Cathryn @ CARO Interiors's Profile

These are all so charming. Those illustrations call to mind some of the original "It's A Small World" attraction art, as well. What a delightful source for nursery inspiration!

I'd like to make a case for the value of a good internet registry when your friends and family members are spread out all over the country. By choosing two nationally recognized stores with online shopping options, we were able to provide lovely-yet-affordable choices for our loved ones in California, South Dakota, Ohio, Virginia and South Carolina, and all the military family/friends in between and overseas. Our parent's generation didn't have this option and mostly had to hope for the best while choosing from just one local department store. We considered ourselves lucky to be able to make things practical and easy for our guests.

...and when we all say "wall hangings", this includes window treatments. Thick, well lined (even thermal) curtail panels on all of your windows will also help stop sound bouncing around the room. If you don't need curtain panels for function, put up some large stationary fabric panels as curtains and let them just frame out the windows. (Hang them high and wide!) You could even DIY these using a thick, beautiful upholstery fabric, a big roll of hem tape (no sewing!), curtain clip rings and any type of rod you like. Hope this helps!

Lovely example of how color can make all the difference in a kitchen!

I also keep a notepad on the fridge door for us to list the fridge staples as we use them up. No more memory work when I make the next grocery list. The list is already started for me.

What a great personality this home has! Every room shows personal taste and life experiences with style. Beautiful colors, beautiful mix of old, new and collected. Thanks so much for sharing your treasure, homeowners!

First of all, great space! I can see the challenges, too, though.

A few non-spacing suggestions that will help your spacing:

- Remove those shutters. They are fighting the lovely light that you get that makes the room feel bigger. Store them if you need to keep them, but replace them with two full panels of curtain gathered in the two corners of that end of the room. It will soften the corners of all the repeated rectangles in the room, too. If you still need privacy, add some sheers.

- Get a radiator cover. A nice metal vintage one can be retro-fitted easily or you can get one made to your custom measurements for not a lot of beans. Paint it the color of your walls. The whole thing will disappear nicely.

-Get a bigger rug. I love yours, but it is not the right size for the room. This keeps you crowding all of the furniture to fit the rug size, instead of the room size. The new rug should extend well beyond both ends of the new seating arrangement I've listed below.

- Get a chandelier. Something sleek and glassy for a little sparkle, but not too big. Center it in the room.

Re-spacing the furniture:

-The camel back sofa doesn't fit and won't play well with the other modern furniture no matter how hard you try to make it. I would relocate this to another room. I would also relocate the cabriole-legged table and the round side chair.

- Move the modern sofa to the far side of the room and have it face the windows (back to the dining room). Center it in the room using the dining room door as a guide. The front edge of the sofa should not extend further into the room than the outside edge of the fireplace.

- Rotate the coffee table 90 degrees.

- Place the two modern chairs evenly in front of the windows. The front edge of the chairs should not extend further into the room than the outside edge of the fireplace. In addition, try to leave 2-3 feet of space between the back of the chairs and the window wall. Put the low table currently at one end of the modern sofa between the two chairs.

-Place the base of the arch lamp firmly in the corner of the room where the window wall meets the fireplace wall. This light won't work as a chandelier in your space, it's just too small in lighting focus, but you can embrace it's beauty as an accent lamp over the chairs.

-Add a console table behind the sofa in it's new place. I would choose something light, with a glass top and shelves. Use this to display flowers and pictures, stack books, etc.

- Add more art, higher on the walls. You have lots of room to show off things you love! Pull from your photo albums and bring home more pretty mementos!

By editing your furniture and giving it all some breathing room, your whole room will feel larger and more balanced. Hope this helps! Best of luck to you!

I applaud the artist idea, too. A removable plaque would be elegant and feel more custom. I would also recommend asking the artist to seal the paint job well, to make the plaques easy to wipe down occasionally. Please share pictures with us after your new numbers are up!

I'm with Penny Lain, too. While I appreciate some of the bold color choices, the first photo in this post is a lesson in why scale is important and how track lighting is never a neutral. This building feels a bit like a supermodel showing up in a potato sack. Show those gorgeous curves and work that architecture!

(I also think that Europeans must cringe at having their historic buildings always held up for comparison to American movie images. Just like I would dislike my home being constantly compared to Graceland just because, ya know, I'm American. (The von Trapp family was Austrian, by the way, not German. A big difference in history, culture and architecture.)

Wow. Not a lot of help here for David, friends!
I think there is more potential here than is being discussed. Okay, David, I have 5 simple steps for upgrading this kitchen temporarily. You can even spread out the upgrades to fit your own timeline and budget. Assuming this kitchen is in a blank, de-cluttered slate when you move in:

1. Upgrade the cabinets with hardware. Ask the landlord if you may install simple door and drawer pull hardware if you pay for it and agree to leave them behind when you move out. (Try pointing out that this will help all future renters by making the kitchen "more accessible" if they don't seem quite so sympathetic. Insist that they must approve your hardware choice before installation. You "wouldn't dream of making upgrades without their approval", right? ) If you get the go ahead, choose something simple and round (like a small knob), to break up all the visual rectangles and tie into the tiled back splash. I would choose something black with an iron feel, which will connect to the tile pattern/colors and some black appliance facing, while still being cheap. Target, Home Depot and/or Walmart should have what you need.

2. Upgrade the floor. Match the darkest color of the tile (navy blue? black? Can't tell.) in a large, solid rug for the floor. Measure well and get the largest, widest one you can squeeze into the room safely. Feel free to tuck it under the front legs of that fridge. This will break up all the white floor that merges into your white-ish appliances. Make sure this rug is something easy to wash, like a simple flat weave (Ikea, Pier One, Overstock, HomeGoods), because this is still a kitchen and accidents happen.

3. Upgrade the lighting. Make, cut down or hem a small valance to just cover that old fluorescent tube light over the sink. This valance should only be about 7-9 inches long, top to bottom. Choose a fabric pattern that is very modern, small in scale, includes some of the brown of the cabinets and some other color of the back splash tile (just one, not all of them). A small stripe would be great here. This will diffuse light glare at the sink and also break up all of those rectangles with some softer surface goods. Use a simple tension rod (cheap at Walmart) placed between the cabinets adjacent to the sink to hold up your valance. (Not a sewing fan? Ask your local fabric store to teach you how to use basting tape to create this little valence. Take your picture with you and they will help you!) We can't see the ceiling light in your picture. Do you need help there? There are lots of affordable solutions out there for renters. Post a comment below mine and tell us all about the ceiling fixture.

4. Upgrade the storage. If you need more storage on the top of the fridge (like the previous renter did), choose two matching wicker or wood baskets that are just a shade lighter than the cabinets. This is a way of embracing some natural texture beyond the wood cabinets, to make it look more like a choice. Keep those baskets tidy and not over-filled. This is a great place for napkins, tablecloths, etc.

5. Upgrade the surfaces. Keep your surfaces open and empty! Nothing with magnets on the fridge doors or sides. (Get a bulletin board for somewhere else if you need one.) A coffee pot and a big appliance (like a stand mixer) and dark, solid bowl of colorful fruit on the counter tops. That is it. Clean surfaces make any room feel more spacious. Use 3M Command hooks (at any Target) to attach removable hook to the back side of your under sink cabinet for any dish washing tools. (Nobody wants to see those out!) You can also find over door cabinet paper towel racks for the inside of that cabinet. (Take down the mounted one on the wall/cabinet!) Store any dish rack when not in use under the sink, too.

I hope this helps you, David! Good luck in your new home and chime in if you still need more ideas!