After coming off the in-depth series on the Beach House project, we wanted to kickoff another series that was geared more towards homes that look like what you and I live in! With my wonderful son Scott, who happens to be a real estate agent, we toured six San Diego homes.

Focusing on living rooms and/or family rooms in this episode, Sharrah and I are going to show you how to tackle design challenges that might appear in your own homes! By the end of this Session we hope you will have gained some knowledge on the improvements you can do that will make the biggest impact in the overall look and feel of a space!

First things first, let’s get a common misconception sorted out - what is the difference between a living room and a family room?

A Living Room is… A Family Room is… a formal room for welcoming and a casual room for hanging and entertaining guests. It is most likely relaxing with family. It is most likely located right off the front entrance of located in the heart of the home near the home and is used occasionally. the kitchen and used on a daily basis. Common Design Challenges in Living Rooms

Now for the fun part - let’s get into the updates we would make to the houses we toured! We picked just two updates for each home to show you that it doesn’t take much to really improve your space.

HOUSE #1 • Challenge #1: The Fireplace was Unsymmetrical Especially since the fireplace in this house was on the wall that you see right when you walk in the front door, you want it to be a great first impression! Luckily, to improve the look of this fireplace you don’t have to do much to solve the fact that it was unsymmetrical. By adding stone to the left side of the fireplace that matched the amount of stone on the right side of the fireplace, we were able to make the the fireplace look so much better. We then used the window treatments to mask the uneven amount of wall space on either side of the sliding doors - one of our favorite design tricks!

• Challenge #2: There Were Several Outdated Mirrors on the Walls This home’s living room had funky retro mirrors all over the place! Mirrors are supposed to enhance a room and make it feel bigger, but they made this room feel choppy. The fix for this would be to remove all of of those mirrors! But, we did add a floor to ceiling, wall to wall mirror in the alcove area to help make the room feel bigger. Mirrors are one of the best tools you can use to create design illusions. If you have a small room, a mirror can create the illusion it’s larger. If you have a dark room, a mirror can create the illusion that the room is brighter. If you only have one window on a wall, a mirror that is similar size to the window can be hung to create the illusion that another window is there. Now you have yourself some symmetry! All in all, mirrors are one of the best tools you have as a designer!

BEFORE AFTER HOUSE #2 • Challenge #1: The Fireplace Was Unbalanced This home’s living room had a beautiful built-in with a fireplace. However, the built-in was off center. This made the living room feel unbalanced. The built-in was also pretty tall, which made the windows above it seem very squished. To fix this problem, we added white shiplap to the wall that the fireplace was on and painted the walls and the built-in white. Because the shiplap ran across the entire wall it helped create that balance this room was missing. By painting the built-in white, we were able to make the built- in blend in with the room a bit more so it didn’t feel as chunky and the windows didn’t feel as squatty

• Challenge #2: The Fireplace Had Outdated Stone The stone around the fireplace in this living room seemed pretty dated. To go along with the changes we made to fix the first challenge in this living room, we swapped out the stone for a white, clay brick. This made the fireplace feel fresh and modern. It also helped the built-in blend in even more so that the living room felt balanced!

BEFORE AFTER HOUSE #3 • Challenge #1: The Fireplace Had No Flow By this point you are hopefully seeing a pattern that fireplaces can make all the difference if done right! If your fireplace looks bad, the whole room is thrown off. In this living room, the fireplace was not only not centered on the wall, but it also had NO FLOW. This is a big no no that you as a Design Session member probably know, but if you are unfamiliar with my flow principle be sure to watch tool 19. To fix this issue, we brought the stone all the way up to the ceiling. This allowed the fireplace to really make a statement in the room.

