Unsunk Livingroom
A living room interior design, no longer sunk!
It’s not often that we have a client come to us and say, “I’ve got a whole house that needs your interior design expertise, let’s go!” While those projects are lots of fun, most often we get a call from someone who has one room they’re not sure what to do with and they are looking for a little interior design help.
What to do with “that one room”?
Recently we had one such client. This homeowner generally liked the design of her home interior, but there was “that one room”. In this case she had a very out-of-date sunken living room that was adjacent to her dining room. The area had not been updated for many years. Like many homeowners, she wanted help deciding what new paint colors she should choose, but she was also unsure of how to tackle the sunken area. To start, she decided to hire Pegasus Design Group for an 2-hour consultation. During the initial interior design consultation, we recommended that the sunken area be raised, the homeowner agreed. To her it was a matter, not only of making better use of the living room area, but also safety. Raising the floor posed another design challenge, the existing windows would now appear too low. A challenge yes, but not a problem: Our suggestion was to add transom window above the existing windows.
It’s okay to keep what you love.
Does working with interior designers mean you have to buy all new? Of course not. During the design consultation we talked about the furniture she had in her sunken living room. The furniture was over 20 years old and did not fit the new living space. Though she wasn’t sure she wanted to purchase new furniture immediately, she asked us to make some initial suggestions for new pieces. She was concerned we would tell her to get rid of all of her furniture. As it turned out, she did decide to purchase some new furniture, but we were able to use her existing cocktail table, end tables, an antique storage piece and dining table and chairs.
Interior design within your budget, and your style.
Keeping our client’s furniture budget in mind, we found a new pair of sofas, custom-upholstered in a beautiful neutral cut velvet and two occasional chairs upholstered in a complementary blue-gray contemporary floral. It was also important to keep the furniture designs to her style, which was clean-lined and tailored. We were able to use her existing dining chairs simply reupholstering them to compliment her new palette. The new paint palette was based on her new upholstery.
Recycle your own interior design accessories in a fresh new way.
Like furniture, we don’t have to purchase all new design accessories either. After the new upholstery pieces came in and were placed, we used her existing accessories and “recycled” them in a new and fresh way. We re-hung her beautiful artwork to complement the new room arrangement. The homeowner was so excited to see her old art pieces and accessories used in a new way. She told us that she never would have imagined these particular pieces of art could looking so stylish in her new living room.
Window treatments are both stylish and functional.
While the new windows didn’t necessarily require new window treatments, once our client saw the furniture and accessories installed, she decided new window treatments were a must to finish the room. We added remote-controlled Duette shades for sun protection that tucked under a box-pleated, tailored valance and finished the treatment with complementary side panels. The fabric we chose was a tone-on-tone pattern reflecting the new wall color. Utilizing window treatments in this way creates the appearance of a taller and wider window, which is what we wanted to accomplish.
Don’t forget what’s underfoot.
The wood flooring on the no-longer sunken living room was selected to match the floor in adjacent rooms, but our client wanted warmth and comfort in the living room–we needed to choose a new area rug for her. She loves soft, neutral colors, so we chose a rug that was a frisee. We had it custom-bound and sized in a color that perfectly complements her color palette. This type of carpet is also easily maintained, which was important to her, since she has an active household.
Another happy client.
After this project was completed, our client was not only happy with the results, but told us she felt we had made this process as painless as possible while creating a living space that exceeded her expectations.
We would love the opportunity to exceed your expectations. If you would like to have Pegasus Design Group help you with “that one room” in your home, call us today 414-272-9433.