When we start a project for new clients, the first step is always to identify their style preferences. Are they traditionalists or modernists … or somewhere in between? To help us tease out the answer, we assign a little homework, which includes completing a questionnaire and gathering design images that speak to them. The process is always revealing. For one recent project, we gained this important insight: our clients gravitate toward modern-eclectic style. We knew right away that this project was going to fun!
The couple asked us to redesign their first-floor spaces. With one kid in college and one teenager still at home, they were ready for a sophisticated (but not stuffy) new look. The kitchen had already been renovated so we focused on bringing cohesion and flair to the foyer, family room and dining room.
The house, located in Falls Church’s tree-lined Sleepy Hollow neighborhood, was built in 1951.
Our clients popped up the roof and reimagined the facade during the earlier renovation. Now the exterior projects a mid-century-meets-Craftsman vibe — so a modern-eclectic style for the interiors made perfect sense.
Gathering Design Inspiration
We encourage clients to clip or pin images of rooms or design elements that catch their eye. And we do the same. When gathering inspiration, you don’t need to love everything in the space. One photo might capture a wall color you like, while another might highlight custom built-ins that you want to replicate.
With that in mind, here are some of the inspirational images we collected for the family room design:
The homeowners wanted to turn alcoves that flank the family room’s stone fireplace into cozy reading nooks; the photo on the left offers a vision. The middle photo shows a room sporting the blue and orange hues that the wife favors. And the space on the right illustrates a furniture plan — anchored by a sectional sofa with a chaise extension — that I thought would work well in the family room. Together, these images and others helped shape our plan.
Modern-Eclectic Family Room Scheme
The stone fireplace serves as a focal point in the family room. So in our furniture plan, we placed the sectional sofa opposite it and added comfortable swivel chairs to round out the seating arrangement.
As always, we gave our clients a couple of scheme options. They selected this one, which marries earthy neutrals (that pick up on the tones in the fireplace stone) with muted gray-blues and touches of deep orange:
Desiring a fresh start, the owners kept only a handful of their existing furniture pieces. We sourced comfortable, clean-lined upholstery and mixed in a few curves — in the ottoman and a tile-clad side table — for interest.
What is a reading nook without practical-and-pretty lighting? We selected swing-arm sconces in an antique-brass finish.
The owners opted to keep their existing ceiling fan, which works well with the other elements in the space.
Modern-Eclectic Dining Room Design
Our goal for the dining room design was laid-back glamour — through a modern-eclectic lens, of course. We started with a statement wallpaper from Phillip Jeffries, which we earmarked for an accent wall.
This large-scale swirly pattern manages to look both retro and modern. The soft blue color way keeps the feeling calm instead of chaotic.
With so much movement in the wallpaper pattern, we leaned on color and texture — as opposed to pattern — as we selected the rug and upholstery fabrics for the dining chairs.
As you can see, we carried splashes of orange into the dining room too. New chairs, covered in a mix of textiles, will lend fresh appeal to the clients’ existing dining table.
And new lighting never hurts either, especially when it’s a dramatic, natural-abaca chandelier from Visual Comfort.
Layers of lighting, which in this dining room include wall sconces and a table lamp, help create the perfect ambiance and establish the modern-eclectic style the homeowners were after.
Missing Piece of this Design Puzzle
These presentation slides communicate our design vision and highlight our selections — but they don’t tell the full story of this redesign. The homeowners have an eclectic collection of artwork (including a nearly life-size portrait of the wife’s father). And we factored that collection into our plans. Stay tuned to learn more about how their meaningful pieces informed the design…and to see how those new reading nooks turned out.
We hope your summer plans include diving into a good book — even better if it’s on the beach or beside the pool!
Nature-Inspired Design: Bringing the Outdoors In
