Project: Interior design for living room make-over and color advice for the kitchen
Key words: Warm, soft, natural materials, classic with a touch of oriental
This living room received a real makeover. Transforming the look and feel from what you see below to a very feminine, soft and warm space. It is like an invitation to new beginnings. Every time I visit, I am still amazed at how comfortable and welcoming the space now feels.
Floor Plan
An important part of this living room make-over was to create a warmer and more intimate atmosphere, particularly for the seating area. The walls are not perpendicular, the room narrows toward the kitchen and becomes very wide toward the garden. This feeling of open space is emphasized by the vide, and the five meter high glass window. The previous location of the sofa left the residents facing a large open space, which doesn’t contribute to a secure and comfortable feeling.
By placing the sofa in the ‘middle’ of the room, facing the wall, we created a much more intimate seating arrangement. The big Persian area rug, creates an island and there’s still ample space left behind the sofa to walk out to the garden.
Granny’s China
At the back, on the photograph above, you can see the five meter tall window and wall. This wall was already painted grey, which we kept. It was the perfect backdrop for the china cabinet which we found at a shop called Dickens Style (in Leiden). A cabinet such as this one means you can enjoy granny’s china even if you only actually use it once a year.
Fireplace
hen you don’t actually have a chimney, but you still want the ambiance of a fireplace, you can choose an alternative like an electric ‘fireplace,’ or bio-ethanol,
like we did here, but make sure you read all the pros and cons first. In this house it’s more about the mantel than the fire and often it’s traditional candles that get lit there. It looks very pretty. By the way, there’s a big upside to not having a chimney: if you change the floor plan you can also easily change the location of your fireplace.
Art and Styling
On the left side (see photograph above) you see one of the two paintings which we bought for this new interior design – painted by Monique Nievaart.
Monique and I used to paint together in her Studio in Leiden, so I knew she was the right artist to go to when it came to finding the right colors. She paints landscapes from her memories of travelling in France.
We bought the mirror at Loods 5 and also the two-headed reading light (as seen on the first photograph).
Behind the sofa there is ample space to reach the patio door. Against this wall we placed a large white pot-board side table, it’s the perfect place to show off her collection of favourite items and store extra pillows and soft blankets. We found this side table at the antiquity shop Almondehoeve, in Oegstgeest. At this shop we also happened to find the glass lamp above the dining room table, and it was love at first sight so – well – here it is.
On the right you see an antique cabinet which is a family heirloom. The sunburst butler mirror is one of my favorites. It is called a butler mirror because it was used by servants to keep an eye on the table without looking straight at the people at the table.
Dining Room Table
This teak-wood table was already in their possession and was used as a work desk for several years. Now it came back downstairs to serve its purpose as a dining room table. The new layout is in the same direction as the length of the room. My client wanted old fashioned bistro chairs and we found these six at Oud is Nieuw. A very cool address, besides making new furniture, they fix secondhand furniture and make them look good as new again. They painted these white for us.
Kitchen Color Advice
Of course the open kitchen couldn’t be left out. The backsplash wall was a bright green before. The new color is better suited to the new interior.
Looking back at this project I can’t help but smile – my client and I did this together, scouting together, and without being in a rush.
Would you also like an interior design for your own home? Have a look at my services, or contact me directly, so we can discuss the possibilities in person.