Living With Meaning

This home is magical - in the heart of south Minneapolis and still a thousand miles from anything. This homeowner truly understands how to live with meaning - while others try to understand the meaning of life. The primary living space of this home is on the second floor. The feeling is like living in a tree house - three walls of windows in the dining room (third photo) provide views of the century old lilac bushes below. The feeling is warm, familiar, carefree - as if the house is telling you you've been here before. The conversations between the generations are welcomed here with old architecture mingling with newer artwork and estate sale finds.

The second photo is of the sitting room between the dining room and kitchen. The homeowner had the olive sofa along the same wall as the long wooden table (left in picture). The white book case wall houses a television in the cabinets below. The sofa moved to the window wall creating a focal point at the end of the room and giving the long (primitive) table more elbow room. The two largest pieces of furniture appear more comfortable on separate walls - sizing up each other's apparent strengths. The pair of vintage wicker chairs pull up close for intimacy and extra tv viewing. The space is warm and inviting like a room full of characters from a great novel.

The furniture in the first picture stayed in the same place with the exception of the small wooden chair under the window. The collection of art pieces on the mantle were carefully rearranged and the small oil painting to the left of the fireplace was lowered - now the painting embraces the vintage side table and is warmed by the glow from the antique brass lamp. Picture books were added to the cocktail table and lastly the cushion inserts of the sofa were taken out of their casings and reversed to create a refreshed look (this is a great way to revive tired looking upholstery).

This house is a living, breathing entity thanks to the homeowner's willingness to allow the home to tell her "why architecture matters" (Paul Goldberger). For her this house has been a "guardian of identity" "A house that has grown into a knowledgeable witness" - The Architecture of Happiness - Alain de Botton. Loving What You Have sometimes means a deeper appreciation of old houses. (Photographs by Landmark Photography - Minneapolis).  Jay Nuhring

Keep The Table

I am always surprised by how a piece of furniture can look completely different when paired with other furniture or put into a different setting. I often times encounter clients who have given up on a piece of furniture because they think it is outdated. The words "I really don't care if you decide to get rid of that piece of furniture" is not unfamiliar when talking about design with clients. I respond by nodding my head in a manner suggesting I agree with them and then with the most delicate interjection encourage them to suspend their judgement until we've investigated every possible solution. It's a bit antiquated but I often say "Don't throw the baby out with the bath water". Any one can remove the potential problem piece of furniture from a room - few can take that very problem piece of furniture and make it better.

The "Before" and "After" example above illustrates this point well. At a glance the dining room furniture appears to have multiple personalities - non of which get along very well. It's a collision of different styles and periods that just do not belong together. The original dining table is glass. The side chairs are finished in a high gloss black lacquer. The end chairs are a traditional wing back style upholstered in a baby blue fabric and the carpet is a traditional Chinese pattern. All of these styles diminish the architectural voice - barely audible at this point. The architecture is being suffocated by the furnishings.

The dining room comes to life by eliminating the black lacquered and blue upholstered chairs and by adding a classic white modern armless chair. The traditional carpet is replaced with a simple cream colored broad loom custom cut to fit the space. Notice the original dining table was used but accessorized with contrasting organic elements of rustic wood containers. The room has a clean, crisp, California feel. Totally upscale, relaxing, chic and tranquil. The architecture is more vocal - one can understand the subtleties and nuances of the architectural details that before were overpowered by the ill suited furnishings.

It would have been easy to have eliminated everything in the room and started over. Keeping the table saved the home owner money, extended the life of a perfectly good table, and paid tribute to a beautiful architecturally designed and executed home. Loving What You Have means looking at what you have with new eyes. The very thing that you think is outdating your room may be the very thing you end up keeping. Love what you have and it will love you back.  Jay Nuhring

Rearranging Accessories

One movie is known for it's quote "Build it and they will come". The same is true for your home - "If there is a surface it will inevitably collect stuff". The urge to put something on a ledge, shelf or table top is greater than the ability to resist putting anything there at all or at least suspending wanting to put the very first thing you find there.

The "Before" and "After" photographs above are an example of too many things on a surface that have no relationship or cohesiveness. It is also an example of how to scale the appropriate size artwork above a desk this size. Not only is the artwork too large with the piece of furniture it is hanging above but it is also too large for the wall (notice the french door to the right and the window to the left). The space between the door and the window is minimal and calls for smaller scaled art. Notice the width of the artwork in the "Before" picture - it is almost the same width of the desk. This kind of spacial relationship creates tension between the artwork and the desk. Both artwork and desk are vying for the same attention and presence within the room. In this struggle for attention the desk wins out - being the more prominent furnishing in the mix. Now that the desk has been identified as the chosen piece to work around everything else on the wall must bow to the desk - support the desk and not dominate the desk. Identifying this kind of hierarchy early on is important to layering the secondary and tertiary furnishings later. The desk is the primary furnishing for this composition therefore the artwork must be smaller scaled.

Changing the scale of the artwork not only supports the hierarchy of the desk but also gives the accent lamp a bit more attention. Before the accent lamp was struggling to stay on top of the desk as if the picture was slowly nudging it to the edge - waiting for it's fatal drop to the floor below. Now the accent lamp feels grounded and permanent within the composition of pictures and silver tea set. In addition to the smaller artwork the wall color changed from a dreary off white to a fresh yet historic golden yellow (Benjamin Moore - Waterbury Cream - HC 31). The new paint color highlights the white enameled woodwork and makes the antique wood and brass accents come alive. Now the desk top becomes a true focal point with a curated mix of antique gold and silver accessories - more feminine, more thoughtful and more suspenseful. Makes me want to stand in front of the desk and actually study it's components.

Funny how in the "Before" picture I would have not given the desk a second look - it holds no interest for me. It simply looks like an old piece of furniture I would never have any interest in. But now, with a few simple changes the desk reclaims it's glory within the company of some distinguished friends. Loving What You Have can be as simple as changing a picture, changing a wall color or changing an arrangement on that old desk. Love what you have and it will love you back.   Jay Nuhring