Opening Doors

We as a people are fascinated with doors; I have hung pictures of doors from around the world on my client’s walls. Charleston, South Carolina is known for its’ hospitably doors. These doors looked like a grand entrance to the home from the outside but only lead to a porch which would then lead you to the real entrance of the home. When the door was open it meant that the homeowners were ready to receive guest and be hospitable. In Key West, there are cute entrances to side yards that are marked not by a gate but an interesting door. A quick perusal of the internet will reveal a myriad of fabulous quotes about finding bliss through a door and the opening and closing of doors. Many people open the door to their new home in The Villages seeking their bliss, but what about in their decorating? Are they opening doors and finding decorating bliss? Let’s take a peek into a Gardenia living room in which the homeowners have found their bliss by adding a big door that they walk through every day, somewhere in the heart of The Villages.

• Space Planning
Originally we were going to move the furniture around so that the room would look larger and more pulled together. I usually accomplish this by moving the TV to one of the side walls in the room. The TV can be placed on the large angled wall or the small wall but the sofa is usually placed on the wall between the windows. However, when I discovered that there was a pool behind the living room wall and it could not be seen because of the wall that was a game changer! The pool is so pretty that seeing it from the entire living room space would be amazing. All we had to do was take down the wall and put in a big door.

• Large Sliding Door
The homeowners had wondered about taking out the wall once they had the pool installed but had not pursued it. Hearing someone else say, “You should put in a door!” motivated them to make it a reality. They had a four-panel sliding glass door installed. The house can be completely open and the sound of the water fall can be heard indoors. All the money that was put into the pool and deck area is now completely worth the investment because they can see it all the time.

• Furniture Placement
The homeowners wanted to see the TV from the kitchen as well as the living room. To achieve this goal, we placed the TV on the smaller wall in the space. We placed the couch against the second largest wall (opposing the TV) and the recliner was placed beside the sofa and turned inward at an angle toward the TV and the spectacular view. We angled the love seat in toward the room beside the TV console to round out the seating and balance one wall against the other. The room looks so big and the fire pots can be seen all the time. The pool looks like a resort, and at night the fire is amazing.

• Trim Out the Door
We wanted the door to stand out, so we trimmed the door with big white casement molding. This creates a large picture frame to show off the view outside. The other set of sliding glass doors was given the same treatment so that they would look visually coordinated.

• Rug
The Rug is an 8’x11’ wool rug from the National Geographic collection. We laid the rug at an angle in the living room. Angling the rug allows the 8’x11’ size to fill the space and it covers the floor outlet. We liked the way the angle and pattern of the rug worked in the space to create movement and interest. If you are considering moving your Gardenia living room around and don’t like the rug at an angle. You can use a 9’x13’ rug and lay the rug straight. This larger size will accommodate covering the floor outlet.

• Large art
We needed large art pieces on the wall above the sofa and the homeowner chose palm trees at a peaceful lake by watercolor artist Elizabeth Kershaw. We had the art pieces framed in black. The black frames pulled in some of the black from the two fire pots that frame the waterfall.

• Two new side tables
We added two new side tables made of mango wood in a weathered black stain.
These tables look unique and add a curated, well-traveled touch to the space.

• Two lamps
We added two lamps to the space. The lamps pulled in touches of navy blue that works well with the greys in the sofa and the blues in the rug.

• Elephant side table
The carved elephant side table added a touch of whimsy and reinforced the eclectic and curated felling that this room inspires.

P.S. –Attention all club presidents! We give free decorating seminars. It is lots of fun and very informative. Call and schedule your club today. Also, we are on-line check out our web-site at www.ruthdyer.com and you can always e-mail us at ruth@finishingtouchfl.com or Call Ruth your full-service decorator at 352-804-2056.

Before and After Pics Below