AbbeyK — On Interior Design

In love with small tables

They can be such a challenge to find, but such a wonderful addition when you locate the perfect one.

This Old House, Ready for Walls to Go Up

Here are some pictures of what's going on.
The insulation is in. The wall board should go up soon.
We are meeting to review building specs for the built-in banquette shortly.

All of the decor is just about decided. Still challenged by window treatments in a few rooms. It can be a hard decision between the level of privacy and light control needed, so we're working on that still, but it will come together. Here are some shots for your viewing pleasure.

We were able to add more light and larger windows to the master bath, below. That took some re-thinking of the tile design and re-thinking the dimension of the medicine cabinets. It all worked out in the end. We were able to do larger medicine cabinets than originally thought. That's good news.

For the master bedroom below, we moved the placement of the windows to each side of the bed. The box in the center is the original, huge window. The small windows on each side are new.
Here's an insider tip. Bedding can add 3" to each side of the bed. So if you are doing a king, consider that the bed takes up 82" not 76" and you will be sure not to crowd your space with bedding that overlaps or becomes too close to a window. No reason to fix one problem (the window behind a bed) and add a new one (the room feels too crowded in).

You've heard of letting the outside in? The stained glass was completely removed for the exterior priming. Nice to get the fresh air in!

When to Break the Rules

According to design rules, in a low-ceilinged room you should only place furniture with low backs. Following in the same vein, a small room should only have small-scaled furniture in it.

But sometimes the tried and true is not the right answer. Sometimes a really big chair in a small room feels just right. You have to think of the whole. How the room relates to other rooms nearby. How much much light there is. What would feel just too predictable.

This Old House -- Chosing Paint Colors

Hands down, paint colors are one of the most scary part of decorating for many home owners.

For my This Old House Project, there are 18 rooms, not including the basement. That's a lot of colors.

Where to begin?

Start with things you cannot change. Since the kitchen cabinets were already ordered, we needed a white trim color that would work with them. We hoped to use this color throughout. (save a few bathrooms that require stark white.)

The other fixed elements we considered were: the stain glassed windows, the beautiful deep oak mill work in the front hallway and staircase and the fire places in the family room and the dining room.

Our goals were to create flow and to lighten the living room as much as possible. It's dark in there with deep natural trim, built-in book cases and little direct sunlight as the room meets the front porch whose overhang blocks light.

We chose paints and Paul was generous to paint boards. Here's 4 tips.

1) Paint boards not the wall. This saves on prep work for the painter and also allows you to change your mind and swap out rooms. So what you thought you wanted in the hallway can easily be visualized in the dining room simply by moving the board.

2) Label each board with the name, number and room you'd like to put the paint in.

3) Apply 2 coats of paint

4) If at all possible, view colors against white, which we clearly were not able to do. The yellow distorts.

Click on the picture to see larger versions. P.S. The small swatches were the replacements we were considering.

When I arrived at the house and flipped through the boards, I immediately knew a few had to go. The original living room was for lack of a better term baby diarrhea (oh no!!!). The family room, way, way too orange. And the blue for the powder room just electric and awful. The hallway color seemed straight out of Jamaica and surely would not find it's home in Maddy and Paul's home.

While some clearly didn't work, with a little play, we came up with some winning trades. We:
1) chose the lighter version of the family room.
2) used the same hall color in both the front and back stair case.
3) swapped the 3rd floor guest room for a lighter neutral and put the guest room color in the 3rd floor bathroom.
4) flagged the master bedroom color for the living room.
5) repeated the office color in the master bedroom.

Tomorrow I meet with the painter.

An Arsenal of Contacts

It can be intimidating for homeowners because they often do not know all the people they need to get the job done. They might not have a cabinet maker, a painter, a wallpaperer and they are in need of window treatment people and upholsterers.

I have a whole arsenal of very good trades people. This saves a home owner incredible amounts of time because they don’t have the inclination to manage everything and everyone. Even if it’s just that they need their pictures hung on the wall. I can take care of that.

This Old House -- Funny notes between contractor and homeowner

Last week, Maddy asked me to take a look at the placement of a box in the vestibule. She wasnt sure what she thought of it, especially now that the framing was completed for the elegant archway as part of the redesign by architect Treff LaFleche

When I walked in, I thought it was the key pad for the alarm. Maddy had planned on putting a prized landscape in this prominent spot. Even if that painting found a different spot in the home, a key pad at eye level next to the archway was less than ideal.

So Maddy left a note and the alarm guy wrote back. Click to read.

This Old House Newton -- Marathon Meeting

Very exciting and productive day.

Maddy and I finalized all the furniture, lighting and shower curtain rods.
Finalizing shower curtain rods ended up being a challenge as we had to measure and there were holes in the floor to avoid falling into, boards leaning against tubs. It was a two woman job. Measuring is always a bit of a challenge anyway -- I know people think using a tape measure is a snap, but it's hard to get the measurements accurate, but these special features made it harder than usual to reach accuracy.

The master bath/dressing room is taking shape. Windows are in.

The kitchen/mudroom/family room flow is apparent now that the rooms have been opened up.

I have told them I am moving into the third floor when they are done. There's a small kitchenette up there and a full bath.

Crazy about small tables

I have posted many times about small tables. I just love them. Here are some I found recently on an excursion at the Boston Design Center.

Organization Design

How does a designer keep it all together? With the fabric and the flooring and the furniture and the lighting and the list can go on and on. Most projects entail multiple rooms not to mention a multiple client load.

We have a system with notebooks, and folders, and bins. But the part that got it all started was an idea from a client: a plastic bag system where the "yes" fabrics get separated and stored. For projects with many rooms, each room gets a bag.

Now a project can look just like your freezer.

The Art of Compromise-- Hanging Art

How high to hang art. It's a personal choice that's also to some degree cultural. I've been to Senegal, West Africa, and they often hang photos of beloved or important people, spiritual or other wise, above door ways. This is considered closer to heaven.

For the rest of us westerners, where to hang art, how high to hang art can be a challenge. Compounded when those e living in the home are of vastly different heights.

I have clients where the wife is 5'2" and the husband is 6' 7". By definition, they have different eye levels, but we came up with a compromise: Since it really bothered her when art was higher than her comfort level, it was decided that she'd determine eye level and her husband would chose the art placement -- which art would go on which wall. This worked for them. Other people choose something between what is ideal for each.