Too much wood in too many different tones...how modernize?
Buying a beautifully constructed log home in mountains of NY but want to update and neutralize the multiple woods. Photos have current owners' furniture - we will be entirely furnishing living room with desire for modern yet warm and inviting place to socialize with family and friends - and are a bit misleading re: color (e.g. walls and ceiling wood are similar light wood color, not yellow; floors are Brazilian wood and same in all rooms). Question how to update look: e.g. paint / stain the ceiling boards some shade of white to minimize all the wood? Cover floor with large rugs or go all the way to floating light grey laminate (re-finishing is not an option as no guarantee floor won't be pink after sanding, bleaching twice and staining)? Any advice appreciated!!!
Comments (30)
housegal200
2 years agoIt is gorgeous. I wouldn't touch it. The previous owners were correct in contrasting light furniture against the wood. You can add to that with very textured, natural handwoven rugs, pillows, upholstery--maybe lose the valences and replace with bamboo shades--but with more modern lines. What a stunning home as it is now.
Log Homes & Cabins - Coventry Log Homes - Custom Craftsman · More Info
The Sea Ranch Vacation House · More Info
Reading, PA family retreat · More Infomariagcmp thanked housegal200Related Discussions
too many plants - too much variety?
Comments (1)For claiming not to have much of a sense of design principles, I would say you have hit the nail on the head with the problem with the design as proposed. Repeating some of the same shrubs in different areas of the garden, using layers of different height shrubs juxtaposed against each other in the deeper areas, are all tried and true design approaches that make a garden more interesting. You might also consider the use of smaller perennials that combine the same foliage color or texture to knit the garden together. As a example, you could pick up on the foliage color of the Loropetalums by using some of the same foliage color Heucheras as edging, or contrast them with some chartreuse foliage such as lime green Heucheras or Acorus gramineus 'Ogon' or similar. You could also bring these same foliage and flower colors into the tree level by including a specimen Cercis canadensis 'Forest Pansy' as part of the mix. You could work with flower color in a range of the same color, picking up on the magenta flowers of the Loropetalum with complementary pinks, reds and purples or closely related flowers of the Azaleas, or Verbena bonariensis or things like Salvia chiapensis or Dierama pulcherrima. The only info you haven't given, but that does enter in to the equation, is what will go in sun or shade, and whether the plants as located are appropriate for the amount of sun. I would suggest that you relay your concerns to the original designer, and have him/her give a whirl at tweaking it. If they just don't have that certain "it", it does sound like you could probably spot the plants yourself and do your own design using the plants you've already selected, if upon reading up on them, they work with your sun/shade patterns. As an example, Loropetalum is unlikely to be as happy in full hot sun as it would be in bright shade or morning sun, and lantana doesn't bloom nearly as well without full sun. If your conditions radically vary around the yard, plants that will tolerate either conditions may be the best "glue" to hold it all together, and things like Nandina and Pittosporum tobira, while perhaps not the most fascinating shrubs, work well this way. I'd suggest dwarf forms of each as a lower level, using Nandina domestica 'Harbour Dwarf' and/or Pittosporum tobira wheeleri as lower edging, or combining with the equally useful Trachelospermum jasminoides, Bergenia crassifolia, etc. These may not all work as well in your area, but are classic dependable shrubs here in northern California. Perhaps a visit to your local botanic garden, or looking at gardens in your neighborhood that you enjoy will give you better ideas of how you could tweak your planting plan......See MorePictures! How many different hardwoods are too many?
Comments (3)Your kempas has much the same coloration as your fir, which I bet is long leaf heart pine and not fir. How are your stairs constructed and from what wood? Wood usually looks good with other wood, unless it is colored to look unnatural. What wood you choose and what color you go for is your decorating decision. Good luck....See MoreHow many types of flooring is too much?
