apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

You lucky dogs! How about a chandelier, a piano, and a pianist.

Hi!
Thanks!!
To answer your questions. Yes, thats the same staircase leading up from the front door in the 1st and 3rd pics. And the entryway (to the right of the two windows in the 2nd pic) is the front door. I just realized that I grabbed two sets of pics of the parlour flr- taken at different times! Its confusing, sorry about that... But the pic with the mies van der rohe by the front window, and the jonathan adler couch, are the current ones.
Let me try to find my flr plan... But basically, the entire first flr is about 18x50, with the front parlor being 18x30 and the back parlor 18x20. Roughly...
Thanks for your suggestions!

The separation feeling is really accentuated by the two doors in the back wall there. Any possibility of combining them into one large opening? (Or removing it all together - but that might betray the details of your house)

Hi, great house! I agree, do it with furniture, plants or even a folding screen. I'd hold off on anything permanent until you really have a chance to live in the space.

I agree that furniture and rug placement is your key. If the room is wide enough, run the Mies piece parallel to the hallway, to separate the "room" from the "hallway."

And a bigger rug will further define that "room."

I'd also turn the portion of wall where the large mirror is into a faux fireplace. That will help make sense of turning the furniture back into the room. And also, upon entry, your eye will go there and not shooting down the hallway.

Also, what about hanging draperies (a short fixed section, immediately inside and to the right of the front door, running the same direction as the length of the room) and two stationary panels flanking the wide door at the room's end? They could be contemporary in fabric (microsuede, for example) but would remain true to the era/spririt of the house.

What about a free-standing two-sided bookcase? There are tons of options for something like that. Smartfurniture.com even lets you custom design things. Their only limitation is just a few colors, but you could create a really interesting partition.

Nice digs.

I'll be the minority here, but I like tiny rooms! Give me 20 tiny rooms over 3 big ones. So if I were you, I would probably move back to the original configuration. Put the wall back up btw hall and parlour. In the hall, you'd have the staircase, hall, umbrella stand, bench, and - on new wall - some pegs for a sting bag and wind jacket (if I were styling it for a photo shoot!). The wall I'd put up would have 2 giant pocket doors, which would usually be open. With the doors open, you'd really only have a few feet of new wall space (housing the pocket doors) on either side. I'd like to have that wall space, to hang some pegs (on entry hall side) and to hang a picture or mirror on parlour side.

You'd end up with a wee parlour, but really.. isn't that what you have now anyway?

The other option is to knock out the other way, but I don't like that look.

hey that's my floor plan!
except I have a partial wall of floor to ceiling bookcases that starts about a foot past where the staircase starts. That's cause I need the bookcase space, and like a separate un-carpeted hall that leads to the kitchen/back room.

Is your entryway boxed in? That part is open in my place so the front door opens directly into the living room. I love having the total width of the building up front . . .

Don't ruin your doorways I beg of you.

and yes, faux fireplace!

Also, once I put up the walls, I'd wallpaper the room. Embrace the sweetness of it. Then again, I think this is more my style than yours perhaps. I'd be tempted to paint out the woodwork. That's how crazy I am!

I'd paint the hall and the back room the same color so your eye moves there.

Lovely house - congratulations! I'd go with Terry's suggestion of a folding screen in front of the larger door opening and use that as a "concept check" to see if that helps visually. I, too, at first thought of using the chairs (or now your sofa) to "form" the corridor (ie) place it perpendicular to the doors but your second pic shows that there is really no room to do that. So don't fight the corridor; visually creating a wall-like background against the larger door may give you a full room feel while keeping the flow from room1 to room2 intact.

All the best in your wonderful home!

Hmm. As an architect, I'm questioning what value you are getting from your architect if he/she can't offer an acceptable solution to this!

This is a common issue with older homes. You can build a partial wall inside the larger opening (adding casing at the bottom of the new opening, and continuing the basebaord detail across the new lower wall so that it is consistent with the existing house) that lets you feel like you are in a room, not a path, while still allowing for light and openness between the two spaces.

You could also make one larger opening and let the spaces flow into each other, but you might have to introduce a beam to carry the load of the larger opening. That will definitely depend on your budget.

You could also custom design a piece of furniture (like open shelving) that fits into the opening, but marries the existing structure with your more modern furnishings. Glass (or nice acrylic like Ecoresin or 3-from) panels (that act as a screen, but are openable like doors)would be nice, too, but I would definitely go custom and have them fit the opening well or it will look thrown together. You have a nice level of finish in the space now, and you should try to maintain that with your renovation so that you don't devalue the building.

Good luck with your lovely home!

I would extend the wall out next to the front doorway, about two and a half to three feet out and three feet high. That might create enough of a partition to divide the space, so that when you walk in the front door you don't feel as though you are imediately walking into the room (if that makes sense). It just seems to narrow to me to have the Barcelona day bed and the Jonathan Adler couch face parallel to the length of the room. I would just think that would create too much of a "shotgun" effect, but that's just my two cents.

