Before and After: Sophisticated Living Room Redesign

Before: Light and bright but lacking style.

Hilary and Will want a sophisticated living room and den for their new house but their old beach cottage furniture just won’t do. What’s worse is that they can’t agree upon a style: Hilary wants comfort and Will wants clean lines. Kenneth Brown, the diplomatic designer, presents an overall plan combining comfort and style.

Media VIDEO: Walk through the new rooms with Kenneth, Will and Hilary.

A simple two-foot extension of the wall between the living room and den makes room for the TV armoire.

One of the first things Kenneth suggests is bringing in a bigger area rug. He says, "Area rugs set the stage for where the furniture will go...a bigger area rug will allow you to spread the furniture out and use more of the space." For Hilary and Will's living room, he has a piece of regular carpet cut and bound to make a rug. Here are a few of his other design tricks he follows to create their spectacular room:

• Painter's tape is used to show the dimensions and arrangement of the furniture. Kenneth tapes out every piece of furniture directly on the floor so they can get a sense of how everything will flow together.

  
  

• Built-in bookshelves don't have to be boring. Kenneth paints the wall behind in blocks of subtle colors and removes a few of the shelves to make it more visually interesting.

  
  

• Even the bookshelf contents are given a designer flair--he says to create a sense of order by stacking books like a pyramid with larger ones on the bottom. Also, create clean lines by pulling the books to the edge of the shelf.

The rule of thumb he follows when hanging a chandelier over a dining table is that the bottom of the fixture should be 36 inches above the tabletop.

More Kenneth Brown
Read his bio, find out his design trends and tips and browse more of his rooms in Designers' Portfolio.

paint colors (Network Gray - 7073; Sage SW 2860; Blonde SW 6128) - Sherwin Williams
limestone hearth (Saint Alexandria Limestone) - Ultra Marble & Granite
custom frame for chandelier - Fantasy Lighting
sofa fabric - F & S Fabrics
custom sectional (City) - Richter Furniture
nesting tables (ATG Nesting Tables, Espresso Oak) - Civilization
living room fabric and chair (Cosmo chair in Cirillo Smoke fabric) - Cisco Brothers
office armless fabric and chairs (Cosmo armless chair in Hobnail Mint Chocolate fabric) - Cisco Brothers
sofa pillow fabric (Aspire Aqua) - Cisco Brothers
brown sofa pillow fabric (Bechamel Anejo) - Rogers & Goffigon
pillow fabric - Diamond Foam & Fabric
sitting room ottoman (Valente ottoman in Alazan brown leather) - Cisco brothers
area rug (Windhaven color 0015 Interstorm) - Carpet Design, Inc.
capiz shells for chandelier - West Elm
living room ottoman (Bondi in Western Beige leather) - Richter Furniture
rocking chair (Donolo chair in Natural Leather) - Design Within Reach
side table (Eileen Gray) - Design with Reach
Venetian plasterer - Zac Crandell Fine Finishes

Resources
marble and granite
Ultra Marble & Granite
11140 Tuxford Street
Sun Valley, CA 91352
Phone: 818-771-9310

lighting supplies
Fantasy Lighting
Phone: 323-933-7244
fabric
F&S Fabrics
10654 W. Pico
Los Angeles, CA 90064
Phone: 310-441-2477
furniture
Available to the trade only.
Richter Furniture
231 E. 49th St.
Vernon, CA 90058
Phone: 323-588-7900

furniture
Civilization
We apologize no further information is available.

carpet
Carpet Design
8784 Beverly Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90048
Phone: 310-659-5722
fabric
Rogers & Goffigon
8687 Melrose Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90069
Phone: 310-659-1423
decorative project materials
West Elm
Website: www.westelm.com

foam, fabric and pillows
Diamond Foam and Fabric
Website: www.diamondfoamandfabric.com

decorative project materials
Design Within Reach
Website: www.dwr.com

Venetian plasterer
Zac Crandell Fine Finishes
1422 N. Avenue 47
Los Angeles, CA 90042
Phone: 323-309-2731
Fax: 323-660-0740
paint
The Sherwin-Williams Company
Website: www.sherwin.com
Also in this Episode

reDesign : Episode HRDN-103
•	Before and After: Sophisticated Living Room Redesign