especially by styling it out like a daybed/bench.  Another thing I did to change the mood of this room was flip the duvet over to the striped side and fold it down at the end of the bed.  That black floral pattern was a little overwhelming on the whole bed, but just right for an accent pillow.  A few accessories and wall art from the attic round out the new look.  I think my client’s daughters will be happy to spend the night in this lovely room, and they won’t even have to step around those green plastic chairs!

This weekend I’ll post the before and after of the grandchildren’s guest room.  Happy Friday!

Photo Credits:  Kristie Barnett

It’s “Before and After” time!  This is one of my favorite kitchen updates.  It started out nice enough:  butter yellow walls, white cabinets and appliances, nice wood breakfast table.

But my client wanted more – something updated, clean-lined, and welcoming.  She was over the peely thermafoil cabinets, formica countertops, dated lighting, and lackluster color scheme.  Before, it was a little bit country.  Now, it’s a little bit rock-n-roll:

We traded the yellow wall color, the brass light fixtures, and the fussy window treatment . . .

. . . for a soothing gray-green wall color with a deeper greenish-blue color on the island, on-trend brushed nickel light fixtures, and simple yet elegant window treatments.

Where we saved money:  scoring on-trend lighting, faucet, and stainless steel microwave on clearance from Lowe’s, choosing a black cooktop (rather than stainless steel) to blend right in with the new countertops, and installing inexpensive but timeless subway tile as a backsplash.

We also saved by maintaining the same cabinetry layout and simply refacing them with cottage details, and by keeping the existing breakfast room suite.

Are you ready for your own kitchen transformation?  Helping you make cost-effective choices with a high-end result, StoneBrook Interior Styling will actually save you money.  Click here to see what I can do for you.

.

This is the living room in its “before” state.  Not a lot of color or contrast going on in this room.  This is where the couple watches television, works on the laptop, and reads the paper.  And it’s the room you see when you first enter this home.  This was a concern as they will be entertaining many guests for the holidays, and they want to show off their new house to their friends and family.

No, that previous picture was not a black and white photo!  But it looks black and white when compared to the “after” picture.  Cozy up your rooms by adding some warm colors like the chocolate brown and coral in this living space.  Now there is just the right amount of contrast against the light walls and cream loveseats.   What a difference this patterned rug made over the plain cream one that was here previously.

Here’s the “before” of the room from another angle.  The homeowners were having difficulty making their room come together – the furniture felt hodge-podge and the arrangement fell flat.

What they needed was a fresh perspective and a new furniture arrangement to make the furnishings more cohesive and the room seem more welcoming.   By floating two loveseats in the middle of the room, they can easily pass on either side to the kitchen or master bedroom.  Seating is no longer lined up against the walls with a large path down the middle of the room and far from the entertainment center.   The new arrangement makes this room feel more than a pass-through into other rooms – it’s now a cozy and welcoming destination.

There was no artwork or any height on this side of the room.  Because there is a tall entertainment center on the opposite wall, this created a lopsided feeling in the room.  You want to have peaks and valleys in a room – that is, high points and low points.

The grandfather clock and the vivid artwork pulls your eye up and gives the room visual balance.  Have you noticed what a difference lamp lighting makes in these before and after pictures?  Overhead lighting makes everything look flat.  Task and accent lighting truly warm up your space and makes everything more 3-dimensional.  Adding this sofa table on the back wall flanked with matching lamps gives some symmetry and weight to this side of the room.

Do you have an important room in your home that’s been treated like the least important?  Maybe you should go shopping around the rest of your house like I did in this home.  This was accomplished in a few hours and not one thing was purchased.  If  you need help warming up your house for the fall and you are in the Nashville area, schedule an appointment with StoneBrook Staging and Interior Styling before the holidays creep up on you!

.

Today I thought I would share some Before and After pictures of a recent living room update.  Actually, it’s a living room/dining room combination.  My client wanted an update and wasn’t sure where to start.  She had nice furniture in neutral colors, so I suggested we change the wall color, rearrange furniture, and add interest with lighting and accessories.

