By Tedra Schneider
Room 911
Tedra Schneider.
Sometimes our greatest “creations” come from moving something to a different place in a room. Such was the case recently when I was asked by a client to come breathe some new life into her living room.
This room had every object and every piece of furniture placed exactly how it was when they moved in 20 years ago. The client was bored with the room, but she really didn’t want to invest too much money into this endeavor.
This living room was only used on state occasions. The furniture was in excellent condition, as was the carpeting (although I would have preferred wood floors). The chairs that framed the sofa were covered in plastic. (Don’t get me started on plastic.) Plants were placed around the room. The artwork was hung at the appropriate height.
It was nothing exciting. It would be what one might see in a doctor’s waiting room. The room overall, including the bookcases, looked like no one had ever been in it. It was only used when company came over for holidays or an occasional cocktail party.
The first task was to assess the paint color. The walls were white, as was the crown and baseboard molding. Nothing popped out. What was needed was some contrast. My suggestions was a Benjamin Moore paint from the Timeless Neutral Collection called Barren Plain. Its soft gray was inviting on the walls. The moldings were repainted a fresh, crisp white.
The sofa and chairs were a charcoal gray, and we needed an accent color for the pillows. Teal was one option and a muted purple was another. The client wanted the purple. It was refreshing and blended well with the soft gray walls and white trim.
The photographs on the bookshelves were also replaced. While the nostalgia of a wedding photo and ancestors from Eastern Europe were important, we sorted through more action-oriented photos like those from a whale watching trip, whitewater rafting with the family and a dynamic sports photo on a ski slope.
A collection of Navajo and Native American Indian ceramics were on the lowest shelf of the bookcase. We moved them on top of the bookcase. That truly gave a boost to the previously staid-looking bookcase.
All the plants in the room were gathered in one corner. We created depth in the room by starting out with the tallest plants and then building into the room with the medium-sized plants down to the smallest plants. It was fortunate that they each did well in a medium-lit area.
While the artwork would not have reflected my taste, I was able to use one wall and hang eight paintings, lithographs or woodcuts in an interesting pattern that took up one entire wall. It gave the nondescript artwork more importance.
The cost: paint, a painter, three pillows, art wall hooks, and some new photo frames. The client got a big bang for her buck.
Tedra Schneider can be reached at restagebytedra@gmail.com.