As many of you know my husband, Steve is an architect. When we built our home almost 8 years ago I became his client. For the most part, Steve let me do whatever I wanted with the interior design of our home. This probably explains why our home is a little more feminine than masculine in feel. It definitely has more yin than yang!
Well, recently Steve has gotten more opinionated. When I wanted to make a few changes around our home to get ready for our "New Old House Magazine" shoot, he decided that it was time to participate a little more in the design decisions. Of course, this wouldn't be the first time that we have collaborated. We design homes for our clients together all of the time. So why should this be any different? I'm sure you know what comes next. Yes, it was different!
This is Steve in his "man cave"... I mean office.
Gear molds and hat molds fill the shelves. It was going to be interesting to see what he wanted to add to the rest of our home.
It was a bit overwhelming for both of us to tackle our whole house at one time, so we decided to focus on one area at a time. The first space that we wanted to update was our kitchen/family room area.
I shared the changes we made to our kitchen in a previous post that you can read here.
Now it was time to do something about this...
Because we only have one television in the home we share with our three kids, the sectional had to stay. But we definitely had to get rid of the pink striped fabric. Steve also hated the frilly slip covers on all of our chairs.
Sorry, I know this picture is really orange, but these are the only two "BEFORE" pictures that I have. As much as I liked the floral rug, Steve felt that it looked too fussy.
AFTER
We kept the same sectional, but we had our upholsterer remove the bulky roundness to the arms and back. We had a simple, tighter natural linen slipcover made to replace the pink striped one.
The white knobby desk was replaced by the flint iron campaign desk that we sell in our store. We covered our two Parson's chairs with chalky blue stone-washed linen slipcovers with a waterfall detail. No welts. Just a simple long pleat on all four corners.
The window seat cushions were also covered in the same natural and blue stone- washed linen. We loved the way the Merida "Bora Bora" rug looked in the store, so we ordered one for our home in a custom size. It really adds a lot of warmth and texture to the room. The jute is much softer on our feet than sisal or sea grass.
Fortunately Steve likes my Swedish pieces as much as I do, so our little chairs have found a place in our home for now.
Our other Parson's chair is now used as seating by the computer desk.
We've had this ottoman for quite a while. Like many of our chairs, it used to have a frilly linen slipcover. We took off the slip and had the ottoman upholstered in burlap.
I know that a few of you think I have gone bread board crazy, but this one gives the kids and their friends a place to put their snacks.
BEFORE
I loved the way my sun room looked before, but now that we had changed the kitchen and the family room, it was time to update this area as well.
AFTER
The toile chandelier was replaced with another Wisteria lantern to match the one over my desk. We used one of the zinc industrial tables that we sell in the store. A set of Swedish inspired leather chairs that we designed are paired with my grandmother's silver leaf chairs (newly upholstered in a chalky blue velvet), and a set of Leila chairs (one was left out for the photo shoot).
Another Merida rug warms up this room.
I love the more masculine feel of this industrial table.
This picture gives you a better idea of how the whole space is laid out. I think it has a much more calm feeling now.
This image shows how open our home is. The kitchen and family room share one space. The neutral colors really feel good to me.
I also want to thank all of you who suggested replacing our Victorian pantry door. I have ordered a new one that will be delivered in a couple of weeks. Stay tuned!
Now that we're almost finished, both Steve and I can say that we really enjoyed designing our home together. The changes we made really weren't that huge and were certainly cheaper than moving!
In the end we created a comfortable space that reflects both of our design styles.
Now I'd love to hear from you. Did you design you home on your own or did your partner want to be a part of the design process? How did it go?
xo
Brooke
