“Will you be able to use my existing furniture” is a question I hear quite often these days. With today’s economy, we’re rethinking what we spend everywhere and as decorators, we understand that. Luckily, we are quite adept at totally transforming a room without completely starting over.
Take my recent clients in Northern Virginia – a great couple who had lived in their new home for several years, and had gotten to the point where they were ready to see something other than “builder’s white” walls. I was happy to oblige with a Paint Consult. They explained to me that their furniture was just fine and would have to last until their kids were older and they really felt that painting would give them the room they wanted. I showed up at their lovely home with my professional paint kit in tow (thousands of paint colors to choose from!). But, after we sat down and started to talk, it quickly became clear to me that what they really wanted and needed was a family room that felt like a family room. Builder’s white walls aside, the furniture arrangement and lack of task lighting were making the two story family room feel cold. We talked in depth about how the room would be used and formulated a plan that would give them everything they wanted yet keep their existing furniture and work within their budget. I suggested that adding an entertainment center would provide proper and attractive storage for their kids’ dvds and games and they agreed.
Two weeks later, I presented them with three different Décor Plans to choose from in three different budget ranges, that included computerized floor plans, paint colors, entertainment centers, window treatments , lamps, wall art and new throw pillows. They carefully weighed all of their options, made their selections and were very excited to finally have their family room transformed! I left their home with the promise to have it done in time for their daughter’s confirmation party.
My clients chose to use a painter they had used previously and with the samples we chose, they arranged for the painting to be complete before I arrived for their install day. While they dreamed of their new room, I set to work ordering and managing the logistics of everything in their chosen Décor Plan. Some challenges arose, but that’s my job. I met them head on, always keeping in mind my promise to have the room done for the confirmation party.
Fast forward to yesterday, when I arrived at their home with my window treatment , art installer and furniture delivery man showing up in perfect tandem in their driveway at 9:30 am. I fancied myself as quite the orchestrator and quickly remembered the times when everyone showed up sporadically. Reality check. The paint colors we chose looked absolutely gorgeous and they were right, painting did wonders to transform the room. But yet, I knew the room could be so much more. We set to work installing window treatments, artwork, rearranging their existing furniture, placing the new lighting and even putting all of those hundreds of dvds and games into their new entertainment center. What resulted is a room that is warm, cozy, beautiful and functional and all in time for the confirmation party!
Article written by Interior Decorator, Connie Sims, based in Alexandria, VA of Decor&YouDC.
Smaller scale living, empty nest syndrome, downsizing – call it what you will, but all of these terms ultimately lead to one thing, getting rid of stuff. A life lived in sprawling, large homes, filled with lots of big, oversized furniture, several sets of dishes and more than a few tchotzes suddenly becomes a thing of the past. Job changes, kids moving out or just the desire for a simpler life results in the need or desire for a smaller, more functional home. Suddenly the reality of fitting your large, oversized furniture, several sets of dishes and more than a few tchotzes becomes a major dilemma. Recently, we encountered this phenomenon and successfully solved the dilemma of functional, yet stylish living in a smaller space!
Meet Gary and Liz, a wonderful, still active and professional couple who, a while back, left their 6,000 square foot custom Norfolk home filled with appropriately large-scaled furnishings for a job relocation in the Clarendon area of Arlington. Their first order of business was finding a gorgeous condo with enough space for Liz to work at home yet right across the street from Gary’s office. With that accomplished, they managed to pare down their Norfolk furnishings to what would “fit” into their new condo. However, after living with furniture that didn’t function in the space and was just too large, they decided it was time to furnish their 1,200 square foot condo with properly scaled and proportioned furniture. Equally impressed by their positive and practical attitudes, as with the knock out view of the Capitol and Washington Monument from their living room, we set about to give them the multi-functional, smaller scale furnishings they wanted and needed.
Our first order of business was to sit down with Gary and Liz to talk about how they live in their home. For us, that’s the most important step in finding the perfect furnishings – in function and style for our clients. After that, we took meticulous measurements of the space and produced computerized floor plans with all of the proposed furnishings to scale so that Gary and Liz could see exactly how everything would fit and function in their condo.
