Two of the most gasp!-worthy rooms I’ve seen in some time have been products of House Beautiful‘s One-Day makeover feature. First, there was Amanda Nisbet’s bedroom, which I swooned over for months. Then when I cracked HB’s crisp new February 2011 issue this weekend, I stumbled upon a living room by Pat Healing & Dan Barsanti of HB Home. Check it – they turned this (dote-dee-doh):
Wuh-BAM. Who does that?? First of all: THAT. LAVENDER. SPITZMILLER. LAMP. I pine for that lamp the way most girls my age dream about a Burberry trench or a tall, dark & handsome husband. Mecox in Chicago has a smaller version, and every time I’m in there, I want pet it and say, “Hey little fella. Would you like to live in my house?” All of Spitzmiller’s pieces are genius, and always in those gloriously ambiguous colors that you really can’t put your finger on (‘is it chartreuse, or lime, or yellow?’ etc), but that lavender-lilac-y business is perfection.
Moving along: the tie-dye rug? Insanity cool. The geometric fabric that’s on the sofa pillows and the curtain panels? Ooh yum. I would probably never repeat a fabric like that, but it really works here. The nailhead screen… The poufs under the coffee table… that coffee table (!) The raw wood dining chairs… I’m so intrigued by the imperfectly perfect mix of it all because: A) I don’t know that I would’ve thought to put it together this way, but I LOVE it, and B) Healing & Barsanti did it in ONE freaking day. I expect rooms like this to have been layered over time, but those crazy kids did this in 9 hours. And oui – there is a lot going on – a lotta color and a lotta pattern – but it still feels light, airy and cheerful, and when you look closely, there’s a method to the madness. Here’s why it works:
That yellow/chartreuse/ink blue/plummy-hued mash-up is divine. They used repetition of those pops of color against a neutral backdrop to flawlessly tie the room together.
The sunny splashes of yellow are also dabbled on the mantle…
And let’s not forget the purdy graphic artwork that ties the ink blues and raspberry-fuchsias in the room together.
The 2 white slipper chairs, the bookshelves, the two geometric pillows on the sofa…
The sconces over the fireplace…
Elements of symmetry make a room where there’s a lot going on feel orderly and easy on the eye. I don’t always adhere to design principles – sometimes, breaking the rules is a better idea – and in this case, the designers’ creativity is what makes the room so stunning. But those two little ditties about repetition of color and symmetry are good ones to note, and can help you ground a space if you feel like it’s orbiting Jupiter or something.
While gorgeous, the real triumph in this room was the space planning & functionality Healing & Barsanti achieved for homeowner Cara Hynes. Before, the room was long & narrow – like a tunnel – until the designers added more furniture in a clever configuration that actually made the space feel wider, and also designated a dining room for Cara’s family. Woot woot.
For those of you who don’t subscribe, you’re in for a treat when the February House Beautiful hits newsstands in a week or so (and no – they haven’t changed their name to “House Beautifu” – my scanner is JUST that good). Heads up for a new “Paint Palette Inspiration” feature on page 14 that I L-O-V-E, paint suggestions for kitchen cabinets (praise sweet baby Jesus, why has no one done this yet?) on pages 12-13, and a house by Erin Martin on page 92 that made me weak at the knees.
PS: Big Bad Preview JUST popped up on HB Home’s website. For the TOTAL scoop on the makeover, click here.
PPS: All images – ‘cept for the ones I doodled on – via House Beautiful (duh). Photography by Francesco Lagnese. Cover photo by Victoria Pearson.
xoxo,