Here’s the Before from one end of the room:

This room needed some personality, warmth, and sophistication.  We chose Benjamin Moore’s Wedgewood Gray in an eggshell finish for the walls.  Simple curtain panels soften the windows and add warmth to the room.  A new pair of lamps on a sofa table warm things up, as well.  The large black coffee table was switched out for a pair of square nesting tables.

Here’s the After:

This is the Before from the opposite side of the room.

Here is the After:

The conversation area is now properly oriented towards the room’s focal point – the fireplace.  The television is in the opposite corner than before, where it is clearly visible from the seating area but not the first thing you see when you walk in the room.

This client only uses her dining room table once a year at Christmas, so we moved it against the window on the opposite side of the room and put away most of its chairs.  Now she’ll use one end to have her morning coffee and check her email and the other to display her prized blanket from Afghanistan and a changing seasonal display.

Before from yet another angle

We all need a change from time to time.  For more Befores and Afters, check out my portfolio at www.stonebrookstaging.com.

.

You gotta live in your WHOLE house.  There’s nothing sadder than a lonely room.  Spending time in each room in your house on a regular basis can generate a more balanced life.  I find many people spend most their time in one or two rooms of their house.  Most people use their dining rooms a few times a year, at best.  If you have the rooms, it’s such a shame for them to go to waste!

Please excuse me, but I can’t completely separate myself from my past as a psychologist:   Each room should serve a practical AND emotional function.  It will serve you well to heal those disconnects, establish new practices, create new routines, and benefit from the proper utilization of your space.  The effort creates a more balanced, satisfying life.  Doesn’t it kinda make you feel guilty not to use that one (or more) certain room(s) in your home?  Start tonight and actually serve dinner in your dining room.   

Rethink every space.  By rethinking how you use each space in your home, you can create a house that functions better – it is more efficient, more beautiful and more spacious – and yet is often surprisingly smaller than you thought you needed.

Rather than moving or adding on, you can redistribute furnishings and functions to make the same amount of space accommodate many more activities. The trick is to forget everything you think you know about how each space in the house is supposed to be.  Why not put a small sofa or comfy armchair in the kitchen?   Now maybe your husband will hang out and talk with you as you make dinner! 

We can make each space take on more functions and actually work better in the process by listing the activities, furniture, or articles to be accommodated and tailoring the available space to those particular needs.  It’s been popular trend to build or add on a new room for every new activity, like media room or exercise room.  A house will feel more integrated and hospitable to its residents if there’s more interaction between activity areas.

Don’t use the dining room much?  Make it do double duty as a library or office.  Has the rec room turned into just a wreck?  Clear it out and create “stations” for your family -  a table and chairs for a homework area, a game table with a bookcase behind it full of games,  a tv and bean bags just for video gaming (and don’t let video games in other rooms of the house!). 

Have a guest room and never have guests?  Shove the bed against the wall, create a daybed for seating, and make it into an “away room” for reading, sewing, or  working on hobbies.   Do you really need a “formal”  living room?  Do you spend any time in there at all?  Then make it into something that works for you – maybe a music room where all your musical instruments have a true home?  Below is an example of a “before and after” where I did just that:

Before:

After:

Clear it out.  There’s still time for a yard sale before winter rolls around.  Or just call one of the many good charities that would be happy to pick up your stuff – Goodwill, Salvation Army, AmVets, etc.  Once you get rid of the things that are weighing you down, it’s time to clean it up.  Keep it clean – come up with a plan that includes all family members taking responsibility of the house.   If a room is messy, you will simply avoid it.  I never want to hang out or use any room that is overcome with clutter or feels dirty, do you?  

Make organization part of your lifestyle.  You can create the lifestyle you want with the way you live in your home.  Just because you have children, does not mean you can’t have a “designed” home – in fact, having children necessitates some design or else your house will quickly turn into a messy, disorganized toy depository.  “A place for everything and everything in its place” is a great mantra.  Determine a home base for all belongings and add storage containers wherever clutter gathers.  Everything needs a home, even if the home is in the trash!

Teach your children how to clean their rooms and be responsible for their own things.  We have a basket at the bottom of our stairs.  Our kids know that when we ask them to clean up, anything that belongs to them goes in that basket.  Then hopefully, the next time they go up the stairs it goes up to their rooms with them.  We’ve taught them where to put away everything and make sure those places of storage are accessible to them.  I recently had my husband drop the closet bar in my younger child’s closet so that she can independently hang up and get down her own clothes – no more excuses that she’s too short!

