stump the designer

This month's challenger is Carrie from Irvine, who inherited 2 matching shelf units from her husband's family and needs help incorporating them into their dining room.


Carrie says "we are free to do whatever we want with them... paint, refinish, change out the doors, add a new top, remove the shelves , etc. They are a little too old fashioned for me and I'm not big on the wood finish... I just don't know what to do! I thought about painting them black and removing the shelves, and adding a thick butcher block to the top but my husband isn't convinced my plan will look good. And he hates it when I start a project and then change my mind halfway through. From the photos, you will see that we are in the midst of decorating and never seem to finish any project. Can you help?"

Carrie describes her and her husband's style as Pottery Barn-ish. They have a 10 month old son and cats, meaning that they need as much storage as possible-out of sight and out of reach.

I just love a challenge!

The first thing that I will say is that I think you should save yourself the time and headache of trying to turn them into entirely different pieces of furniture. They are actually quite versatile, even with their traditional elements. One of the main components of the Pottery Barn style is the blend between traditional and contemporary; making spaces feel comfortable and seem like they have been around awhile, but not outdated. These pieces serve that purpose very well.

That said, there are a couple of things I would suggest here to make these fit into your own style a little better. Again taking our cues from Pottery Barn, I suggest painting the units white and leaving the shelves and doors as-is. You have a lot of red-toned wood in the dining and living areas and, while I'm not a freak about matching woods, I do think that we shouldn't overwhelm the spaces with dark wood.

Another reason for suggesting white instead of black or natural is that we want to use these on the red wall of the dining room. The color is awesome and I'm really glad to see that you aren't afraid to make some bold statements in your style. I think that using white will highlight the accent wall and keep the space feeling comfortable instead of heavy and dark.

One thing I need to mention- make sure you have a professional paint the furniture, especially since we're going white. The last thing you want is to have brush strokes or globs of paint that you will notice every time the light hits it (trust me, this will drive you nuts). I can suggest someone if you want.

My plan is to take both of the white shelves and anchor them on the edges of the red wall. The left unit will take the place of the current 'phone station' and provide additional storage for any miscellaneous items (notepads, mail center, etc.). We want to have a mix of functional and decorative uses for these pieces, to really get the feel of an organized but lived-in home.

So let's take a look at some of the accents that will pull this room together.

1. Along the top shelf of both pieces I suggest putting some storage baskets. These are a great catch-all, but out of reach for both cats and babies.

2. Taking a bold fabric, like the black and white print from Rubie Green, make a valance for the large window on the adjacent wall and add some sheer curtains to finish it off. It's not necessary to overthink the details in a space, but simple additions like this always make a big difference.

3. Update the hardware on the drawers with something more modern. The pulls I chose are simple, but perfect for transitioning these pieces from traditional to contemporary.

4. I have incorporated some of the decorative items that you already have and mixed them up with some new ones as well. Objects like the birds and the wooden house are great pieces because they add character and interest to a standard bookshelf and make your everyday items seem like a display.

The space between the shelves is a perfect place for a functional display as well. A small stool would fit perfect here and can be a spot to set a purse or the baby or to sit and tie your shoes. Another thing I noticed in the pictures was that there are several rolls of plan sets (I'm guessing these are from work) and other tall cylindrical items that are awkward to store. One suggestion is to use an urn as a storage bin, once again making your everyday items look like art.

So here is what the space looks like all pulled together.

I hope you like what I have come up with. I've had a lot of fun imagining (and re-imagining) what we can do with a little work and not a lot of money.

Resources:
1. Woven Storage Bins, Vivaterra
2. Habibi fabric, from Rubie Green
3. Pure cabinet hardware, Spectra Decor
4. Wave Stool, Vivaterra
5. Papier Mache Birds, Branch Home
6. Driftwood Planters, Palecek
7. Wood Houses, Pottery Barn

Join me next month for stump the designer. Please email me your troubled spaces and unruly furniture pieces and I'll see what I can do. Thanks for reading!