Deconstructing a Design

"How do you design a room so it is about the client and not about the designer?"

"Just where do you start when designing a room or an entire house?"

"I love the Portfolio section of your website and would love to know what makes each room work."

I receive a lot of questions including these about how a design process works. I thought it might be interesting to take a closer look at several of the rooms in our Portfolio. Bear in mind that no two designs or design processes are the same!

Step into this beautiful living room. Formal? Yes. Inviting? Absolutely! Comfortable? Very.

The living room in this house can be entered from a grand entrance, a warm and cozy study and a large den. Traffic flow was a key element in arranging the furnishings. The room easily accommodates ten before pulling in additional chairs from the entrance and dining room.

Low ceiling height was an immediate challenge. The client's trumeau mirror instantly provided the first of many vertical elements to take the eye up. The stacked sepia prints, English porcelain wall arrangements and window treatments designed to be installed at the bottom of the crown molding continued to emphasize "height" on all walls.

Keeping the paint palette in soft butter tones on the walls, a cream for the trim and ceiling and an area rug in a textured off-white provided a perfect backdrop for the client's beautiful antiques purchased when they lived in England. The addition of a really comfortable sofa and four upholstered chairs enables the room to be used on a regular basis. This living room entertains beautifully, but is ideal for intimate conversation, reading by the fire and enjoying the view through three large floor-to-ceiling windows.

Next, take a look at another lovely living room that is both sophisticated and cozy at the same time. The clients expressed a fondness for color, a desire for ample and comfortable seating and "something" that entices the family to use the room.

It was also important to the clients to use four exquisite antique bird prints and a pair of inherited gilded wall scones. One last request was to incorporate additional art in the room.

Finding a floral chintz print during the second consultation provided the perfect starting place for the color palette for this living room. An antique writing table flanked by two Georgian desk chairs in front of a window invited the family to use the room for more than entertaining. Four upholstered chairs, a sofa and the desk chairs easily accommodate nine people.

A pair of antique chests flanking the fireplace, hand-painted lamps, a sleek black coffee table, a bordered needlepoint rug and a wall of bookcases filled with leather books, antique boxes, porcelains and art gave these clients what they envisioned. The room provides a quiet place to read the day's mail, curl up by the fire with a book or share cocktails with friends before dinner.

Anita

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