Have you ever felt that you keep working on a room that never seems to “gel?” Maybe you’ve repainted several times, rearranged the furniture, or rehung the art. But somehow, the room never feels just right. I’ve hit walls like this as well and have learned to back up and take a deeper look.
Sometimes the foundation of the room you’re working on is off. There may be a lack of trim and moldings to finish and define the room. The doors may be plain builder-grade, with cheap hardware. The flooring may be dated or simply out of place. There are several things to consider when getting the bones of your space right before decorating.
“The thing that is often overlooked is trims and molding. The rooms were just boxes, so I’ve added a wainscoting. Chair rail is a great place to start. It’s a super easy project but adds that little bit of character. Then what I’ve done underneath the chair rail is picture frame molding and painted that out. Then this room that looked like a box now has this architectural detail. That’s how you can inject character into a home” Marion Parsons.
Sometimes getting the bones right is a simple fix. Sometimes it’s more involved. In our dining room, the door trim, chair rail, and wainscot paneling were in proportion and only needed to be painted a color to define the room from the kitchen. These main bones were correct and made it easy to create a lovely space. a minor change that could be corrected is installing a proper baseboard. The dinky quarter-round trim installed by the contractor is out of proportion for the room and the existing trim used on the chair rail and around the doors. This is a small detail in this space, but it would look more finished and to scale for the room.
“I like the idea of the room being interesting before you bring anything into it. So, improving the actual box before putting in all of your beautiful things. And I think sometimes we forget about that part.” Lisa Bass ~ Simple Farmhouse Life podcast.
If you followed along with our English country kitchen remodel you watched as we worked on the foundation of the kitchen before decorating. We chose the countertop materials and for the backsplash, we chose a mixture of tongue-and-groove paneling and tile. The electrical was rerouted to accommodate art and to allow for hiding the outlets when possible. Architecturally, we added corbels to the upper cabinets. All these details were thought through before we hung window dressings or added decor. When the bones are right you don’t notice them and they are a tremendous support to your overall design for the room. It’s when the bones are wrong that you notice them.
“In most of the house, you’re going to get dinky two-inch trim which is way out of scale. Dinky stock mantels that are stuck on… By beefing up the moldings and details of the room just gives you a more interesting foundation. I realized that from living in apartments where I couldn’t do that kind of thing and I was trying to camouflage a boring room with stuff. It was this overabundance of stuff. If you’re just throwing stuff at the room then maybe you need to address some things in the room itself first, then let the furnishings be a bit simpler.” Marion Parsons.
On another wall in our kitchen, we ran into a design dilemma. This wall was plain sheetrock with one offset tall cabinet door. This wall felt detached, design-wise from the rest of the custom/built-in kitchen. finally, I realized that it was off-balance with the two full walls of cabinetry in the rest of the kitchen and it needed that “built-in” look to feel cohesive. to solve this problem we added tongue-and-groove panelling, then painted it in Sherwin Williams Ivory Lace to match the upper cabinets. It was amazing how the texture of the paneling brought the room together and was simple to decorate!
Another foundational element to consider for the space is the hardware. Cabinet hardware can seem like one of the final layers of the room, but it’s integral to the building and a supporting part of the foundational design. In the photograph above we’ve replaced the 1960s builder-grade doorknobs with a reproduction crystal and brass doorknob as a part of our master bedroom makeover. It is a small detail but makes a big difference.
When you are considering the bones, or foundation, of your rooms, keep in mind the walls, ceilings, flooring, trim and moldings, and hardware. You can find wonderfully unique architectural pieces like doors, corner moldings, and corbels from local salvage yards. I’m on the lookout for a gorgeous vintage wood front door… for similar thoughts on this subject you might enjoy reading: “Is Your Home on Default?“
Until next time,
Cultivate a lovely home for your family!
Rachel
