Before and After: Elmwood Place sunroom

I shared the living room of this home yesterday.  Get ready for the sunroom--it's actually the biggest transformation of them all!

I have to say, sharing the before doesn't feel quite fair, and I think the after stands alone.  I'm sharing both because in some ways this was a restoration project, with the intention of bringing the space back to what it might originally have been.  Somewhere along the way (before my clients bought the house), the gorgeous windows got covered with storm windows and the original tile floor was covered with carpet, so the shell itself was diminished.  It was also the hottest room in the house in summer, and the coldest in winter--it literally had newspaper for insulation.

We replaced the windows with all new custom ones, added spray foam insulation, and chose a new hand made terra cotta tile floor that nods to the original.  We added a built in banquette, a table with two leaves that extend for a big group, wallpaper on the rest of the surfaces, and even added an indoor-outdoor television and hidden speakers (not pictured though).  It's now my client's favorite room in her house (and possibly my favorite room in my portfolio!)

Before:

After!
(even more unfair that the before is winter and after is spring!)

Before:

After!

Before:

(I don't have a before shot looking in to the room, so this take a little more imagination.

The space has these beautiful doors on both sides--the one below is what the next "after" was taken through.)

After!

(here looking in from the dining room.)

You can see we also added storage under the bench and sconces on either end of the room for a nice glow.  The top of the banquette (behind the backrest) has outlets and a charging station built in.

Before:

A close up on that corner--we also added radiant heat to the floor so we could eliminate the baseboard heaters.

After!

Love this set of four vintage etchings I found at Clarabel Vintage--they were basically made for the space--really pretty on the straw colored grasscloth, which has a bit of a sheen to it.  I'm super into fringe these days and love the weird olive green tone on the brush fringe with that Schumacher print on the pillow.

One more angle:

(Okay, this is a cell phone pic --obviously--but it shows you the transformed windows):

I honestly wanted to shoot every single angle, but since the room is 100% symmetrical, it didn't make a lot of sense.

This is one of those projects that I was sad to wrap, because I came to love this whole family so much.

All of the "Afters" (save my cell phone pic) by the very talented Rob at Spacecrafting Photography. 

Before and After: Elmwood Place

I finally photographed one of my favorite projects, and I'm really excited to share with you!

The client is just the loveliest family, and we have been working together now in various capacities for about 4 years.  I shared the transformation of their entry, hall, stairwell, and powder bath here.

This was one of those cases where they moved into a much larger home that needed work and started tackling the big projects.  Before I got involved, they renovated the kitchen, lower level family room, and library.  As a result of the time, energy, and money spent there, other spaces were a bit of a mishmash of pieces from their former home, hand me downs, and things picked up on the cheap.  Two of the most usable spaces in their home, the main living room and a charming sunroom, were totally under utilized.

I'll show you the living room here and the sunroom in another post!  I shared sketches for the living room a million years ago--here.

Before: Looking in to the living room from the front hall:

When we worked on the entry, we added millwork that feels original to the house, added a slate blue grasscloth, and upgraded the stair runner.  In the living room, we lightened the palette, scaled the furniture more appropriately to the room, and added polish.

After:

Before: After considering a number of possibilities, we ended up keeping the same L-shaped seating for the floor plan, but with two different couches and a pair of chairs to flank the beautiful original fireplace.

After: By using two couches instead of a sectional, we were able to push the layout back into the window niche, making the room feel bigger.  We also ended up with much more seating--now everyone in their family of six has their "place" in the room.

Before:
There was a family workstation in the front corner, but it was bulky.
We designed built ins for around that window (and to cover the radiator).

After:

The built-ins feel original to the house and provide a more streamlined office station (the drawers on the right are file drawers.)  

We lined the backs of the shelves with a paper that feels like venetian bookend paper and added antique books and lovely objects.  We also added sound throughout the main floor and used compact bookshelf speakers.  You don't always have to hide your electronic components.

Before: The long wall of the room was the only place for the TV.

After:

We hid the TV in a gorgeous armoire--a french antique from the 1800s.  The scale of the piece really balances the scale of the room and stands up to the large feature on each wall (fireplace, bookshelf, couch in large window.)

The thing I love most about this room is how many different textures we were able to incorporate for lots of interest and patina.

All above "after" photos  ©Spacecrafting 

I have to say, I LOVE having these gorgeous photos, and having another eye on my work.  I do miss having every single detail shot, like when I was shooting with my husband, but it is an excellent exercise in editing.

Stay tuned for the sunroom reveal!