The major concerns for Gary and Liz were of course, properly scaled furniture, but also better lighting that didn’t block their gorgeous views, furniture that would serve more than one function and clutter-free surfaces. For example, Gary and Liz, in embracing their new “simpler life”, now use their good china and flatware every day! Out are the several sets of space hogging dishes we all have! How divine! With that in mind, we proposed dining pieces that would beautifully display the china and flatware, yet have drawers at waist level for easy everyday access. We had the function, but needed the style, so we coupled those functional features with a piece that had beautiful lighting, a mirrored back and glass sides with a perfect view of the Capitol dome over the sparkling crystal and china! We then replaced their large dining table and chairs with a beautiful round table for dining, with drop down sides so when nestled behind the new custom sectional, also functions as a sofa table! Meeting the multi functional requirement even more, we proposed a round glass topped coffee table with four moveable ottomans neatly tucked underneath. Now when the Fourth of July rolls around and Gary and Liz’s condo is suddenly filled with friends and relatives who want to see what is probably one of the area’s best places in the area to view fireworks, they will have all the seating they need!
These are just a few of the ways we were able to successfully combine style with function for Gary and Liz. Our attention to the details of how they would live in their space, coupled with the computerized floor plans allowed us to maximize storage, provide better lighting, and give them the multi functional pieces that would enhance their lifestyle and allow them to enjoy their beautiful condo in their new city!
Article written by talented interior decorator, Connie Sims, of DecorAndYouDC.
Not all projects are as satisfying as others. We tackled a project in a wonderful, Cape Cod style home in Arlington, Virginia. At first glance, it may not have seemed worthwhile to invest the resources in converting a once, screened-in porch into an updated, transitionally- style home office. The room had been enclosed and nicely finished years ago by previous homeowners – complete with dark paneling, heating and cooling throughout and sufficient insulation. However, as a successful consultant found himself telecommuting for nearly the last decade, his home office was a collection of college dorm-like furnishings with poor 
lighting and functionality.
We always design to fit the style of the home and homeowners’ taste. We started with requirements to provide comfortable seating to watch a large, flat screen television on one end of the room, and meet a specifications list that included housing 3-4 computers, ample storage space, and significant desk surface area. We designed around baseboard heaters, a protruding brick wall, and two banks of windows.
Unlike many clients, this client was a DREAM. I know you are assuming they had an unlimited budget. We have clients in 1,000 SF of living space in Washington, D.C. and 18,000 SF of living space in McLean. I promise you in the last 9 years, we have never come across a single client who did not have a budget!
This was a dream client because they agreed to let us design a roughly 12 feet by 20 feet space assuming anything could be replaced. They were reasonable in that they realized to maximize functionality, every piece of furniture had to have a purpose and be properly scaled for the tight room.
The office side of the room boasts a beautiful built-in unit that incorporates a cooling system for all the computers. Remember the heaters? The built in is attached to the wall and has legs on the face to preserve a mission, shaker-inspired style. We maximized desk space and the view by relocating the desk to look out the windows, and removed the sheer room divider. For seating, we flipped the sofa and chair locations to an adjacent wall – which left the center of the room open and created a perfect angle for television viewing.
Of course, construction is always a challenge. We needed to score and cut the paneling at the heaters, remove the ceiling when we updated the lighting scheme and upgraded the insulation and hung sound-proof drywall to minimize the sound of the neighbors’ wall heating unit less than 10 feet away.
The finished room is nothing short of spectacular. After nearly daily conversations with our clients and weekly check-ins over the course of a couple months, you realize just how lucky you are to meet great people who allow you to help them to create terrific results.
Project managed by seasoned, Interior Decorator, Janet Aurora. Written by Sandra Hambley, Principal Interior Decorator of DecorAndYouDC, NoVa Decorators. www.DecorAndYouDC.com.
