Thursday, January 20th, 2011
I thought I’d give you a quick update on the construction project.
Here is the kitchen now that the walls have been primed and painting has started.
When you see the finished project you will see how dramatic the change is from this angle looking from the entrance. The angled wall to the right of the doors leaning against the wall will be covered in Moroccan tiles. A custom bookshelf will extent off the column in the foreground providing great display space for the homeowners’ vast collection of beautiful objects from around the world.
Look at this side by side comparison with the room pre-construction. Removing that wall allowed us to reconfigure the space and provide a modern flow.
Tags: construction, interior design, living room, remodel, twin cities
Posted in Sneak Peak | No Comments »
Tuesday, January 18th, 2011
I’ve always focused on inspiring you with images and color palettes on this blog, but I realize I rarely include my own work. After the reaction I got when I posted a couple of sneak peak photos of some bathrooms I did this fall, I realized you might enjoy seeing more of the process involved in my remodeling projects for clients.
Since I have a fun remodel in process right now, I think I’ll share a few photos with you so you can see how the space is evolving as we move through the construction process.
This is a view of the kitchen from the living room on my first visit to meet with the clients.
Here is a wrap around view of the kitchen, moving from the left side to the right side.
And a view of the wall between the kitchen and the living room (to the left) and the entry (straight ahead).
The challenge with this space is that all the walls and openings between the kitchen and the rest of the unit chopped up the sight lines and hid their amazing views of the Cathedral and the State Capital. We wanted to open the space up, increase the functionality of it, and provide a better flow for both entertaining and hanging out at home alone.
Here is the kitchen on construction day #1, all cleared out and ready for demolition!
And after a bit of demo (to say the least) the walls are opened up, the electrical work is exposed, and we get to come up with solutions.
The view from the kitchen to the living room and dining room is suddenly vastly improved as sight lines are opened up.
A few days later, a new half wall opens up the kitchen to the rest of the unit even more. All the electrical has been rerouted to maintain an uninterrupted view from the kitchen all the way to the State Capital.
Isn’t it amazing how different it looks once the drywall is installed? The beams conceal the electrical work and accommodate new pendant lighting over the future raised breakfast counter. Now when guests walk in the front door they won’t be trapped in a narrow hall with no view – they’ll walk into a open space with views in every direction.
Next steps: painting, installing flooring, installing cabinetry, installing countertops and appliances, finalizing updates to the bathrooms, installing new blinds, and installing new lighting. (You don’t want to see the actual super detailed list of steps involved in each of these tasks, but trust me, we’re so on top of it!)
We still have a lot of work to do, but you can see how much work has been accomplished already. The messy phase is almost complete, and now we get to start bringing in the color, texture and patterns. I can’t wait to see it all pulled together!
Did you enjoy this sneak peak behind the scenes of a construction project? Would you like to see more?
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Tags: construction, dining room, entry, interior design, Kitchen, living room, remodel, twin cities
Posted in Sneak Peak | 2 Comments »
Friday, January 14th, 2011
To wrap up a week of purple we’re going for saturation. I’m talking about deep, royal purples. There’s nothing bashful about this color. It says “I’m purple. Like me or don’t like me, I don’t care.”
Look at these deep purple walls. They add drama all on their own. In the dining room the furnishings have minimal lines and silvery accessories add a restrained touch of modern glamour. You could be bold and choose a saturated purple velvet for your sofa and mix it up with old shutters as wall art to create an unexpected pairing. Or stick with a neutral sofa and let the wall color, mirrored tile and artwork be the focal point of your room.
Incorporating purple in your bedroom could be an exercise in all out layering (see the bedroom on the left) or just a couple of accessories could be added to a otherwise quiet palette (see the bedroom on the right). Notice how they upholstered a folding screen to create a headboard, and pulled the pale pink color from the fabric for the trim color. Unexpected but interesting. The living room in the middle has deep purple layered in the rugs, throw pillows and wall art. Mixed with gold, chartreuse, violet, silvery grey on the couch and charcoal on the armchair the palette feels balanced and not focused on one specific color. It feels like it has evolved over time, which is always a good quality to achieve in a room.
So, have these purple posts made you a convert yet? Are you itching to paint or run out and pick up a couple of new purple accessories to update a room? I’m actually thinking about painting my own bathroom!
Have a great weekend. I hope you get to enjoy fun decorating projects to give you a fresh look for the new year. And if you want a designer’s perspective and ideas, I’m here as always to help make your home a place you truly enjoy living in day after day.
Tags: bedroom, dining room, interior design, living room, pillows, purple, rugs, sofa, trim
Posted in Color Pulse, Inspiration Boards | No Comments »
Wednesday, January 12th, 2011
I was flipping through the Benjamin Moore Affinity paint deck the other day and stumbled across a palette of four colors that made me surprisingly happy. Why surprisingly? Because three of the colors were shades of purple (not one of my favorite colors normally). The fun feature of the BM Affinity paint deck is that you can pick any 3 colors at random and they will all work together! They might not be your favorite combination, but the tones and shades of the 144 colors have been carefully selected to coordinate (these colors are available in the Aura paint base). Check out the palette at your local Benjamin Moore store to see for yourself (Hirshfield’s in the Twin Cities carries Benjamin Moore).
But what makes this palette different than the purples I’m used to seeing is they all have a more complex grey or brown undertone. This is what makes them modern and appealing to me. Anchored by a lovely coffee brown (the “barrista” must have put a lot of milk in that espresso!) this palette could work easily in a living room or bedroom for a warm and luxurious vibe.
