The Home Office

Dear Christine,

I am a huge fan of your blog. I think you need to have your own TV show… you’re too good and funny not to!

I need your help! I have family coming in for Turkey Day and I have a study that has been empty since we moved in LAST YEAR because I don’t know how to design it- and FEAR of regretting how I do it has frozen me. I’ll be mortified if it’s empty still when they come over- they know we moved in a year ago!

I wanted to incorporate bookshelves somehow- maybe put accent lighting at the top of them so it’s pretty at night :) (I like the storage and I like the cozy feel they give a room). We have 9' ceilings which helps the space look larger. I need a desk in the room for our laptop and a place to put a printer. Obviously I’d have to attach the printer via USB port to the computer, so they have to be near each other. I like the look of a floating desk in the study (as opposed to up against the wall) but this poses the dilemma- where to put the printer? Trying to hide the laptop power supply and lamp cord is already a challenge- but a bulky printer on the desk would just look hideous and all of those cords… tough to hide. How do you make a study look good- and FUNCTIONAL at the same time? I’d like to have a place in the room for a cozy chair to sit in (so that if my hubby’s at the desk, I can sit in the chair and hang out while he works). The struggle is making this space functional for its purpose as an office, but also making it pleasing to the eye since it sits right off of our foyer and is one of the first rooms you see when you come in. Generally speaking, I like transitional spaces- classic charm and clean modern lines, cozy. I pretty much love everything you post ;).

Here’s the BIG challenge! Enter: digital piano. It doesn’t have to go in the study- I just don’t know where else on the first floor to put it and I play it semi-often. The study isn’t big, so if it doesn’t fit there, oh well I guess. Here are its dimensions: (W x D x H) 52.05" x 11.26" x 5.31"

And, as a final note- we haven’t done our formal dining room yet either- which sits directly across from the study. So, should I have the paint colors in those rooms match? I have a lot of tans through the home- mostly warm tone tans. I have a bronze/olivey green tone as an accent wall in a sun room off of the kitchen… other than that- no other colors. I’m having trouble finding colors that would go well with that bronzey green.

THANK YOU THANK YOU!

Emily

Well- let me first say that it takes me months to get to all of the e-mail requests I get. With Thanksgiving being tomorrow- you might have this all taken care of- but I will give you a few pointers anyway.

1. Your floorplan showed optional openings and optional bay windows. Without actual photos- I don't know if you have those or not- so I can't give you specific locations. However- what I would do- is do a wall of book storage- that would be behind your floating desk- with deeper storage as it nears the floor to help house your printer and other larger items.
2. Look for a desk with an open knee hole- and yet still having banks of drawers on the sides for storage. These styles of desks are my favorite- as you can still get great style- and functionality. So many of the nicest looking desks have absolutely no redeeming value as far as function goes. All fluff with no stuff. The desks at the top of the post are from Decorize and The Hugh's Collection.
3. As far as cord hiding goes- go to Lowes- there are tons of options that will hep you discreetly hide your cords. Area rugs can also be helpful.
4. Without photos I cannot begin to give you paint advice. :) But I will say to consider wallpaper. In rooms like offices there tends to be little pattern- and the walls can be the perfect place to add some.
5. If you didn't get the room finished prior to your company coming- I wouldn't worry so much about it- have an air of confidence that says, " My room is going to be perfect- I will not be rushed by arbitrary dates on a calendar."

Photos from Elle Decor and Metropolitan Home

Andrea's Family Room

I will interject in orange

Hi Christine,
I love your blog and now it’s finally my turn to ask a question. My husband and I are moving into our first house at the end of the month. We have next to no furniture and need a lot of decorating help- ideally fast, as I am also pregnant with twins! OK- so sorry- but I run months behind in my advice giving- you might be finished and have two new babies at home by now- sorry that I am not fast. Congratulations on your twins!!!! I always thought it would be cool to have two at once. I am sure it is also an amazing amount of work. This month we’re looking to buy a house, buy a second car and move. Crazy as all that sounds, I am just so grateful that we’ll actually be able to get settled before our family starts. I’m sure our home nesting will come grinding to a halt once the babies come though, so I’m hoping you’ll pick me for some help. I promise I will send before and after photos.

Although I would like your thoughts on almost every room in the house, I’m going to start with where we need you most- the family room. I’m attaching pictures from the real estate MLS listing and room dimensions, as well as my favorite home decorating pictures I have been collecting of what I love most in terms of style.
Our questions are: how should we layout the furniture in this room? BTW- it is a 15.4 x 19 foot room with the fireplace at the end of the room. Should the couches face the fireplace with a flat screen TV over the fireplace and built-ins along that wall? Yes- this idea would work great. It is always ideal to have just one focal point. Or is the mantle too high up for a TV set, This is a personal preference. Some people like their TV to be only four feet off the ground. Personally- I would put it above the fireplace and it wouldn't bother me a bit. I would be far more bothered by the lack of balance in the room. so do built-ins along that wall, but arrange the TV and furniture as the previous owners have done?

