By: Colin & Justin
Whoa! Check out that mountain of washing atop the drawer set in our chaotic before shot. Thank the Lord that there’s an accommodating sofa to collapse upon and a handily positioned plastic bucket for the vomitus flow that would surely occur as a consequence of the housekeeping headache lying ahead. Is it just us or does this room, pre-treatment, look like a laundry? Or, as there’s also a sofa in there, is it maybe a living room? Or is it, God forbid, a ramshackle sleep zone? Hmm. The double bed, secreted shyly towards the rear, certainly suggests sleeping was a possibility, but just imagine how distracted hibernation would be.
And it so needn’t have been like this. It’s interesting to note that today’s featured design crime sits within a large family house, a home with lashings of storage scattered generously around three commodious levels. With a surfeit of closets (and a finished basement that struck us as the perfect spot to tackle the aforementioned ironing) a spot of auspicious reorganization was clearly required. Our mission was simple: to reidentify the messy mélange and, in doing so, give our clients, a frustrated mom and pop with no idea where to start, a boudoir to be proud of. Fortunately, lying just off camera, there exists a walk-in closet which, properly rearranged, is the perfect storage for clothes and linen. We simply opened the doors and stacked everything neatly. We’re old-fashioned that way.
Wall colour
By now you’ve probably figured us out. We play acres of expansive white — in the majority of our designs anyway — against “popping” accent wallpaper, linens, soft furnishings and rugs. It’s not that we prefer avoiding explosions of colour (boy, we’ve ignited a few of those in our time), but more an inclination to safeguard expenditure further down the line. That which our peeps enjoy now — and that which they might prefer at a later stage — can be polar opposites. Therefore, the result of our rebrand, while imbued with lashings of personality and wheels of colour, is flexible. A brand new (and thoroughly adaptable) scheme which can be tailored, via new accessories, at the drop of a designer hat.
Flooring
Our clients wished for a luxurious wooden floor and we happily concurred. We would also, however, add a strident rug in our key note colour — red — but more of that shortly. We opted for solid timber, but if you’re keen to save a little money, there are great laminates available, many of which are perfect for bedrooms. Rona carries a great selection, so jump online and start searching.
Bed and nightstands
First things first: As a general rule, your bed should be positioned on the largest unbroken wall. Doing this allows for optimum “circulation” and ample space for symmetrical dressing with nightstands. At the moment, we simply can’t get enough painted timber furniture. A staple throughout many of our projects, its chunky appearance has lashings of style and fits perfectly into 101 schemes. Whether seaside or cottage inspired, or even slotted into a modern condo, painted timber is just so darned dreamy. In fact, we recently used precisely the same bed in a cavernous loft gig and dressed against exposed brick walls and post and beam architecture, it looks perfectly at home. We’ll show you that project in the coming weeks.
Bed dressing
Country style bed, funky bed linens: A match made in designer heaven. For a pared down look, opt for self-coloured linen with little or no decorative detailing but, if like us you fancy edgier results, try something like this gorgeous damask.
Tip: If you’re reluctant to invest in bedding for fear it might go off trend, do as we did and buy a printed fabric duvet rather than opting for appliqué, or a design boastings detailed stitchery. The former, owing to less expensive construction, will generally be better value than the latter. Or, if you’re feeling daring and want to juice up an existing plain duvet, use a large stencil and carefully apply fabric paint to create your own work of art.
Chair
As a further decorating detail, we found these lovely chairs and fell in love with their scrolled floral design. As recently as two or three years ago, a chair like this was far less generic and, consequently, might have set you back a small fortune. These days you’ll readily find this type of chair for as little as $100. It’s a statement piece and will punctuate even the simplest scheme.
Window dressing
As our wee Scottish grannies would say, “Never fuss, never worry.” Nevertheless, the traditional Scottish maxim still rings in our ears, long since our old girls slipped off this mortal, and we bear their counsel in mind throughout much of the work we do. With adequate pattern elsewhere (rug, bedding, chair, etc.) we pared window dressings back to their minimum and headed to Zellers for simple white drapery which we hung on unfussy cone-tipped black rods.
Rug
While positioned in an essentially monochromatic project, the circular rugs — and their swirling red and white composure — add an extra jolt of life. We actually found two similarly patterned rugs (the other was rectangular) but we chose the round fella as its shape provides visual relief when played against the room’s rectilinear nature and the square cut lines of the furniture. Reminiscent of the classic tree of life, it’s the perfect place to land each morning as a new day dawns.
Tip: Think about rug or carpet pile before investing. Stouter finishes like seagrass and jute are great (they look fab and stimulate nerve endings in your feet) but a soft 8-millimetre pile such as this is extra rewarding.
Chandelier
Feeling horny? Then what better way to enliven your crash pad than with a funky chandelier crafted from imitation stag antlers. This creation actually arrived boasting natural toffee tones but, to take it in an altogether different direction, we carefully masked off wiring and bulb areas and sprayed it crisp white using heat proof aerosol. The fact is we liked the results so much we bought three more: two for our Toronto condo and one, which we shipped to Scotland, for our guest bedroom.
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