If you have "design ADD" like I do, you're never quite happy with the way your rooms are arranged -- either that, or you're tired of them practically the minute they're done. You feel the constant, nagging urge to change things up and move things around. And your head is so filled with endless possibilities that you find it hard to actually pull the trigger on a major furniture purchase.
For instance, our living room sat empty for five months while I laid down furniture outlines on the floor with blue painter's tape -- then peeled it all up and made new outlines, or taped new ones over the ones that were already there. "Should the couch be 70 inches or 84? Let's make 'tape ghosts' of both sizes and live with them for a few months before we decide ... "
Once the furniture finally arrived, I wasn't happy with the arrangement we'd settled on. So I made poor Nick help me schlep it around into a new arrangement. No sooner had we done that than I decided that the first set-up was better and made him help me put it all back the way it had been. For awhile there, his standard response to my tentative "Umm, Nick?" was a weary, "What furniture are we moving today?"
Turns out, there is an easier way, in the form of furniture retailer EQ3's nifty new "Room Builder" tool.
Here's how it works: Choose from pre-made living room, bedroom, dining room, or home office templates, or build your own rooms by entering the dimensions and the placement of doors and windows in the spaces you want to design. Then simply click and drag from an illustrated menu of furniture, rugs, lighting (either specific EQ3 products or generic items), and accessories to fill your room and to try out different arrangements. (The company is obviously hoping that once you outfit your virtual room with EQ3 booty, you'll want to do the same thing in real life. But the tool is free and there are no strings attached.)
Resizing elements is a simple matter of clicking and pulling, as is reorienting them. Once you're done, you can save, print, and even email your room plan. Here, for instance, is our living room in its current state:
And here's an alternate arrangement I've been mentally toying with:
Now I can mull over the relative merits of each before I draft Nick for another rearranging session.
If you, too, suffer from design ADD, check out the Room Builder before you start moving couches. It just might save your back, your roll of painter's tape -- and, most important, your mate's patience.
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Cool Tool: Virtual Room Builder
Monday, February 23, 2009
Design Dilemma: What Should I Do With My Boring Powder Room?
More Ways to Waste Time reader Harriet writes, "I'm hoping you can help me with my boring powder room. I'm looking for ways to add spunk, character, and style without spending much money.
The room lacks architectural details: There is no window. It's a five-by-five-foot square. And it's painted a pale green. There is a nice new sink and toilet, but I'm not attached to anything else in the room.
I'd definitely like to paint. Two people recommended pumpkin or terracotta, which I like, but I'm wondering if they would clash with the orange-y wood of the bathroom door. I love deep peacock blue-green, but have been warned against a cold color in a windowless room. I'd also like to change the light fixture, hopefully without moving the light box. Finally, I'm on the lookout for a small table or cabinet with more character than the white cabinet that's in there now. To me, a table wants a plant on it, but with no natural light, I haven't figured out what to put there instead. Any ideas?"
Photo from Point Click HomeI have one word for you, Harriet: Wallpaper. It's a great way to add color, dimension, and interest to a lackluster space. And it doesn't have to be prohibitively expensive, especially when you're papering a small room. You could even paper just the sink wall, and paint the other three walls a complimentary hue. Cole & Son's Woods wallpaper, shown above and below, is one of my favorites.
Photo from House to Home
Photo from House to HomeIf it's in your budget, installing a wood or tile wainscot will add instant architecture to a space with none. For the look of wainscoting without the expense, you could even install a simple chair rail, then wallpaper above it and paint below.
Photo from Walnut WallpaperIf matching the wood of the door is a stumbling point, be sure to test paint or wallpaper swatches against it to make sure they don't clash. Or consider simply painting the door. I don't have a strong opinion about warm vs. cool colors for your space. I think that as long as the lighting isn't cold (i.e., glaring fluorescents), it doesn't really matter.
Besides, it's just a powder room -- a space to go to the bathroom and wash your hands. Nobody's going to be spending a ton of time in there or doing anything other than maybe reapplying lipstick, so I don't think it's a big deal if the color palette is on the cool side. (But readers, feel free to say so if you think I'm wrong on this.)
Photo from House to Home
Design by Benjamin Dhong, photo by moiNow about your mirror. It's OK, but you could add a huge dose of style and drama by upgrading. Again, you don't have to spend a lot of money. Keep an eye out on craigslist, in thrift stores, and at flea markets for a vintage mirror with an interesting shape or intricate frame. If you don't like the frame's color or wood finish, you can simply spray paint it.
