NEW HOME UPDATE: Adding Some Jewelry To My Rooms!

 

Artwork and lighting are like the jewelry in a room and since my new home had absolutely NO jewelry except for a few lights we decided to hang a few pictures.

I have a theory about walls and artwork…….

“If you want someone to stop and look at the wall and what is on it, then hang something there, but if you just want them to walk by, don’t put anything on the wall!”

Over the thirty some odd years of consulting with clients I found so many would have pictures on a little slice of wall that had no meaning to the whole context of the room or the home. 

Many homeowners feel compelled to have something on every wall in their house. 

The results can give you a scattered look, and make the home feel busy, and disconnected. I know none of us are trying to achieve that look for our homes.

In our new home I have a few focal walls, these are walls that your eye will naturally go to even without something being hung on them.

Design tip: When hanging art start with your main focal points in each room.

This is where I start with hanging my artwork. The very first area is our entry hall the place that I will greet my family and guest…..

“Your entry introduces your

guest to what they are about

to see, feel, and experience in your home!”

My theory on entrances to homes……..

“You are about to enter the place we love, and call home, as you enter I hope you know your are welcomed here. We hope we have made you just a bit curious about how the rest of our home will look by our choices in colors, wall treatments, and the other elements we chose to greet you.  We love beautiful things, but nothing is too precious in our home that it will ever be more important than YOU.  We hope your feel at peace, and relaxed while you visit here.”

Our entrance hall is a small area. You will notice that the front door will swing into the wall on the right of the table so that area had to stay open. 

There are a couple of things that I would like you to notice. I left the area on the left of the table open instead of pushing the table closer to the wall that divides the rest of the hallway that opens up into the kitchen.

This is called giving it some visual air space. When you do that it can make the area look just a wee bit larger. 

If I had pushed the table further to the left, it would have looked crammed, making the person viewing it, think. “ Oh she barely had enough room for that table! This is a really small entry!” Not the thought process I want to take place.

I have a few options of tables that could have worked in this space, however I chose the mirrored table for it’s reflective qualities, also creating a bit more visual space. 

The other reason is I wanted to reflect more light. Even though we have a window in the door, (still so happy about that one!) the entry appears darker than I like. I love light and lots of it!!

So what should we hang over this mirrored table? A mirror? That would give more light reflection, but with the glass in the door, and the mirrored table I felt we had enough reflective surface. 

I wanted something  that was happy, something that introduced a little color. I had the perfect piece. It was large so it would fill in the area nicely, it has a portrait light which will add more light to the area.

We tried it and it worked beautifully. It is an original oil painted by artist Dorothy Spangler. 

It was a gift from a very dear friend, so when I look at it, I smile for two reasons, one because of HER and the other because of the subject matter. One of my other favorite things in life, FLOWERS!!

Ideally the table could be about  4in. longer on each side, but for now this is working out just fine! Isn’t she a cheerful greeting?

In the future I will probably be getting a runner, or a rug. Nothing has spoken to me yet so I will wait until I find the perfect rug for there. I also have some really great plans for the walls and the ceiling, but that will have to wait for later.

I am not sure you can see it or not, but I have the little tiny LED lights in the plant, more sparkle, more reflection = more visual space!!

As you walk down my entry hall it opens up into the kitchen/great room, and to your left is a big wall.

I have plans for a, “someday piece of artwork,” for this wall, but until then I have a really nice piece to use there.

This piece was chosen for two reasons. It can be seen from the entry piece, and it introduces some of the same color found in the floral as well as it introduces the color scheme  that is in the great room.

I purchased this vintage sailboat blue print and had it professionally framed with a very simple white frame. 

The print is bordered by a thin black mat, and then a white mat. Simple, just how I like it. 

I love the way the buffalo check fabric ties in with the blue print. 

The print itself is fairly large, however I visualize a huge colorful art piece, eventually. I will be on the hunt until I find the perfect piece that speaks to me.

Once I get that print I also visualize a long bench upholstered in cobalt fabric with Lucite legs so it will have a see-through quality, and not visually take up too much space.

Something like this….

I can just see a huge piece of art with this on that wall. This wall is actually straight across from my kitchen counter…..

So when I look for another piece of art I will keep in mind the scale for the large wall, and also a good combination of colors for our home, and most importantly the subject matter that speaks to me. Art should speak to you, draw you in.

As you walk forward you enter into our great room……

As you can see two of the walls are all window, but the wall to your left is the focal point of the room and that houses our TV and fireplace.

I have some big plans for this wall in our future and I wrote about it HERE, if you would like to read about my plans. However for now we have to put something up above the fireplace.

We found that nothing but a mirror would work behind the antique black clock and a mirror would be a bit redundant with the TV because of its shape and refective quality, like the screen of the TV.

The clock was moved to a better spot, and we hung an oil painting of the ocean, and sail boats. Again it looks a bit small for the wall, but once we do the molding treatment on this wall it will be the perfect size flanked by sconces!

