Room of the Day: Dramatic Redesign Brings Intimacy to a Large Room
The daunting size of the living room once repelled this young family, but thanks to a new design, it’s now their favorite room in the house
It may sound like an enviable problem, but sometimes a big room can feel really uncomfortable. This California living room had big views, a fireplace and great access out to a deck. But its size, 24 by 17 feet (7.3 by 5.1 meters), made the furniture layout a challenge. As a result, it felt empty and uninviting, and the most use it got was when the homeowners’ three sons played baseball in it. Working together, architect and interior designer Melina Copass and interior designer Lisa Rubenstein used color, metallic accents, activity zones and other clever design moves to create a comfortable feeling for the whole family.
AFTER: The designers thwarted the expected symmetry and zoned the room for sitting on one side and playing billiards on the other. They also decided on a dark color for the walls. “We don’t usually go this dark, but the room was big enough to take it,” Copass says. “The dark color makes it more intimate,” Rubenstein adds.
“The fireplace surround adds a little sparkle and glamour,” Rubenstein says. The tiles are glass with gold leaf applied on the backs. “The gold looks beautiful with the blue,” she says. They painted the mantel and the rest of the fireplace surround glossy black. Rubenstein brought in the Erin Parish painting from her own home for the photo shoot, but it looked so good and the homeowners loved it so much that she gave it to them.
Other brass and gold finishes on the coffee table, shelves, chest ring pulls and accessories add warm glints to the room. The rug and sofa were the homeowners’ own; the designers re-covered the sofa in a kid-friendly, durable, peacock-colored mohair from Lee Jofa. The chair and ottoman are vintage, re-covered in a rusty orange velvet from Kravet. “This is their youngest son’s favorite chair to curl up and read in,” Rubenstein says. “It really just embraces you.”
Wall paint: Hague Blue, Fine Paints of Europe; chest: vintage Robsjohn-Gibbings, 1stdibs; chair: vintage, Janakos & Co.; Lex shelves: Redford House; painting: Foggy Morning Layover, by Erin Parish; coffee table: Jonathan Adler; fireplace tile: Megalos Vitra in Pan de Oro, 12 by 24 inches, Dune
“The fireplace surround adds a little sparkle and glamour,” Rubenstein says. The tiles are glass with gold leaf applied on the backs. “The gold looks beautiful with the blue,” she says. They painted the mantel and the rest of the fireplace surround glossy black. Rubenstein brought in the Erin Parish painting from her own home for the photo shoot, but it looked so good and the homeowners loved it so much that she gave it to them.
Other brass and gold finishes on the coffee table, shelves, chest ring pulls and accessories add warm glints to the room. The rug and sofa were the homeowners’ own; the designers re-covered the sofa in a kid-friendly, durable, peacock-colored mohair from Lee Jofa. The chair and ottoman are vintage, re-covered in a rusty orange velvet from Kravet. “This is their youngest son’s favorite chair to curl up and read in,” Rubenstein says. “It really just embraces you.”
Wall paint: Hague Blue, Fine Paints of Europe; chest: vintage Robsjohn-Gibbings, 1stdibs; chair: vintage, Janakos & Co.; Lex shelves: Redford House; painting: Foggy Morning Layover, by Erin Parish; coffee table: Jonathan Adler; fireplace tile: Megalos Vitra in Pan de Oro, 12 by 24 inches, Dune
The designers and homeowners replaced the baseball field with another activity — billiards. “The boys are super into sports, but it’s also great for adults. When they have people over, everyone stays in the living room now rather than gravitating toward the kitchen,” Copass says.
The pool table is also great for family time. “The pool table provided a wonderful way for the parents to interact with their kids,” Rubenstein says. “Instead of just sitting there and asking, ‘How was your day?’ and getting ‘Fine’ as an answer, they are engaged in an activity together, which brings out more conversation.”
They chose a customizable table from Swaim and picked the wood, finish, cloth and even the pocket leather. “It worked out well that their sofa had a lower back. [It] offers enough clearance for playing,” Rubenstein says. On the other side, they added a tufted daybed that also has a low profile. While the piece has a formal shape, they chose a more casual linen for the upholstery that adds an eclectic touch.
The elegant table, lit by Tom Dixon’s Beat pendants with their quirky silhouettes, fits right in. The pendants have brass inside that adds a golden glow.
Flooring: original, re-stained in a walnut finish; pool table: Manor by Swaim, Witford; painting: Invisible, by Thomas Hawk, Kevin Barry Fine Art Associates; pillows: Plantation
The pool table is also great for family time. “The pool table provided a wonderful way for the parents to interact with their kids,” Rubenstein says. “Instead of just sitting there and asking, ‘How was your day?’ and getting ‘Fine’ as an answer, they are engaged in an activity together, which brings out more conversation.”
They chose a customizable table from Swaim and picked the wood, finish, cloth and even the pocket leather. “It worked out well that their sofa had a lower back. [It] offers enough clearance for playing,” Rubenstein says. On the other side, they added a tufted daybed that also has a low profile. While the piece has a formal shape, they chose a more casual linen for the upholstery that adds an eclectic touch.
The elegant table, lit by Tom Dixon’s Beat pendants with their quirky silhouettes, fits right in. The pendants have brass inside that adds a golden glow.
Flooring: original, re-stained in a walnut finish; pool table: Manor by Swaim, Witford; painting: Invisible, by Thomas Hawk, Kevin Barry Fine Art Associates; pillows: Plantation
Here you can see how the living room, open only to a hallway, fits into the floor plan. The living room was one of the smaller parts of the project and did not require much construction. The overall scope of the project included renovating many of the rooms in the house and converting one bay of the garage into a multipurpose area: mudroom, laundry room, hallway and pool bathroom.
Construction: J.P. Lindstrom Inc.
More
How to Plan a Just-Right Living Room Layout
Divide and Conquer: How to Furnish a Long, Narrow Room
Construction: J.P. Lindstrom Inc.
More
How to Plan a Just-Right Living Room Layout
Divide and Conquer: How to Furnish a Long, Narrow Room
Living Room at a Glance
What happens here: A couple and their three young sons gather, watch TV, enjoy a fire, play pool and host friends (but they don’t play baseball in here anymore).
Location: Hillsborough, California
Size: 408 square feet (38 square meters)
Designers: Melina Copass of Melinamade Interiors and Lisa Rubenstein of Real Rooms Design
BEFORE: “The room was too big,” Copass says. “The homeowners found it so large and daunting that they never hung out in here.” The fireplace’s placement in the center made things a challenge for the homeowners, who felt they had to use symmetry with sofas, leaving miles of space on either side of the wide room. Copass and Rubenstein showed them how to make the fireplace a beautiful feature that the room did not have to revolve around. In addition, plantation blinds were hindering the view. The designers replaced them with less obtrusive motorized shades placed at the tops of the transoms.