Redesigning an Elegant Home

When I walked into this home for a Redesign and saw their elegant home and beautiful furnishings,  I knew instantly my clients had great taste.   Here's a look at the space before I started:

I love the beautiful fireplace and mantle.  The large window to the left almost spans the entire wall and brings in a lot of natural light.  As pretty as this room is, the distance from the sofa to the two chairs didn't allow for close conversation.   The client wanted me to make this room function better and to incorporate design concepts that would make it cozier.

I pulled the furniture out into the room and closer together and brought in an additional chair from the dining room for more seating.  This room is a perfect example of how pulling your furniture out from the walls doesn't give you less space, it actually gives you more areas to place additional pieces.  This technique allows the "conversation" area to be toward the center of the room.

This view shows there is still plenty of room between the furniture.  I placed a table (that had been hiding behind a chair, next to the fireplace) under the mirror by the entry to give it better presence.

I'm not a fan of mirrors above a fireplace if all they do is reflect the ceiling.  In this room, however, the mirror highlights the beautiful chandelier, and reflects even more light!  I did some "shopping" in a storage room upstairs that had some nice decorative items to choose from.  Symmetry is more formal, so on this mantle I wanted to add some symmetrical elements with the topiaries  and the red glassware without overdoing it.  I also took a couple of small mirrors and over-lapped them (behind the left topiary) for an interesting and unexpected twist.

The side by side view shows how pulling furniture out and closer together, creates a warm, inviting area that invites you in to sit down and enjoy a relaxing conversation!