What pulls this together?
I like a lot about this space but if I tried to pull it off I think I would fail. What unites the different styles? I see modern, contemporary, traditional and may even some country in this room.
I am finishing up our TV room and my DH thinks it's all over the place because I have an old secretary that I painted black, a dark green traditional sofa, a MCM cabinet that I am styling as a dry bar and a oriental style carpet. If I could figure out how to bring this all together I would be thrilled.
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How to pull it together or what needs to change
Comments (18)Some other things that will give your kitchen an update: --Say goodbye to the little shelf over the window and the small items up on the cabinet near the fridge. Instant update. --If you get what's called a "swan faucet," the hose is built into it. Keep your paper towels off the counter. Put your dish liquid bottle in the sink. Less clutter = update that doesn't cost anything! --It's definitely worth getting a modern centered overhead light in the kitchen and a smaller one that coordinates with it over the sink. --One of my Ideabooks, labelled "Banquette & window benches" show some very wonderful ones. Get a small round table for yours unless the one you have is built in. You can find a nice round table at Ikea or at a thrift shop. No tablecloth....See MorePull it together for me, please!
Comments (17)Thanks for all the comments, I will post a photo of moving things around. I think I will try to get the arrangement straight before I go painting things. @lindsey I especially appreciated your positive take. It is really hard to convey what physically it looks like to have a ton of people in a really small house. I want everyone to feel like they have a place to gather in our home, but I would like the place to be more than purely utilitarian-- and aspire to beauty. It's just hard to find the compromise point. @benejesbride When you have a really big family gathered sometimes you want to be around other people, but not necessarily with them. Having a separately focused seating area allows people to withdraw but still be in proximity. The reason it happens to be a daybed (it's technically a crate and barrel sofa) per se is I bought that thing on craigslist with out measuring it. I think I thought that since it didn't have arms it would be lower profile. It ended up not looking anything like I imagine. I could find something else, but we actually like sitting over there on it....See MoreNeed help pulling open concept together with different wood tones
Comments (16)@Patricia Colwell I would say that my style is coastal/transitional and my DH's is definitely rustic. The flooring is bamboo. The kitchen island is SW Halcyon Green and the backsplash tile will be a green glass subway similar in color. I love greens and blues and most of the adjoining rooms are painted in those colors. I'm glad everyone feels that I can work with the beams and mantel. I think it was just a shock after looking at the light, unfinished wood for months. What would you suggest for window coverings? We need some type of blinds or shades for privacy, mostly at night, and I would like to eventually add curtains. I also need something for the 12ft sliders....See MoreDeck Colour Dilemna
Comments (1)No. Color codes the environment so your brain can navigate it. Parts of the deck, decking material should be the same unified color/product. Cross pollinating colors from the house will only make it more confusing....See MoreRelated Professionals
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5 years agolast modified: 5 years agoContrast and repetition as other pointed out make this room work. Our eyes register pattern--colors, styles, finishes. Emily pointed out the gold finishes throughout. There's no nickel or bronze that I can see.. The red from the chairs is picked in in two pieces on the cabinet and a couple of the bottles--not too much since the red takes up so much visual space. The red chairs are high contrast to break up the black. The black sideboard and walls are a lot of black, so when black repeats it's in a pattern--gingham seat covers, black and white rug, and plenty of white just outside the room to keep things from being too dark.
If you have a room that's a mishmash, take into account the main colors you see: walls, floors, big upholstered or wood pieces. Then make sure everything else in the room--pillows, rug, art--have just a touch of that main color or secondary color, and your eyes will connect the pattern. Check your finishes in hardware and lighting. If they're all the same, you'll get a feeling of harmony. This isn't "matchy/matchy" It's repeating a visual element that connects the pieces so they "talk" to each other.
It does help to know the color wheel so that you know which colors are complementary. That helps you connect pieces, too. If you inherited your grandmother's big golden oak table but you want a modern look, then pick modern chairs with wood legs that echo the table.
Many of us wind up with Design Dilemmas because we bring home pieces that don't in any way connect with the palette, finishes, or style we have at home. It's great to mix it up, but you do it by "echoing" one element from piece to piece. I hope that makes sense.
Oh, this is just me, but I start with art--have a lot of it, and every other choice of furnishings in my house somehow works with the art. But you can go the other way if you don't have art. Pick a big piece in a subject and style you like that works with what you already have. Here's an example of a palette that would pull things together with your green sofa, black sideboard--pillow is MCM style and has many of the colors of the art. Now you wouldn't put them side by side, but displayed 5-10 feet apart, they would work together.
