Introducing The Streamlined Victorian

I have two big projects underway and I can’t wait to share all the fun details and challenges.  The first up is what I am calling the Streamlined Victorian.  My clients bought a gorgeous home with lots of great character to fit their family of five, however, the house has its challenges.  

The first floor has two pinch points, i.e. super narrow passageways, from the living to the family room and from the foyer to the kitchen.  Needless to say, these are hallways that this family will use A LOT and the narrow nature makes it feel AWKWARD.  The other big challenge is a 2nd floor addition that is a large room underutilized for laundry.  This room is huge and could be an awesome bedroom or gym but currently you only access it by walking through one of the kids bedrooms.  Other than that, the bathrooms could use some updating and reconfiguring.  The kitchen is in great shape but a little dated. The list for this home is long, so it will likely be a multi-stage project. 

Always when I start with a client, the Inspirational Design Board is key.  This board becomes the foundation to all our design and purchasing decisions. It is our reference point when we are looking at options.  I start with mood words (a trick I learned from my branding gurus @mainlandstudios) to describe how they want their house to feel. The images in the board play off of those words. Getting right the feel of this board will save my client time and money.  They pay hourly, so ensuring I can source what they truly want efficiently comes back to this board. 

For this home, I came up with Streamlined, Modern, Warm and Contemporary. The husband is Danish and both husband and wife stressed minimal, organized, yet warm and understated in my Client Questionnaire.  If I steered too contemporary, the house could come off cold. If I steered too layered, the house could come off busy.  The right mix uses simple straight lines and modern fixtures paired with natural woods and soft color palate to add warmth. I think this Inspiration Design Board gets us close.