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Room Tour: Remote Design Transforms an Imposing Room
Being unable to meet face-to-face was no barrier to the redesign of this once-awkward room into a cosy family space
“It was the scale of this room they struggled with,” Karen Knox of Making Spaces says of her clients, with whom she worked remotely. “It’s a big space.”
The room is within a two-storey flat that’s part of an Arts and Crafts building and has lots of original and somewhat imposing wood features. “The owners had never lived in a property like it and just didn’t know what to do with this room. They needed someone tell them: ‘With a room like this, you really have to go for it!’, and to guide them as to how to decorate and pull it together.”
The room is within a two-storey flat that’s part of an Arts and Crafts building and has lots of original and somewhat imposing wood features. “The owners had never lived in a property like it and just didn’t know what to do with this room. They needed someone tell them: ‘With a room like this, you really have to go for it!’, and to guide them as to how to decorate and pull it together.”
A key part of the redesign of this room was picking furniture pieces that would both work with the scale of the space and complement a room with such strong original features. There’s a lot of wood, including an oak floor and dark ceiling beams, as well as leaded windows and the large oak and stone Arts and Crafts fireplace.
“The owners were keen to incorporate new pieces with old, so it didn’t look old-fashioned and fussy, which would have been easy because of all the period features,” Karen explains. “They liked chesterfield-shaped sofas, but I didn’t want to go too far down the route of swirly arms. It would have felt too traditional and I wanted to get a cleaner line. It would also have felt wrong to go too modern.”
The owners love blue and Karen ended up suggesting these sofas, which, with buttoned backs and curved arms, make a subtle, respectful nod to the traditional style. “They’re a bit less fussy than a chesterfield,” Karen says.
Hugo sofas, Rose & Grey.
“The owners were keen to incorporate new pieces with old, so it didn’t look old-fashioned and fussy, which would have been easy because of all the period features,” Karen explains. “They liked chesterfield-shaped sofas, but I didn’t want to go too far down the route of swirly arms. It would have felt too traditional and I wanted to get a cleaner line. It would also have felt wrong to go too modern.”
The owners love blue and Karen ended up suggesting these sofas, which, with buttoned backs and curved arms, make a subtle, respectful nod to the traditional style. “They’re a bit less fussy than a chesterfield,” Karen says.
Hugo sofas, Rose & Grey.
The 2m x 2m fireplace helped to dictate the scale of the furniture.
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It took Karen a full extra day to source the ceiling lights. “It was a real pig to find something that worked with the beams,” she says. “Brass looked too glam and shiny; chrome wasn’t right; glass or metal just looked too hard, and a chandelier felt too obvious.”
In the end, an interior designer friend suggested going for fabric and pointed to a company that makes large silk lanterns. “As soon as I put them into the moodboard, I could see they’d work,” Karen says.
The coffee table was a clever adaptation. “Everything I found at first looked like a pea on that rug, which is three by four metres,” Karen says. “It was used to zone the centre of the room and make the seating feel as if it wasn’t just floating in a sea of wood. The coffee table was actually an old kitchen table and we just had the legs cut off. It was less than £200.”
The chest next to the door was a temporary placeholder until the owners found the perfect piece, seen in the next image…
AL36 silk lights, Gong. Coffee table; sideboard, both eBay.Yara rug in Beige/Blue, Benuta.
In the end, an interior designer friend suggested going for fabric and pointed to a company that makes large silk lanterns. “As soon as I put them into the moodboard, I could see they’d work,” Karen says.
The coffee table was a clever adaptation. “Everything I found at first looked like a pea on that rug, which is three by four metres,” Karen says. “It was used to zone the centre of the room and make the seating feel as if it wasn’t just floating in a sea of wood. The coffee table was actually an old kitchen table and we just had the legs cut off. It was less than £200.”
The chest next to the door was a temporary placeholder until the owners found the perfect piece, seen in the next image…
AL36 silk lights, Gong. Coffee table; sideboard, both eBay.Yara rug in Beige/Blue, Benuta.
This shows the bookcase the owners have bought to replace the chest.
Alaska velvet curtains in Navy, Curtains Curtains Curtains.
Alaska velvet curtains in Navy, Curtains Curtains Curtains.
The original oak floor is just one of the many wooden features in the room.
Karen never considered painting out the original timber details. “These are part of the room and its history, so instead it was about how to make it all feel relevant for modern day family life.”
Karen never considered painting out the original timber details. “These are part of the room and its history, so instead it was about how to make it all feel relevant for modern day family life.”
“The wallpaper was the lynchpin for this project and provided the palette for the rest of the room,” Karen says. “When the owners said they liked blue, this design sprung to mind immediately – it’s so Arts and Crafts-y.
