Someone wrote in to me with some dilemmas she is facing at her home and asked if I could make some suggestions.
She wanted to replace the worn ottoman in her bathroom and wanted advice on what to replace it with while also having the functionality the old ottoman provided.
I recommended a couple of ideas.
I would certainly stay with an ottoman. It is always nice to have some sort of seating in a bath or dressing area. It can be used to lay the days outfit on as you get ready and it offers a great place to have a seat as you put on your shoes.
Ottomans sit low, so it doesn’t visually take up a lot of space. I do, however recommend a round ottoman as this will allow for easier access to walk around the ottoman. Considering there are so many angular objects in the space such as the cabinetry, the window and doorway, a round object will really add a nice shape in the room.
She can certainly keep the cover in leather, but there are also many great performance fabrics she can select from as well. These performance fabrics are stain and UV resistant.
She then said her living room felt a little cold. I agree.
A very easy fix would be framing the windows with drapery panels. I suggested one panel to the far left and one panel to the far right. This will visually open up the wall as you view the wall. It frames your view and would easily warm top the space. Take the drapery panels up over the transom to create some height in the room as well.
Lastly, she asked if she should rearrange her furniture.
As the main sofa is placed to face toward the focal fireplace element, it is placed perfectly.
In this scenario, a secondary chair would be great if it swivels, so one can sit and view the TV or swivel to face the guests on the sofa. I would like to go a little further and suggest that some work should be done with the bookshelves. I would minimally remove one shelf per case and use fewer and larger decor on the shelves.
As it is the wall is a little busy and would accent the fireplace wall better if it had a cleaner and more impactful look.
Let me know of some of your design dilemmas!
