Design Crew

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 problem comes from Jackie.

  

My hubby & I (and 3 children & 1 yellow lab) live in Reading, Mass about 15-20 minutes north of Boston. We've lived in our 1901 4-square colonial for about 4 1/2 yrs now.  We love it and there is so much potential with our home - but we don't know where to start. 1st off - all original (dark) woodwork throughout the home. The front hall is huge for a "hall" - its more like a greeting room so we don't know how to decorate it. We have pocket doors, 2 sets of stairs and a fireplace immediatly greeting you as soon as you come in.

We never see a house/woodwork like ours on any design shows and I am at such a loss as how to decorate with it all. Its very warm & beautiful but it can be so dark. Yet everyone tells me not to paint it - none of it. (including my husband). I look in a million magazines and email sites ... Nobody shows anything like our home. It seems woodwork is painted white 99% of the time. We have 100+ yr old woodwork we really don't want to paint (at least not all of it).

The house is a diamond in the rough. I love the home & most of our belongings - its just that I feel right now the house shows more like an older person's house & not a young couples ... I would call our taste Traditional but with a modern twist. Right now between the dark wood & all our antiques/wood furniture - I feel it just looks like Grandma's house! ;0 I want to funk things up...and lighten things up!  I have had 2 different ladies in here to help us & ...well lets just say those are long stories .

We are on a budget.  We plan on:

• Fireplace:  replacing the brick around the fireplace. Maybe go with a deep high shine/gloss green subway tile??? We recently removed the top of the mantle & replaced the small rectangular mirror  w/ a HUGE wood mirror. But should we do art instead? Maybe a sea side sunset w/ pinks & purples in it & a candle or electric sconce on each side?   And  what to do for furniture placement by fireplace? We use the F.P. a lot in the chilly/cold months - but we'd use more if we had furniture by it!
  
• Front door/Entry way - Paint the outside of the front door a high gloss color so when door is open it will look nice in the little entryway. I was thinking black w/ brass or pewter kickplate & new hardware/letter slit, etc. And I'd love to do some cool colorful wall paper in the little front entryway w/ only a narrow & maybe a tall leaning mirror in there?
• Kitchen - Getting ready to do a small addition & entire kitchen/3/4 bathroom remodel in rear of house.  I'm thinking white/cream cabinets, a dark wood island, white subway tiles & wood floors.  
• Dining Room - We have some beautiful Thibaut Damask paper for the dining room. I can't wait to see that up.
  
• Staircase - Runner?  

Other then that - I'm at a loss. I'm OK w/ painting rooms again if you think our colors are wrong.  Hubby will NOT paint any woodwork

Design Crew

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 problem comes from Emily.

I love your blog and was excited to see the post asking for design problems - and I have a design problem! I live in a <800 sq ft loft in San Francisco with my boyfriend, Ryan, and our dog, Bentley. Our biggest room down stairs serves as living room/dining room/office, and needs to be reorganized. We would like to create a living room space that is more inviting - right now we trend towards gathering with friends in the kitchen instead. We're opening to moving everything, even getting new pieces if necessary.

I put numbers on (this)photo ... so I could walk you through the room:
1. hi-fi cabinet - keeper - has about 2ft on either side right now of empty space.
2. TV - keeper - occasionally used to watch movies, so OK that it is behind the chair, we just move the chair.
3-4. corner desk and cabinet -keepers - these need to travel together to maintain the 'office' and are keepers because they were designed and built by Ryan and I.
5. dining table -can get new- seats 4 when as is (pushed up against the wall), we often pull it out and add chairs to seat 6.

Design Crew

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 problem comes from Leigh. I know you can come up with some great ideas.

I am stuck with my fab new room, which is an extension on the back of my house, adjoining the kitchen. It has glass doors all along the back looking onto the garden. It is approx 20 x 12 feet in size but I do not know how to arrange it, or where to start. I have new oak floor, plan on a wood burner eventually, have white blinds on the windows, walls are creamy white. I have 2 arm chairs which I can recover, a leather sofa, and aim to buy another sofa, plus some other furniture. But what? Help!

Design Crew

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 problem comes from Christa. (And I must say what a lovely home you have Christa!)

I have a design dilemma and was wondering if you would mind asking your savvy readers their opinion on what color to use for refinishing my kitchen cabinets? Stain or paint, and what color? The wood is not in good shape as you can see from the detail photo, so I need to clean them up and I can't really leave them unstained because I have to disguise the chips. The wood is Honduras mahogany.

I could stain them a darker semi-solid, or paint. New stainless dishwasher and fridge are on their way, and I would like to get the cabinets freshened up at the same time. Right now the floors are natural red oak, the fir ceilings are stained Cabot Sandstone (taupe) and the fir beams are Cabot Cordovan (chocolate with violet/taupe tone). Thoughts? I'm open to ideas.

Design Crew

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! First problem this year comes from Katie.

I was hoping to get your help with this odd feature of my new studio apartment - a raised, enclosed platform with sliding french doors that houses (literally) just a full-size bed and a small night table. I'm attaching pictures of the studio's layout and what this "box" (as we call it) looks like. How can I make this thing less of a giant eyesore? I was thinking about refinishing the hardware on the doors, hanging curtains somehow - either around the doors or as a canopy (thoughts?) - and installing some sort of better lighting. It's bigger than a sleeping nook, but smaller than a bedroom. Help! [previous owner's photos - the box is now a lighter dove gray/purple; doors are still white]