Happy Friday Everyone!

So this week’s Fix it Friday post is dedicated to one of my favorite projects from back in the day. For sake of simplicity, and my newfound love for formatting here on my blog, I’m going to outline this weeks FIF in a new, fun way. Oh and ps, I’m going to link some of the similar items from this room that I found online incase you wanted to try to implement this look in your own home. Ready, set, read!

About the clients:

The clients were a young newly married couple who bought a fixer upper home in the oh so luxurious location of La Jolla, CA. Their large living room space needed remodeling and the couple had different opinions on how the room should be used. Mr. Client would like to create an entertainment spot to enjoy with his guy friends, while Mrs. Client would like a beautiful first impression room she can enjoy with her friends. You know, she wanted a retreat from the noise of the football games on the large screen TV that usually dominated the family room next door. So to sum it up, what they wanted was a great first impression when entering the home with a space they could both use and be proud of when entertaining guests.

Problem areas:

The room seemed to be having a design identity crisis. On one hand, the large space had luxury marble flooring, an elaborately carved fireplace mantle, formal silk drapery around the main ocean view window… all of which seemed outdated and definitely not our young clients taste. One the other hand, the vaulted ceiling, clad in white painted bead board and the recessed built-in bookcase (albeit, in rough shape) were headed in a less formal, beauty direction. The clients needed to decide which direction they wanted their home to go in: formal and elegant or casual with modern clean lines.

Challenges:

Wall texture was abysmal from years of wallpaper recently removed.
The solid wood ceiling meant we wouldn’t be able to add any standard canned lighting into the room.
The bookcase was way too small and was stuffed in the corner in pretty bad shape.
Angled walls and pitched ceilings created a disjointed rollercoaster feel to the room.
And of course, the marble flooring had to stay.

Changes I Made: (Notice I’m not limiting it to just 5 😉 )

I replaced the outdated existing fireplace mantle with a new fresh modern one that was custom built.
I also filled in the existing chair railing with bead board paneling to serve as proper wainscot to the lower half of the room, which would also successfully connect the ceiling with the overall space.
The outdated draperies were replaced with fresh new silk panels that complimented the new sea breeze wall color.
I installed a modern tract lighting system from Tech Lighting to provide both ambient light for the room as well as sufficient light for the pool table.
I added consistency to the texture of the walls by mudding them to a smooth surface and painting them a soothing rayed sea breeze color: Coventry Gray HC-169 by Benjamin Moore. I also added a layer of white paint to the worn out bookcase to give it a mini facelift ;).
I added a dark wood credenza under the window with an oversized clear glass table lamp and minimal accessories.
To satisfy Mr. Client, I added a regulation size pool table to the center of the room with a pub table and chairs the boys to take part in the action.
To satisfy Mrs. Client, I selected well appointed furniture pieces for comfort and visibility, creating a cozy seating area by the fireplace for her and her gal pals to catch up.
I laid an oversized modern sisal rug under the pool table to soften the marble floors and unify the room.
I hung large espresso photo frames across the top of the bookcase with black and white photos of Mr. and Mrs. with their family and friends. This created a consistent line across the room, alleviating the rollercoaster feeling created buy the ill-proportioned heights of the bookcase and fireplace mantle.