My client just downsized into a tony townhouse in Nashville and moved a good deal of the furnishings from her former, much larger home. This ottoman/coffee table was the perfect size for her living room in the previous home. In the smaller space, it dominated the entire room (and not in a good way). It is a custom piece, and not inexpensive. What to do?
As it was, the skirt made it feel larger and heavier than the space could handle. I knew that if you could see the floor beneath, it wouldn’t feel as large.
So we took a peek beneath. Thankfully, the legs were wooden and nicely stained.
I learned a trick while staging hundreds of homes for sale over the last ten years: unbroken floor space always makes a room appear larger. That’s why I recommend leggy furniture in small spaces and prefer to skip bedskirts – even that little bit of extra floor space you can see without it makes the space feel open and bigger. There were about two thousand staples that had to be removed, but the end result was worth it:
Do you have furniture that’s not working for you? Don’t just get rid of the piece – think outside of the box. It might save you enough money to buy a new rug instead – which is what we did here!
To get more free decorating tips and tricks from The Decorologist, subscribe to emails here.
great post, I covered my ottoman but overestimated the seam allowance! It still works but I am tempted to re-try it this way!
Kelly
http://www.yourcolorconsultant.com
What a great save and what a difference.
Love the leggy look! I have always voted for furniture with visible legs, but I had never thought of avoiding bedskirts for the same reason! Thank you for the insight, Kristie!
I abandoned bed skirts 10 years ago for that reason and…. the bed making ease that it gives me and….
no vacuum cleaner catching the fabric in it’s mouth! Check out Fitted Box Spring covers. They’re the bomb!
Kristie, you are one smart cookie!!!!
Great thinking 🙂
Nice!!
PERFECT! Turned out so pretty :>
What a shame the old design did not work in her new space, it was such a pretty ottoman. Yes, the open space under the new look Is pretty, too.
AMAZING! Wow! That ottoman has great legs-glad it finally got to show them off! 🙂 I so much prefer clean lines than lots of fabric-just gives such a fresh look! Great thinking outside that box!
Thanks, Jayme – I was so happy to see those legs under all that fabric 🙂
It’s better in every way!
You did your magic again Kristie. A beautiful example well done !
I like legs showing on all upholstery. It’s so much fresher and more modern. This was a great change.