WOW!!

Gorgeous home. It appears in these photos that most of the light is coming from above. Floor, table and accent lighting (for spectacular art) will make a tremendous difference.

Hello Charlotte. You have a very special home. Some will give you advice not to change a thing and others will advise to bring the design up to today's contemporary standards, I don't mean this sound demeaning in any way, as Bud Oglesby was a leader in Architecture at the time, however unless you intend to keep the home as a tribute to Bud there aren't many Architects in the world who have works that should be considered untouchable. My best advice would be for you to locate a great design firm in your area that specializes in Mid-Century Homes, Contemporary Home and has Interior Designers and lighting specialists on board. My personal opinion is the home needs some adjustments and special attention focused on the hanging drums in these rooms. I know there are very talented designers that can guide you through a redefinition of the homes current design. Wishing you all the best, good luck. Jerome DeMarco ART.chitecture

Wow!!! It's a gorgeous piece of work. That being said there is so much wood. If this is going to be your home then you should make it yours. I do love that you are being respectful of the architects work. It is pretty amazing. One suggestion is to up the lighting and install new fixtures wherever possible. Also, use your furnishings and artwork to tone down the wood as much as possible. Good luck!!

beautiful home - i would do light furniture- no browns, add mirrors (possibly framed in a similar wood as the walls as to not compete but reflect light) and bring in a lighting specialist. (even recover the kitchen chairs to something lighter or non brown)

Upgrade the available power supply, if necessary, and consult with a lighting specialist, architect and perhaps a film industry lighting designer. Light-colored paint (on non-wood walls only) and furnishings may help.
We would love to see this home again when you are settled in.

I agree with the other posters, lighting and lighter colored furniture is your friend. I think it would be sacrilegious to paint that gorgeous redwood, but I see what you mean about seeming dark. A lighting concept will work wonders.

Don’t forget plants! My favorite solution for everything. IMO they will lighten up that beautiful woodwork, take the eye upward, make the ceiling less heavy-looking. IMO this is one aspect of brightness. Plants can be strategically lit, too.

First and foremost..."do no harm". Absolutely Stunning - thank you for sharing.

I have seen redwood successfully stained like this

Wow! I love unique homes. I sure hope you didn't buy this house just to change this into what everyone have on this site and HGTV. I'd work with it. A lot of jackasses on this site would gut this and put in cheap garbage that 99.9% of people already have. Then its followed by another group of jackasses that go on a type fest with "beautiful transformation" because their little brains were trained to believe thats the way its supposed to be by HGTV. Since the walls and ceilings are dark then everything else has to be made light. Lighting. Add skylights if you can.

super gorgeous house. if you do switch out light fixtures keep the originals. dont' stain the wood. agree with the people here who say work with it. while keeping architectural elements isn't something mandated by god, I do believe it's one of those things that DOES add value to a house. I mean original house now by frank lloyd wright vs a totally remodelled FLW. big difference. if you do have to get rid of any of the elements like old light fixtures you should save them so the house can be returned to original later if so desired. I would think refurnishing the house with white things and stainless would go a long way towards brightening it up. super modern furniture would look great here. go overboard with the lamps.

If you go all LEDs the electrical will be able to handle many more bulbs than are there now .I love the house but just too much wood for me but improving the lighting will make a huge difference go with 4000K bulbs and add as mentioned the other layers of lighting with table and floor lamps.

I love the shape of your new chairs but would you consider reupholstering them? It seems like putting in furniture that is almost an exact color match to the walls (at least on my screen) is not helping toward your goal of toning down the dark wood. Congratulations on your beautiful new home!