Living Area
Sculptural TV Stand Just because you have a flat-screen doesn’t mean you have to mount it on the wall. There’s a bevy of sculptural TV stands on the market that might look better in your home. Designer Orna Gurevich added a stainless steel easel-inspired TV stand to this contemporary family room in Tel Aviv, Israel.
Layout No matter how big your living room, there’s a limit to how large a seating group can be and still make sense for intimate conversation and cozy gatherings. A good distance between seats to facilitate conversation is about 8 feet, meaning if you have several sofas or a sofa and side chairs, the seating area should have a diameter of 8 feet, or 4 feet out from the center.
Japanese home with view of Mt Fuji. All low furniture.
2 living areas adjacent to each other
Windows butt right up to the fire place to let in the most light.
Mirrors look like windows to open up the space.
Skylights over the the fireplace
Exposed wood framing with windows to let light in below the roof line
Room layout
Colors and finishes
Pendant lights used for living area Pendant light: Cube, Maisons du Monde
brilliant pillows and slipcovers, which are changed seasonally
Interesting layout. Watch tv or look out the window.
Simple layout. Lots of storage.
Pictures arranged around the TV and console. Kaczmarski created a gallery wall around the television, so the black screen wouldn't be intrusive.
After: To get a more spacious feeling on the first floor, they removed the wall between the hallway and the rooms, and opened up the living room, dining room and kitchen to one another. “In a typical D.C. row house, these rooms are sometimes so narrow, you feel like you can spread out your arms and touch the opposite walls,” Chulew says. This house wasn’t quite that narrow, but opening up the walls made each space feel much roomier. Removing the load-bearing walls required the installation of a large beam, which was well worth the effort. Throughout the first level, the floors were too damaged to preserve, so Chulew replaced them with new oak flooring sanded and stained to match the original floors on the upper stories. Well-Balanced Living Room In the living room, the architectural details of the room remained traditional, with a new painted wood fireplace mantel and soapstone surround. “This soapstone is the perfect balance of old and new — it is an appropriate historic material, while its lighter color is fresh,” Chulew says. She repeated it on the new media cabinet counters. She preserved the original colorful stained-glass windows and gave them new plantation blinds for priv...
Borrowing light — bringing light from one space to another through openings in walls or through translucent surfaces — is best achieved through clerestories, for these high openings still allow walls to be used with furniture, such as this bed. It's worth taking a look at the bathroom on the other side of the wall to see how the borrowing benefits both spaces.
Dividing storage wall with upper glass portion to allow light through. The Room Without a Name. Life’s storage wall article was a preview of Tomorrow’s House, Nelson and Wright’s bestselling guide to building or remodeling a postwar home for modern living. Besides advocating for energy efficiency in the form of insulated Thermopane glass and radiant floor heating, they championed a multipurpose, easy-to-maintain room that accommodates the activities of the whole family. The concept was so novel, they called it The Room Without a Name, but we would recognize it as the family room, great room or hub. Peterssen/Keller Architecture, Eminent Interior Design and Streeter & Associates teamed up to create this hardworking hub for a Minneapolis family of six. It centers around the kitchen. Behind the red birch storage wall at left is an open living-dining room that is buffered from sound by a glass partition and a thick, 6-foot-wide pocket door. At right is a casual dining area and a 12-foot-wide folding door connecting to a porch and deck. The aisle to the left of the refrigerator leads along a pantry wall to a mudroom that has a heated floor, charging stations and loads of storage. T...
Picture arrangement on mantle
Picture arrangement on the mantle The Lehmans chose a white backdrop for the living room, accenting it with a teal velvet couch and hits of fun, bright colors, such as the blue chairs. Mandy notes that the couple’s inspiration comes from a mix of creative workspaces she has been in, places they have stayed, and restaurants and bars they’ve frequented. “I resourced Houzz for inspiration. I looked at other people’s houses, and understanding how and why they made the decisions they did helped us make the choices that were right for our house,” she says. “Other than that, we let the house dictate what unique elements and design choices were brought out in each space.”
Glass surrounding and above French doors. Lots of light allowed in.
Glass windows surrounding glass French doors, with glass skylights coming off of French doors
Stick on the wall
Love this mess
6. Wingback Chairs Look Great in Leather Wingback chairs and leather upholstery go together like tacos and Tuesdays. Think of leather as the blue jeans of the upholstery world — it’s tough, classic and goes with anything. If you know you want a wingback chair but are on the fence about upholstery, I’d make a case for leather.
Coffee table
Long low storage furniture in front of big window
Gray. A popular color for modern and transitional interiors, gray is a unique neutral. I love a soft charcoal gray paired with creamy whites and beige. Try gray with a punch of chartreuse for a surprising combination that really works. This dramatic great room is painted in Dunn-Edwards' Baby Seal DE 6361.
Lavender. I know some loyal lavender lovers. A soft, barely there shade of this color is gorgeous and looks best with a crisp white trim. I love mixing lavender with robin's egg blue or gray. These lavender-kissed walls are perfect in Benjamin Moore's Organdy 1248.
Family room furniture layout
14. Mix posters, paintings and objects. Want an easy formula to follow when creating an art wall? Start with one or two large pieces and hang them near the center of your wall — posters work well for this. Next, add medium- and small-size framed works (including an original painting adds texture) around the larger ones. Finally, fill in blank spots or corners with interesting carved masks or another 3-D object.
Blue wall paint
Glass around fireplace. Stone fireplace.
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