First of all, thanks for all of the thoughtful suggestions!
As an update- some things have been done since these pics were taken. Most noteably, we did add a faux fireplace, which does help a bit. Also, we replaced the ceiling cove molding which had been removed prior to our purchase. Some other lighting fixtures have been changed, but nothing else major.
And Christine, youre right, our architect sucks. He is not the most creative person, we are now finding out. Good with direction- boring on his own.
Again, thanks for all of your thoughts!

Add me to the "change the door configuration" vote. Close up the smaller door (save the woodwork in case the next owners want it back). It's creeping me out to have two doors to the same room, and the different doorway heights are making me seasick.

Definitely do something to make that chimney breast a strong focal point, so that the room feels anchored by it.

I can see maybe a sculptural divider at some point, but I'm skeptical that your furniture will fit well if you really preserve a corridor. We had a 21-foot rowhouse back in upstate NY, and the living room seemed dinky when the sofa faced the fireplace. Allowing for the need to have traffic behind the sofa, we would have had about the same depth as you have. Ours seemed way larger when the sofas faced each other across a strong fireplace.

I agree with Wende, because although it seems VERY strange to voluntarily block off any of the light that's pouring in from back there, it might seem even stranger to make the larger of the two doorways blocked off.

I like corners, and I would love for there to be a corner there where that smaller door is, because yes, those two door heights kind of bug me. And YES! Store the wood in the attic or something.

What a gorgeous home, and I actually think that your modern contributions to it actually manage to play up the beauty of the architecture. It actually seems like only a slightly different flavor of VERY formal than the room probably originally had.

But now I'm VERY curious about what the faux fireplace looks like!

An Indian platform swing suspended from the ceiling

Terry. I posted some info on your question in an open thread several months ago but couldn't find the thread. (I believe jamie pup had also contributed some useful suggestions on this thread.) There are a number of companies that specialize in refinishing and reglazing ceramic tile walls and countertops, tubs, showers, etc. (A simple internet search should yield a few leads.) I once lived in a rental that had had this done. Every tiled surface in the bathroom and kitchen had been professionally sprayed with a thick non-pourous epoxy, completely covering even the grout lines. Since this was an early '60s building, chances are the original tile color was a period-correct pastel color. But the epoxy color chosen by the property owner was a gleaming white, which substantially updated the look of both rooms. The surface wasn't completely hard-wearing, but it was good enough. (I once nicked the epoxy on the kitchen counter and did a quick touch up using white nail polish.) But, p(too) is correct: this is a process best left to professionals and not DIY. And I don't believe the reno is one that can be done while you are still occupying the space because of the chemicals involved (but I could be wrong about that).

urgh... wrong thread. apologies!

oh, to have such problems. it's a beautiful space, you're so lucky.

I would go with a furniture piece, namely - a low period wardrobe or a custom cabinet designed with period details to resemble the antique, in same dark wood finish as existing trim, placed as divider between the seating group and the passage to the stair.
It seems that there is no coat closet in the foyer (the building is too narrow for that), so it will serve dual purpose - aesthetic as well as functional.

I think this room ought to be totally reconsidered back to it original purpose.
It should be formal and structured. And exhibit only the finest things you own. Or you might acquire.
Like some gracious comfortable seating. And a major art that you love.
The scale of your showed funiture looks out of place, even though it's great stuff.
It's a beautiful space that demands just a few things. Beidermier or Swedish/white is something that would make the room, to admire the pretty mouldings.
And then maybe some huge chrome piece, that is too big for anyone's parlor room but yours to satisfy your modern taste. That would be the dessert in the room...

Beautiful space, Malaika.

Are you a Swahili speaker? Wondering about your name....

Malaika,
I noticed you have a great white barcelona daybed, exactly what I'm currently looking to buy. However, there are a million vendors with a million prices and quality levels. Where did you get yours and would you recommend it?

Thanks for all your helpful comments. Im going to send in a slide show of the house when everything is done- maybe a month or so...
ps. DL, I got my daybed from dwr.com, and its great. Maybe a year ago or so..

Hello, was looking for something and came across your question, anyway sweet looking home you have pictured. I didn't read all of the suggestions you've received so far, but what about using a long narrow sort of low, open designed (possibly with just one shelve below on it) console table or use a half wall and put the same ?wood? paneling and its design on the side of it facing the parlor, as on underneath the staircase (showing in your 1st. pic) to give the feeling the half wall belonged and had been there or use some sort of see through screen/divider attached to ceiling for giving separation but still giving it an open feeling. Good luck with your project!

Funny you should ask this as I'm about to contemplate how to 'wall' without walling.
My inspiration - just thing morning! - was found on page 89 of this February's issue of 'Country Living' magazine.

You'll see a full-page photo of the living room looking out to the entryway. From the page: "Lush full-length draperies ease the transition between the living room and the adjoining entry hall." I'd use sheer materials to delineate if light is a factor. But, the use of materials in this photo are nice as well.

Just a thought.

oops... a year later! For the love of Pete I need to get out more! LOL