The key to a palette like this is to mix in metallic accessories for shimmer, add velvets and silks for a variety of sheens and textures, and ground it with dark wood floors. How about a distressed oak floor covered in textured wool rugs? I realize that this might not be easy for you to visualize (I can see it clear as day in my head), so I whipped up this room concept to show you how you could pull together the colors, textures and furnishings for a living room.
What do you think? Would you enjoy hanging out in this room? I think the transitional style of this room would work well in both a suburban home and an urban condo. The furnishings have clean lines that reference traditional forms. A Hollywood Regency sideboard with midcentury lamps adds an unexpected touch, and the silk curtains sweeping across the floor like a ballgown add a bit of glamour. The light finish on the sideboard balances the darker colors and finishes throughout the room. The ceiling fixture adds a playful modern silhouette that keeps them guessing. Hang it over a reading area off the main seating area rather than centered over it so that both the light and the reading area are highlighted.
Since there are so many shades of purple out there to play with, I’ve also pulled together 3 inspiration boards featuring lavender, violet and deep purple rooms to inspire you. Check back tomorrow for the first board!
Tags: Affinity, Aura, Benjamin Moore, fabric, Hirshfield's, interior design, living room, metallic, paint, purple, twin cities
Posted in Color Pulse, Inspiration Boards | No Comments »
Wednesday, December 29th, 2010
Okay, so this came in the mail a little while ago, but I figured I had a bit of buffer since it covers both December and January.
I like the cover image – all that great worn wood, tons of bookshelves, a minimal chandelier, linen slipcovered dining chairs and a giant farm table sound like the perfect place to gather with friends on a snowy day with mugs of hot cocoa (with a bit of Baileys or Kahlua for the adults).
This bedroom in a London townhouse designed by Alex Papachristidis has a fun groovy meets eccentric glam vibe that you don’t usually see. The Missoni inspired print on the bench pulls together the colors of the bedding and bedframe. The open framework of the base of the bench helps balance the weight of that large upholstered bed. The nightstands are open as well to keep the proper balance of visually light and heavy items in the room. The neutral walls and flooring let the bed be the start of this room, as they should be in a bedroom. The leopard print footstool, statue base lamps and artwork show the homeowners aren’t afraid to be quirky and individuals. I love that!
This living room is from the same London townhouse as the bedroom above. This room has a similar mix of ’70s, modern and antiques with a warm color palette and curving legs. The lamps have great personality. The gilded finish on the armchairs is a dull brushed finish which somehow seems more casual to me. Again neutral walls and flooring allow the acccents to shine.
This living room was designed by Brazilian Sig Bergamin. It has a very David Hicks meets Billy Baldwin (those slipper chairs!) quality with a preppy meets world traveler (minus the souvenir objet d’art) style. The modern art collection helps keep it fresh so it doesn’t read as your grandmother’s Park Avenue apartment. Clean transitional lines on all the furniture keeps it from being fussy and lets the patterns play against each other without being TOO overwhelming.
All photos from Elle Decor December 2010/January 2011 issue.
Tags: bedroom, Billy Baldwin, David Hicks, ecclectic, living room, Pattern, preppy
Posted in Hot off the Press | No Comments »
Monday, December 13th, 2010
Now this is a living room that real people live in. When I read shelter magazines like Architectural Digest I sometimes wonder how people REALLY live in the rooms because they have been worked over so carefully by a stylist that they have lost some authenticity.
Even though this room was done with the help of a designer, it still feels like a collection of pieces that were gathered over the years. The candles in the hurricane vases are all burnt down and imperfect. Blankets are draped at the ends of the sofas for easy access when curling up in front of the fireplace with one of the many books stacked around the room. The end tables are eclectic pieces that look like they were picked up in vintage shops. The coffee table looks like a weekend project utilizing reclaimed rough hewn wood planks. Flowers picked from the garden are placed in an old mason jar and a white pitcher for a casual touch.
The only things that I’m not crazy about in this room? I love the zig-zag striped rug but it is too small for the space. Even turning it 90 degrees would work better since it looks like a section of the rug is lost under the sofa. Or they could put two of them side by side if they wanted to maintain the current direction of the zigs and zags. A strip of carpet tape would help hold the two rugs together without permanently attaching them (in case they want to move them to other rooms in the future). Also, the stone tile under the fireplace is bugging me. I understand needing tile there, but the khaki sofas clash with the yellow undertone in the tile. If the tile was a darker brown more in line with the tones of the beautiful wood floors it would disappear and not fight the other elements in the room.
I like that the lamps on the end tables have different shape shades, but the shade on the lamp on the right end table blocks the art above it, and it makes that area feel cramped. You can see how just a little bit of breathing room between the lamp and the art on the left side of the sofa feels better to you eye.
Maybe I’m being picky, but I want to educate your eyes to catch the details that help make a room better. Then you can look at your own home with a discerning eye and tweak those things you might not have noticed before that can take your home to the next level of fabulousness. People might not notice the difference, but they will feel the difference without knowing exactly why.
Are there any spaces you would like pointers on?
Photo source: Michigan Farmhouse living room by Rebekah Zaveloff of KitchenLab via Houzz
Tags: lamp, living room, rug, sofa, tile
Posted in Picture of the Day | No Comments »
Colleen Fox Slack | email: colleen@colleenfoxinteriors.com | phone: 612.868.0348
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