Bedroom Tour in Essex

I love home tours.  I don't care where they are or what kind of houses are included, I just love the chance to peek inside someone else's house and see how they decorated. 

One house type I typically don't like the decor of (when included in a home tour) is the Victorian.  They are beautiful structures, but often the ones included on a home tour are decorated in a period accurate way and I'm just not a fan of the Victorian style decor.  It just seems so heavy and dark and overwhelming.  And you would pretty much have to spend a fortune on a cleaning service willing to move and dust beneath all those tchotchkes.

Still, every once in a while you find one you love and here are two bedrooms I found in a restored Victorian in Essex England. 

Love the floors, chandelier, turquoise and gold touches.  I even like the fancy window treatment that's usually not my thing. And the very modern chair is perfect.

Does this distressed leather gem not look like the most comfortable chair ever? Although it might be a serious challenge getting back out of it once you're that close to the ground.

Here's the other bedroom in the same house.  I love the very modern lighting choice above the bed that keeps the whole look from being too formal and perfect.  That rug is amazing.

Thanks for stopping by :)

Guest Bedroom / Home Office ReDesign

On Friday of last week, I did a redesign for a client who wanted to turn a room she called "a dumping ground" into a guest bedroom that could also serve as a mini home office for her.

She needed it done quickly because her older son, who is getting ready to leave for medical school, had invited his girlfriend to stay with his family over the long holiday weekend.  The homeowner wanted the room ready for her to use when she arrives on July 1st.

BEFORE: This is the view across the room from the doorway.  The black hutch wasn't going anywhere as it weighs a ton and this is the only place she has for it.  She bought it to house her very large glass and ceramic collection.

The TV had to stay where it was.  The man of the house has plans to mount it on the wall to free up some floor space, but for the time being my redesign had to include leaving it where it is.

We also had to incorporate the chair and a half sleeper, desk and chair and some pictures and artwork into the room.

Everything is just crammed into the hutch for storage with no real attempt to display or arrange for viewing.

These are some of the items the homeowner wanted me to work into the redesign.  The clock was a gift from her sister-in-law, the large antique gold mirror belonged to her mother and behind the mirror is a black wood table with drawers to store small items.  One top of the small table is a piece of pottery she really liked and wanted in the room.

That doorway leads to a half bath with no other access from anywhere else in the house.  You couldn't pick a better spot for either a guest room or a home office than one with its own bathroom.

This is the view from the corner where the TV is to the doorway into the room.  Right outside the room is another bathroom!  The room is accessible from the kitchen and just past that bathroom door is the door coming in from the garage.

AFTER: Here is the corner outside of the bathroom where we created a little space for the homeowner to use her laptop as well as a spot for her guest to do her makeup (I placed an 8 x 10 mirror on a plate stand next to the lamp).

The tall buffet lamp was swiped from a bathroom (the husband seemed happy to see it go :)).

The watercolor painting above the desk was done by the homeowner's mother and depicts a house that sits on the campus of Western Reserve Academy where her sons were educated.  The house in the painting is beautiful and the oldest in Summit county (built in 1806).  She also gave me a black and white photo of the house to include in the room.

Here is the chair and a half that turns into a pull out sleeper for guests.  We hung the antique mirror over the chair so that guests have a place to check their look before walking into the mail house. 

Because the chair was very low profile, we had to hang the mirror a little higher than preferred so that taller women and male guests could use it also without anyone's head getting cut off in the view.  Normally, anything hung above a chair, sofa, table, etc. should stay within 6" to 8" above the piece.

We reworked the hutch to create a more balanced and attractive arrangement and incorporate the reds and greens in the rest of the room into the hutch.  Of course, the homeowner then had to find a home for all of the rejected pieces (I suggested a BIG garage sale).

In the end the homeowner was thrilled with the new space and happy to have it off her to do list before her future daughter in law guest arrives.

I sent her a follow up email with suggestions on a window treatment (roman shades - either bamboo or simple red cloth) hung high above the window frame to draw the eye up and balance the height of the hutch. 

I also suggested a tall floor vase like the one below to place in the corner on the other side of the hutch to balance the heaviness of the TV in one corner and the hutch in the middle.  That small black table didn't work there because the closet door (that is used frequently) kept hitting it when we opened it.

I also sent her some rug and other decorative ideas to help give the room a little more polish.

Although I love helping homeowners design rooms from the ground up, redesigns are my favorite.  

With a redesign, it's not about my taste or what I like so I have no worries about whether or not the items I'm selecting are going to be well received by the client.  They already own everything I'm using so I know it's their taste.  Sure we add things when requested, but at that point, we've pretty well figured out their style and adding decorative items they'll like is pretty easy.

Thanks to the homeowner for allowing me to use the pictures.  

Happy Monday!