Fabulous Foyers

Christine,

For open floor plans, furniture arranging is so important and with the entry opening immediately into the great room/dining/kitchen combo, could you offer some ideas on how to create a sense of space in that entry so that a guest doesn't immediately walk into your living space? That is driving me insane! Would a screen of some kind be helpful (a concrete wall!) or does that block the flow? You posted on my great room before (Too chicken for grasscloth) if you want to see what I'm talking about here.
Cheryl

Dear Cheryl,

I like to look at a foyer as an opportunity. Would I separate it from an open floorplan? Not in most cases. Your foyer- if it could talk, would say, "Welcome to our home!." OK- so that sounded a little cheesy- but blocking it off to me does not seem welcoming. Here are some foyer considerations:

1. Light. Do you have a cool chandelier? How about sconces? Lighting is not only good for safety and functionality- but also helps to define the space in a more open floorplan. Especailly for the aging population- do I have any readers over the age of 65? Good lighting where there is a little step (the step out the door)- is important.
2. Rug. If your visitor has nine steps of rug- (include your outside rug)- most of the dirt will be removed from their feet. (I read that somewhere) Use as large a rug as visually fits in your entry. Again- for open floorplans- rugs also help to define the space- as well as adding softness, color and texture to your home. Some people like to have a beautiful design in the floor of an entry- but the practical part of me says to have a beautiful rug instead. A beautiful floor will tempt you to not have a rug at all.
3. Wall surface. Some foryers architecturallly invite you to change the wall surface- using stone, wallpaper- or in this photo above- mirrors. This adds texture, interest- and works to "define the space."
4. Furniture. Don't use furniture if you don't have room for it. This is a common mistake. When too much furniture is there- guests have to walk around it- it is not inviting- there should be ease in the walking.- Sometimes the furniture might fit physically- but that does not mean it fits visually.
5. Furniture take II. However- when you do have the space for it- it is really nice to have a place to sit in the entry- a bench- a chair- a spot to remove shoes comfortably. If I had to choose between a bench and a console table- I say- go bench. If you have a really good size room- go console with chairs on either side.

Have you given thought to your entry?- If it could talk- what would it say?

Thanks to Elle Decor and Metropolitan home for the photos.

The Better Kitchen Triangle

Christine,
I'm sending you some more pictures of my kitchen that you posted on your blog under "The Good Triangle" dated October 2nd.

I liked your idea of having the range on one wall and keeping it pretty. I understand the triangle, but with your suggestions it doesn't seem feasible because of the size of the room. I attached some measurements to get more of your input.

I also attached a picture of a plan that Lowe's came up with.

My two ideas I'm considering is:
1) The plan that Lowe's came up with, which is a peninsula island.
2) The second idea would to be having a floating island instead of the peninsula.

As you can see, the kitchen is small and challenging......which is why I'm still up in the air with things.

Thanks,
Elizabeth

Dear Elizabeth,

Is Lowe's plan alright- yes. It is perfectly fine. However if I could have just the stove and not the refrigerator on the stove wall- I would try for that. The prettier we can make the focal point wall in the kitchen- the better. I found a nice focal point kitchen for you in Veranda- at the top of the post. Now imagine a refrigerator right by the cooktop...

It also makes a better working triangle to not have the stove and refrigerator on the same plane- as it separates your work areas- giving you more space around them. In your case it gives you more counter space near your cooktop. This is even more of an issue if your kitchen is likely to have more than one person using it at a time.

With the floorplan that you e-mailed me (thanks- I love having measurements)- I drew an idea for you. Having the peninsula come out from the other side is another option. Your window there would require you to lower the height of the counter surface- and the width of the room would require you to have it be a shallow area- unconventional- yes- but what a great place to have a cookbook shelves mixed with display of serving pieces. You could also add a couple of baskets to store napkins- etc. I also added some floating shelves on the right hand side for more storage and display.

Please send us an "after" shot. I love complete re-models. They excite me. :)

If my entire response was too slow and you are already finished- I apologize- I try to answer in the order questions are received... BTW- did I suggest eliminating the soffit before?

Thanks for writing in,

Christine

The Large Awkward Media Wall

Hi Christine,

You are an absolute riot! You totally crack me up. I am so lucky to have found your blog. I wish we could do this in person! Love your style. I noticed you have become increasingly popular so I am sending this real quick before you become the next Candice Olson and are way too busy for lil' ol' me! I wanted to wait until the house was in perfect order and all clean but the fairies never came to magically make that happen for me. Darn them!!

I was thinking I should raise the tv up and put it on the wall. Then a tall espresso colored bookshelf on the right side of the entertainment center?? Floating shelves above it all? A huge painting or one of the photo wall templates you posted to the right of it?

Thanks so so much in advance! Enjoy the holiday season. Oh yeah!! That reminds me! WHERE THE HECK SHOULD I PUT MY CHRISTMAS TREE TOMORROW?? (I'm sure I'll have it before you reply but I'll move it if you say to!!)

Thanks,
Kathy

Dear Kathy,

Where should you put your Christmas tree?? Hmmmm.. In the attic. Sorry- but I have quite a pile of questions to respond to. I really like your home. Your view is amazing. I cut your questions up to respond in different posts. I wanted to focus on the TV wall today. I have the perfect plan for you.

The wall needs to be and have two things.

1. Functionality. You need the TV to stay pretty close to where it currently is.
2. Scale. We need the wall decor on this wall to have better scale in relationship to the wall itself.

   My solution? Start with a very long media cabinet. The one above is 86 inches long- from Global Views. I liked this one not only for the length- (I don't have your measurements- but you might want one even longer) but also for the colors in the teak. They would be perfect in your place. The TV would be hung on the wall- on the left. To the right- go with your idea of floating shelves. Keep in mind that- now that you have a piece of furniture on the wall- the relationship we are concerned about primarily is the wall decor to the furniture. We actually have two relationships here- the furniture to the wall and the wall decor to the furniture. Got it?

These shelves are from Pottery Barn- not the right color- but I wanted you to get the visual. You can have your wall decor extend a little on either side of the console- but keep it pretty symmetrical- and keep the decor on them simple. You want to maintain the clean simpe lines of the room. I would do three shelves.

Don't worry- I am sure that I can get to your other questions before I take over Candice Olson's job. ;)

Thanks for the compliments though. :)

Christine