The Process:
The clients have already started planning their kitchen renovation and identified the look they want to create: dark woods, simple contemporary style, linear elements. They have also designed a custom media unit built to look like it's part of the wall. We are asked to help finalize materials specification, select colours, and supply window treatments and furnishings, except for a pair of red leather sling-chairs they wish to keep. Their only requirement is that, due to familial dust allergies, we use leather and washable fabrics.

Together we select massive low-slung leather pieces in a dark neutral brown. For the TV area, a matching sofa and loveseat surround a quilted storage ottoman. Completing this grouping are the clients' red chairs. In the sitting area, the same brown leather is used for a complementary sofa, delicately supported by a shiny chrome frame. A pair of matching armchairs are upholstered in red. Red walls in the kitchen and scattered red accessories pull together the 3 zones.

While the TV area is designed for maximum seating capacity, the sitting area is designed for maximum drama. A subtle window treatment softens and accentuates the 2-storey windows that form a soaring backdrop to the sofa. Bridging the gap between these elements is a vignette of a few large-scale accessories on a deep console table, flanked by a pair of tall potted palms.

Viewed from the open railing in the upstairs hall, the effect is of geometric precision, underscored by the motif of the area rug beneath.

The decorating project spilled over into the adjoining main hallway, which spans the full 50-foot width of the house. To break up the bowling alley effect, we situated small groupings of furniture and objects reflecting the esthetic of the main living area. Other unifying elements are the drapery and rug in the colonnaded dining room and the deep red walls of the powder room. All that remains is for the clients to select a few large contemporary canvases and a special piece for the niche above the fireplace.