Photo from Domino
Photo from Walnut Wallpaper
Photo via Desire to InspireFor lighting, you could go vintage (or vintage-inspired), classic, or modern, depending on your preferences and the other elements in the room. Circa Lighting and Rejuvenation are great places to find a vintage or reproduction over-mirror fixture that will add a lot a character to the room. For more budget finds, don't overlook eBay or your local architectural salvage yard. A great old piece can often be rewired for very little expense.
A vintage side table or cabinet topped with fresh flowers, a shade-tolerating plant like a peace lily, a collection of small treasures, a basket full of rolled hand towels, or an interesting objet will complete the look.
The most important thing, I think, is to have some fun. Because a powder room is a space that's only experienced for a few minutes at a time, there's no better excuse to just go for it.
Readers: Any other ideas for jazzing up Harriet's lackluster powder room? If so, please leave a comment and share them!
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Design Dilemma: What's Black and White and Blue All Over?
More Ways to Waste Time reader Jacqui writes, "When my husband and I bought our first house last fall, we painted nearly every room before moving in -- we figured that was easier than having to 'move out' of rooms later in order to paint. But painting before establishing a design plan has left me unsure about how to really finish our bedroom.
We love the wall color and the contrast with the black and white bedding and furniture. But I'm stuck on finding a rug, curtains, and something to go in that weird little corner next to the bathroom door. Do I stick with black and white for the textiles, or is that overkill? Do I find an accent color or are the three colors enough already?
Finally, please settle a long-running debate in our house: What do you think of the enormous IKEA artwork over the bed? Any other suggestions you have are most appreciated!"
I know you really like it, Jacqui -- but to be honest, all that dark blue and black together looks a bit dreary and dated to me. You can cheer up the scheme a lot -- but still retain the high-contrast black, white, and blue look you prefer -- simply by replacing some of the black elements with white ones.
See how all the white and other light-toned pieces in the pictures above and below pop against the inky blues and make the wall colors even more dramatic? To follow suit in your room, you could keep the patterned blanket at the foot of the bed, for instance, but switch out that black duvet cover and sheet set for snowy white ones.
Add a white drum shade on the bedside lamp and clean white curtain panels to the window to cover the bland mini-blinds and inject even more brightness into the space. (IKEA sells great white linen curtains for next to nothing.) And though you might not want to go this far, I'd consider painting the metal bed frame and the leaning bookshelf next to the bed white as well.
Speaking of the bookshelf, I'd move it to the wall to the right of the door, lose the small metal table that's there now, and look for a substantial bedside table or small dresser to balance the one you have on the other side of the bed. I do like the black on that piece -- it looks dramatic and sophisticated. And with a mostly blue-and-white color scheme, a few black pieces will help ground the space -- as the black bedside table does in the otherwise light and airy room above.
Top photo via Nibs
A white or light-colored rug will make the room feel extra dreamy, while a faux zebra hide (you can find them pretty inexpensively on eBay) or other black-and-white-patterned rug, like these two options from IKEA, will inject some fun pattern in a way that's not overwhelming.
Once you've scaled back the black, you could add in one or two colorful accents. As shown here, yellow or orange both compliment blue beautifully, and add energy and zing to these spaces.
Red, as shown at top, is another classic compliment to blue -- just use it sparingly. Apple green would make a deliciously crisp foil to the particular shade of blue you've chosen for your walls. And even a rich lavender, as shown in the bottom photo, can work with blue.
As for the picture currently above your bed, well -- it does sort of scream "generic IKEA artwork." Even when your budget is small, I think it's important to find art that's more unique and personal -- especially in a spot you look at every day. Blow up one of your own photographs and hang it above the bed; stretch a piece of fabric that you love over a canvas; visit Etsy and other sites to stock up on inexpensive prints from artists whose work you admire, and then hang a bunch of them in a grouping similar to the one shown above; or display found objects -- a vintage sign, an assemblage of pressed leaves, even a gnarled piece of driftwood you found on your last trip to the beach -- in place of the boring IKEA print.
Readers, what's your take on Jacqui's blue-and-black bedroom? What would you keep, what would you lose, and what would you change? Please chime in with your advice for her!
(P.S. Have a design dilemma of your own? Send it in, along with a photo or two, and I'll put it up here for a communal brainstorming session.)
Thursday, September 6, 2007
House Voyeur: Terrific in Texas
My fellow blogger Joslyn Taylor posted a comment here last week with a link to some photos of her home. Of course, I couldn’t resist clicking through them -- and, suffice it to say, my jaw was practically on the floor when I did.
Joslyn, her husband, Bryan, and their two young daughters, Audrey and Amelia, have been in their Dallas, Texas home for only about a year -- and had a major Seventies time warp on their hands when they bought the place. But you’d never know it, given that the house they now call home is as cozy, fresh, and lovely as can be.