Comments (24)Thanks flyleft and houseful, houseful, I am sorry about your grandmother. 47 is too young. For most brain tumors, the prognosis is dismal, which is partly why I am interested in investigating them from a research standpoint. I have also always been interested in studying the brain. I just think there is so little we know about it. I love the refin tiles, flyleft. They are listed as being sold here in phx. at AZtile where I got my current tiles in the pics, but I didnt see them there. I will call and check this weekend. I had a licensed concrete floor contractor come by today. He also owns a business in CA and says concrete floors are very popular there, but not yet so much in phx. He quoted me $3k for the 400 sq. foot kitchen and 300 sq. feet of bathrooms, including removing the tiles. He does a technique called microtop, whatever that means. It comes with a 5 yr. warranty. If I go with it, I was thinking of a pewter gray, like in this pic.: http://www.lowcostplumbing.com/store3/bath-c-25.html He can even do lines in the concrete like the pic shows. What do you think? I know it would go with the dark cherry cabs., but not sure about the caramel maple cabs. It might look good, however with a dark cement or concrete caesarstone countertop (on sale 25% at great indoors btw). So these are my choices with wood everywhere else: 1. concrete floor in baths and kitchen 2500-3000 2. concrete floor in kitchen, tile in baths 3600 3. leave kitchen as is, concrete in baths 1200 4. leave kitchen as is, tile in baths 1800-2000 (for tile) The ultimate choice would be wood in kitchen (4000) and tile or concrete in baths (1800) = 5800+, but that is too much $$$. I posted a pic on the photobucket of cabinets from a mag. I modeled the master after. They may even be the exact cabs (Brookstone) in the exact color that I bought, according to the kd. I will have the same knobs and same faucet. I would put a cream concrete counter on them. flyleft, this is what I was trying to model the master after: http://s118.photobucket.com/albums/o87/jeschbacher/ I know you gave me the name before, but what is a good book to get again on remodeling? I will go to borders this weekend and get it. LOL on the chair flyleft! I know what you are talking about! I am sure those chairs are extremely comfortable, but they are not for me. Copenhagen is a high end contemporary furniture store in the south west. http://www.copenhagenimports.com/ Thanks for the compliment on the chair. It looks much better in person. Thanks so much for your help guys. Lynn has also been great and even came over and looked at the place! jenny...See MoreDoes wood cabinets plus ceilings plus floors = too much wood?
Comments (20)Thank you all. Either painting the ceiling or the cabinets would be the easiest way to avoid too much brown wood everywhere. (I actually rather like modern high gloss lacquered cabinets.) White paint with a slight blue tint on the ceiling with walnut stained beams sounds quite pretty. However, my DH hates painted wood. Given the choice, he would much rather go with tile floors than paint the ceilings or the cabinets. The wood ceiling doesn't look too bad as is in the photo I posted. I like the depth of the color it is now - not too dark and overpowering - but the tone of the color is the problem. At certain times of day, as the light changes, the ceiling takes on an unattractive pinking or yellowish cast. One of our big problems in the house is lack of lighting, so we are adding as much as we can during the remodel, including cove lighting on top of the cabinets (we can�t do any recessed lighting because there is no space between the wood ceiling and the roof), so the wood ceiling will become more of a feature with the lights aimed at it. Our contractor is supposed to do samples to see if we can dye the ceiling to a more neutral brown shade, without going much darker. We could try to do a greyish tone, like driftwood or aged teak, but that will probably be harder to achieve successfully over a large area than a brown tone. There are little wing walls that separate the kitchen from the dining/living area, so we could do separate flooring in each space. I do not mind using tile in the kitchen, it is the living room that concerns me. I agree that the trick to using multiple woods in one space is to vary the tones and textures, but they still must be complementary. We could leave the ceiling lighter, like it is, and use darker wood floors in the living room, but the furniture in that room is a mix of pecan stained cherry and teak, with medium-dark brown leather couches. I will buy a new contemporary styled rug in lighter tones (creams and blues most likely) no matter what we choose for flooring. In the kitchen, we are using white quartzite counters, stainless appliances and some glass doors in cabinets, so that will break up the brown wood. I still think wood floors in the kitchen at least will be too much with the cabinets and ceiling. I am really torn between lighter or darker walnut cabinets because I love both looks. Black walnut from Smallbone (not sure if this is stained or natural): Sanjuangirl, we are south of you, in San Diego....See More
elcieg
2 years ago
Cheryl Smith
2 years agoyour floors are gorgous! covering them with a laminate is just not right. it is a log home so will have a lot of wood. I would also leave the ceiling. painting or staining is a major cost. live with it the way it is for awhile, things will look totally different with your things and taste. you may find that the things you dont like now become something you love. I live in montana and our current home has custom knotty hichory cabinets throughout the house. I wasnt fond of them but love them now. we get positive comments about them from everyone that sees our home. I would never have chosen them but it really does work with this house. get LARGE rugs to define areas and bring in color or just to mute some of the wood. rather than paint it might be easier to sheetrock a few walls. easier to remove that than strip paint. but painting the walls will brighten things and look more like shiplap than log if you like that look better. I would look at painting the kitchen cabinets and add uppers the cover more of the wood. change countertops and bring it up the wall to under uppers would give it a whole new look
Christensen · More Info
Spurwink Retreat · More Info
Classic Kitchen · More Infomariagcmp thanked Cheryl SmithChessie
2 years agolast modified: 2 years agoasterales
2 years agoThere are a number of different log profiles. Here are a few
Every wall that has a window is constructed of logs.mariagcmp thanked asterales
jmm1837
2 years agoI love the walls and floors just as they are. I'd lean towards Scandinavian/MCM styles for inspiration: nothing dated about that and it would suit the place. And sure, colorful rugs on the floor. I'd throw down some nice orientals or kilims myself. Definitely skip the laminate.
mariagcmp thanked jmm1837
housegal200