Design Crew
Sat, 16 Feb 2013
Got a problem? Need some help? Just standing there shaking your head? Don't know what to do? You're not alone. Send us a link to photos of your design quandary and let the Desire to Inspire design crew help you .... that's you lot ... the readers! This week's email is from Scott.
I like many of your readers, am in dire need of you and your readers expertise. I have recently removed a wall between two bedrooms to create an all-in-one bedroom setup, with the desired goal of a bedroom, living room and a little bit of a office workplace. I kicked off in one direction, but I have been stuck in a rut. I painted some walls (very badly might I add), and tested out a few ideas, but nothing has really come together. So, now I call upon desire to inspire to do what it does best.
Here are a few photos of the room. The first photo is an aspiration ...
(Inspiration from Florence Lopez)
... and the rest is the room. All the furniture in the room (apart from the bed) will be removed, especially all the tacky white furniture, as it was left over from before. But now, I'am ready for a whole new direction.
Do what you do best and thank you. Oh and the dog on the chair is called Max :)
Reader Comments (11)
finish the paint job, then get some blue funky-shaped furniture to finish the monochrome theme, if that's what you want. some white industrial-looking lamps would be a nice touch... like in the inspiration pic.
BUT i like the white walls too. you could do a white/black retro mod theme with your cool red chair as an accent...
I would be tempted to commit to the blue and do all your woodwork and trim too. Maybe add accents in navy, cobalt and dark green for a rich layered look. Add some texture through accessories, rugs and plants. I think it will look great when it comes together, it's certainly a fantastic space.
Alternatively you could go even darker with the paint, more of a blue/black and use white for punchy contrast in your bedding, lamps, accessories etc. You could even add a touch of metallic - aged gold, foxed silver or copper for interest.
I've also been looking at similar schemes recently and have some inspiration pics on pinterest here which might give you a few more ideas: http://pinterest.com/kitzieg/dark-and-dramatic/
I'm really loving the color. The color and the space remind me of Carrie's place in Sex and the City (the movie.) I would use that for inspiration. She has a range of furniture styles and it is feminine and bright. Good luck!
I love the blue on the walls. I would keep an eye out for more industrial, older metal office furniture and perhaps a bit of leather and tweed (there is nothing wrong with the checked armchair). I think your inspiration pic is layered nicely with texture and quite masculine pieces of furniture whereas currently the room has much more modern furniture and no texture. Maybe just start with a couple of piece of furniture that introduce that texture. Something in solid wood, older would be better like a dresser or cabinet and choose items that give off some warmth and quality but are still a little rugged. metal bedsides or a desk like the insp pic. some great industrial lamps or hanging lights would create zones as well. What a great space to work with and best of luck!!
I like the white walls SO SO much better than the blue. I feel like dark colors always make a space feel smaller. If you have white walls and accent the room with splashes of color in your furniture/plants, I feel like it makes it look clean, open, and light without the feel of an insane asylum.
How brave to paint he rooms blue but like ML I like light walls better. For example a nice grey tone.
Blue is a bit hard and bathroom-like, especially with the blond wood and your nice windows..
But I think you could get tge blue to work too, although it won't be very easy. Check on google images for blue or dark blue walls. I think you should go darker with the wallcolour or soften the blue a notch by going more towards a greyish blue.
I strongly recommend to keep the windowframes white though. Although you wanted to copy your inspiration picture, the black really does not fit to your style of window frames.
I have a problem with the different height of the white frame around the bedroom cupboards and the windows:. With the blue wallcolour the height difference becomes very apparent. You could fix that easily though by installing white roman blinds (outside lyings ones), aligned with the cupboard frame. Roman blinds would look nice with your windows and soften the place.
The red and checked chair are nice and could stay. I agree with the others that this place could use some pops of colour and nice vintage pieces and a more textured, layered look. Perhaps this will inspire you on how the blue, white, vintage and carefully chosen pops of colour can be combined; Choose some nice accessories (painting, sculptures, carpets etc.) like they did in the links below.
http://stylebyemilyhenderson.com/blog/my-new-office/
http://hommemaker.com/portfolio/
If you want to bring in metal objects, choose brass, rather than silver since you have gold coloured knobs on cupboard and doors.
