Luthien's Profile

Hey Dylan,

With such a small space you will have to prioritize. Inferring from what you wrote, it seems that you work quite a bit at your place, and obviously you need a place to sleep. So I would design the place with these two things in mind. Everything else that goes on (dining, entertaining, lounging, etc) will have to be secondary.

Assuming that you have one or more windows on the shorter wall on the left, I would put your work area against that entire wall and in the upper right corner by the closet. A long desk for all the sketching, sewing, storage, etc can go along that wall, and you the dress form could go in the corner. In this corner you could also put some additional shelves for storage, and here I would recommend going vertical -- because this area is slightly hidden from the rest of the place, vertical storage her won't overwhelm the rest of the apt.

On the lower wall, right across the closet entrance, I would place a bed, with its longer side against the lower wall. A smaller bed (like full), on the lower side, with a frame that allows for storage underneath would work best. This bed would additionally serve as a sitting/dining area.

Whatever you end up doing, one thing that you should definitely do is take down the closet door. It takes up too much space, when you have an option of getting some cool fabric and making a "door" to hang from the inside of the door frame. This takes up no space!

Finally, I would say that tall shelves along the outer walls are fine, but I'd argue against tall shelf-type dividers here, as the space is just too small. Smaller IKEA Expedit might be a good thing to utilize here, especially to divide the bed and the front door -- but make sure to put it horizontally.

I hope this helps! Best of luck in deciding what to do,
LT

something like this (but with smaller globes):

http://www.westelm.com/products/globe-pendant-a563/?pkey=cchandeliers-pendant-lighting&cm_src=chandeliers-pendant-lighting||NoFacet-_-NoFacet-_--_-

Hi Lisa,

I will second boudret's first suggestion, which is a blown glass pendant light. The only difference would be that I would go with several (4-5) smaller and simpler blown glass pendants, hanging at slightly different heights over the center of the table. I think this would give the dining nook a clean and simple look, but add some visual interest.

I will try and find a link to an image, so you know exactly what I am suggesting.

Good luck!
LT

Hi Kate,

You have a wonderful large and bright living room, with very nice hardwood floors. I do agree that there are constraints on the layout/flow in the space due to the placement of doors, stairs, etc. I am not sure about the layout you suggested -- I think the flow especially becomes an issue with the furniture placed right in front of the fireplace, because in order to get to the stairs or the kitchen/dining room you have to go around all of the furniture. I think having a clear path in front of the fireplace would work better. If you are set on the furniture pieces shown in the blueprint above, I would probably just move them back towards the French doors. However, if you feel strongly about putting the furniture right in front of the fireplace, you should definitely do it. This is your space and you should set it up so you are comfortable in it. One thing I would definitely suggest, though, is to rethink the choice of the existing shelves, desk and the unit by the stairs -- they don't seem to match and they kinda "age" the room.

I hope this helps a bit. Best of luck with your decision!

LT

Hi Frances,

You have a very large and nice living room. I also think that you have couple of nice pieces of furniture, and that the faux fireplace looks decent. However, because of the layout, number and style of furniture pieces, at this moment your living room looks like a poorly thought-out waiting room.

I am not 100% sure what style you are going for, but from what you wrote it seems you would like to balance out the traditional pieces that have sentimental value for you with some modern pieces. Keeping that in mind, what I would suggest is to parse down the number of furniture pieces. Keep the sofa and maybe the two larger chairs, as well as the coffee table. Get rid of the rest. The side tables do not go with anything in the room. The vitrine in the corner is too traditional. The two white units on each side of the fireplace take away from the fireplace itself.

In terms of the layout, it's tough because you have entrances on two walls, window on the third, and fireplace/tv on the fourth. I have two suggestions here. The first one is to put the sofa parallel to the fireplace, with one chair on either side (or two on one side, either would work). I think the slight problem here is that when you enter from the front hallway you see the back of the sofa. I personally would not mind this, but this is a slightly suboptimal feng shui, and some people don't feel comfortable with this. The second option is to angle the sofa from where it is now toward the center of the living room so that it is facing the fireplace more, and put the two chairs perpendicular to the sofa on the left side.

In either case, I would take down the TV -- I think the issue is that it is too small for this large room, so it gets "lost". I would get a simple modern/contemporary TV stand and put it in the corner to the left of the fireplace. In this way you can enjoy the view of the fireplace and the TV at the same time. To fill up the empty space above the fireplace I would suggest getting a nice big modern-looking mirror. In order to further balance out the traditional feel of the furniture I would suggest a more modern flare on the curtains (I think a bold color with sheen would look wonderful).

I hope this helps. Good luck, and send us the photos after you redesign the space!

Hi Frances,

You have a very large and nice living room. I also think that you have couple of nice pieces of furniture, and that the faux fireplace looks decent. However, because of the layout, number and style of furniture pieces, at this moment your living room looks like a poorly thought-out waiting room.

