Sunday, October 3, 2010

Decorating a Room from Scratch: Part 2

"So that's what you missed on"...my blog.

So after arriving to D.C., with a headstart on steps 1-3, I continued on in the process.  

3.  Fabrics & Upholstery (continued...).  I still had a few upholstered pieces to track down in D.C. The client was definitely tired of sitting on camping furniture, so we were really hoping to find a pair of chairs somewhere that we could purchase off the floor. Because her husband loves to put his feet up, we were also hoping to find an ottoman to use for a coffee table. To be honest, I had low expectations for meeting these goals. Finding chairs and an ottoman that are: ready on the floor, the right size, the right body style, fabric that works with our other selections, and the right price in one weekend was going to be very tricky. I shopped all day Saturday with a friend (my client was in meetings) and we had no luck, and I was definitely discouraged. At the very end of the day, we made one last stop and found this pair of chairs:

They looked great with our other fabrics, and they swivel!  The swivel was something I had wished we could get, because of the position of the chairs to the TV, but it was usually too pricey.  These chairs were in our price range and a great body style to compliment our sofa.  I was also hoping to find skirted chairs since our sofa is not skirted.  

And in the same store, we found this super cool ottoman:

I immediately loved the color and the shape!  They only had one in the store, but they would be able to order a second.  Although we had really envisioned one large ottoman, two ottomans is so much more fun!  One can have a tray for drinks, and her husband can put his feet on the other.  

They had a sofa in the store that was fairly similar to the one we had selected in Birmingham, so we set up a little "scene" for the client to see so she could get the idea of how it would all look together.  
The sofa already had those pillows on it, and the second I pulled up that orange ottoman I knew I had stumbled upon a super fun color scheme...orange and turquoise!

The client met us at the store and LOVED our little pretend living room scene!  I had forgotten that she and her husband are Tennessee fans, so she was pumped about having orange ottomans.    
  
4.  Furniture.  (Non-upholstered).  When designing a room from scratch, next you should find your wood furniture, which will fill in the spaces between your upholstered pieces.  The measurements of your floor plan and your upholstered pieces will determine the allotted measurements for your wood pieces.  

The only piece of furniture the client wanted to keep was this little table which would fit nicely between a pair of chairs.  
So our shopping list in the wood department was...
-Something long and skinny to put the tv on.
-A few storage items for the dining area...a buffet and cabinet.  

I found this piece for the dining area at an antique store in Birmingham.  It's a primitive Pie safe circa 1880.  It is perfect to store their china, without displaying it, which is what she wanted.

During Day 1 of shopping in D.C., we came across this amazing old work bench, that I thought would be awesome for her to put her TV on:
It was love at first sight for me and this table!!!  However, it was just too rustic for the client, so we decided to keep looking.  (And in retrospect, it was probably a little too rustic for the other furnishings we had selected).  

So on Day 2 in DC, we continued our search for something to put the TV on.  
We were excited to hit up two of D.C.'s biggest flea markets:  The Georgetown Flea Market, and The Eastern Market.  However...we woke up to a muggy rainy day!  Although we still went to the flea markets, there were very few vendors there and we didn't find anything.  While we were in Georgetown, we wandered down to Restoration Hardware and spotted this table:
It is a great size for our space, wide enough for the TV and a lamp, has a lower shelf for TV components, it has an industrial feel which will be great in front of her exposed brick wall, but it's still clean and contemporary enough to go with our other furnishings.  I knew instantly it was a good option, but we still kept our eyes open in case we found something else.  

  
5.  Lighting.  Begin selecting lamps, and making decisions about lighting for the room.  These choices will affect the overall mood of the room, and dictate what sort of paint colors will work best.  Although you can do a lot with good lighting, you can't control the natural lighting that a room has.    

On Day 3 in DC we went lamp hunting.  We drove a little ways out of town to some outlet stores.  
We needed a pair of floor lamps to flank the sofa, a table lamp to go next to the TV, and a table lamp for between the two chairs.  

At the Restoration Hardware outlet we found this fabulous pair of lamps (minus the shade):
They were half the original retail price...which was great!  I think these lamps will feel edgy in the space, but they are a very classic shape and will stay in style and could transition into any room.  

We didn't find lamps for our other two spots.  Our plan is to go cheap on one, and splurge on the other.  That way she will end up with one fabulous lamp, and one that she can replace in the next year...with another fabulous lamp!

6.  Paint Color.  There is a paint color for every color in the rainbow, so this is probably the MOST variable aspect of your room.  You should select this last to best compliment the other decisions you have made for your room.  

We wanted to do a neutral, especially since there is so much color naturally in the exposed brick wall and her warm toned floors.  
The stark white trim just felt too uptight and formal for the space.  So we decided to select a nice neutral wall color and paint the trim the same color as the walls.  The trim in this house is not original, and so some of it seems out of place, so I decided to neutralize it instead of accenting it.  

7.  Accessories & Wall Decor.  Don't try to accessorize all at once!  Do you want your room to look like it fell out of a box?!  Collect items that you love overtime for a "collected" look.  Bring in a variety of textures and pops of color that reflect your fabric choices.  This step could be approached along the way, especially if there are specific accessories or art that know you want to incorporate from the start.  For instance, a large piece of art may dictate the size table that you place on a wall beneath it.    

We found one accessory while I was in D.C.  We found this old toolbox from a junk store that is the perfect size for DVD storage!  

We also saw this bull head....
Unfortunately, we just didn't have a good spot for it.  Too bad huh?

I arrived to an empty room and left a basically empty room...but there was much unseen progress.  Most of the things we picked out would be delivered to them after I left.  

Thanks for reading, I'll keep you posted on the progress...

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