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Honored Contributor
Posts: 18,221
Registered: ‎11-08-2014

TWO MODERN LIVING ROOMS, TWEAKED

If interested, be sure to use your two finger "enlarge" ability on the images-- you really get to see so much more detail.

 

Living Room #1    Designer Rebecca Robeson has moved to a large, potentially dark, Tudoresque brick pile, and decided to go modern/transitional inside.  But now she wants to lighten up for warm weather.  She does this through plants, white and lighter colors in general, woven textures, glass and crystal, and more 'organic' decor.

 

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She kept her tawny pillows, but added pale, woven "jute-like" ones.  One thing that I did not care for--  for a summer look, she has replace her sculpted horse head with that basket on the credenza. 

 

But I can't get over that it is garlic shaped!   Love baskets, but not vegetable-shaped ones.  Oh well, she's always had her own bold vision....

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Her coffee table for summer, now has mostly white elements-- marble tray, candle, books, coral (which is sort of a trademark with her),  and a fat little white bird with metal legs.

 

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One wall of the living room is dramatic black, but she's filled it with spring and summery white and clear accessories.   Her music room, visible through the arch, breaks up the black and brings in another light vista.

 

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More pale and "organic" in the living room--  a matte white pedestal bowl with wooden eggs.   She originally got them for Easter, but now will keep all summer for the breezy look.  I've kept my pale wooden eggs out for summer too- just like the look of them.

 

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Clever Drew of "Lone Fox" makes over the second living room, in cyberspace.  He's the one I showed a while back who took a boring bookcase and transformed it for Architectural Digest.

 

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Homeowners submit their rooms to him, and then he shows them what can be done to them via graphics.  In this case, homeowners have purchased a 1954 midcentury California home, that had been allowed to become a hodge-podge:

 

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It had some nice midcentury modern features, like the soaring wood ceiling, but there were clashing traditional features sort of sprinkled in, like the unsightly traditional railing, and that ersatz "traditional" door with oval window...

 

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Through computer graphics, he "cleaned up" the railing situation, with simple, era-appropriate metal railings, see below.  He kept the handsome wood pillars, but showed them stripped and stained dark-- what an improvement.  And he replaced the frilly door with a clean, Craftsman-esque one in black. 

 

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Remember, he's not physically decorating the room, just giving them ideas for a starter direction to go in--  luxurious, high design chocolate modern couch, green linen curtains, midcentury bench, linear, graphic rug.   There used to be an amber tinted window where the art is now.  (He pasted in a generic piece of art, since he expects the homeowners to create their own.)  That odd, ungainly window is gone, but no great loss-- reminded me of a 60's pub-like restaurant...

 

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Here below you can also see the tailored pair of tufted leather chairs that face the couch.

 

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It's spare, with a quiet color scheme, but to me, he is translating the house beautifully for the midcentury period it was built in.  You have only to compare it with the incongruous before picture.  ( I'm guessing the homeowners were the inheritors of hand-me-down furniture, and doing the best they could.)  But an architecture this midcentury specific, truly does call for a different aesthetic, and in my opinion, Drew nailed it.

 

As always, these squinchy little pictures can't give the full idea.  The videos, by contrast, are a rich visual wallow, full of details you can't see otherwise!   You can see them by googling Rebecca's Kinwoven video: 

 

1)  Update Your Home for Spring  Episode 2 My Living and Music Room

 

or, Drew's video

 

2)  Fixing Common Decor Mistakes You Sent Me  (3 Full Makeovers) 

 

 

 

 

 

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Honored Contributor
Posts: 32,483
Registered: ‎03-10-2010

Re: TWO MODERN LIVING ROOMS, TWEAKED

Thanks for posting and these are interesting, but for me both miss the mark.  They strike me as middle-of-the road with neither dark or light (black and white? to me that's neither dark or lite but middle) and nothing distinctive.  

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Re: TWO MODERN LIVING ROOMS, TWEAKED

[ Edited ]

@Oznell , thanks for posting.  I always find your photos interesting.  I like the first makeover best.  The seating looks comfortable, a great conversation area.  Also love the placememt of the piano.

 

In the second one, I really dislike heavy tufting.  It makes me think they are dust traps.  I also don't like these huge low coffee tables that no one can reach.  I do like the change In spindles.  LM

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Posts: 8,788
Registered: ‎06-10-2010

Re: TWO MODERN LIVING ROOMS, TWEAKED

[ Edited ]

@Oznell  Interesting posts.  I love the way Rebecca uses white to brighten the room. I recently changed my hutch china to white and blue. It really adds a lot of light to the dining room end of my great room. Now....I don't have to turn on the light during the day for my decor to be seen. 