When sitting in this room this piece takes me away to my favorite place, the ocean. It makes me feel peaceful and at home.

We have quite a few more pieces, but as I have been with these, I will be strategic in where I hang them I will take you all on for the ride in my new home and in my thought processes!!! I am a teacher at heart!

 
I hope you,"enjoy the process," of following along with our journey in our new home, and come back as we continue to make it our HOME!!  

 

 

My Biggest Design Dilemma Solved Itself!!

 

For  those of you who have been following along with me on my blog you know I am a gal that likes order, neatness, symmetry, and an uncluttered atmosphere in my home.

When we chose the floor plan for our new home there was one element that gave me angst, and I mean big time angst. 

I won’t even admit to you how many hours I spent thinking about, planning, and sourcing ways to deal with this one problem.

THE PROBLEM CHILD!

In my great room we have one wall that is the focal wall of the room. On this wall is a slight niche for the TV and a fireplace, side by side.

In my world the fireplace should be in the center of the room flanked by two bookcases, and one will hold the TV. 

Since I was not the architect on the job, nor did they ask me to be, this is what we have to work with. You can see for a gal that loves symmetry this can be a big problem.

Well, this week we moved into our new home. I already had a nice console table that would work under the TV that I thought would look nice, and it does. 

I might want a larger piece down the road since we also plan on getting a larger TV, but luckily I don’t feel the need to make a change right out of the gate.

Once my hubby placed the TV on the console table I immediately noticed how it pulled the room together because it was black, and black & white are at the base of my home. 

It also balanced the fireplace opening. Now I don’t have a problem admitting when I am wrong and boy was I wrong about the TV wall.

The TV has been installed on the brackets on the wall and it works great there.

We are both very happy with the results and for the fact that we don’t have to address this wall immediately like I had originally thought. In fact I made my hubby promise me that would be the first project he would do for me right after we signed the papers.( I am a planner)

I do have plans for molding to make the entire wall look and feel like one large composition. 

It is going to take a lot of planning, measuring and blue tape to get it right, and when the time comes we will be up for the challenge.

LESSONS I LEARNED:
Sometimes, even in design, things have a way of working themselves out so relax, and don’t over think it until you see how it turns out.

Two black boxes side by side will add balance to a room, who knew?

The TV is my friend, not my enemy.

FUTURE PLANS:

The TV/Fireplace wall will have a paneled molding treatment on the entire wall, floor to ceiling.

Here are a few images that I have pinned for inspiration…….

This first image is the closest to what I have envisioned for my wall. On the left you will have  to visualize a console table with the TV on the wall and panels behind it. 

The over mantel treatment is almost exactly what I want except for how low the sconces are hung.

I see sconces hung this low all the time so I am sure there is a reason for it, however for me they just look too low. 

How do you feel about the height of the sconces? Maybe I should do a blog post on this subject? HMMMMM?

Very similar to the other one. It has clean lines with just a touch of elegance and that is the look I am going for in our new home.



This treatment does not go all the way to the ceiling like I want, but what I do like is the treatment behind the TV.

None of the above images are exactly what I want, however by pulling an element from one image and then the others, I can come up with what will work best in my environment.

LESSONS TO BE LEARNED:

1. When looking for ideas for your home always think of the images you are looking at as inspiration only.  Gather lots of images. ( I pin mine to a pinboard on Pinterest)

2. Try not to take the details literally, or you will overlook some good inspiration, and feel paralyzed.

3. Choose rooms that make you feel good, and then analyze what it is about the room that you can apply to your own.

4. When looking at your images for inspiration try to save some that you don’t like as well, and keep those separated from your likes. It is just as important that you are very firm on what you don’t like.

5. Often times likes and dislikes can look very similar, but there will be one detail that will make you, personally not like it. 

6. You need to be very aware of what you dislike so you don’t fall into the pitfall of adding it unconsciously to your room. That is why it is so important to examine images and all the details, big and small.

Using myself as an example:

For instance in my looking I discovered I do not like large entertainment walls with shelving and doors. I prefer a simple console type piece. 

I also discovered I do not like sconces place low on the wall above fireplaces.

7. Start applying your idea to your area on paper first, and start with the area that is the most important to you, or at least the area that will dictate the outcome of the design. 

In my case it will be the over mantel first, because it will set the lines that will go over to the TV area. 

I am starting with the fireplace because I have a much smaller area to work with than I do on the TV wall.

The measurements and lines I create above the fireplace will flow over to the TV wall where I can actually add more if need be. There needs to be a consistent flow of lines so it will not start looking like a puzzle.

I love design! I am always on the learning curve and it is inspiring and a challenge all at the same time!!

Moving and making plans for the future sure is fun and we intend to.........

 

 

We LIVE HERE Now!!

 

The much anticipated moving day has come and gone. 

We moved into our new home On Wednesday without a hitch. Everything went very smoothly this time.

