Home Office Makeover

"You transformed our living room last year to spectacular results. Still loving it!! (see it here) We have a bedroom which we use as a home office.  Last year we finished the room with paint, new baseboard, crown molding, new lighting.  All the furniture was pushed into the middle of the room.  It has taken me 6 months to go thru all the paperwork, crap, etc.  Now, we're ready to put the furniture back.  But where?  How?  What pictures (bob's sports memorabilia) should go back?  I've always wanted the room to have a nice, officey look but have missed by a country mile.

Can you help us? " 

That was an email from a client- and our reply was "Of course- we love a good challenge!"

Here's what the room looked like when we arrived:

We found out that the game table could go, but that this was also used as TV room so it needed to accommodate a sofa. So let's see- a sofa, a TV, a roll top desk, a computer and printer, a long file cabinet, more files that needed a home, and sports memorabilia. 

So....we dragged out the game table and brought in the sofa and placed it under the window, Then we brought in an ottoman to put your feet on (with a tray it can also hold the chips and beer!) We wanted to add some BLACK for some contrast - we bought a black Ikea bookcase that fills that niche  in the back to house all the sports memorabilia and a small black standing lamp for reading. Elsewhere in the house we found a small round black table to sit next to the sofa and 2 big stripe pillows for some punch:

We placed the long file cabinet on the wall opposite the sofa and put the TV on it and hung the sports photos.

We found a fun little chair in the family room and brought that in for extra seating:

The roll top desk went against the wall as you enter with the computer on it. A new wood file cabinet was purchased to house the file surplus and the printer, as well as a chic new desk chair:

So: BEFORE

                                                            

                                                                          And AFTER:

                                                                             Challenge met!

Reclaimed Living Room

We're  often called in to help clients rescue their living space from the everyday clutter that creeps in and takes over, especially their kids' toys, papers, art projects, etc. While a hard working family room/living room has to function on many levels, the constant chaos of all that stuff does nothing to help create a calm, welcoming space to kick back in after a long and tiring day. With some editing and organizing, it becomes much easier to clean up at a moment's notice and have a room ready for relaxing or even entertaining. BEFORE:

Piano, TV cabinet,  and kids' art armoire all lined up on fireplace wall.

Large painting with smaller framed family photos are out of proportion over fireplace.

Desk filled with kid clutter - move it all to tween's room!

Table with computer sits in front of doors in order to capture panoramic views.

Dining room table becomes catch-all for miscellany.

And AFTER:

A fresh coat of paint pulls the room together. Client bought new plasma screen, so we used the bottom of the blue TV cabinet as a dining room server, providing extras storage as well.

Round mirror was placed over mantle and displayed with client's accessories. Sofas now centered in room to use all the space.

That former computer table is now repurposed as a sofa table.

Art armoire moved to tween's room and piano moved to opposite side of fireplace to lighten up wall.

Plasma screen will be mounted on the left.

 

We purchased a large ottoman to visually tie the 2 sofas together and provide some graphic punch, as well as extra seating  and a broad surface to put your feet upon.

Entry BEFORE:

Cluttered with kids' outerwear and shoes.

And AFTER:

Coat closet was reorganized to hold kids' outerwear. New entry rug pulls room together with color.

Former kids' desk moved to entry can house laptop and still take advantage of views. 

Large painting from over fireplace moved to stairwell where it creates a fun focal point.

The Living Room AFTER: style and function working together!

                                                                      

Quick Change: Berkeley

BEFORE:  A living room that just wasn't working for the family:

The homeowner said this seating area was never used...

while the other end of the room was used frequently for reading and playing chess and piano, but looked and felt cluttered:

The challenge was to make the entire room functional and integrated. The biggest obstacle was the oversized sofa, which was cutting the room in half:

In the next room, which was being used as a dining room/family room, we found a smaller scaled sofa:

We brought that into the living room and positioned it facing the fireplace, which immediately opened up the space. We brought in the dining table as well, where it can double as a larger surface for playing chess. The piano keyboard was moved into the family room, along with the much larger sofa.

The living room BEFORE:

and AFTER:

BEFORE:

and AFTER:                                                        

BEFORE:

and AFTER:

We moved the rug from the back of the room into the seating area to ground it and to create a warm welcoming entrance, as this is the first room to greet you as you enter the house. Without the large barrier of the sofa, it's now inviting to come in and sit down and easier for family and friends to interact with each other. And to make the dining room table multi functional, we placed 2 chairs in the back,  2 small scale armchairs that were floating around the room at each end, and an upholstered ottoman in front.
We also switched out the coffee table, and exchanged the small accessories that were dotting the mantle for bigger pieces with more impact. Now the room can work hard and look good!

Spring Awakening in Mill Valley

Here's a room that we transformed in an afternoon - we transitioned it from holiday decor to a fresh spring look.

BEFORE:

We did a bit of de-cluttering and added focus, definition and pops of color:
-we removed all the loose pillows from the sofas and replaced them with fresh fun ones
-changed out the coffee table and end table
-reworked the mantle

AFTER:

Replacing the little pine coffee table with the large square black one (which was hiding in the corner) gives the room more sophistication. We took away the vintage table lamp and brought in the black floor lamp from another room. Adding the hot pink throw and "1" pillow (which happened to be the address of the house!) updates the sofas and lends a lighthearted air to the room.

The mantle BEFORE :

And AFTER:

Glass vases, sculptural candlesticks, and natural elements all work together to create a fresh new look.