Hello AT,
What style is this? I'm about to move in here. It was built in 1980. Inside, it's a completely blank slate. I can do whatever I want -- to floors, to window treatments, to colors -- but i'm not sure what the heck style this is, and I'd like the inside of the house to work harmoniously with the outside of the house. Particularly since there are two good sized patios, so there's a little indoor/outdoor living going on.
What direction would you go in? Anything you would steer completely away from?
Thanks, Alicia
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The intent is sort of Berkeley Hills: casual, earthy living, at one with the landscape. The classic way to handle that design is:
--Floors that emphasize a natural look: wood, stone, more earthy-looking tiles. Linoleum also works because of the period feel.
--Think modern, casual living. You can be chic and sleek, but not ornate. It's not the right house for the whole Hollywood Regency look, but you could do incredible things with Danish Modern. If you're a clutterbug like me, try to confine the tchotchkes to a wall of cabinets and shelves so that the total look is visually clean. This isn't the place to have collections on every flat surface, no matter how hip the collectibles.
--Take your palette from the nature outside your window. This doesn't necessarily mean neutrals (though it can). You can go lime, orange, and purple effectively *if* you choose the lime on the underside of the shrub's leaves, the orange of its blossoms, and the purple of its berries. The goal is for your interior color scheme to "pull in" your favorite colors from outside. So you can go entirely neutral to be a frame for dramatic views, or you can choose a favorite COLOR to bring inside (it will draw the eye to that same color outside), or you can go with a vivid, colorful interior scheme that turns the view into an accessory. (This may sound limiting at first, but there's so much color in the landscape that you actually have tons of choices.) If you have a favorite painting that has nothing to do with the outdoor colors, I'd think in terms of a neutral-toned room for it, so that the overall feel of the room doesn't compete.
--TEXTURE! California Woodsy modernism requires at least one dramatic piece of texture in every room, as contrast to the sleekness of modern design and as a link to the earth. You're not limited to the 60s faves of flotaki, driftwood, and rustic brick (thank god!), but you do need a little something.
--Very simple window treatments. Wood or bamboo blinds are fine. Curtains that just hang -- no fancy pleats, scarves, etc. -- are cool. The window treatments are there for privacy, light control, and a little visual lagniappe, but you want attention to focus on the outdoor view.
This is great input!
The person before me had the place done in a French country look, which is just too much of a departure from my things for me to try and recreate. Plus it's not really my taste (though she did it very well).
I love your ideas, wende and alex. We have to redo the floors, the fireplace, the kitchen, plus get major pieces of furniture (dining table/chairs, living room seating, etc). And we definitely can't do it all at once, so I very much want to wrap my head around a central theme/vision before we start anything. That way, even if we do it piece by piece over time, in the end, it'll look unified from room to room, and also with the outdoor spaces.
Your comments were super helpful. :-)
Wende's thoughts are great ones! She absolutely hits all the points I would have suggested. I would suggest also incorporating one or two carefully-selected bold ethnic, primitive/rustic or organic touches to add texture and visual counterpoint to the clean-lined foundation suggested by Wende. She's right: the house does have a Berkeley Hills/Marin County feel. So a relaxed, more organic take on modernism with a touch of eclecticism seems like a good direction to go. No need to go for just one pure style... One suggestion: when you re-do the floors, definitely stay away from bamboo--not a hard-wearing surface over time.
Absolutely Berkeley... to live in a house like that there too:)
I say go with Japanese country. Think of low seating, textured fabric, raku glazes. These houses are dark, so faux or real shoji screens can add a soft diffused light.
The guy who owns Fred62 has a full Japanese bath put in his Eagle ROck house.
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I would say this is closer to what Ray Kappe emulates. Take a drive through SM canyon or look up Kappe on the web. And yes .. this also does reflect the styles of the Berkeley Hills. I did a house trade there three years ago and many of the homes look a bit similar .. I have been inside the place you just bought and its a bit old school california .. any updates would add life and light .. good luck.