A Contemporary, Colorful Living Room

Hello my fabulous blog followers!

Below are pics of a living room I recently completed. It is in the same house as the kitchen from my last post. The final piece for this living room took awhile. It was finding just the right table for the corner in between the two purple sofas. With those high arms on the sofas, we knew the table had to be fairly high for function, but if it was the same height as the arms, it would look awkward...happy balance time! We also really wanted a pop of copper on top (say that 5 times fast :) to tie in the chairs and complement the purple sofas. I really like the Asian art and the Asian feel of the table lamp. Both of those features soften or take the edge off of the contemporary lines and add more visual depth. Enjoy!

 Keeping everything very geometric for a contemporary feel...also the nature of the architecture of the house.

 I love the windows in this house! Beautiful dichroic glass art on the coffee table by Designs by Shoshana. 

Looking into the dining room...tying the rooms together with red.

Off set wall hung shelves provide a nice place for art, family pics, and mementos.

Later, Susan

Living Room in Full Color

I know, I know...I have been greatly delinquent on posting once a week.  I have been so busy with my many projects , and I say many with a smile on my face :) or when I sit down to write, I am just too tired to care.  I definitely don't want to be posting "careless" pieces!

I am working on a living room, dining room, foyer redesign and thought I would share with you it's progress.  A few years ago, 2007 to be exact, when the couple with small kids moved into the home, we worked on the exterior -- new siding, ext lighting, railings, landscaping, etc.  We then did some paint colors in the inside just to give the house a more personable feeling.  Now we are starting over, with whole room redo's in the above three rooms.  I'll write posts on the dining room and foyer in future posts. Sooo stay tuned!!

Above is the layout of the room.  I love using Post-It notes cut to size of my furniture selections so I can move the pieces around at will.  Yes, I have the ever popular magnetic set.  However, I can never seem to find the size/style I need.  So I made my own!  The Charles Ray sofa is in the bottom right corner with an existing cocktail table in front and an existing low buffet in back which will eventually get a couple of lamps.  A contemporary style Hickory wing chair is in the bottom left corner and a Hickory chaise in the upper left corner.  In the upper right corner is the husband's Ekornes brown leather chair/ottoman where he likes to work on his laptop from home -- so a must to incorporate!

Here's the sofa material -- kind of a reinterpreted "running dog/Asian" look with the softest of soft microfiber pillows and trim in a rich rust color with an accent trim.  The dark gold color is the Benjamin Moore wall paint while the light gold color will be the on the elevated, peaked ceiling.

The chaise lounge will be in this wonderful soft blue microfiber (more desaturated looking than in the pic) near the fireplace with an accent pillow in a Ralph Lauren green/blue/red to tie in with the sofa and wing chair.

Fabulous Schumacher printed linen for grommet drapery flanking the fireplace.

The Schumacher linen has super duper large paisleys on it and will be bordered by a Robert Allen rust linen at the top.  The green fabric is the Hickory contemporary wing chair.  It will also have bronze colored railheads to bring in a bit of masculinity to the room!

This is the coffee/cocktail table -- an inheritance from the husband's mother so it has sentimental value.  He is thrilled we can reuse it, and so am I!  Look at those big chunky legs -- aren't they cool?  And I love the acanthus leaf accents.  I am having a decorative paint artist add a bit of gold leaf and gold Rub n' Buff to the legs to give it more of a worn, yet elegant look.

And here it all is!!  What do you think?  (Again the blue is not that vibrant - jeepers!! :)

Cheers!  Susan

Bloody Lovely!

This is a very catching vignette!  Why am I calling it "Bloody Lovely"?  It feels English to me, but not Grandma's English, but instead a more youthful English.  I love the symmetry.  I love the dissonance between the coral, pink, and red colors.  I love the way the warm gold, whispy wall candelabras contrast with the cool boldness of the painting.  I love the juxtaposition of traditional, contemporary, retro, and Asian styling.  I love how the color black is strategically positioned to carry your eye around, and ground, the room starting with the woman's hair, to the lampshades, to the arced feet of the sofa.  So completely pleasing to my eye!!

~~ Susan ~~

Stillwater project finished!

Cheers!  I have recently finished, so to speak, a whole house project in Stillwater.  Are we really, as designers, ever finished?!  I know it's so hard for some people to understand the innate quality of being an interior designer.  There is no "off" button~~which is fine with me--it's my passion.  I am moved and enthralled by exciting environments and fun, funky, and unique designed products.


We are still working on a few small finishing touches in this residence, but for the most part, the main vibe of the place is intact!  We, as in myself, Hagstrom Builder, and Denny Claridge, the architect, designed this lovely new home in an open floor plan style for ease of having many grandchildren and family members visit as well as to accommodate a disabled homeowner.  The intention was to create intimate and inviting areas within a French Country style space with a nod to Asian.  Below are some of the pics of the living room, dining room, and kitchen.  If you've already seen the pics on other sites (website, FB, Linkedin, etc.), well, enjoy again!  Other room pics to come in the future!

 Dining Room

We used the client's existing dining table, chairs, and buffet, but made new cushions for the chairs.  The wall is blue grasscloth by Thibaut, drapery fabric by Ralph Lauren, hardware by Orion, and the chandelier is by Cyan Design.

 Living Room

In the living room, we purchased all new except for the two creamy white bergere chairs which we reupholstered in a Kravet chair fabric and the rug, which was our inspiration for the room's colors.  Because we had a large TV on one side of the fireplace and watercolor art on the other, we didn't want yet another image, or similar size piece, over the fireplace.  I hired Kelly Ludeking, a fabulous metal artist, to make custom bronze candlesticks, which are stunning!  The hand manipulated bronze and hand rubbed finish is truly incredible!  Kelly has done many wonderful pieces for me in the past including a Pool Changing Room vanity and a pendant light.  See here.

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The drapery fabric is Fabricut and the console bronze sculpture is my client's.  Sofas are by Lee.  The stunning two color, distressed console as well as the cocktail table are by Sterling.  The two ottomans under the console are custom and I had them upholstered in the coolest fabric from Pollack, one of my fave fabric manufacturers.  It is a vinyl that gives the appearance of silk.  I have seen it on a tufted king size headboard as well, which is initially where I became aware of it.  I thought for sure it was silk until I went up to touch it!  One of the best illusions around!  See the close up below, which still doesn't do the fabric justice!

 Living Room

~Sterling Collection cocktail table, rug client's own, Kravet chair fabric, Sunbrella sofa fabric, Fabricut pillow fabric, pottery bowl by local MN potter Lee Love

 Living Room and corner of Kitchen

Kitchen/partial Sun Room

Cabinetry by Preferred Kitchens in White Bear Lake, MN.  Peek into the sunroom where we had a custom sofa and chair made.  Stool fabric by Sunbrella.

Well?  What do you think?  Questions, comments...???!!!