 I went to the antique mall and picked out beautiful vintage white pitchers, blue and white assorted plates, etc. I did the whole hutch for $93 which adds up to only about $10 a piece!  My cream sofa has those same colors plus a dusty blue pillow.  All I had to do was change one dark terra cotta pillow to a lighter clay pillow and voila....a lighter look for summer.  This post gave me even more ideas to ponder...hmmm!  It looks something like this:

Blue and White Fall Decor and New Pine Hutch - DIY Beautify - Creating  Beauty at Home

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Registered: ‎03-10-2010

Re: TWO MODERN LIVING ROOMS, TWEAKED

[ Edited ]

Oh dear, I'll take a pass on all of it... 'Modern' almost always stops me in my tracks and not in a good way... I do prefer his suggested front door to the original, otherwise, nothing there I'd covet. Her room just strikes me as somewhat trite and forumlaic.


In my pantry with my cupcakes...
Honored Contributor
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Re: TWO MODERN LIVING ROOMS, TWEAKED

I think the 1st one is very well done. The 2nd one is just OK for me.

 

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Posts: 3,491
Registered: ‎06-24-2011

Re: TWO MODERN LIVING ROOMS, TWEAKED

The designer's use of coral really bothers me.

Coral is part of the oceanic ecosystem and is formed by living marine organisms that mature gradually over decades to create beautiful living reefs. Coral reefs house over 6,000 at-risk species, protect coastlines from the effects of wave action & tropical storms, assist in carbon & nutrient fixing, and more.

 

Coral is much more beautiful in its natural living habitat and not as a knick-knack.

I'm not fond of the designer's choices in the top pictures.

 

The U.S. government agency, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, has further information on coral.

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Posts: 18,221
Registered: ‎11-08-2014

Re: TWO MODERN LIVING ROOMS, TWEAKED

Enjoying responses.  Rooms can be like a Rorschach test. To me,  these two living room examples had very different purposes-- one to bring in "springtime",  one, partially to correct hideous things that had been done to original architecture, and point to compatible decorating styles.

 

I think both living room succeeded by those standards. 

 

@Sooner,  I'd agree with you about a certain low-contrast, subtle quality to the second one.  I saw him as showing homeowners how to bring "cohesiveness" between the architecture and period of the house (California midcentury), to the interior design.  For me, there's a sort of luxe 'calm' that results, that is infinitely more sympatico than the "before".

 

Love the way he instantly zeroed in on the too many different shades of wood-- in wall, ceiling, floor-- and corrected by painting the wall.  Ditto his solution for the railing, yet having the sort of eye that knew the sleek pillars could stay, and his changeout of the door, so wrong for this house.  He has an intuitive eye for what's harmonious. 

 

As for Rebecca's striking "Tulsa Tudoresque",  I personally find plenty of drama there--  I enjoy the art, architecture, most of her decor (minus certain garlic bulb baskets.)  Even though I'm much more "color embracing" and far more flea markety and eclectic than she is. 

 

The light/dark contrast, tempered with a few earthy touches, to me was just stimulating enough. Her use of symmetry, in those clean lined bookcases against the black wall flanking the archway, in the tall twinned lamps, the chairs-- that kept it from being 'too much" for me.  I have a low "over-stimulation" threshold, ha.

 

@Lilysmom1,  you were reading my mind.  I'm normally right with you, do not like heavy tufting.  Then I thought, well, for this room, the luxury of deeply tufted leather, supplies a certain sumptuous, sink-in quality amid all the 'clean lines'.   But now I think you are right-- the same feeling could be obtained with the right kind of modern slipper chairs, or maybe this CB2 armchair that fits the midcentury mood:

 

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@jubilant,  your cabinet with light china idea must be perfect in that room.  It sounds so lovely and "you".  I like the way you coordinated the interior with the existing tones in the room.  Have noticed before the eye for detail you have, which really pays off in the final, cohesive overall "feel" of a space.

 

If anyone's still reading after all this verbiage, apologies for going on, and on.... But for some reason, these two tweaked rooms really made me analyze, and then thoughtful responses from posters like you just keep the juices going...

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Registered: ‎11-08-2014

Re: TWO MODERN LIVING ROOMS, TWEAKED

Oh, that's very interesting, @Desert Lily --  I just saw your post now.   I can well see why it would be disturbing for some to have coral in houses.   

 

I have seen some very realistic 'faux coral'.  Or would that be beside the point?   Do coral protection groups allow for a certain amount of gathering of coral?  Or do they advocate for leaving all of it in the sea?   I know so little about it, am wondering if there is any that washes up on shore, that would be legit for collection?  I'm sure that is a dumb question!   But thanks so much for your info--  will look further into it.     

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Re: TWO MODERN LIVING ROOMS, TWEAKED

From what I can see of them I like Rebecca's oil artwork.

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