Balance the 'metal' (white) and 'water' (blue) elements with 'earth' (your wooden floor, low furniture like a big couch and bed and rugs) and bring in some fire (red, yellow or purple) and wood (plants, green objects) as explained in feng shui. You can read more about this on the internet.
Good luck!
That is a gorgeous blue, but I too feel it overwhelms the area. It's too busy with the white trim. I think you should try painting just the back walls where the tv and bed are in the blue as accent walls, and keep all the rest white.
The blue is beautiful. I like what you're going for. I think what would work is painting all the trim the same color blue. Only paint the inside of the windows black. It will give you the 'black window' affect you're going for. I'd leave the ceiling white, for now. Later, I feel the ceiling might scream for attention. Wallpaper? Something subtle. Can't put my finger on it yet. I'd also paint the large white armoire the same color blue. This would allow it to enmesh with wall, also it would connect with built-ins in the sleep area. (change the hardware??? more industrial?) Then go some cool industrial accents on top of the armoire. The red chair would work great in this setting of monochromatic. Just don't add much more red. Maybe a small/tiny bit picked up in wall art. I'd also place artwork over the windows...will guide the eye up...take advantage of your high ceilings. Love the blue plaid chair. Not sure if the plaid would work though. I see it in a dark navy. You could also paint the tv cabinet dark black/navy. Once you have the room in basic monochromatic...it's all about the accents and artwork. That will take time to collect. It's all about the great accents in your 'dream pic' that make that room. It doesn't feel right because of this. Good luck with the process!
Wow! What a beautiful space. You're very lucky. I agree with the other commentors-- the first thing that jumps out at me is that the white trim provides too much contrast. You could keep the window trim white, if you like a little bit of white, but I think the trim around the doors and closets must be painted for the "cocoon" like appearance of the inspiration pic (which is beautiful by the way!) I am not a risk taker, so I would probably paint the trim the same blue as the walls, although a braver soul might try a slightly different-- and perhaps darker-- hue in the same color family. If you like that idea, maybe try selecting 1 or 2 shades darker from the same paint sample strip.
My next thought is that the (amazing) plaid chair and red modern chair could make a really cool pair in the office if you brought in a persian rug with blue and red strains in it to tie them together.
After that, I think you just need some midcentury modern wood pieces (walnut, maybe), some industrial accents with funky modern lighting and you've got yourself an amazing space! I'd especially like to see a cool, low midecentury credenza or dresser opposite the bed. And what about a headboard/nightstand unit that stretched across the whole wall. Something like this: http://remodelista.com/posts/the-designer-is-in-brad-ford-at-home-in-nyc
Good luck! I think you're absolutely on the right track with the blue. Here are a few additional images I thought you might like for inspiration:
http://pinterest.com/pin/204491639302158072/
http://pinterest.com/pin/204491639301961503/
http://pinterest.com/pin/204491639301835289/
http://pinterest.com/pin/204491639299870721/
http://pinterest.com/pin/204491639302590168/
http://pinterest.com/pin/204491639302107757/
http://pinterest.com/pin/204491639301006927/
http://pinterest.com/pin/204491639300129483/
http://pinterest.com/pin/204491639302369756/
With all of the beautiful trim, google ben moore revere pewter. It is gorgeous up! if you still want blue, go darker and go with a blue (like the desk) on the trim in the bedroom. That is a nice room to have dark walls in. Nice and cozy. The living space, especially with a desk, needs to be lighter cause the dark will suck up the light. Your inspiration photo has huge windows and the building across the way is part of the color scheme. IT can take the dark color better.
I'm telling you, ben moore revere pewter and you will be happy you did! The dark blue and white trim is never going to settle with you... too much contrast.
Check out Abigail Ahern's blog, her passion is "The Dark Side"! www.abigailahern.wordpress.com