“There’s lots of movement in it, but it’s not too overwhelming or wacky,” she continues, “and it felt quite traditional but contemporary enough. It was designed in 1932 and there’s a nod to William Morris, so it references the movement.”
The door on the right leads to a loggia and a garden beyond.
Vine – Bleu wallpaper; ceiling (between beams) painted in Portland Stone, both Little Greene. Lower walls painted in Hix Blue, Farrow & Ball.
“There’s lots of movement in it, but it’s not too overwhelming or wacky,” she continues, “and it felt quite traditional but contemporary enough. It was designed in 1932 and there’s a nod to William Morris, so it references the movement.”
The door on the right leads to a loggia and a garden beyond.
Vine – Bleu wallpaper; ceiling (between beams) painted in Portland Stone, both Little Greene. Lower walls painted in Hix Blue, Farrow & Ball.
The starting point – as it always must be, Karen says – was how the room would be used. “If a room doesn’t have a function, you can’t choose the layout, and if you have no layout, you can’t choose the furniture – and if you can’t do that, you’re in limbo,” she says.
The owners decided they’d like to use it as a relaxing living room where they could chat, listen to music or sit by the fire having a drink.
The owners decided they’d like to use it as a relaxing living room where they could chat, listen to music or sit by the fire having a drink.
“One of the owners’ requests was to have somewhere to store their vinyl collection and locate their record player,” Karen says. “I started the hunt for large Arts and Crafts-era furniture and found this sideboard on eBay for less than £200.”
With furniture the right size for the space, you can’t see how big everything around it is. Karen says the door on the right is around 2.4m high.
Gold Palm Leaf floor lamp, Olive & Sage. Ananas glass table lamp, Breeze Home Furnishings.
With furniture the right size for the space, you can’t see how big everything around it is. Karen says the door on the right is around 2.4m high.
Gold Palm Leaf floor lamp, Olive & Sage. Ananas glass table lamp, Breeze Home Furnishings.
Above is the to-scale floorplan Karen provided for the homeowners. The sorts of questions she asks her remote clients in the questionnaire include:
Check out how three Houzz pros work with clients remotely.
- “What’s the problem?”
- “What does the room need to do?”
- “What’s already in the room that’s staying?”
- “Who will use the room?”
Check out how three Houzz pros work with clients remotely.
The service provides clients with a scheme, a moodboard (the detail of which varies project to project – above is the one for this project), the already-mentioned floorplan and a shopping list. Karen is then on hand for follow-up questions.
“Remote design is great when clients don’t need a project management service,” Karen says. “I gave these homeowners the ingredients for the room and they could do it all at their own pace.”
“Remote design is great when clients don’t need a project management service,” Karen says. “I gave these homeowners the ingredients for the room and they could do it all at their own pace.”
Another view of the room before its transformation. This door leads out into the entrance hall.
“I offer a styling session at the end of the project if clients would like help with that, but these homeowners just went for the straight-up design package with no follow-ups.
“I offer remote design packs, but if people just want me to scan their room and help them to figure out why it’s not working, I can do a two-hour consultation. A couple of hours with an interior designer for a sense check can be a worthwhile investment.”
“I offer remote design packs, but if people just want me to scan their room and help them to figure out why it’s not working, I can do a two-hour consultation. A couple of hours with an interior designer for a sense check can be a worthwhile investment.”
The room now looks contemporary and welcoming, but the distinctive Arts and Crafts style still shines through. “We just embraced things,” Karen says. “Why buy a place at all if you want to change it that much? If you pay for the beams and the windows, you have to embrace it all wholeheartedly.”
Tell us…
Which projects in your home would you consider working on remotely with a designer? Share your thoughts in the Comments section.
Tell us…
Which projects in your home would you consider working on remotely with a designer? Share your thoughts in the Comments section.
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Who lives here? A family of three and their dog
Location Derbyshire
Property A two-storey conversion flat within a Grade II Listed Arts and Crafts property, with four bedrooms and three bathrooms
Room dimensions 7.1m x 5.3m
Designer Karen Knox of Making Spaces, who worked remotely for the entire project
This photo, taken by the homeowners, shows how the room used to look.
“A remote consult always starts with the clients filling in a questionnaire. They email that across, along with photos of the space, and of anything that’s staying, plus the room dimensions and a floorplan,” Karen says, explaining how she goes about designing a room without ever setting foot in it.
“I spend an hour or so working through all of that information and follow up with an hour’s Skype consultation, where I get to meet the clients and discuss in more detail,” she says.
“It’s here that I also bat some initial ideas around with them to gauge reactions,” she continues. “It’s really important to do this face-to-face and not on the phone, as people’s facial reactions and interactions with one another often give more away than they do verbally.
“With everything I’ve learned, I then get to work on the overall design, which is normally delivered back to the client within a week,” she says.