We all have a TV or two or three. There is no escape from the big black box on the wall.
But, does it have to be ugly?
The television is front and center in every Family Room. The big question is, do you want one in the Living Room as well? And, if you do have a TV in the Living Room how do you make it look good?
In this recently completed California renovation project, I had the challenge to do both hide the TV and make it look good – under some slightly difficult circumstances.
I came up with a unique solution to hiding a big screen TV in the Formal Living Room.
Transformation Tuesday The Renovation of a Windsor Vero Beach Billard Room
You know how much I love a good before and after story! Today brings the complete transformation of a Billard / Media Room of a Windsor Home.
What was once a dark, green cavern we transformed into a rich textural room without much more than wallcovering, paint and new furniture?
The Transformation
The basic elements of the room are all the same. The dark stained beadboard ceiling and wainscoting. Even the door trim was white previously, you just couldn’t see it behind the dark green damask draperies. All few new light fixtures updated the room although still very traditional, the new light fixtures relate to all the other elements in the room. We used an A-Mazing black and tan color combination along with tons of texture to bring the room a comfortable easy feel. Raffia walls and patterned sisal rugs are a great neutral backdrop while the leather recliners ( yes – I said recliners!) I hate them as a whole, but sometimes I just have to give in. The art on the wall is black and white photos of African wildlife and are grouped in pairs with wall sconces on each side.
There is no denying my love for a good Before and After story. This one is no exception.
My clients came to me after purchasing the waterfront home for the beautiful River view, they loved the lot, location and size of the home. They were not quite as impressed with most of the interior layout, the windows, the Bathroom, the Kitchen and the complete lack of architectural details in the house.
Let’s just say they were prepared for a Major renovation.
It helps to understand that my clients we completely open to any ideas I had for making changes to the house. There were some absolute must-do items on their to-do list which would require reconfiguring the floor plan and some major reworking things like ceilings and flooring. The Master Bathroom was definitely a high priority on the to-do list. The original plan had two separate areas – his with shower and hers with a shower and a tub between both. The bathroom was divided from the Master Bedroom by a hall visible from the Living Room. Passing through the hall you would come to another hallway with closets on each side.
When my clients first brought me on a tour through the new home they purchased we all agreed on many items on the renovation To-Do List. I was a little blown away that they were fine with the existing fireplace while I had a strong opinion to the contrary from the moment I saw the original fireplace.
As is the case with home renovations, the after photo looks so amazing it is hard to imagine the room ever looking any other way. Truth is it takes a good long time to get to the finished product.
Simple is the most difficult design decision to go with. I think we all have a constant battle within to always want to do more, add that one more thing that will finally complete the look.
But the truth is like Van Der Rohe said, Less is More! Simple is So Right – So Often.
This was a Major home renovation I did a few years ago in Windsor. The entire project Before was exactly the opposite of less is more!
