INTRODUCTION:
Hello we are a couple who bought their first apartment in Perth, Western Australia. We are excited to make it beautiful together with you. This design contest is for our Living Room. We would be happy to write a great testimonial for your design skills and to send you the photos of the completed Living Room once it is decorated/remodeled.
The winning design would address all the following:
● Book storage
● Color Scheme (paint or wallpaper)
● Lighting Fixtures
● Dining area
● Entertainment area
● Curtains
● Decoration/Plants
● Entry way
● Extension of living space onto balcony
● Hide aircon
ABOUT:
The room is 6.5 x 4.1m. It gets a lot of morning light; but less afternoon light. It has 3 windows on the East Side (can see the city skyline), and a balcony on the north side (can see green park).
BOOKSHELF:
We need to build or purchase a large book case or install shelving to host our large book collection. We want a built-in look. At this point we think the bookshelf should be on the East Wall (where the 3 windows are), however we are open to your suggestions. We want the bookshelf to be only one-book deep. Is it possible to buy some premade bookshelf (ikea?) and remake it according to the dimensions of our East Wall and to make it look good? If so, please send exact quantity/name of shelving to buy. We would also like the bookshelf to have space for sound system and small projector (no need to have space for TV as we don’t have one). Can you propose a bookshelf with lights?
COLOR SCHEME & WALLS
In the references you can see the painting that we own (bird and pears). This artist will paint more paintings for us. Perhaps you can find inspiration from its color palette.
I like deep colored walls (burgundy, dark blue, dark green) but am worried that with limited afternoon light, the room will be too dark? We are open to repainting the walls (currently light grey) or even using wallpaper (large flowers, marble, water color, jungle, etc)
NORTH WALL
The north wall is primarily comprised of 2 large glass sliding doors onto the balcony. Please propose curtains for this wall which go all the way from the ceiling to the ground. The challenge is that there is a large (ugly) aircon unit and i don’t know how to install curtains with it in place. Please hide the aircon either with curtains or in some other way.
WEST WALL
The West wall is large and empty; please propose something very creative and intricate to do with the west wall. Remember that most likely we will be projecting movies onto this surface; so approximately a square meter of the wall must be kept clean/light color for this. Or you can switch the walls where projector is located i.e. for example projector is on west wall/movies on east.
FURNITURE
The only furniture we have are (a) couch, (b) coffee table, (c) small wooden table (4 people). We are open to replacing all of these or utilizing them in the context of your design.
Additionally, please propose a creative solution for:
● Dining solution for 6 people. This could be a table, chairs, or something else entirely. We want something beautiful and something which blends into the room. You can either propose a standard dining set or a taller set where the chairs can be repurposed to be bar stools for the kitchen counter.
● Hanging out area. We probably need armchairs and a rug as a minimum. This is a place where we can hang out with guests after we had dinner. Please suggest the most beautiful set up you can think of. (when sitting on the couch, we can see a beautiful green park with lots of trees from the glass balcony doors towards east). It would be great to bring the sense of nature into this space.
● It is hard to ship furniture to Australia from overseas, as such, for large furniture please propose items we can buy in Australia. Some examples are below but it could be from any Australian based store:
● http://www.mattblatt.com.au/?gclid=CICitt2FptECFcIKKgodK98JFw
● https://www.brosa.com.au/?gclid=CI6m6dqFptECFY6WvQodGFMGsA
● https://www.finder.com.au/furniture-homewares
● http://www.mydeal.com.au/furniture/kitchen-dining/dining-tables
http://www.ikea.com/aa/en/store/perth
Small items we can ship from anywhere.
LIGHTS
Please propose a solution for lighting. Currently we have 2 ceiling sources of light. These need to be replaced with more beautiful lighting, i.e. chandeliers or exotic fixtures, however the ceiling is not too tall. Additionally, we would like to have a lot of indirect sources of light.
PLANTS
We plan to have some indoor plants; please propose an effective way to display them.
WALL ART
We plan to have a lot of custom-made paintings on the walls. X-large paining size is welcome.
ENTRYWAY
We have a very small entry way. Please propose how to make it unusual and bright and hide the shoes. I’d like to paint the entry door. You cannot use small space behind the door as it is fully occupied by the hot water boiler. No need to find place for coats as we store then in the closet. Is there a way to visually distinguish entry way from the living room using the floor? I like the guests to always take off their shoes and the change in the floor can serve as a reminder for the guests.
LIVING ROOM BALCONY
This balcony is noisy during the day but quite in the evenings and weekends. Right now we don’t spend much time on it. But when guests come over, we would like this balcony to be a continuation of the living room. Please propose something beautiful (it’s always warm in Australia). May be it can also serve as a “do it yourself” or “make messy art” area. Please note that the aircon we have is comprised of 2 parts (part A inside, part B on the balcony). We will move part B from the East side of balcony (where it partially blocks park views) to the West side of balcony (which you cannot see from the inside). Alternatively, you can propose a an aircon which only has the inside part.
STYLE
Styles we like: regency, country, contemporary, art deco, spanish, traditional. Some reference to travel would be great (maps, compass, etc) as we travel a lot.
Styles we are ok with: scandi, eclectic, coastal, mid century modern, retro, rustic
Styles we don’t like: asian, minimalistic, industrial, vintage, classic, shabby chic, boho
I’d like for the Living Room to be visually fascinating, where guests would be continuously surprised and stimulated, and would want to explore every detail.
SUMMARY
Congratulations! You have read all of this 🙂
We really value your help and your creativity. This is our first home and we are eager to make it as beautiful as possible. In summary, we are looking for a house that is fascinating, full of unusual and eye-catching detail.
Thank you!
