Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Creating a Cottage Living Room out of a Dark Pit of Despair!!!!!

Or.....How My Niece and Nephew Get Free Decorating.....

Since Fall is finally here, I thought I would start showing you a new project.
I've been working on Miriam and Ross's living room since early last winter.
If you don't know who Miriam and Ross are.....
they are my niece and her hubby.
Remember what I did in her dining room?????
Let's see the before and after, so you can anticipate the living room transformation.
I still need to make slip covers for the chairs at the end of the table.
I'll do it sometime this fall.....
really!!!!!
Looking at the picture above, makes me tempted to paint the table top.
It's not in the best condition, being a Craig's List find, and a lattice pattern may be just the ticket.......hmmmm.......

Sooooooo.......
here's the before shots of their living room.
As you can see.....
they don't clean up until the room is nicely decorated.
I must admit, I'm the same way.
The white patches on the walls are from new insulation that they had installed all around the house.
This is the wall opposite the fireplace.
This is just behind the leather chair...
This shot is with my wide angle lens.
and here's a shot the other way...
Soooooo.....
they arranged the room the way they saw it arranged by the previous owners.
They placed the sofa between the two doors from the hall and set the TV in the corner.
This way, they could see the fireplace and the TV at the same time.
They're very talented!!!!!
I can only look at one thing at a time.
My eyes both look in the same direction.

Sooooo.....
I tried to draw you a floor plan, from looking at the old pictures, to show you how the furniture was arranged before I got my hands on this room.

The problems they faced in this space are really common.
Most people don't know how to handle a long narrow room.
Luckily, being the genius I am.....
I know what to do!!!!!
Arranging the furniture this way accentuates the narrowness of the room, by placing the bulkiest piece along the long wall elongating the space.
Making it look long.
Longer.
Longest.
The room was also painted a drab brown darkish color, which doesn't help in an already dark room.
So,
the first thing to do in a situation like this.....
is what you always should do first!!!!!
Do a floor plan.
Think of a floor plan as the skeleton of the room.
If a body don't got a skeleton.....
then there is nothing to hang the clothes on!!!!!
I wanted to foreshorten the space to make it feel wider and bigger.
To do this, I placed a pair of chairs perpendicular to the fireplace, jutting out into the room.
Having the bulkier piece (sectional) down at one end also worked at cropping into the space, making it feel wider.
I also wanted to choose furniture pieces that were a better scale for the room.
The leather chair was so large that there wasn't room for another chair.
I found a pair of smaller arm chairs on the always helpful and wonderful Craig's List.
One of my clients' (ha!) requirements was wanting to be able to watch TV in a reclining position.
The other client.....wanted a sectional.....
I was a leetle concerned about how to fit a sectional in such a small narrow room.....
But being the pro I is.....
I figured it out, and gave them everything they asked for.....
(except facing the TV and fireplace at the same time.....)
Then I drew elevations of all the walls, so that our fearless carpenter, Nigel, could cottagize it by adding a baton panel detail and a built in bookcase for the TV.
Here's the bookcase.
Soooooo
to give you guys a little teaser of what's to come, let me show you a picture of how far we've gotten.
We still have a ways to go, but it's really coming along, and the youngsters are very happy.
We need to put the white slipcover on the sectional, but they want to wait for the ones I'm making for the chairs........
Oy.
Purla the wonder dog is very happy with the changes.

On that note,
Latah, Gatah
Photobucket

16 comments:

fixitfaerie said...

I know you aren't finished. There is NOTHING on the walls you are showing us! Looking good.. Paula

20 North Ora said...

Do they know how lucky they are to have you as a relative?

Jud

Brenda said...

Space planning and furniture placement is not easy for me. This is so helpful. Thanks.

Anonymous said...

I am looking forward to following the transformation- I know it will be just perfect and I know I’ll learn so much again.
The first thing that I noticed was the big black TV in the living room and for a second there I had my doubts that you could do your beautiful decorating around it..but of course, when I saw the drawings for the wall of built ins, I knew you solved that problem. Mine is in a big armoire because I hate to look at a big black box, but my husband does love his TV. The one item that he knows is never ever coming into the living room is a recliner.Never..but NEVER..:-)
Dolores

Vikki said...

Thanks for the tutorial on the furniture arrangement for a narrow room. So helpful! Lucky Mariam and Ross! Is Ross the nephew of Martha Stewart or do I have him confused with another relative of yours? Keep the pictures coming...excited to see the next step. Vikki in VA.

Betsy Speert said...

Ross is married to Miriam, my brother's daughter.....
My sister's son, Dan, is married to Martha's sister's daughter, Sophie.
OY!
So many kids!!!

Nella Miller said...

They are very fortunate young things to have you! I am lovin' the numbers on the chair backs...did you use a stencil, or free hand? Love your blog...new follower, N.xo

Betsy Speert said...

I free handed the numbers on the green chairs...I transfered the design and then painted over it.....the letters I created out of my own little head....
Then I got smart and bought some stencils!

Donnamae said...

Thanks for the tips on the furniture arrangement...I wonder if those kids know how lucky they are! ;)

Beth C. said...

This couldn't be more timely now that we are finally making the move from VA to our new coastal-style cottage home in Fleridida (auto check went crazy with that one!). I want to do a similar wall treatment on our great room walls, so pretty please include lots of pics and deets about that. I may not be able to reupholster a chair, or make a pillow sham (I would need a sewing machine, right) but I damn well know I (I mean we) can tackle the paneling. Best, Beth C.

Anonymous said...

I wish my relatives would be as happy to have me as their decorator too ;-) Yes, I'm a decorator but not as famous as you are...but I do think we could be fairly competitive in the humor department :-)

The thing that's always hard to convince clients of is not every chair in the room has to face the TV! Ah but you understand that ;-) I'm working on a floor plan for a client now and will have to do a lot of sweet-talking to get them to realize not all chairs in their living room need to be facing that huge monstrosity....especially when they have another huge TV in their family room! ;-_)

Anonymous said...

Love your humor and your style

Anonymous said...

such a talent you are... now why dont you let me transform you t-shirts

Anonymous said...

MY goodness, each post is better than the last. You have given me permission to decorate the way I want, which is very much like your style. Just down sized after 42 years from big house to small and it has given me a kick in the pants redoing but incorporating some of my OLD stuff. (Don't we love our STUFF)! The comment at the end of post about the dog made me just laugh out loud. Feels so good to laugh, thanks. Bobbie

LivingVintage said...

I love your dining room chairs. They're such a classic shape and they look so comfortable. I even like the green color you chose.

Cindy said...

You have an amazing talent. That arrangement really is quite brilliant! and... i'm not stalking you, just catching up on some blog posts i missed...

Cindy

Post a Comment

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...