Our master carpenter connection may be moving away soon, so having him install crown molding throughout the house and some built-in is first on our list. Do you like wood to tie in with the kitchen? No. I would do a painted wood- to give you more contrast with the wood floors. I would probably do a white wood, with white crown moulding and baseboards. How would you design it and put a flat screen TV above the fireplace or not?I added a photo at the top of the post with a TV above the fireplace in a built-in design.

While the living room carpet seems to be good quality, I do not want to decorate around someone else’s vanilla style carpeting, especially since underneath are the gorgeous hardwood floors found throughout the house. Good move! I am planning on ripping it out, but will need something to cover the majority of the floor since the kids will be little and learning to walk eventually. Would you recommend a large rug or custom cut carpet? That one is easy- go with the large rug. Adding pattern with not only help your design of your room- but also help to camouflage the baby spit-up that will end up in your rug. On the far end of the room toward the stairs I would like to be able to put some of the twin’s things, like a changing table or a few simple toys. The study next to the living room will be their playroom and contain the majority of their things. It is open to the kitchen, what is best for colors to connect the two rooms? Your colors throughout your open downstairs area should all compliment one another. If you have the colors on little chips in your hand- they should all look good together. Start with something- like your rugs- or a favorite piece of art work- that will act as a unifier- and give you a color pallet to work with.

This is where my family will be spending the majority of our time and I’m hoping there will be some helping hands, so enough seating for us and guests would be great too. I want it to feel comfortable, cozy and really inviting. Basically I’m just looking to follow your suggestions and we need everything: furniture (I’ve always wanted a U or L-shaped couch,) accessories, rug, color, draperies and especially what to do with the built-ins. Any suggestions for a kitchen table and two stools for the kitchen island? I would go painted. You have so much wood in there with your cabinets and floors. Upholstery is also a good way to break it up. Although- the mom in me who has slipcovered kitchen chairs longs for the ease of cleaning... The set at the top of the post is from Maine Cottage. Can you imagine how fresh that would look compared to more wood tones?

Thank You!!
Andrea
P.S. If you are comfortable providing me with an address, home or work, I would like to send a little something as a thank you for saving another amateur home decorator one room at a time. : ) You probably wanted quicker service ;) But a note to anyone that wants to send me a thank you- I need some orange knee high socks for my daughter's Velma costume for Halloween- she wears shoe size 13- and the ones I have found are way too expensive. Perhaps there are some less expensive ones somewhere???? I found some fabulous purple boots for my other daughter at Nordstrom Rack - suede $130 boots for $10- I guess there's not a huge demand for bright purple boots. ;)

I wanted to discuss with you your furniture arrangement. You mentioned that you like the L and U shaped pieces. However- your room could maybe do a rounded piece like the one in this post- overall- your room does not lend itself to that at all. if your fireplace were on the adjacent wall- perhaps- but it is not. I would do something like the arrangement above- with the sofa facing the TV- or...

You have space for four chairs and a sofa- like this photo. I also wanted to draw your attention to the photo third from the top- in this photo the furniture does not face the fireplace. Frank Lloyd Wright said that the fireplace should always be the focal point of any room that has a fireplace- so I have always tended to agree- however- it is an option.

See how the L shaped piece needs the chairs to balance it- and you need your length in the other direction to pull this off. Your have equal space on wither side of your fireplace- balanced windows- it is really asking for a symmetrical arrangement.

You could also do two sofas like this room above...

The only way I would not have the sofa facing the TV is if you were to have an arrangement like the one above with two large chars that visually balance the weight of the sofa. If your chairs are smaller- have the sofa opposite the TV and the the chairs perpendicular to the TV- or at an angle.

Photos courtesy of Traditional Home

Fabulous Fun Funky

Hi Christine,

Well here are some photos of my family room. The bar has changed .I have gotten rid of the bar mirrors and put one large mirror behind it. I don't have a photo to show you. My husband is capable of building anything.

I have also bought a round table to put where the Xmas tree is. Thought I'd paint that black.
Let's see what you think before I ramble on any more.
I'd really like to glam up the room.
Kind Regards
Karen.

Dear Karen,
You have a lot going for you in this room. With brick walls, a paneled ceiling and built-ins- you have a lot of character. However- the character needs some updating.

1. If you read my blog, you have heard me sing the praises of brick walls. However- you have a couple of things working against yours. First of all- the color is outdated- the brick is dirty by the fireplace- it is too dark and drab. Secondly- readers might have to look closely to notice- but your flooring is the size and shape of brick as well. That is a scale issue. The repetition of the size and shape is just too much on both the walls and floor. And so- I am suggesting you paint your brick. I would use an off white- pull the color from the drapes that I will suggest later in the post. You will still get the texture from the brick- which is great- but with the walls painted- you won't have a better scale comparison with your flooring.

