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A Room with a View: Designing Around a Panorama
How to Decorate When the Room's Best Feature is Outside
Sometimes people buy a home for its structure. Sometimes they buy one for its floor plan, its landscaping or its kitchen. Realtors say that everything boils down to location, location, location, but in the following ten examples, the Realtors' adage can be reinterpreted to read, "Everything boils down to the view, the view, the view."
Designing a home around a view presents a challenge, but designing the building is only half of the equation. Once the house is built, designing a room to take advantage of the beauty outside can be a balancing act. There is no single right way to do this of course, but the following examples show the work of some designers who really know how to capture a view.
Designing a home around a view presents a challenge, but designing the building is only half of the equation. Once the house is built, designing a room to take advantage of the beauty outside can be a balancing act. There is no single right way to do this of course, but the following examples show the work of some designers who really know how to capture a view.
When the emphasis of a room is actually outside of the room, less is definitely more. The minimal furnishings in this room work together to provide a place to sleep and a place to sit while never obscuring the fact that this bedroom's "decorated" with a bay view.
This kitchen takes the view from the window wall and the clerestory above and runs with it. The header over the door lines up with the mountain in the distance and introduces a point of reference. The kitchen wall cabinets follow that same line and bring a sense of scale to what could be an overwhelming space. Brilliant!
In this room, light and airy meet dark and restrained, and all work together beautifully. The wallpapered column dividing the walls and the boxy arms of the sofa and chairs echo the shapes of the tall buildings outside. The glass coffee table minimizes the appearance of the horizontal surfaces and makes this an ideal urban living room.
As this room shows so elegantly, dark colors needn't be heavy. The black in that carpet's offset by the metallic accents scattered around this room. The effect is a restrained glittering that takes advantage of the light, the view and the great outdoors.
This dining room's primary accessory is its view of of San Francisco Bay. By using a classic dining table, chairs and light fixture, this thoroughly modern room doesn't feel modern at all.
This somewhat spare living room is setting the stage for every bit of available sunlight to stream in and then dance all over this room. The light floor, the light walls and the light upholstery keep this room sparkling and bright even when it's raining.
This otherwise monchromatic kitchen has a bit of the outdoors shot right into its center with the serpentinite counter. Notice how the green starts outside and comes right in.
The designer in this case is going for lean and low and the effect is terrific. Notice how the shape of Coit Tower in the distance is echoed in the shape of the metal stool table between the two chairs.
The designer in this room is going for light, bright and airy. The metallic, skinny legs on the sofa, the chairs and the tables let all of that natural light bounce all over that room. The green stone on the fireplace surround bring the trees right into this room.
If you had one of these rooms with a view, what direction do you think you'd take with the decor? How would you honor the outside from the inside?
If you had one of these rooms with a view, what direction do you think you'd take with the decor? How would you honor the outside from the inside?