You’d also never guess that Joslyn and Bryan aren’t in the design business. In fact, both actually work in the high-tech industry. “I love all things related to décor and design and Bryan loves woodworking and gardening,” Joslyn says. “Since we’re in slightly unlikely careers, our house is really a place for our creative outlets."
And what an incredible showcase for those talents it is. Here, Joslyn fills us in on their home and the gentle transformation they’ve shepherded it through:
“Our house was built in 1978 in a sort of ‘Boogie Nights-meets-Brady Bunch’ style. It definitely has some ‘ranch’ elements, but also a strong midcentury feel with lots of natural materials like stone and wood. The original owner’s son was an aspiring architect, so when the house was being built he sketched a different ceiling for every room.
When we moved in last year, we gave the house a major facelift: We ripped down dated wallpaper; painted EVERY surface with Benjamin Moore’s Decorators White, to which we then added accent colors in every room; laid new maple hardwood floors throughout; and added stained concrete floors in the bathrooms.
We also put in new fixtures, installed new lighting (from Design Within Reach, West Elm, IKEA, and Pearl River), hung new window treatments (from West Elm and Target), and installed custom built-in bookshelves. We hired professionals for the big stuff, but did some of the painting ourselves and hung all the new light fixtures, changed every outlet cover to stainless, and made several pieces of art.
Retaining the spirit of the house while making it modern and family friendly has been a challenge. Our biggest project in this vein by far was the paneling in the living room: It’s beautiful, custom, tongue-in-groove ash -- but when we first saw the house, it was stained dark walnut and was really depressing. We had it completely stripped and re-stained much lighter, which was quite an undertaking.
While I’m much happier with the new color and how it really highlights the midcentury feel of the room, I’m still exploring ideas on how to ‘evolve’ the paneling. I’ve experimented a bit with liming wax on a few hidden boards and I’m really intrigued by the results.
My own style is ‘organic modern’ with a little ‘glam’ thrown in, and that’s the spirit in which we’ve approached the design of this house -- although my guiding principle for any home-design decision is always comfort and functionality for our family. Creating a home that’s warm, unique, inspirational, somewhat whimsical, and a place where my girls can create lifelong memories is incredibly important to me. The things I love most about this house are that it’s all one story -- there are no ‘off-limits’ places for the girls -- and that it feels really unique and homey.
My inspirations include the Hotel San Jose in Austin, the lobby of the Highlands Inn in Carmel (and Northern California in general), Terence Conran’s Easy Living, nature (I’m crazy about rocks, fossils, moss, shells, etc. …), and Kelly Wearstler, among others.
With two small children at home, it’s hard for me to spend a lot of money on furniture. Ours comes from local independent and vintage stores, Crate & Barrel, West Elm, and IKEA. Likewise, our area rugs are mostly woven sea grass from West Elm -- though we do have some vintage rugs and a couple of others from Anthropologie and Pottery Barn. (The things I don’t mind splurging on are items that add to my family’s well being, like great beds, good food, art, and books.)
Some of our favorite bargain finds include chalkboards from salvage yards, paper lanterns, wall decals, and fun accessories for the girls’ rooms from Urban Outfitters and the sale table at Anthropologie, great midcentury pieces from thrift stores, and of course free stuff from nature.
We find accessories anywhere and everywhere, but I love a hefty dose of vintage and found objects to offset the new stuff. Our art is mostly homemade, photographs, friends’ art, and pieces from vintage stores and estate sales.
If we had it to do over again, we probably would’ve done less to the house before we moved in and instead lived in it for a while before tackling any major design projects. (I tend to be in a hurry to get a house decorated.) Luckily, I still have a long list of things I’d like to do here.
The lessons I’ve learned: Don’t rush, and never be ‘finished’ -- a house needs to evolve over time. Don’t be afraid to copy ideas that you love (I’ve blatantly copied several ideas from one of my closest friends, who has amazing taste). Look for inspiration everywhere. Finally, design for the life you actually live (with a little of the life you aspire to thrown in).”
Click here to see Joslyn’s slideshow. (And be sure to check out Joslyn’s blog, Simple Lovely, too.)
Thanks so much for sharing your gorgeous and inspiring home, Joslyn!
Want to share your own home -- or simply show off a room or a project you're proud of? Please let me know!
Monday, January 12, 2009
House Voyeur: Rustic and Retro in Silverlake
Sheharazad Pezeshkpour and Ron Fleming's Silverlake home is, to me, the quintessential arty Los Angeles abode: set into a leafy hillside and filled with quirky vintage treasures.
