Nancy Golden performs a redesign on a living room (figure A), and as living rooms tend to be dull and boring -- and overlooked -- she emphasizes that it's okay to break the rules of decorating with them. A living room generally has one of two purposes: to serve as place to entertain or to provide a gathering place for the family (in the absence of a den or family room). In this particular case the room will be used by the entire family as their main space, so it will have to be comfortable as well as attractive. The room's walls started off stark white (a no-no in Golden's book), it had unattractive carpeting, and there were a couple of decorating problems: an off-center fireplace and mantel, and a large nook formerly used to hold a piano. On the plus side, the family already owned a roomful of attractive furniture, but they didn't really know the best arrangement of the pieces. To assist the owners with their furniture arrangement, Golden first drew a floor plan to scale; she also recommends making butcher-paper templates of the furnishings rather than having to move heavy pieces around until the right arrangement is achieved (figure B)). On the walls Golden decided to use green grasscloth (the green, she reasoned, was in the same palette as the cranberries and mustards used throughout the rest of the house). Grasscloth (which is actually woven grass glued over a backing) adds a natural look to a room's decor and takes paint beautifully. Some people, however, object to the fact that the seams don't match (which, Golden points out, merely indicates that it's the real thing). One solution to that problem -- if it's viewed as such -- is simply to smooth out the edges (after the paper's glued down) with a nail file; otherwise, there are wall coverings available that look like grasscloth but are actually photos printed on paper. Other nontraditional wall coverings include fabric (which can be quite expensive, so Golden suggests using fabric only on the bottom third of the wall), burlap (which is quite rough and rustic-looking), and cork. To improve the looks of the off-center fireplace, Golden removed the heavy gold doors and painted everything white to match the room's millwork. Because, Golden says, any other action in the room should be along the same wall as the fireplace, the empty nook has been filled with stock cabinetry and enhanced with crown molding and beadboard to create the look of a built-in entertainment unit figure C). The Bare Facts: Before beginning on a wall, make a practice board to work with the grasscloth before hanging.
RESOURCES :
Color Palettes : Atmospheric Interiors Using the Donald Kaufman Color Collection
Model: 060960144X
Author: Suzanne K. Butterfield
Clarkson Potter - $40.00
Hardcover - 208 pages (April 1998)
Clarkson Potter/The Crown Publishing Group/Random House
Website: www.randomhouse.com
Painting Skills
ISBN: 1842154109
Author: Mike Lawrence
Order this title from Amazon.com.
Paint (Durable Colors)
Plaid Durable Colors Paint has exceptional durability, versatility and color selection. Whether the use is for outdoors, indoors, floors, walls, furniture, you name it. Durable Colors go anywhere and are water based and nontoxic.
Plaid Enterprises Inc.
Website: www.plaidonline.com
Colors for Your Every Mood : Discover Your True Decorating Colors
Model: 189212338X
Author: Leatrice Eiseman
Capital Books Inc, September 2000
The Perfect Palette: Fifty Inspired Color Plans for Painting Every Room in Your Home
Model: 0446675199
Author: Bonnie Rosser Krims
(April 1999)
Little Brown and Company (Time Warner, Inc.)
New York, NY 10020
Phone: 212-522-8700
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