Rory (Zone 6b) thanked housegal200
5 years ago- 5 years ago
Photos of what I am working with are not loading. I will try in a few separate posts.
5 years ago- 5 years ago
- 5 years agolast modified: 5 years ago
- 5 years ago
- 5 years ago
I think you are on your way to having a lovely and cozy living space. I think you can absolutely mix styles and the mcm bar with your more traditional sofa and leather chairs and wildlife art look great together. I agree that the side tables arent quite right. its hard to see how the different pics you show relate as an entire room. wondering if you can get a pic of the whole room and then pics of the four walls. I am showing a pic of a room that has different styles. modern elements like art and chair fabric and side tables combined with traditional pieces like the style of chair and sofa.
a couple ideas..
- I would consider some more modern feeling side tables, maybe mcm style to bring the look of the bar into the seating area. something less heavy feeling compared to what you have now.
- I think you need side table lamps and maybe even a floor lamp and those could be a little more modern feeling too.
- I think your traditional pieces are the sofa, leather chairs, ottoman, rug and wildlife art, so bringing in more modern side tables and lighting could help bring the two styles together...
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Rory (Zone 6b) thanked Theresa Janssen - 5 years agoRory (Zone 6b) thanked Theresa Janssen
- 5 years ago
I am now on the hunt for more modern end tables and lamps for this room. Feel free to throw some suggestions out.
Room is 20x14 .
- 5 years ago
- 5 years ago
Thx! I like the terrace tables! The other ones seem too small surface wise.
What do you think of this? It's in my attic.
- 5 years ago
5 years agoDepending on its size, I'd try that trunk as the coffee table. It will pick up the gleam of your nailhead trim. Then, if there's room, I'd put the round tufted piece out in front of the fireplace with a throw and a tray on top, plus a few items in the tray. I love the large animal piece and would hang it 5" above the sofa. As mentioned, you do need new tables and lamps. Here's a chart to help you get the heights right.
Rory (Zone 6b) thanked decoenthusiaste- 5 years ago
- 5 years ago
..."what pulls this together"??...repetitive geometric pattern (grids,squares, stripes,
,crosses) a controlled palette (charcoal,red,white), a VERY purposeful limiting of contrast (note that the dark wall blends into the large dark buffet), a unifying bit of gleam, and a few natural elements. And a lot of editing and staging. Pic below is another angle on the space.
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Something else to consider in your space is that it looks like all the 'height' (and interest) is currently on the fireplace and door walls.Rory (Zone 6b) thanked hollybar - 5 years ago
I love your room. It's not a hot mess. Some modern MCM side tables and lamps would modernize the room. Arrange your art above the secretary so it balances out the height of the MCM piece on the other side. Think about a modern woodland landscape over the sofa, which would relate to the animal prints you have and picks up some of the colors in your room. (I mistakenly thought your taste was way more MCM, so I thought art connecting to that style would work. However, your pieces and current art are more of a mix. The MCM piece you have is incredible btw.)
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I'm eager to see how the metal trunk looks.Rory (Zone 6b) thanked housegal200 - 5 years ago
This looks promising??
CLs $175.00 Lane Cameo walnut table.
https://pittsburgh.craigslist.org/fuo/d/pittsburgh-lane-mcm-end-table/7039646090.html
- 5 years agolast modified: 5 years ago
That table is great! Don't paint the MCM bar; just pick up a couple pieces like the one you just showed to echo it.
Here are two more modern lamps for the possible side tables. The gold brass would echo your brass trunk and the black your black secretary.
Or link a new link to the possible table (I hope) you buy and the MCM bar piece you already have.
Rory (Zone 6b) thanked housegal200 - 5 years ago
- 5 years ago
- 5 years ago
- PRO5 years agolast modified: 5 years ago
Hey Rory,
from what i can see it's the balance of color. For instance large dark cabinets white wall in the hall way to balance. The rug, the color of the table bottom, and the white center piece play into that color scheme as well. The Metal finishes in the light fixtures and the vase on the end table, I personally would have opted to make the hardware on the cabinets that same Satin Brass color just to further tie this look together maybe something fro Century Hardware's Glamour collection. Wood table top to match the flooring. You see what i'm saying? Over all who ever designed this did a pretty good job at balancing a lot of different things in one space.
Glamour · More InfoRory (Zone 6b) thanked User - 5 years ago
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