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| This is a view of a large
living room in a wonderful house in Oak Park. The family has three
children, all with diverse and multiple interests, and the challenge was
to create a space that could be used by all, not just the children.
On the right is a view of the same
room afterwards. A matching loveseat and sofa were used, upholstered
in the same fabric, to anchor the fireplace area, in the middle of the
room, which helped to define the "grown-up" space. The
piano at the far end creates a music room. The house overall had a
slightly English feeling to it, and it was originally a 19th century
farmhouse that had been added to in the early 20th century, so William
Morris fabrics and carpets seemed to be the perfect basis on which to
build a decorative scheme. |
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| This is the other end of the
room. A wonderful window bench enclosed the space, with the windows
giving a nice view of the neighborhood in front and a little watergarden
in back. Enjoyment of this nice feature was prohibited by the
clutter and confusion of toys and plants. A game table now anchors the
space, and clutter is kept to a minimum. It is still used by the
whole family, but for chess, backgammon and other board games that the
whole family can enjoy together. In addition to furniture placement,
the rugs help to define the three spaces - music room, living room and
game room. |
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| A view of the fireplace area
before shows how underutilized the feature was. By flanking it with
matching camelbacks, one a loveseat and the other a sofa, upholstered in
matching fabric, an intimate space for relaxing by the fire was created. |
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| Two views of the library off the
living room, which features some beautiful built-in cabinetry in various
species of American woods - elm, ash, oak, walnut and so forth.
Until a wonderful family room was finished in the basement, this room was
strictly "grown-ups stay out!" Now, it is a tranquil
environment for reading and home working, and perhaps a quiet conversation
after the kids are in bed. |
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| These are two views of a magical room for
the daughter of the family that we just finished. The English Arts & Crafts
feeling was continued here, with William Morris patterns a natural choice. The wallpaper, Brer
Rabbit, is particularly suited to a child's room, with its naively-rendered
bunnies, very similar in feeling to the decorations done on Dedham plates
of this period. The four poster bed, a family antique, is covered in
Morris's Artichoke brocade, while
the window shades are Leicester.
The toy chest at the foot of the bed was collaged by the girl's mother
using antique illustrations from children's literature. While not
chosen for their color, the Ugli dolls on the bed coordinate
beautifully! The picture on the right shows a small table and
chairs, perfect for tea parties, in front of Morris's Acanthus
in a tone-on-tone pewter blue. Behind is the daughter's dressing
room with custom-made cabinetry instead of dressers. It also doubles
as a theater stage for performances. While there is no pink per se
in this space, the overall feeling is of a delicate, decorative and
beautiful room, clearly created for a girl. I kept the many patterns
from clashing by making sure they were all of different scales, a
technique Morris himself used when creating his interiors in the 1880's. |
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