Updating Family Home - Old or New
This home has been in the family for many years. It'd located on a quiet dirt road with great views to the west. As the family changed, so did the home with the normal planned and not so planned additions and style changes . Now, with the couple retired they are spending more time enjoying their home and entertaining guests. They contacted me and asked if I could take a look and help them refresh their look and make the best use of their spaces.
We talked and discussed each room, what they used it for and how they felt about each of the furnishings, art, memorabilia and chachkas they had. Overall, they felt the mix of colors and textures they had were seemed out of date and didn't fit in the room properly. At the same time, they had quite a few family treasures they definitely wanted to keep.
To begin with, I inventoried all the items important to keep versus the
ones that might not be. Then I created a floor plan with furniture layouts
and a complementary paint colors plan. The plan also integrated the family
treasures, sometimes as is, some with modifications. The plan and project
covered the entire home. The dining and living room were the core of
the project.
These are some of the project highlights:
Dining Room
- New colors which opened up and enhanced the look and feel of the room .
- New upholstered dining chairs to work with their current dining room table.
- One of their treasures happened to be a one of a kind stained glass lampshade hanging over the dining room table. (I designed and custom made this shade for them when I was doing architectural stained glass (many years ago!). I moved it into the kitchen and sourced a new, contemporary chandelier for over the dining room table.
- My customer loves her plants. I re-positioned them as low dividers between the living and dining areas
Open Plan Living Room
- One of the clients has difficulty sitting. She also has an injury which requires her keeping her hands by her side at all times. I worked with the furniture maker to modify new swivel chairs to accommodate the client's needs.
- A favorite pastime for my clients is to watch the sunset over the green mountains. What could be nicer than to end your day sipping an ice cold martini? In the winter- we are going to add the blazing fireplace with 1 click). She found the custom made swivel chairs "were a perfect solution" for her.
- The fireplace was a focal point and a place for the couple and their guests to connect, relax, and hang out. I updated the original painted wood facing on the fireplace with with a slightly metallic porcelain tile.This coordinated with the home's color scheme and was much easier to maintain.
- I also replaced the inefficient, high upkeep fireplace and related wood storage with a state-of-the-art gas fireplace lined with pebbles. This allowed both of the couples to make a fire whenever they wanted.
- The old family sofa got a makeover with new cushions and fresh fabrics. This restored it's comfort level and made it an integral part of the room.
- A new rug was also commissioned. It had a gradient of color that softened and tied the room together with the dining and kitchen areas.
This was a meaningful project. Every item in the home had a story. Replacing items, even moving them around, all had memories that went with them. Working with my clients taught me alot about the importance of taking time to understand each other as best we can.