I just visited the blog of a young woman who's also a mom of youngsters. She wanted to show off her new livingroom/diningroom changes. I love new ideas and inexpensive changes, but this room still didn't work for me.
I understood some of the changes she'd made, but there are a few simple things she could do to make the space more cohesive and pleasant to the eye.
Here are a few tips I would have offered this woman:
Forget cutout windows: Don't cut out a window and frame it in wood. Tacky! What was popular in the 80s is out of date now. More in style is to take the wall down making it more open concept, extending a countertop--sometimes with bar stool seating. Other times make your cut out into a half wall but lower it so it doesn't look like a restaurant pass through. Each wall needs to be evaluated on it's own merit. The wall of the home I looked at was immediately visible from the front door. I think I might have just put the wall back up. Her real problem the need for an eat-in kitchen so she could watch the children which probably should have been handled a different way than making a cut-through.
Proper Height Pictures: This woman's pictures were hung too high making the room off balance. A picture should be hung so that the eyes of an average 5'8 person would hit the picture in the middle.
Chairs: Some times mis-matched chairs work togther, other times they don't. Say you have 4 ladder back chairs at your diningroom table and 2 windsors. When not in use, put the four ladder backs around the table and push the 2 windsors against the wall evenly spaced under a photo or on either side of a cabinet.
Table-cloth, Placemats or Bare? In most cases bare or placemats wins, most always with a centrepiece. Look at the photos and tell me which you think looks fresher?
Colour Co-ordination: Choose a colour theme. The room I looked at had beige walls, lime green and burgundy striped drapery, a burgundy window topper, burgundy area rug, but her new sofa cover was robin-egg blue and she added taupe toss cushions. It really didn't work together. Choose a colour from fabric or a favourite picture (i.e. one you like, not just some picture that's handy) and put hints from it around the room. Actually there should be a bit of flow throughout the house. I would have suggested this woman remove her heavy multi coloured draperies and changed the area rug. If she loved the robin-egg blue and taupe, she might have added taupe drapery, and placed seat cushions or placemats in robin-egg blue or taupe in her diningroom. Here is a good way to use taupe and robin-egg blue/turquiose:
I understood some of the changes she'd made, but there are a few simple things she could do to make the space more cohesive and pleasant to the eye.
Here are a few tips I would have offered this woman:
Forget cutout windows: Don't cut out a window and frame it in wood. Tacky! What was popular in the 80s is out of date now. More in style is to take the wall down making it more open concept, extending a countertop--sometimes with bar stool seating. Other times make your cut out into a half wall but lower it so it doesn't look like a restaurant pass through. Each wall needs to be evaluated on it's own merit. The wall of the home I looked at was immediately visible from the front door. I think I might have just put the wall back up. Her real problem the need for an eat-in kitchen so she could watch the children which probably should have been handled a different way than making a cut-through.Proper Height Pictures: This woman's pictures were hung too high making the room off balance. A picture should be hung so that the eyes of an average 5'8 person would hit the picture in the middle.
Chairs: Some times mis-matched chairs work togther, other times they don't. Say you have 4 ladder back chairs at your diningroom table and 2 windsors. When not in use, put the four ladder backs around the table and push the 2 windsors against the wall evenly spaced under a photo or on either side of a cabinet.
Table-cloth, Placemats or Bare? In most cases bare or placemats wins, most always with a centrepiece. Look at the photos and tell me which you think looks fresher?Colour Co-ordination: Choose a colour theme. The room I looked at had beige walls, lime green and burgundy striped drapery, a burgundy window topper, burgundy area rug, but her new sofa cover was robin-egg blue and she added taupe toss cushions. It really didn't work together. Choose a colour from fabric or a favourite picture (i.e. one you like, not just some picture that's handy) and put hints from it around the room. Actually there should be a bit of flow throughout the house. I would have suggested this woman remove her heavy multi coloured draperies and changed the area rug. If she loved the robin-egg blue and taupe, she might have added taupe drapery, and placed seat cushions or placemats in robin-egg blue or taupe in her diningroom. Here is a good way to use taupe and robin-egg blue/turquiose:
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