Saturday, May 7, 2016

Furniture Placement in Front of a Screen

OK KAMPERS!!!!!
We're back for another segment of....
"let's trash Betsy's design"
AKA
"we don't like what you did over there in that section of that there room....."
In case you're wondering what in the hell I'm referring to, 
( to what I am referring????? 
In conversational writing,
 does ending the sentence in a preposition matter?????)
anyway....
check out some of the comments on my last post.
A few of you guys were not amused by the way Connie and I arranged the bookshelves in her living room.
They felt that they should only have been used for books.
They didn't like that I had covered the bindings.....
SO
I am now going to refer to those shelves as display shelves.
DOES THAT MAKE EVERYONE HAPPY?????
To me,
the most important aspect of designing a room is
MAKING THE CLIENT HAPPY IN HER HOME!!!!!

I think I have now used up all my bold letters, so let's get on to the new subject matter for today.

Off Connie's living room is her sun room.
I've been showing you pictures as we've progressed in working on this space and it is coming along nicely.
At least, Connie, Chris and I think so.
Connie's husband Chris, really has very little to do with the design, but he walks through the rooms while we are working, and he always has a smile on his face.
When we go shopping for furniture for the house, we don't take him with us for a couple of reasons.
1) He has no patience.
2) He would have a stroke if he saw the prices.

To bring you up to speed on the progression of the room, lets go back to the beginning.
At one end of the space is a set of double doors that lead directly into Connie's bedroom.
There is another doorway into the master suite hallway that allows each bedroom more privacy, so Connie wanted to close off this entrance.
I didn't like the doors at the end, as it made the sunroom feel like just a big long hallway with 7 doorways off it.
Two into the living room, one into the hallway, one into the family room and two to outdoors.
The door into the bedroom make seven.
Just too many.
          Well, I got rid of the sucker!!!!
I had a screen made to cover the doors.
Now the problem was that Connie hated the way the screen looked.
sheesh....
no pleasing some people.
If she's not careful, I'll start charging her for my services again.
I told her....
(here come some more bold letters, sorry about that.....)
I WASN'T DONE YET!!!!!
Every time I came over to the house, she had a different arrangement of furniture in front of the screen.
She started looking for a chest to go in front of it.
I TOLD her that we needed something tall, maybe a tall pair of antique chairs??
She kept looking at low chests of drawers.
Then one day, Connie and I were out shopping, we were looking for something to go in front of the screen, but we were having no luck.
So we ended up spending my money for a change.
She really seemed to be enjoying seeing me reach for my charge card.
We were in a shop with a lot of absolutely wonderful fake plants.
I went a little crazy.
You guys know how I love fake flowers.
I bought two pots and two agapanthus that looked so real that I first thought they were.
If you don't know what they look like.....
I stole this image from google
Anyway.....,
I'm wandering around the shop in a daze of euphoric delirium, when I stumble upon this absolutely gorgeous chest of drawers.
It's a Gustavian travel chest.
If you look at the side, you can see it's in several pieces.
Two boxes that fit on the base.
The sides have a beautifully painted motif
 (for me, it helps to show which is the top piece.....).
Drool worthy.
Knockout.
bowled over.
It was the opposite of cheap.
But there would never, ever, ever, ever be anything as perfect as this @#$ chest
 to place in front of the folding screen in Connie's sunroom.
I remember some pleading going on that afternoon.
It may have been me.
Possibly...

Connie Caved!!!!!
We both loved it.
She had fun playing around with what she had in the house, to find something that was as wonderful to set on its top.
Connie and Chris sold their home in Vermont this past year.
They sold it furnished, but kept some of their favorite things to bring down to Flerida.
This marionette horse was one of Connie's cherished pieces.
The white geraniums that I plunked in the cream stoneware pot, are from the same store as the chest.
These were supposed to be for me, but they got stuck in Connie's house.
So she ordered a couple more.
Here's a side by side of the low table in contrast to a taller piece in front of the screen.
Now we just need to add some little tables or objects next to the chairs to set drinks, and this end of the room is done.
Here's a side by side of Before Betsy, and After Betsy.
Or 
BB and AB
On that note, 
Latah, Gatah
Photobucket

13 comments:

Groovemom said...

That was genius. What an amazing way to blend the screen into the room. High five!

lynn said...

Simply beautiful!

Cynthia Christensen said...

Mannifique!!!!!!!! Happy Dance!!!!!!!

mray said...

Fantastic, love your honesty & designer tips!! Another lesson...learned.

JJ said...

You need a fiddle leaf fig for more green in your sunroom.

Ance Mist said...

That was certainly perfect, Miss Betsy; what a glamorous solution to a big problem!

Laurie said...

Betsy,
You have a gift for finding amazing pieces! I really enjoy your design work. You are extremely gifted!

Lisa said...

Mmm, maybe I'm asking an obvious question so please cut me a little slack. Why not take out the doors and build wall there? You know, close them off forever and ever. Like they were never there. Just wondering.

The chest is effing fabulous, by the way.

Catherine said...

I was just wondering how Les Brown was doing these days and the Google Search brought me to you. I loved looking at your wonderful designs and reading your blog. I will never forget you and all the laughs and cries we had with the Vineyard house. Miss you and wish you all the best!!! Catherine Crocket (formerly Newhouse).

Divine Theatre said...

Yes. AB better than BB. What's on the other side of the doors now? Because I know my husband would forget and open the doors and knock everything over.

xo

Andie

Unknown said...

I have chest envy.

Wild Haired Woman said...

I don't know what's wrong with people. I think that's a tough room to work with, and you've done a great job. I love the way you styled the bookcases, and the screen was an ingenious solution to hiding the doors and keeping the room from looking like a hallway. The chest is truly beautiful. Congratulations on a job well done.

LL Fredell said...

That is a gorgeous chest! Just in case you care about such details, the chest is late baroque, not Gustavian in style. If it is original, then the date is somewhere around the mid 1700s, which means that it is older than a Gustavian piece (1790s). It has been painted (most likely not original paint) in Gustavian colors. Regardless, it is lovely!

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