Lighting and Accessorizing

So how do you get a pulled together look like this?

When you are starting with this!

This room is actually a small space, however there is not enough furniture, lighting or accessories. The chair and the sofa are placed against the walls  providing a conversation area along with an easy pathway through the room, but still it seems off balance. The furniture looks arbitrarily placed and the setting is lacking a coffee table.

The cat house...a must go!!!

As you can see in the photo below, mirrors were placed on the wall and are not centered to anything...they just appear to be floating. Also, when placing mirrors, be mindful of what they are reflecting, in this case the mirrors are reflecting the underside of the stairs.

Here the problem is that the entry way just looks drab, there is nothing on the walls and the space lacks interest and color.

In the below photo you see the awkwardness of the furniture arrangement. Even though this room has great natural light coming in, the one lamp in the room does not provide enough ambient light for when the sun goes down.

So what was done to make this room come to life???

The first thing done was to switch the placement of the sofa and chair so that the sofa is occupying the longer wall. The size of the sofa fits much better on the long wall and the chair compliments the shorter wall. So the tip here when placing furniture on a wall...look at the size of the furniture in relationship to the wall it is placed on. They should almost mirror one another. Long or wide pieces on wide walls and narrow pieces on narrow walls. Fit the shape of the piece to the shape of the wall it is to be placed against for a harmonious feel.

The next thing done was to add a coffee table. This trunk was tucked away in the downstairs storage room. It had some scratches on it but with the application if a little Old English furniture polish, the scratches disappeared. The color of the trunk adds warmth to the room and grounds the seating arrangement. The mirrors were removed and a picture found at the top of the second floor stairway was brought down to add some color to the walls. Also, notice that the picture was placed directly above the chair, thus anchoring it to a piece of furniture for a complete vignette. The small table with lamp was placed on an angle to add some architectural interest to the room.

A floor lamp and plant (right on the above photo) were placed next to the stove to add light and color to the side of the room. Old family portraits (below photo) were hung on the wall next to the front door adding interest and helps to define the entry way. The pictures are placed in an ascending pattern to mimic the angle of the ascending stairs.

The final step in completing the look of this room was accessorizing. Candles and a plant along with some reading material were placed on the new coffee table. The existing accent pillows were flipped to show the floral side and to add contrast to the sofa as well as color to the room. A small bench with another plant was placed next to the chair to help compliment the color of the coffee table to and add weight to the wall with the chair. Here's a tip on lighting...place table and floor lamps around a room in a triangular arrangement...this will help to evenly distribute the light in your room. Same is true for plants, place them around a room in a triangular pattern, and remember, greenery in your living space adds both color and life!  

The homeowners were thrilled with the result of this redesign. They loved the new arrangement and the stylish look. And the best part...nothing new was purchased to achieve this put together living space...it was all done with items the homeowner already had...

another great redesign for sure!!