Mid-Century Lake House Design Recommendations
Consultation Notes Our clients live in East Grand Rapids on a lake in a mid-century style home. They recently moved from a colonial home & are having a hard time mixing styles/making their living room come together. Their kids have great opinions on their home and listen to their ideas and comments. They have great taste & some wonderful mid-century pieces, but want the room to feel comfortable & collected (and still clean & without clutter). Our clients are very inspired by nature, Atomic Ranch, and Jonathan Adler “Happy Chic� style. One is a vegan, so the design needs to keep the integrity of her beliefs that way (no cowhide, down filling, etc.) They like warm colors (orange, green, brown), and they are very inspired by their house & the special art pieces that they have throughout. Overall, our clients need help with layout, colors, and accents for the room. The room we are focusing on is the living room.
Designer Goals & Beliefs Our goals are to provide inspiration, recommendations, and the next steps to make our clients’ current home match their future aspirations and needs. We will do this through listening to their needs, investigating their personal style, researching the best options for them, and pushing them to think of ideas or options they may not have previously considered. We believe that for a home to feel “lived-in” yet clean & inviting, one needs to find a balance between old/new furnishings and high/low end. We will try to utilize the pieces our clients already have in addition to providing recommendations for new & vintage items to add to their home collection. Homes where furniture and colors match perfectly feel less natural & lived-in than those that have a more “collected” aesthetic. Finally, to make a home feel warm/comfortable without feeling too sterile, we believe one needs to incorporate a variety of textures (wood, linen/textiles, metal, etc.), and we will be intentional in this with all of the recommendations provided.
Living Room Mood Board
Living Room: General Recommendations A rug (or layers of rugs) should be added to the floor to better anchor the space. This will warm up the room & make it more cozy/inviting. When we asked you about the couch (loveseat), you said you loved the fabric. We agree the couch fabric is great for comfort & making the room feel collected (mixing styles/eras); however, we suggest replacing it with a larger, full-size couch in a similar fabric. The larger scale will better fill the space, provide more seating for guests, and creates a consistent, longer line that will be pleasing to the eye. The two chairs you have currently can be recovered in an updated fabric (light color to stand out against the grass cloth wall), but put next to each other where the current loveseat is. You could also keep the red pattern on the front of the chairs, but change the sides/ back to a white fabric (and remove the skirt) to make them more interesting. The pattern/color of the chairs do add interest, but they just need some updating. A table should go between them (perhaps the lucite side table) with the lamp from Don’s basement on it. This will be a great place for reading & will feel very symmetrical. The leather lounge chair can remain where it is (just moved a little closer to the living area so it doesn’t feel like its floating on its own). The coffee table would be in the same general area, just realigned with the new couch/updated chairs. The fireplace cover should be replaced to a sleek all black front, and the ledge needs to be balanced out on both sides. One way to do this is by moving the television up onto a minimal wood shelf above the fireplace. You can then flank the right side with a piece of art (possibly one of the black & white ones you currently have over the credenza). A clock can be added above for interest/symmetry. We like the placement/size of the credenza. Although you want to change it to an all-wood piece, we recommend leaving it for now while you (we) continue to look for one. The credenza, however, needs to be restyled (lamp, art, etc. with varying heights). Whenever you replace it, the same styling/items can just move to the new credenza. We recommend only one of the black & white prints be used here (and partnered with other art pieces). Replace the wooden chest near the front door with a tall mid-century shelf or étagère. This will make the ceiling seem taller & add height to an otherwise low wall. It will also still provide storage for mail, add visual interest, and incorporate a new material (metal) to the space. A tall lamp or tall plant should be placed to the right of the shelving unit, and the shelves can be stylishly, but minimally staged. Although it doesn’t seem very “exciting,” we recommend painting the green wall color to a white or white-shade. The two grass cloth walls face each other, and the wall we recommend painting white faces the white fireplace. It is a nice rest for the eye and will brighten up the room even more. It is also nice contrast to your art pieces and the grass cloth (and compliments the rug selection well- creates a neutral, fresh pallet to the rest of the room). Keep the abstract piece from your son’s girlfriend where it is. It is great on the grass cloth wall and provides the jumping off point for colors in the room. We don’t recommend adding anything additional to that wall so that it stays clean & the piece stands out.
Living Room: Specific Recommendations
Ethan Allen (P2641) Â Texture, light brown
Existing Chair
Approximate color/fabric of the current chairs to be updated & mixed with a white fabric (or completely recovered).
Color Inspiration
Existing Table
Existing Credenza (until we find another- but should be vintage)
Existing Table
West Elm CB2
Rugs USA Moroccan Diamond Shag Rug (7 x 9)
Dash & Albert Cocchi Woven Rug (10 x 14)
Living Room: Specific Recommendations One King’s Lane
Vintage
Color Inspiration
Pottery Barn
West Elm Existing lamp, but change the shade to all white (same barrel shape)
West Elm
West Elm
One King’s Lane
Target
Colorful lamp for the credenza that will pop on the white wall & against the black & white art.
JC Penney (Conran Pearl)
JC Penney (Happy Chic) West Elm West Elm
Pillows should pull from the color of the feature painting, but be a mix of cozy/graphic
Optional accents are included for the credenza & shelves. Some should be vintage or meaningful items, but we included a few for the “vibe”.
Mantels Direct- Bedford
Living Room: Renderings
Renderings are provided to represent the basic layout and give you a feel for the general space/design. Final styling & overall finishes would look a bit different in “real lifeâ€?. Â
What’s Next? Whew! That was a lot of information. Now that you have seen the inspiration/recommendations, soak it all in. Let us know if you have any questions. After processing the information, you have a couple of options. Call or e-mail to set up an appointment to discuss your likes/dislikes of the design and how we can move forward together with Hunt & Gather managing the project (we would discuss what items you would like to purchase yourself, what we should be hunting for, budget, and timeline). Start working on each room on your own (purchasing items, hunting for things, etc.) and only call us when you need clarification, recommendations, or final styling. Nothing. This wasn’t what you were looking for, and you would like to discontinue working together. Additional pricing for services would be given at the follow-up meeting that fit your specific needs. We would keep a log and update you when time was spent, why it was spent, etc. We are constantly looking for items for the shop, so I would not charge you “time” when I am collecting items For both you and the shop. We will, however, sell you items found specifically for you AT COST with a 15% finders fee to cover the time/fact that we can’t sell it in the shop (the up charge to sell in the shop is 40%-50%, so this is a great deal and saves you a ton of time).
THANK YOU Kelley Howley & Fernando Ramirez Hunt & Gather 951 Cherry St. SE huntandgatherGR@gmail.com