I love everything architecture and interior design. I have a secret obsession with furniture (chairs in particular) and I'm drawn to furniture that is usually overlooked and often times misunderstood. I think the reason why I'm attracted to furniture like this is because I feel compelled to make it work. This requires a closer study. What is it's scale? How does it respond to the built environment? Why does it look outdated? When it's paired with another piece of furniture how does it change it's look? It's a great exercise in design - challenging yourself to make something out of place or outdated look current and relevant. But when a piece of furniture finds it's right placement in a room with relation to other furnishings and the architecture the result is wonderful and poetic - everything is right in the world at that moment. It's really just Loving What You Have.
The first photograph is a "Before" of a living room in a home near Saint Paul, Minnesota. Here the home owner separated the 1990's (Ligne Roset style) sectional into two (2) pieces. Although the sectional was dated I knew a couple simple changes would fast forward it into the 21st century. The accent pillows with attached head rests give the sectional a dated look and the Chinese carpet makes the modern architecture seem dull and less interesting.
The "After" photographs show the sectional assembled to create one long serpentine seating area. The Chinese carpet was replaced with a cream colored broad loom carpet - cut and bound to fit the space perfectly. The original cocktail table was repositioned into the middle of the room and accessorized with large tropical leaves and cocktail table books. The dated attached head rest pillows were replaced with seven (7) custom white euro sized down filled pillows. The room is luxurious and elongated giving a feeling of spaciousness and elegance. The space feels clean, crisp and updated with a few simple changes using the homeowner's furniture. West coast spa retreat is how I would describe this Minnesota modern home.
Loving What You Have reminds me of the scene from A Charlie Brown Christmas when Linus looks at Charlie Brown's Christmas tree and says "I never thought it was such a bad little tree. It's not bad at all really. Maybe it just needs a little love". Jay Nuhring
No comments:
Post a Comment