My work as an interior designer can be very versatile, from styling advice to homeowners to bigger interior design projects.
This own is a smaller one, making it a bit more personal. Also this is an international client (as I’m based on Curacao and she’s in the Netherlands). This is a mother of two girls and they moved in a new rental home. The old furniture moved with them of course but with a new move comes new changes. So she contacted me to give her advice how to give it a new style.
She sent me some pictures of the space (I’m talking about the living room & dining room). It’s a open floor plan. The room has a beautiful wooden floor. Her own furniture is very dark making the space look very grimm. So this was a nice way to get away from that look and go brighter.
I suggested to go with the Scandinavian look with a touch here and here of color. The great thing about other countries outside of the Caribbean, is that there’s load of choices for furniture. For every budget and that made it super easy to find some good finds for her within her budget.
So adding soft beige/pinkish color on the wall to make the room feel brighter and bigger was the first step.
The area of the dining space is in the back next to the kitchen. This area isn’t very spacious. So instead of a rectangle table, I went for a round table. This is a great way to let the space look a bit more spacious and a bit more playful. Adding a wallpaper to this part of the room is also a great way to divide the room and to give a sign that you have enter another part of the space. The wall where the wallpaper will be, sticks out just a few centimeters, so it will make the wallpaper stand out even more. She wanted something botanical, so I went for a less busy but still with the feel of plants. Adding natural tone colors of furniture like wood and rattan to complete the look. And always, ALWAYS add some green to the scene. You can never go wrong with plants (except if you kill them of course).
Some furniture pieces will be kept, like her Ikea Kallax cabinet and she’s already getting a new lighter of color sofa (she now has a big, black sofa taking all the space in the room). The Ikea cabinet is also a dark color, so why not paint it a white light color?! And do a DIY by cladding it up with wood?! The wood will set the warm tone to the piece and going back to the Scandinavian look and feel. Adding a botanical rug to the space, will pull the two rooms together. Add a gallery wall of floated frames with dried leaves in it for an extra effect.
This transformation will go from dark to light. I’m so exciting to see the final outcome. How do you like my advice?
And to close this post, I have some awesome news; I’VE BEEN SHORTLISTED FOR AMARA INTERIOR BLOG AWARD!! Thank you for everyone who has voted for me and to get me in the top 5. Now I have the pleasure to be invited to the award show in London in November.
Thank you once again and if you also want some interior design advice for your home or office? Just shoot me an email and let’s talk.
