Absence may make the heart grow fonder, but in my experience, it also makes the design eye grow sharper. I've been away from home for a few weeks, and when I returned this weekend, I immediately saw changes that need to be made. Though I am generally happy with how my house is shaping up after almost a year here, it took that extended absence to highlight problem areas that my eye had somehow been skimming over before I left.
None of the issues I now need to address are particularly overwhelming (breaking up the monotonous brown of the furniture with colorful throw pillows, adding to the gallery wall, moving some lamps around, switching out some carpets, etc) but taken all together, they add up to a surprisingly long to-do list for a house I thought was almost finished in terms of design and decor. Since most of the actual furniture isn't mine (it comes with the house), I'm focusing on accent pieces, art, and furniture placement as I try to make my home even homier.
I confess I was a little disheartened to walk in my front door and immediately think "why haven't we done something about those pillows?" but after a couple of days of making lists of other why-haven't-wes, I am feeling reinvigorated by the challenge. I am rediscovering the joy of setting up a home, even though most of the heavy lifting has already been done, and looking forward to small changes that will have a big impact on my happiness at home.
Though it isn't practical for most people to be away from home for such extended periods of time, it is still possible to reassess your space to see if there are changes that you don't yet know you want to make. In my experience, looking at photos of your home rather than at your home itself can really help highlight problem areas. Photos can help you assess your space in smaller, more manageable chunks, and can help add a necessary level of remove for an honest look at your home.
No matter how long you have been living in your space, looking at it with a new critical eye may reveal new areas for improvement or change that can help you better utilize and enjoy your home.
Image: Colleen Quinn.
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Getting away from your home environment is good for 2 reasons:
1. being out of a scenario for a period of time lets you see it with fresh eyes
2. when you go out looking for new furnishings/art you are influenced by where you've just been
Is there something to the left of the 2nd coffee table on the left, or is it just floating? I'd swap the positions of the love seat and 2 chairs so the chairs are in front of the window and next to the TV, and then put the two coffee tables together to form a big rectangle that will serve to anchor both the love seat and sofa. It looks kind of crazy to have the two coffee tables parallel to each other. I can't tell from the photo where the wall is on the left, but you might also be able to pull the chairs to the left and away from the TV along that wall to let them snuggle up in that corner.
Oh, and yes, new pillows too:)
i feel like it would be incredibly uncomfortable to watch tv from either of the sofas.
but i completely agree with the idea of taking photos of your space and re-assessing them.
taking that approach has given me a physical to-do list, as i normally print the photos, take notes/measurements on the back, and march right into stores knowing exactly what i'm looking for.
michpam- there is another sofa to the left of the photo so the parallel coffee tables make more sense, and that unseen sofa is the one I sit on to watch TV. There is no wall just a support column behind that sofa because at some point the wall was removed to create a large living and dining room.
I do the same thing! In fact, my new construction bathroom was based on hotel design (powder/vanity room is separate from shower/loo). I also get inspiration from boutiques for my walk in all the time.
For your space above, it's so bright and airy (wow, that's a big room!) but I wonder how it would look if you tried to make two distinct seating areas rather than lining all the seating up against the wall. Like float the couch in the middle of the room facing the love seat with a coffee table in between, than put the chairs back to back with the couch to make a seating area. The rug could be placed in front of the couch horizontally. Or flip the couch to the opposite side of where it is now (so facing the big window and put the two chairs in front of the window with the round table between. Would make a nice reading nook but still engage guests when you entertain. Prob a ton of diff arrangements you could try on floorplanner.com.
I think colorful pillows (& maybe a throw too!) would be great.
Why so much furniture in the room? It's just so F U L L. At least get rid of one or two tables. And the rug needs to go to a different room IMO. There's too much "dark" already on the lower area. Something lighter in it's place or none at all would make the room feel less bottom heavy. Two nice matched size paintings or other framed art on the walls behind the TV would help distract from the ac vents on the ceiling area.
The above room feels strangely impersonal. Almost like a hotel room. It is missing art, curtains, color in the form of interesting pillows or perhaps a bolder, more interesting rug.
there really is a lot of furniture in that room. edit!
She may not be able to edit the furniture - she said it came with the house and isn't hers.
Curtains, Curtains, Curtains.......
Is this your home in Saudi Arabia? Pretty neat! I remember when I returned home after a few weeks away, being in my laundry room suddenly felt uncomfortably cramped, like being in a phone booth. I removed unnecessary things from the floor level to make the horizontal space feel less tiny in proportion to the vertical dimension. It then felt more like a normal room.
Looks like two households or two personalities were combined. Or you may be like me, I change my style, but can't part with my old favorites.
Since we're dog-piling on what we all think you should do with the space, I'll add my 3 cents.
Right now, the space seems too grounded and bottom heavy. There's really nothing in the upper 2/3 of the room. Furthermore, there is a LOT of heavy furniture on the bottom 1/3 of the room. I think a few quick fixes could make the space seem much more cohesive.
1 - get rid of the double ottoman / double coffee table situation. Move the ottomans elsewhere if you have to keep them in the space (they might be great at the end of the bed) but the repetition is visually jarring.
2 - turn the rug so that it parallels the couch. The other furniture being off the rug makes it appear too spread out.
3 - i love that rug. that's all
4,5,6 - curtains, floor lamps, art. draw the eye upward and away from the floor. Even dummy panels alongside that skinny window would make it fill up the horizontal space more whilst not blocking light, and create a great amount of height and balancing out the horizontal and vertical eye space.
Opinions given in the spirit of helpfulness and camaraderie!
After a visit to Iran I wanted to paint the place pink and green. I didnt....yet. Call me and we can go prowl Thugbah for fabric.
Totally agree! I wasn't out of my house for a couple of hours, just browsing new show homes, and I came back completely unhappy with what I had!
Ha ha, I came home and realized just how disgusting my floors are- bring on the tile!
I'm with the curtains crew. Curtains must be hung immediately.
too many solids! you need to introduce some patterns (pillows, curtains ) to breakup all those solids.
I just got back home to Denver after visiting NYC. Between seeing my brother in-law's nicely appointed Brooklyn apartment, visiting the BoConcept showroom, and pouring over my mother in-law's design mags and books...oh man, does our little house need help! Like the author I feel simultaneously embarrassed and inspired!
This post has great timing, I've only been back three days after a week at a (very nice and very large) beach house that was rented for a family reunion, my boyfriend and I came home to our dark one bedroom apartment and instantly began cleaning and redecorating. After a week away, all the little projects seemed to really stand out and now - budget willing - we're looking forward to making some big changes. It really does make a huge difference if you can get away for a little while!