Living Room & Dining Room

10 lessons for deconstructing living and dining rooms

10 lessons for deconstructing living and dining rooms

Image by: Michael Graydon

Living Room & Dining Room

10 lessons for deconstructing living and dining rooms

Toronto designer Samantha Sacks deconstructs her client’s living and dining rooms with 10 take-away lessons.

Trust is one of the biggest hurdles in any working relationship, but to find a client willing to free-fall backward into my deepest design fantasies – especially when they include bold bursts of lavender and chartreuse – well, that’s just rare indeed. The owners of this 2,000 square-foot home in north Toronto had worked with a designer before, but the room had been a compromise between what she wanted to do and how far they were willing to go. The result? A space that had nothing wrong with it, but nothing going for it either.

Fast-forward five years and these homeowners were ready to go the full design distance – to trust in a daring palette coupled with boldly patterned fabrics – and I was the lucky lady charged with the job. Here’s how I did it in 10 lessons.

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10 lessons for deconstructing living and dining rooms

Symmetrical living room

1 Window coverings The off-centre window was made to look perfectly symmetrical by simply hiding it behind a set of drapery panels that extend from wall to wall. This tricks the eye, drawing attention to the drapes instead of the window mullions. 2 Symmetry Symmetry is a key ingredient in a space that boasts a lot of pattern because it has a grounding effect. Here, a pair of floor lamps placed directly across from two identical armchairs offers a sense of balance and serenity. 3 Hues in the room Choosing hues that are opposite each other on the colour wheel – in this case, chartreuse and lavender – heightens visual contrast and prevents the room, which has lots of pastels, from looking like an Easter egg.

Image by: Style at Home By: Samantha Sacks Source: Michael Graydon

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Living Room & Dining Room

10 lessons for deconstructing living and dining rooms