Set Boundaries.  Because boundaries involve making rules, many have as hard a time setting them in rooms as they do setting them in relationships.  Harmony and balance require parameters and to be maintained, just as keeping your home life supportive and stress-free doesn’t happen magically. Moms – if you don’t teach your kids that their rights are limited when it comes to your or anyone’s personal space, property, or rights, then you are creating little bullies.  You deserve sanctuary in your home even if you have children.  Don’t be afraid of making rules that insure that. 

Here are some examples:  no toys or playing in parents’ bedroom, no jumping on the living room couch, don’t play in daddy’s office, do not open the bathroom door without knocking, etc.  Children need boundaries as much as parents do!  Playing with your kids is important, but there’s a time and there’s a place – not all the time and not in every space.    You have a responsibility to yourself as well as to them to teach them how to understand and respect these boundaries.

In these trying times, it’s wise to spend some time and effort in making our homes more functional, peaceful, and just well-used.  Today’s the first day of the rest of your homelife, so get to it!

.

This is a picture of how my bedroom looked when we moved into this house 8 years ago.  Dark green walls, very bad floral border, ceiling fan.  Oh my.  The first thing we had to do was strip down that border, which was apparently put up with superglue.

We had an extremely difficult time removing it, and finally had to sand down the remains of it and do a skimcoat of drywall compound to even it out.  Whew!

  The next thing I had to do was decide on my color.  I picked out beautiful shade of lavender with blue undertones.  Then I took 2 parts that color and mixed it with 1 part white, resulting in the ceiling color. 

I used my existing furniture and lots of vintage and antique accessories.  My color scheme was lavender, green, and pink.  Kinda like my own preteen dream bedroom. I am publicly admitting that my bedroom looked both childish and old-lady for a very long time   For the sake of my husband, this pink chenille bedspread didn’t last long.  I soon replaced it with a white chenille one.  Needless to say, it still wasn’t very sophisticated!

I recently decided I needed a style update in there.  It didn’t feel cohesive, and it didn’t feel sophisticated.  The problem was, I still really loved the existing color on the walls.  Sometimes a new color is exactly what you need to kick-start a makeover.  But what do you do when you want to keep the color and existing furniture?  I needed some inspiration.  I had recently advised 2 different clients to try to veer away from the grapey-Disney princess purples in their little girls’ rooms and go for a more sophisticated European princess-look with gilt mirrors and crystal chandeliers.  Maybe that’s what I needed, in a more grown-up form! 

I changed my color tactics – rather than going with my previous triad of colors,  I decided on a more tone-on-tone, serenity-now scheme.  Gray is definitely an on-trend color right now, and I love the Gustavian style (go ahead, google it).  I took all the tchotchkes and wall art out and started with a clean palette of lavender.  I found bedding on clearance at TJ Maxx that looked completely gray under store lighting.  In my own room, it totally took on the color of the walls.   I then staged the bed (I have special training in this ) in a grand way.  I already had a lavender upholstered bench that sat in my downstairs hallway, so I moved it to the end of the bed.  Symmetry=serenity, so I placed identical lamps on either side of the bed.  I stacked 2 white and lavender plates directly above each of  the lamps to continue the symmetry and calmness.  I switched out my smaller crystal chandelier with my old dining room chandelier.  The size and formality took this room up a notch.

I also brought in a cool old dresser mirror (previously hanging in the enclosed sleeping porch) and hung it lengthwise to use as a dressing mirror.   Then I plopped an asian-inspired pillow on the existing blue-lavender chair, and I was finished!  The new version of my room is much more elegant, grown-up, and seductive.  A romantic Gustavian dream.

Moral of the story:  Sometimes you don’t have to paint a room a new color to make a significant change.  Maybe you change the colors you are using with that wall color.  Maybe you take more things out rather than putting more things in.  Maybe you change the style or feel of the room by changing out or simplifying accessories and fabrics.  Maybe you just need to find your inspiration!

.