I love how the couple has fused rustic, retro, and modern elements. This is no cookie-cutter midcentury modern showhouse, outfitted with the requisite iconic pieces but somehow lacking soul. Rather, it's a warm, inviting space that feels very personal and reflective of its owners' personalities. I'd love to come to a party here, sipping glass after glass of red wine out on the patio and having heady conversations late into the balmy L.A. night.
Here, Sheharazad gives us a virtual tour of the designing duo's (she works for a business-design firm called Studio Deluxe, while Ron co-owns YYES) 1,980-square-foot urban oasis:
"Built in 1952, our home is a California rancher with midcentury, clean-lined touches.
Our style is eclectic and considered. We like to mix pieces from different decades and have an appreciation for objects that showcase excellence in design and craftsmanship. We’ve designed the house as a whole to have a relaxed, atmospheric vibe. And within that, each room in our home is designed to have a purpose.
We’re inspired by so many designers: Tony Duquette, David Hicks, Kelly Wearstler, Jonathan Adler, Ralph Lauren, John Lautner, Edward Durrell Stone, LaGardo Tackett, Yves St. Laurent … all have such an incredible sense of style. We also find inspiration through reading old issues of Sunset magazine and Architectural Digest from the ’60s, ’70s, and even the ’80s. You really get to see a variety of design solutions that worked in the past — and, of course, some that should stay in the past. But the most inspiring ones are always the things that were so ahead of their time that they still look futuristic, even now when they’re considered vintage.
A couple of our favorite things about this house are the exposed beams and high ceilings in the main room, which adds a lot of depth to the space, making it feel larger than it is.
We tend to gravitate toward midcentury modern and 1960s design, so we often buy secondhand. Most of our décor is pieced together from trips to local flea markets, secondhand stores, and yard sales, and from perusing craigslist. We’re definitely bargain-hunters. We see our house as a work in progress. We’re constantly changing the décor, adding and taking away. It evolves with each new find.
When it came time to think about furniture, we opted to keep our vintage pieces and have them reupholstered. For our couch, we chose brown Italian theater velvet and for our chairs, we chose remnants from the Holly Hunt collection that our upholsterer had left over from a previous commission.
We also splurged on the shelving in our main room. Ron's a vinyl junkie and we both love books. We needed quality pieces that were modern and functional to house our favorite books and Ron's record collection. Our good friend Amy Devers is an amazing furniture designer and carpenter. She and Ron worked together to come up with a design that fit the room, and Amy built all the custom hardwood casework herself.
Over the years we've collected a group of paintings, serigraphs, lithographs, etchings, drawing, prints, pottery, and glass that suit our taste. Many of the midcentury pieces are from artists associated with the Chouinard School in California, but they're peppered with an original Chagall (thanks, St. Vincent de Paul!), an early Araya Rasdjarmrearnsook, various works by talented friends, and the occasional anonymous trash-heap find.
Our house is surrounded by bamboo, which grows incessantly and Ron trims regularly. We have so much of it, in fact, that we’ve begun to display some of the taller trimmings as vertical elements throughout the house. As they dry and age, the bamboo changes from green to a neutral color. It’s a nice homage to the living bamboo you see through the windows.
We tend to display the things we collect — pottery, ceramics, cast iron kitchenware — in larger groups to add visual interest.
Our biggest challenge is keeping our love of 'things' from taking over the house. To control our ever-growing collections, we recently started an Etsy store called the White Mole, where we sell some of our finds so we don’t have to start charging them rent.
We used Ralph Lauren paints throughout our home — specifically the Vintage Masters Collection. Our bedroom is painted in the Olive Tree shade.
We got a great deal on a set of black leather Le Corbusier-style couches that we use in our movie room. The paint color is Ralph Lauren's New Castle Brown.
Ron built the table in our 'Japanese tea room' from an antique head- and footboard that our neighbors were getting rid of. He designed custom fasteners to bring the two pieces together and had glass fitted for the tabletop. I’m so proud of how he was able to creatively repurpose something old and give it a new life. It’s a great conversation piece.
We love our home’s original wood windows. We don’t use window treatments, except in our bedroom and in the movie room (where we need the option of keeping light out), so it really brings in a nice sense of the immediate outdoors.
In our backyard, which is built on a hillside so that it has tiers, we’ve tried to create separate spaces, each evoking an emotional response. For example, a space you’d want to meditate in versus a space you’d want to entertain in versus a space you’d want to read in.
Our advice: Don’t be afraid to mix things up. Add your own touch by playing with different textures and shapes that speak to you. Put something old next to something new, and both items will have an added sense of character."
Thanks so much for sharing your enchanting home and garden with us, Sheharazad and Ron! (Pssst — you can check out even more of it on their flickr set.)
P.S. Want to see more? Click here for a look inside other readers' homes.