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THE LITTLE CLOSET OF HORRORS
Walking into our old closet was always a trip filled with angst. The room is 8′ x 8′ –not small, yet not generous, either. Put it this way: if one of us was inside the closet, it was best for the other to divert elsewhere instead of trying to double up and do a Kabuki dance, just in order to accomplish
the feat of changing clothes! It was a cold, unfeeling jail made up of plastic-coated builder-inspired (?) wire racks. Oh, yes, they “generously” provided a tower of shoe-shelves: flat, and as I mentioned, wire, so that I not only couldn’t see what was above my head (I’m only 5’0), but any heels immediately sunk through the wire, got stuck, or worse, damaged….so the shoe collection (considerable, I confess), ended up in an over-the-door bag accommodation which made the door weigh…well, more than me. Finally, one wall of our closet is taken up by the large second-story window over our home’s front door, denying us needed additional hanging space. Upon moving in, we “solved” this by buying wire stacking drawers from a home store, such as those one normally uses for sporting equipment in the garage. We placed two of these, side-by-side, in front of the window, partially blocking the light, the view, and any sense of spaciousness.
My solution? A closet organization system designed by me…for us, and installed professionally by one of our vendor partners. I carefully assessed our basic hanging and storage needs, measured my clothing and my husband’s (he’s 6’2″), and then created a closet that has hanging exactly proportioned to our wardrobes and our heights; in doing so, I eliminated unproductive spaces–and was able to add in drawers, too. What a change! The Closet of Horrors is transformed into our perfect Dressing Room, complete with wallpapered walls as a backdrop, plenty of hanging and drawers, a custom-cushioned island for sitting, 
(with men’s shoe storage beneath), an enclosed laundry hamper, and slanted shoe shelves just for me…my shoes & I have never been happier! All of this wonder is encased in cherry towers with beautiful hardware, oval hanging rods, & softly closing drawers.
Gone are the days of crowded, too-high racks, squeaking, creaking coated wire drawers, and dysfunctional, unusable corners. The best part? The window, which I formerly considered to be a design flaw in the house, has now become a style feature in the room, lending airiness and light, and a wonderful backdrop to our sitting island. I think our cat, Maisie, appreciates it, too–and guess what? We can all fit into the closet and dress–not dance–at once.
Written by seasoned, interior decorator, Katie McGovern, of DecorAndYouDC servicing Fairfax, Clifton, Great Falls, Vienna, Fairfax Station and Centreville, VA.
We have been a very fortunate team over the last year – we continue to manage interior decorating projects, large and small, and enjoy our clients just as much.
One major highlight last year was designing and decorating Chambers for a Supreme Court Justice, which was an experience of a lifetime. We were certain there would be no project rivaling this for many, many years to come. 
However, we are just beginning work on a home that has many design features based on one of my personal favorite movies of all time, “Something’s Gotta Give.” The movie easily stands on its own and is a favorite simply due to the chemistry between Diane Keaton and Jack Nicholson.
However, as a design professional, it’s impossible not to notice and be completely enchanted by the Hamptons beach house, which is the backdrop for much of the movie. The clean, crisp white wood cabinetry and trim, simple off-white drapery panels framing every window overlooking the ocean and the transistional, slipcovered furniture and casually-striped rugs translate into the feeling of one comfortable home.
So, imagine our delight when our VA-based clients purchased a lakefront home in North Carolina with similar architectural and design inspirations as the famous Hamptons home, and asked us to decorate it, with seasoned, Janet Aurora as lead designer. In addition to the interior, we will be paying special attention to the more than 3,000+ square feet of outdoor living space on the lake.
With so many people deciding to stay in the home where they live vs upgrading to a larger home further out, the remodeling business has been booming the last 3 years. DecorAndYouDC experienced our best month in December 2011, and our second best year overall in sales since we started in 2003. We thank all our loyal clients and all our new clients and prospects who take the time to learn a little bit more about us and how we work.
In 2011, we saw consistent demand for remodeling bathrooms and kitchens. We updated more of each in 2011 than in any previous year. Often times, clients only wanted a facelift to include maximum storage in cabinetry in more current finishes, decorative backsplashes, tile flooring, unique and much more useful lighting, and updated, oversized appliances – but all in the same or similar footprint as their current kitchen. In general, these kitchens budgets were $45,000-$65,000 including labor. (The two photos below are of a kitchen designed and managed by Gina Simpson.)
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