2. Paint the ceiling. I am suggesting a blue color like Sherwin Williams Quietude 6212. I would paint your built-ins the same color. (Trust me- it will look blue)

3. Get a large soft flokati rug- like this one from IKEA- to soften the hard surfaces in the room.
4. For furniture- I would use gray chairs (no sofa- just a group of chairs) like this one from West Elm- (Ignore the striped pillow). Instead- use a pillow like this one from Unison.
5. Your curtains are the unifier in this room. These are from Anthropologie and have all the colors in a great bold pattern. I love the patterns from Anthropolgie- but I don't think they are lined. I would have them lined if they are not- and weighted. All drapes that are not sheers should be lined and weighted. I figure if I say that in every post- people will get the picture. :)
6. For a coffee table- check out the bright yellow piece at the top of the post from Cottage and Bungalow. What a great conversation piece!

I can't get a good feel for furniture placement in your room- but I'll tell you a couple of things. Don't have your phone booth right by the refrigerator. Move it over to where the Christmas Tree is- or another well scaled wall. The phone booth is a cool piece- but loses its impact when put right next to the refrigerator.

When you have little bricks all over the wall- you don't want little things decorating it. A large mirror was a good idea. Find larger items for your other wall as well. For example- you could hang a rug- like the one from the top of the post on your wall- (Johnathon Adler- Squares). The juxtaposition of soft and rough would be great.

So- there you go- can you see it coming together? What’s your vote?
a. Too Crazy
b. Too Bright
c. Fabulous!

A Post for Sandra

Today I will interject in orange.

Christine,

In the room we call the library, I would like to have built-ins on both sides of the window with maybe a window seat. My question is: would this look out of place with the arched window and if not, how high up should the built-ins go? I want the shelves for both books and to display special items. No- I don't think they will look out of place. I would bead board the wall up to the angle in the ceiling. Add your shelves and window seat. Enclose the sides of the shelves where they meet up to the window- including the curve in the arched window. Do not treat it like it doesn't exist- going straight up- but rather follow the curve. Finish with crown moulding- following the line of the ceiling where the angle begins. Put some greenery on the top of that last shelf.Lastly, do the wall hangings look too cluttered along the back wall? They have somewhat of a relationship, except for the shelf. I haven't found the right item, yet. I'm looking for wild life. Am I too far off target?
Sincerely,
Sandra

Sandra- you know in your gut that something is off- or you wouldn't be asking me. Let me tell you what is off.

1. You very carefully lined up everything in a straight row on the bottom. I would have you carefully balance your different items, some higher, some lower, the lowest being somewhere in the middle- not on an edge.
2. You have more small items on the right- I feel a lack of balance there.
3. Do you see how all of your wall art is above the chair line. We need a visual overlap. I discussed that in this post- and this post.
4. If this were over a sofa- it might work better- but- you have two chairs and a table- then you have the multiple items above. There are a lot of different items here- You need a unifier. (If this were over a sofa- the sofa itself would be the unifier.) I would add one large item to the wall. Perhaps a mirror. Add an item large enough to go lower than the chairs, and wide enough to encompass both chairs in the overlap. I would move the large bird picture to another wall, and finish your wall with four of your pictures- one small and one large on either side of the mirror. There is nothing inherently wrong with adding the shelf. I like where you were going with that- I took it out just for balance. Play with which items to put on which side by laying out your collection on the floor. Not too symmetrical- but still balanced.

The mirror below is 43 x 35- by Uttermost. This is probably a good size. Is it clear what I mean by adding a unifier? Can you see the difference even just with my black sharpie unifying mirror? You are one Saturday away from a terrific wall! Good luck Sandra!

Add Some Charm

I live in California, in an area where myself, my friends, and most of my clients live in homes that are less than 30 years old.

I think back to the home I grew up in- a bungalow built in 1960- (which, of course, I did not appreciate at the time- and from which these photos did not come)- that was full of architectural details and beauty. I remember my bedroom, which I shared with two sisters. There was a wall of about seven windows. Who gets that many windows anymore? There a nice deep linen closet that was accessible from both the hall and the bathroom . What a great idea- I haven't seen one since. The living room had wall to wall bookshelves on one wall- with transom windows above. There are not enough transom windows out there! The dining room had a built in curio- with drawers where mom stored linens and silverware. Wall surfaces varied form paneling to wallpaper and drywall. There was variety and interest. It seems like it doesn't matter the price of the home- so much character is lost in today's home building. Let's put it back! Frame in your windows! Add paneling to a few walls! Add more windows! Incorporate built-ins! If your house didn't come with charm- that doesn't mean it can't have it!