As designers, we relish the opportunity to pull down walls, reconfigure space and jiggle floor plans, all in our relentless quest to optimize the true potential of Canadian real estate. For us, a competent redesign is all about “freeing up” the home so it can articulate at its absolute best. We enjoy the challenge of combining small, awkward rooms to max up residential footprint. In fact, as far as we’re concerned, it’s often better to have fewer good rooms, rather than a labyrinth of smaller spaces that add little to the livability factor.
That said, we love an easier ride from time to time and therefore kick our heights when we stumble across a needy room that already boasts ample square footage. A room where our demolition ball can be set aside for another occasion and our builders “rested” so they, too, can enjoy a lighter workload. Today’s project (all things considered still a large job) falls neatly, and squarely, into that “ample square footage” category. Significantly more commodious than the rooms we generally lavish, this master bedroom suite was in pretty much perfect condition when we rolled by, although any suggestion of good taste was invisible to us. The walls, however, were sound and perfectly smooth, the floor was level and solid and even the ceiling was gloriously ripple free.
But you know us. As much as this design crime scene was drably immaculate (who doesn’t like a little contradiction in terms?), we’re still going to give the perpetrators a little battering. Just look at the evidence. Curtains, above the bed and at the windows, tied back flat. Postage stamp sized rugs dotted around the floor. And a furniture collection that Noah might have discarded had he found time while outfitting his arc with a plethora of animalistic pairings.
So just who lived here? Well, believe it or not, a hilariously entertaining couple with whom we instantly bonded. At the very early stages of middle age, they’d allowed their boudoir to become a style vacuum and hadn’t decorated for 20 years. Outgoing to the max, our clients had a young demeanor in all of life’s other areas but, as far as their inner most sanctum was concerned, they didn’t have a clue.
Remedy, of course, lay just around the corner. During animated chatter and a whole load of elegant cocktails, we suggested a plan that we hoped might appeal. Our clients listened, and we talked. Then our clients talked and we listened. Collectively we agreed there was little to salvage from the room’s previous furniture collection, so each item that wasn’t required was shipped off to a local charity store. Nothing, in our world, is wasted. But of course you’ll know that if you were reading our column last week.
Our primary suggestion was to “zone” the soccer field-sized bedroom to make better use of the space. With ample room for cross purposing it was, to us, an obvious solution. Our plan would include, as well as luxuriously appointed sleeping quarters, a comfortable seating area in which to relax before hitting the land of nod, or an indulgent spot, perhaps, in which to prepare for the day ahead. In our bedroom projects, we generally try to include secondary seating, but with proportions such as these we could have subdivided the room and still left our clients with enough space to take in lodgers and house the entire furniture collection at the local branch of Sears.
Wall covering
There’s a lovely wee hotel in the heart of South Kensington, London, called No. 16 Sumner Place and, when filming recently in one of their toile decorated suites, we vowed to recreate the same look whenever we found a bedroom big enough. As soon as we encountered this one, we knew the French paper depicting pastoral scenes would make the perfect backdrop. But hold on a sec. Don’t think that traditional paper such as this will only work in a traditional home. We recently used it in a Manhattan loft and it looked strangely wonderful pasted on an accent wall as part of a project that we dressed with Bauhaus inclusions. It’s all, as we regularly command, in the mix.
Window treatments and bedding
Using fabric from the same range as our paper we commissioned bedding, as well as drapery panels to dress either side of white Roman blinds. Again, mixing and switching (done properly) can lead to lovely results. The opaque blinds softly diffuse incoming light while the Toile panels provide an extra layer that serves to fatten the overall look.
Flooring
As we were specifying lots of touchy freely fabrics and soft upholstery, we knew our scheme could easily handle a hard finish floor treatment. When compiling an essentially monochrome esthetic we always advise having an extra colour — or two — elsewhere in the mix to ensure results don’t appear one-dimensional. This in mind, rather than lay ebony (our original plan) we finally settled on an admittedly dark floor, but one with much warmer tones.
Rugs
For extra layering — and to help demarcate zones — we custom-manufactured rugs with inky black binding. The ebony tapes are like picture frames which serve to further enhance the art (in our case the furniture) that lies within. If you fancy a similar look on a budget, then it’s worth noting that Ikea carries a selection of rugs taped in various colours, so pop on over to the big blue and yellow shed for inspiration.
Bed side tables and hutch
If you read our column last week, you’ll recall we waxed lyrical about the joy of consignment stores. Indeed, it was from one of these very meccas we purchased these cute wee nights stands and, at just $45 a pop — and $75 for the matching TV hutch — they didn’t break the bank. In their original incarnation they were knotty pine but after being treated to a lick of black and white satin they suddenly took on a whole new look.
Bed
It’s SO important to scale furniture choices according to available square footage. That said, if we had a buck for every doll-sized bed we’ve seen dressed daintily in a large bedroom (or a dollar for each time we’ve espied a jumbo double king squeezed into a tight space) we’d be rolling in it. Rolling in the cash, that is, not the bed. But still the space versus furniture conundrum continues across the globe. It makes sound sense, before buying, to create newspaper templates; these will allow you to see how proposed items fit when arranged in your room.
Seating area
Anchored by another area rug, this comfy nook serves as a useful secondary living zone to which our clients can retreat should family life, downstairs, become chaotic. And isn’t it nice to have an extra crash zone, over and above the bed itself, to enjoy a glass of wine or read a book? Yup, if you’ve got the space, give it a go.
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