I think it is because we had a dress rehearsal 6 months ago when we moved out of our previous home into an apartment.

I have to say I was very pleasantly surprised that our furniture fit in the new house so well. We only had one chair that did not make the cut in the great room, but we found a place for it in the office. 

I took  these pictures you are about to see of our new home the very next day, on Thursday so I could show you all how it is looking so far.

We still have some things to move in, and a bunch of boxes in storage that need to be brought here, but right now we have what we absolutely need here in the new house. 

Our plan is to bring boxes here a little bit at a time and either keep, purge or donate.

I did a lot of purging before we moved, however, as many people told me that have experienced a move like this said we would need to purge even more, and they were right!

We might be totally tired, but we are still smiling from ear to ear, and having a lot of pinch me moments. It is still hard to believe we get to live here.

The great room is where I spent the most time tweaking furniture. 

I have two chairs in there that have to be angled, and I will be honest with you I like angled furniture in a room when it is placed in a corner, but it has to be exactly angled at the right position when it is in the center of the room, and angled for my eye to like it.

This girl who loves order and symmetry is learning to live with angles and asymmetry in her design world.

I am finding it so interesting to see how everything looks so good with a white back drop. 

Having never lived with white walls before  I am pleasantly surprised at how much I am loving them.

All our walls and woodwork are painted Sherwin Williams Swiss coffee.

The furniture came in before the rug because we had the furniture in the apartment, but the rug was in storage. 

I immediately loved the furniture in the room, but when the rug went down the whole room came alive.

Black and white is a staple as the base for my rooms, and this rug fits the bill for me.

It was fun to see how my new black spindle chair worked in the room as well. 

I must have moved that chair twenty times to get just the right angle. 

It literally can be moved a half inch here or a half inch there until it feels just right. I am kind of like a Goldilocks when it comes to details like this. 

I went through the same process with the white chair and ottoman in the same room.

The biggest surprise of the day was the TV, and it’s placement. 

I am not a big fan of TV. I watch it, but to be honest usually only at the end of the day right before bedtime. 

The TV has not been visible in a room for years and it has never been a focal point. We hid it in an armoire for years.

The white console table came in, and then the TV was placed on it. As soon as the TV was placed the room pulled together beautifully. 

WHAT!??? 

How can a TV play an important part in the décor/design of a room?

It was because of it being black, and it mimicked the black opening of the fireplace, it  also created balance and weight in the room which was needed because of all the white and light in the room.

Who would have thought a TV could do that? 

I have to be honest I would have never in a million years given a TV such design kudos!! 

We have plans on purchasing a larger TV and it will be hung on the wall. 

Our builder has a tech guy that will come and hook up the TV. It is part of the  media package when you purchase media wiring in the walls and the TV wall mount.

The house has great flow from one room to another and the great room and the kitchen/dining area feel like one big room because of the nice open floor plan.

The above image was taken from the kitchen side of the large island looking into the great room.

This image was taken to at night and it shows how the great room is backed by the kitchen and dining area.

This is our dinette right off of the kitchen. You can see my computer on the table, this is where I will be writing my blog post. I decided to switch sides so I am now facing the great room as I type this. 

The bar stools fit perfectly under the island. However my hubby is not as happy with them as I am so that might be addressed in the future.

I can hardly wait to get my hands on the glass front cabinets once I find all my platters and white ironstone. 

In our previous home we put mirror on the back of the glass front cabinets, and added lighting inside the cabinets and under the cabinets.

I must have gone to the cabinets to turn on those lights a dozen times. 

So something that was not even close to the top of the To-Do list got promoted to the very top of the list. 

The lighting will give this part of the kitchen such a nice glow at night. We have a light in the hood, but it is too bright for ambient lighting, however it will be great for cooking.

Right off of the great room there is a little entry hall into the master bedroom. My antique French marble table fit the bill perfectly. 

It needed to be open piece in order  for air flow for the air intake grid. 

The table and plant help camouflage the intake grid. I will be hanging the antique mirror that goes with the table soon.

The master bedroom was another pleasant surprise for us.  

This home is living larger than we anticipated.

Another pleasant surprise was how well our cream furniture looks on the soft white walls. The carpet has also turned out to be the perfect  back drop color for our room.

Again and again the white walls are turning out to be a pleasant surprise for us. 

Excuse the wrinkled pillows please! 

We have paper blinds on all the windows for privacy until we get our window treatments selected. More on that later in another blog post.

We have an office and another bedroom, laundry room and of course the two bathrooms that are not quite ready for company yet.

We are learning and discovering things about our new home at every turn....... 

   

  I LOVE white walls.

• Our new home lives much larger than anticipated.
• Angles are my friend.
• Asymmetry can be interesting.
• Our cream bedroom furniture feels very restful backed by white walls.

Walking back through the house to the entry hall where I will say goodbye for now.

We are tired, happy, grateful and I hope you all will come back as we continue to…..