|
|
|
|
Q
|
My husband and I bought a rather old fashioned home about 20 years old. The family room is where we spend all of our time, it is long with sliding doors to a patio. Every wall is broken with either a doorway, fireplace that is not centered but at one end near sliding doors, or a window or sliding doors. The kitchen is not open only by a small doorway to the dining room which has a wide opening to the living room. These are two nice sized rooms with windows as well as solid walls. I wanted to flip our floorplan making the family room into the dining room with the fireplace. Then make the living/dining area into one large living space. Would we bring down the value of the house if we were to do this and, if so, what suggestions would you have for our family room as it presently is? - T. O'Brien
|
|
A
|
I think it's a great idea to "flip" your floorplan -- I do it all the time. Just because a room is labeled one thing doesn't mean you have to use it for that. It should have no bearing on your property values. You could turn the family room into a wonderful dining room/library. Just put a wing chair or two by the fireplace so there is a cozy spot to read. You should also pay attention to the windows since there are so many; draperies or valances would add interest and unify the sliding glass doors and the window. That also applies if you decide to keep the room as a family room. It sounds like the big problem is where to put the TV and sofa, since you have no wall space. I would need a floorplan to be able to make specific recommendations, but in general, you can put the sofa under the window and put the TV on an étagère or bookcase on the opposite wall. Don't worry about centering the sofa on the fireplace, but again, make the fireplace area into a cozy reading spot.
|
|
|
|
|
Q
|
I have just moved back into the Georgian home that my parents built in the early 1940s. Prior to moving in, I renovated and restored much of it. I’m pleased with the look of the house, which is furnished in a traditional manner, but I am completely baffled about what to do with a mid-1950s addition on the back side.
The room is a 20 x 20 square with bleached mahogany walls and parquet flooring. The entire south wall is a row of floor-to-ceiling windows that overlook the shady yard. The entire east wall is a row of built-in bookshelves. The north side has mahogany paneling and one door in from the living room. The west wall houses a wet bar (with its original 1950s wallpaper) and all other entrances and exits.
I don't know what to do with this room. None of my traditional furniture looks right in it, but I don't want to invest in a 1950s retro look. Can you suggest a way to decorate the room that is in keeping with other rooms of the house and looks right in the room itself? I could also use some advice on how to arrange the furniture properly in such a large (the ceiling is 11 feet -- two feet higher than the rest of the house) space. - D. Detering
|
|
A
|
This room will never be "traditional," but it could be made to look more "classic" and less dated. Traditional furniture can often look good in a classic contemporary setting. To make the addition more in keeping with the rest of the house you could try staining the walls a more traditional dark mahogany. You could also try a row of fabric Roman shades on the wall of windows -- the fabric would soften that wall and, if you kept them partially lowered, it would help bring the scale of the windows down. Certainly get rid of the original paper in the wet bar, and enclose it with doors if it is beyond help. A sea grass rug on the parquet is very traditional but works extremely well in contemporary settings. Then add your traditional upholstery pieces -- sofa, club chairs, etc. -- and mix them with a few contemporary things like an iron and glass coffee table with straight lines, or unusual lamps.
|
|
A graduate of the Parsons School of Design, Adrienne Bullard had her own interior design firm in New York for several years before moving to Houston to open Adrienne Bullard Interior Design. Got a question? E-mail it to design@frontera.com.
|
|
|
