Arkata's Profile

This room lacks verticality. Think of a room like a topographical map -- you want to have things at each of 3 levels: floor, seating, high.

The choppy paint job is a distraction and there are too many little fuzzy, insignificant plants in mismatched planters. The dark blue stripes around the doors should be painted out.

Start with this:
1. The futon, by unanimous consent, has to go! Choose a sofa that you love. Those fifties daybed-style ones -- the ones with angled bolsters -- would go well with your pop chair and ottoman and also with the pair of upholstered armchairs at the kitchen end of the room. Choose a sofa fabric that you love and that will go with both.

2. Your rug works with the pop chair and the pair of gold chairs at the far end of the room. Look for a sofa fabric that works with it, also.

3. Take down the shelf behind the sofa and clean up the shelves above the fireplace. Pare the fireplace shelf display to a few simple, graphic things -- things like the tall mounted statue visible on the left side in the last photo.

4. The coffee table is a bit cottage-y for the rest of the room. You'll find something great -- this can be your last thing. Once everything else is in place, you can see what you need.

5. Two suggested arrangements:
-- A "u" shape with the sofa against the wall where the futon is now (shelves above it removed) and one gold armchair on either side. Put the pop chair and ottoman at the office end of the room with a lamp and side table for a reading nook.
---or -------
-- The sofa against the wall where the futon is (shelves above it gone), the PAIR of gold chairs at the bedroom hallway end, and the pop chair and ottoman at the office end.

6. Room paint: any version of white that you like will make the bright furniture pop and highlight the neat architectural elements of the room -- the great fireplace, steps at either end of the room and the wood floors. Might be easiest and fastest to try to match what's already on the fireplace.

Say adios to the hanging cabinets between the kitchen and the next room. You won't believe the difference it will make and it's an easy matter to patch and paint where they were removed. That way, your guests can talk to the cook without blocking what looks like the only prep counter. Put the disused cabinets in the garage or attic and maybe you could use them as the base for a window seat at a later time by having a plywood top and cushion made for them.

The white appliances scream ... well, they just scream. If you're not going to paint the cabinets to reduce the jarring jump from wood to bright white, consider ordering new doors only from the manufacturers in *any* other color. Black! Avocado!

And there are GREAT vintage-y lino sources out there. Maybe you could forgo rolled flooring and do something with that. In any case, I'd either go with teeny squares (coin-tile-ish) or big big ones ... as long as you're going to replace it, do something fun with scale.

Children's Hospital Thrift Store (corner Fullerton and Lincoln) and The Ark Thrift Store (Lincoln Avenue). Don't miss them!

Is Pete's Upholstery still in business on Lincoln in Chicago? I found them while working for a company that designed model homes. The prices were lower by far than most places and the owner, Victor, is great to work with. Highly recommended!!