hot off the press – House Beautiful February 2011

February 10th, 2011

It’s time for another edition of my favorite photos from House Beautiful. You can tell we’re deep in the depths of dreary winter when magazine covers look like this. A light-filled room in bright cheerful colors helps remind us sunny days will return, even if Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow and we’re stuck with plenty more winter ahead of us.

I really like these rooms by Alexandra Angle because they all have intesting but subtle details that add to the rooms rather than detracting. The top left image is a reading nook. It’s difficult to tell with the cropped photo, but it seems like the cushion is much larger than a typical window seat cushion, so you could really relax and spread out like on a full size mattress.  I could see a pile of kids on here reading books when they are little, and a group of teen girls gathered here gabbing, reading magazines, and talking about boys. Or maybe it’s where mom escapes to read a little Jane Austen (or Jonathan Franzen) in peace and quiet.

The double office would be a great little space to take care of personal documents, and with a desk for each person you don’t have to worry about someone moving that bill on you.  Clearly these aren’t home offices, but most people don’t need that much space and storage for managing their home  life.  A low bookshelf or cabinet fitted with file storage and boxes for basic supplies would be sufficient to provide a functional work space with these desks.  I really like the legs on those desks, the small lamp and the artwork leaning on the desks.

There is a nice symmetry to the bedroom with the matching dressers and rugs, but the different lamps and artwork mix it up. I’m loving the green lamp on the left by John Derian. Where can I fit that in my house? (That’s one of the biggest dangers in being an interior designer – we see soo many beautiful objects, fabrics, etc and it’s difficult to not want to enjoy it all in our own homes.)

The detail on these kitchen cabinets by Garrow Kedigian were inspired by the details on the windows in this NYC pre-war apartment.  Paired with slab Calcacatta Gold marble countertops and backsplash the look is fresh but timeless.  Pairing this look with an Artemide glass fixture (top left corner of the photo), 18th century bamboo chairs and a modern wood and steel table is truly a contemporary spin.

This is a fun feature they have added to the magazine that really shows how a room can be transformed by design professionals in one (long) day into a more functional and beautiful space, even utilizing mostly off the shelf items.  What’s really nice is they break the process down into all the steps that took place over the course of that one day, from analyzing the space, to shopping, to setting up the space and trying out different pieces in different locations, to final staging details.  These are the steps we take with our clients but the process is not as condensed, which allows us the time to develop custom solutions and evolve the design over a series of meetings with our clients in which we get to know their lifestyle and personal style in more detail.

Would you allow a designer to make over a room in your home (other than a kitchen) in one day?  Would you feel it was a benefit utilizing retail products or would you prefer to mix them with custom or to-the-trade pieces?

Tags: bedroom, desk, House Beautiful, interior design, Kitchen, living room, makeover, marble, office, twin cities, white, window, window seat

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 10th, 2011 at 3:50 pm and is filed under Hot off the Press. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.