Room of the Day: Rich Color Provides the Backdrop for a Collected Look
A designer showcases homeowners' treasures in a living-dining space in England’s Yorkshire County
The owner of this home in Leeds, England, described the look she was after for her open-plan living and dining space as Out of Africa meets London’s Natural History Museum. She had a huge collection of vintage objects, Africana, taxidermy, old maps, collectors’ drawers and furniture pieces. “It was all there, but it was just a mishmash,” says interior designer Karen Knox. The owner’s partner had just moved in with her, bringing all his retro and midcentury treasures too, plus the couple had just had a new baby. “The house was full of stuff,” Knox recalls. “I just had to pull it all together and make it work.”
The owner had lived in Africa and traveled a great deal, picking up pieces along the way, including taxidermy and lots of collections. “Her partner is into midcentury design and retro style, so I had to coordinate their tastes,” Knox says. “As soon as I saw all her artwork, I knew straight away that a deep vintage green, with copper and orange as the accents, was going to make everything in this room sing.”
Knox and the owners chose this color during their first consultation. “The dark green brings that warm feeling of age to the space,” Knox says. “It’s like a gentlemen’s club with a dash of taxidermy. That was the theme.”
Wall paint: Sherwood Forest, Valspar
Knox and the owners chose this color during their first consultation. “The dark green brings that warm feeling of age to the space,” Knox says. “It’s like a gentlemen’s club with a dash of taxidermy. That was the theme.”
Wall paint: Sherwood Forest, Valspar
Painting the coving and baseboards the same color stretched the space outward, Knox says. “The whole area wasn’t chopped up by having another color running down the length of the room.”
She designed the shelves above the sofa, while the tree trunk table was an existing piece. “It now really stands out against the dark green background,” she says.
She designed the shelves above the sofa, while the tree trunk table was an existing piece. “It now really stands out against the dark green background,” she says.
BEFORE: The living area featured an unattractive tiled fireplace that had been added in the 1970s.
AFTER: Knox ripped out the fireplace and had the concrete interior rebuilt before designing the new fire surround. “We didn’t have the budget to add a new one, so I worked with paint instead to create something effective and quite bold,” she says.
She mixed a paint that’s slightly darker than the walls to create the mantel feel around the fireplace and added in a bit of gloss for sheen. “It was a way to give the chimney [wall] some visual weight without it costing much money,” she says.
She mixed a paint that’s slightly darker than the walls to create the mantel feel around the fireplace and added in a bit of gloss for sheen. “It was a way to give the chimney [wall] some visual weight without it costing much money,” she says.
The orange fireplace interior satisfies the man of the house’s love of this very midcentury color. The Victorian oak child’s chair came from a local salvage yard that Knox and the owner visited together.
Fireplace paint: Storybook Sundown, Valspar
See ways to decorate with sunset tones of pink and orange
Fireplace paint: Storybook Sundown, Valspar
See ways to decorate with sunset tones of pink and orange
In addition to feeling quite dark, the whole space was poorly lit. “The first thing we did was change the lights,” Knox says. “There were tinted glass shades, which turned the room orange. The lights were often on, so the room was frequently a crazy, trippy color. I thought, ‘We need to work back to front and fix the lighting.’”
The white feather shade was a cost-effective way of adding distinctive textured lighting without breaking the bank.
The 1930s door was stripped back to its original state.
Melito feather ball light shade: B&Q
The white feather shade was a cost-effective way of adding distinctive textured lighting without breaking the bank.
The 1930s door was stripped back to its original state.
Melito feather ball light shade: B&Q
“We didn’t change the furniture or buy new pieces,” Knox says. “The owner had so much stuff, so it was just about using what she and her partner already owned.”
The chair is a Parker Knoll design with original upholstery, now beautifully at home in the redesigned room.
Insect pillow cover: H&M
The chair is a Parker Knoll design with original upholstery, now beautifully at home in the redesigned room.
Insect pillow cover: H&M
Drawers full of collections, including coins and stones, take pride of place in the chimney alcove. “It’s all authentic,” Knox says. “We’re not plonking random bits of vintage furniture into the room to try to create a look.”
Bright flashes of the rich orange paint used in the fireplace peep out from the open cupboards. Knox had new doors made for these units for a smarter finish.
The piano originally stood in the hallway but never got played. The owners had considered building a slim desk into this space in the dining area, but Knox persuaded them to bring in the piano.
“The morning after we moved it in, the owner rang me to say thanks,” Knox says. “She’d just sat down and played for the first time in 12 months. That made me go all warm and tingly.”
“The morning after we moved it in, the owner rang me to say thanks,” Knox says. “She’d just sat down and played for the first time in 12 months. That made me go all warm and tingly.”
BEFORE: The living and dining room had been painted a bland magnolia color, and the dining area had not had much use before Knox rethought the space.
AFTER: The owner struggled with how dark the dining space felt, so Knox suggested running with that issue, rather than trying to brighten it up. “I thought, ‘Let’s go dark. Let’s just bring in lots of lamps and make it feel really cozy,’” she says. “They use it now.”
A large gilt-framed mirror bounces the light back into the darker end of the room. “As soon as it was hung, it doubled the amount of light coming from the lamps,” Knox says. “The magic of mirrors!”
The ceiling is painted in a warm off-white with the tiniest hint of green. “It’s a kind of vintage white, which works beautifully with the rest of the room.”
Ceiling paint: Gentle Shadows, Valspar
The ceiling is painted in a warm off-white with the tiniest hint of green. “It’s a kind of vintage white, which works beautifully with the rest of the room.”
Ceiling paint: Gentle Shadows, Valspar
Flashes of orange and touches of copper break up the rich green and work as an accent. A copper lampshade hangs over the dining table and casts beautiful shadows.
Jonas wire copper pendant: B&Q
Jonas wire copper pendant: B&Q
Knox sprayed a vintage standard lamp with copper paint and added a lampshade made from an African textile. An original 1960s touch-button phone sits on an Art Deco drinks cabinet. “This corner sums up the room in one shot,” Knox says.
Heavy-duty shelves installed in a fireplace recess hold a big vinyl collection. A set of decks are wired into an alcove on the other side. “Wires trailing everywhere can kill a room,” Knox says.
“The owner had a lot of artwork up already but not in the right places,” Knox says. “A lot more was kept in boxes too. So we decided to get out all these little gems that she’d never got round to hanging and make a crazy gallery wall. Every image had a story behind it that took about half an hour to tell.”
See more Rooms of the Day
See more Rooms of the Day
Who lives here: A couple and their 1-year-old son
Location: Leeds, West Yorkshire, England
Size: About 576 square feet (53.5 square meters); about 36 by 16 feet (11 by 5 meters)
Designer: Karen Knox of Making Spaces
The living and dining space runs the length of this house, having been knocked through at some point. “It’s a really large space,” Knox says, “but it was dark. It had been painted a magnolia shade, but it just wasn’t working color- or layoutwise.”
The carpet was ripped up and the floorboards repaired, sanded and stained. Two rugs delineate the living and dining areas, adding vibrant color.
Acid rug (foreground) and Legend rug: Benuta