• Challenge #2: The Front Door Hindered an Optimal Furniture Layout If you are looking at homes to move into, keep in mind your furniture placement when you are touring. In this home, the front door opened up right into the living room. Because the front door was a double door, it really encroached on possibilities of where you could put your furniture. You have to make sure you have adequate walkways into your home, in and out of rooms and in and around your furniture. In this living room, the furniture would have had to of been pretty close to the fireplace in order to allow a proper walkway from the double front door. To fix this problem, we went with a solution that is a bit of an investment but it would make this living room function so much better! We swapped out the double front door for a single door. Since we were already doing construction on this wall, we took it one step further and also moved the window over a bit. This would allow the window to be centered on the furniture that would eventually be placed in this living room.

BEFORE AFTER HOUSE #4 • Challenge #1: The Flooring Felt Choppy This home was a condo, and was significantly smaller than any of the other homes we toured. Right when you walked in there was tile right by the front door, then it transitioned into carpet, then back to tile and then to a different tile. For a small living room, that is way too much flooring going on! Luckily, this is an easy fix. In our completed SketchUp model we ran the same hardwood flooring throughout the living room and the kitchen. This made the space feel so much bigger! The lighter colored hardwood that we chose also added a touch of brightness to this smaller living room! Now, the room doesn’t feel like it is chopped up into different areas, but instead feels like it seamlessly flows from one area to the next.

• Challenge #2: The Fireplace Had No Flow and an Awkward Soffit The fireplace in this home stood out the second you walked in the door (in a bad way). The majority of the room was white and fresh, and the fireplace was dark and dated. Not to mention right next to the fireplace there was an awkward “C” shaped soffit that definitely needed to be removed! Our fix for this was actually toning the fireplace down a bit. We removed the stone and kept the wall with the fireplace a bright white. We added a simple wood mantle and removed the awkward soffit. Now, the entire living room felt crisp and clean!

BEFORE AFTER HOUSE #5 • Challenge #1: The Staircase Landed Right at the Front Door In this home, when you opened the front door you were immediately greeted with a staircase. Not necessarily the first impression you want when people enter your home. Our fix was to add a landing to the staircase so it could turn and let off into the living room rather than into the front door. We made the railing minimal and open so the room didn’t feel broken up (especially since there was already so much drywall everywhere else that made the space feel broken up). By adding the landing to the stairs and redirecting where they let off, it allowed us to increase the front entrance area a bit too. We added artwork and plants here which is a much better first impression when you walk into a home!

• Challenge #2: The Fireplace Was Surrounded by Drywall Are you catching on that fireplaces make a huge impact in a room? Fireplaces are most likely the focal point in a room and what you place all of your furniture around. It completely transforms a room if you have a stunning fireplace rather than a sad fireplace! In this specific home, the fireplace had uneven drywall framing it. The fireplace did go all the way up to the vaulted ceiling, but it was so skinny that it looked less than impressive. To fix this issue we got rid of the drywall around the fireplace and added stone that extended 7” further than the original fireplace on either side. Of course, we went all the way up to the ceiling with our stone. Now that is an impressive focal point!

BEFORE AFTER HOUSE #6 • Challenge #1: The Front Door was in an Awkward Location This home had its front door off to the side. Unfortunately, this really hindered the possibilities of where furniture could be placed. Similar to house three, walkways are something to keep in mind when planning where your furniture is going to be. With the front door off to the side of the room it didn’t allow for this space to function as both a living room and a dining room. The couch would have to pretty much be right up against the dining table or be right in front of the door if you wanted both a living room and a dining room. Our fix for this was to revamp the wall with the front door! We basically filled the entire wall with windows and placed the front door in the center of the wall. This allowed the room to be split up into two sections with a walkway right down the middle. Now, there is able to be a living room area and a dining room area plus enough room for adequate walkways!

• Challenge #2: The Flooring Felt Choppy Flooring is another trend we seem to be seeing in this Design Session! If your flooring feels choppy, your room feels choppy. In this living room it looked like the owner tried to distinguish a dining room and living room area by changing up the flooring halfway through the room. Unfortunately it broke up the room and felt off. To fix this, we added the same flooring throughout the space and allowed for our furniture placement to distinguish the two areas of this room.

BEFORE AFTER NOTES

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