Before and After: Novato - Shake It Up!

When we're called on to do a one day room makeover, we never know what we will encounter until we walk through the front door. There, we're greeted by our clients and shown the problem area, often a living room, which just isn't working for them. We hear the same thing time and again: they don't know why but their room remains unfriendly and underused. The funny thing is we can see what the problem is as soon as we enter the room: the seating is lined up along the walls, very prim and proper. But most of us don't live formally- we want our living spaces to be warm and appealing, inviting conversation and interaction. This can't happen when all the seating is around the perimeter of the room:

This room is very large, and the idea of having more than one seating area is a good one. But the distance between them is so great that in order to talk to someone you'd be yelling across the room - how can you make it feel cozy and warm?  Get the furniture up and into the room!

 Before, the chairs look lonely back against that side wall with all that space in front of them- the small pictures look spread apart and lonely too- and what's that cabinet in the corner?

After, by switching those chairs out with one of the sofas and then pulling both sofas off the walls facing each other,  the room feels much more inviting:

 We placed the chairs here, where they welcome you in. A larger wood table with a beautiful pedestal base we found hidden under a cloth in another room now stands front and center between them, creating an impressive entry to the room. Those small pictures now flank a larger more substantial one- much more impact:

We shake it up some more- What about those 2 lamps that were on either side of the sofa on matching end tables? And the 2 coffee tables?

Those lamps look more interesting behind the sofa, placed on that cabinet we saw in the corner, now opened up. The heavy wood coffee table wasn't needed, so out it went:

Before, there was a large framed piece of art traditionally hung over the fireplace:

We replaced it with some unexpected sculptural pieces that are more exciting:

After all our changes, the room feels more contemporary, yet warmer and cozier. It's more conducive to entertaining or just hanging out with friends and family. 

Come on in and relax!