I am not 100% sure what style you are going for, but from what you wrote it seems you would like to balance out the traditional pieces that have sentimental value for you with some modern pieces. Keeping that in mind, what I would suggest is to parse down the number of furniture pieces. Keep the sofa and maybe the two larger chairs, as well as the coffee table. Get rid of the rest. The side tables do not go with anything in the room. The vitrine in the corner is too traditional. The two white units on each side of the fireplace take away from the fireplace itself.

In terms of the layout, it's tough because you have entrances on two walls, window on the third, and fireplace/tv on the fourth. I have two suggestions here. The first one is to put the sofa parallel to the fireplace, with one chair on either side (or two on one side, either would work). I think the slight problem here is that when you enter from the front hallway you see the back of the sofa. I personally would not mind this, but this is a slightly suboptimal feng shui, and some people don't feel comfortable with this. The second option is to angle the sofa from where it is now toward the center of the living room so that it is facing the fireplace more, and put the two chairs perpendicular to the sofa on the left side.

In either case, I would take down the TV -- I think the issue is that it is too small for this large room, so it gets "lost". I would get a simple modern/contemporary TV stand and put it in the corner to the left of the fireplace. In this way you can enjoy the view of the fireplace and the TV at the same time. To fill up the empty space above the fireplace I would suggest getting a nice big modern-looking mirror. In order to further balance out the traditional feel of the furniture I would suggest a more modern flare on the curtains (I think a bold color with sheen would look wonderful).

I hope this helps. Good luck, and send us the photos after you redesign the space!

i know that with the high-end clothes, for example, a lot of people opt for consignment. I am sure there is something along the same lines for furniture. the other option is craigslist, where you can obviously negotiate pick-up/delivery with customers.

Hi Glory!

You have a very nice apartment, with a nice flow and more than decent amount of room. Given your question, I think there are couple of things that can be done. I would probably just put tall bookshelves, one by the sink and the other by the stove (not flush against it, give it a little bit of space). IKEA open-style shelves or something similar would work nicely as a barrier between the kitchen and the rest of the apartment without completely disrupting the open concept. These could also give you a little bit more of storage space (e.g. for spices, cool plates, etc.).

In general, I do think that the flow of the apartment works. What you might do is play with the dining room layout. From the blueprint it seems that you have a square dining table. If so, I would move it closer to the right upper corner of the apartment so it is not in the way. Also, I recommend that you do something fun in that corner -- an accent wall (the one where the bookcase is now) with some bold color or interesting wallpaper, with "loud" light fixtures, perhaps, so that you both define a dining room, and also to draw the eye to that side of the room away from the kitchen. If you have a rectangular dining table, I would probably push it closer to the wall, and little bit to the left, and I would set up the right upper corner as a reading nook, or something like that. Still I recommend that you make a design statement there, something that will draw the eye instead of focusing on the kitchen.

Good luck!

Hi Nancy!

I think there is a way to tastefully incorporate elements that both you and your husband like. In terms of the color palette, I think a light gray on the wall behind the couch and around the windows would look nice. The third wall (the one with TV against it) I would turn into an accent wall -- either with a somewhat darker gray color or an interesting dark gray wallpaper. Your windows and your radiator are white, so, for the sake of uniformity, I would paint the base molding white as well.

Now, given that I am suggesting a lot of contrast with gray walls, white molding, and a black leather couch, you could have a lot of fun with the remaining design elements. This is especially true if you decide to forgo the suggestion about textured/patterned wallpaper. For example, I think you could incorporate orange in the casing of the throw pillows. Also, I am a huge fan of textured rugs, and there you could play with color (and shape -- a round rug would be a nice balance to the strong lines of the sofa) as well. Orange will do wonders to warm up the space.

I also see that you have couple of plants in your living area, which I l love. Keep them! It gives an organic feel to the room.

Hope this helps, and let us know what you decide to do!

There are several different approaches here -- depending on how invasive you want to get. I think the definite solution would be to gut the paneling. You simply have too many patterns and colors -- the paneling and the parquet clash; there's brick on the fireplace, etc. Start fresh, with a nice light and warm coat of paint on everything, including the fireplace. I think that white would work nice in this space, which you can then "cozy up" with plush throw pillows, textured rug, etc.

Going to the other extreme and trying to do as little as possible, I think a lot can be achieved if you bring more light to the room with more light fixtures, lighter upholstery on the couch, and a new, light rug. Also de-cluttering the shelves would give the room a more calming vibe.

Somewhere in the middle would be addressing the furniture and lighting, in addition to figuring out what to do with the fireplace, the shelves, and the paneling in the back of the shelves. I would get rid of the existing shelves and build new ones, more modern looking, preferably in white. Then I would paint the paneling behind the shelves and above the fireplace, as well as the brick around the fireplace in white, which would provide nice contrast with the paneling on the side walls.

Those would be my suggestions -- of different degrees of overall effect and "invasiveness". Hopefully you find it helpful.