Project BachPad: Challenges & Solutions
DESIGN & PHOTOS BY: LS DESIGN STUDIO
Earlier this week, we installed our first big project as LS Design Studio, #ProjectBachPad! It was so exciting finally seeing our work fully completed in front of our eyes exactly how we had pictured it from our Initial Consultation. During our first walk through with these clients, they were able to talk us through the unique design challenges their Downtown San Diego condo presented, and how they anticipated using their new space.
Many times when we walk into a consult, we can instantly visualize how we would rearrange the space- we know what size sectional we’re going to want, how we’re going to arrange the furniture, which wall the TV will go on, how big of a light fixture we’re going to need, etc. For #ProjectBachPad, this was not the case. One of the biggest challenges we faced were the smaller rooms paired with 16-20ft ceilings. The clients love to entertain, so utilizing the available square footage was a main priority. This was an exciting challenge for us that we felt confident in resolving and after seeing everything come to fruition during the install, we’re calling it a success! Below we broke out all of the challenges we discussed with our clients during our Consultation, and the solutions that we came up with over the course of the Design Process. We’ve also included some pro tips for your own design projects!
Challenge: Existing bar created a tight dining space
Solution: Remove existing cabinetry and replace with built in seating
When we first met with these clients, one of their main requests is that we add in an area for them to eat. The challenge here is that the space for dining was already occupied by a wall of dark wood upper and lower cabinetry, leaving just a corner tucked away in this narrow galley/hallway room layout. After playing around with our options here, we ultimately decided to knock out the existing heavy cabinetry in an effort to create a more open feel. We added in custom lower cabinets painted bright white to house the wine fridge and offer storage. We then extended the cabinetry into a banquette to create seating for the dining space. This gave us an optimal amount of seating and allowed us to push the dining table towards the corner without having to worry about the clearance of pulling out a chair against the back wall. To finish off this space, we added a stunning hanging fixture, 2 chairs, and a whole bunch of pillows to make the banquette corner feel cozy and inviting.
Pro tip: If you’re scared of giving up storage but want to change the functionality of your space, think of other creative ways you can gain storage. For example, here we removed upper cabinetry which got rid of a significant amount of their long term storage. In exchange, we added storage into the benches of the banquette for easy access. A win, win!
Challenge: small rooms, tall ceilings
Solution: large light fixture with lots of negative space for the family room
As we mentioned, one of the first things we noticed when we walked into their space is that although the rooms are small in regards to square footage, the ceilings towered around 20ft with windows going all the way up. This brought up the challenge of wanting to accentuate the height of the room without crowding the overhead space or closing in the ceiling with a large, bulky light fixture. Our solution was to find a large scale light scale that still had a lot of negative space. For the family room, we found a beautiful star-like fixture with plenty of bright bulbs that is airy and bright, but still funky enough that it draws your eye up as you walk in the room.
Pro tip: If you’re hanging a fixture in a space with high ceilings, always check the maximum overall fixture height in the spec sheet. Many fixtures being hung in rooms with 10 feet+ ceiling heights require extra rods and chains to be ordered with your fixture!
Challenge: wants maximum seating, no room for multiple sofas and chairs
Solution: u shaped chaise sectional and and accent chair
This room definitely gave us a run for our money. With two guys who love to entertain and watch sports, not only was comfort a priority, but room for friends was at the top of their list. After playing around with the different sectional and sofa orientations- trust me, we tried them all- we were able to land on a left facing sectional sofa with a right facing chaise. Since the U-shape was shorter on the right hand, we were able to place a beautiful leather chair across from it and ended up with a family room cut out for 9-10 people.
Pro tip: when looking to buy sectionals, many companies refer to the layouts using “left arm facing” and “right arm facing”. For those who don’t know what that means, if you are standing in front of your sectional looking at it straight on, the “left hand facing” is the side of the sectional to your left and the “right hand facing” is to your right. So a “U-shaped sectional with a left arm sectional and a right arm chaise” would look like this:
U-SHAPED SECTIONAL
Challenge: wants stylish durability
Solution: select indoor/outdoor rugs, dark wipeable fabrics, hard surfaces
When we found out that entertaining and sports-watching was a big part of the guys’ routines, we immediately knew that durability and easy maintenance was going to be a must. We ended up selecting a stunning charcoal grey sectional that would hide any accidental beer spills during a big touchdown celebration and paired it with a monochromatic indoor/outdoor rug for ultimate durability. We decided on a hard surface coffee table for drinks and no cushions on the dining room banquette for easy cleaning.
Pro tip: outdoor furniture doesn’t have to just be for outdoors! We love selecting indoor/outdoor rugs for extra low maintenance and outdoor stools and chairs can be an ideal choice for messy kids (or messy adults!)
Challenge: wall is too big for most art pieces
Solution: created a large scale stacked gallery wall to take up space and lead the eye up
When it came to artwork, we started by scaling in one giant art piece, a medium size tapestry, a painted mural, small prints…. the list goes on and on. Ultimately, we knew we needed to make a statement in this room and with the 20ft ceilings, we used this to our advantage and landed on an oversized gallery wall with 24x36 frames in two rows of 3. We decided to go black and white in an effort to not be too distracting while still creating a wow factor. Overall, we love how this turned out!
Pro tip: Each room will vary and there is no right or wrong answer, however, we typically end up loving the way our art placement looks when it is hung 8-10” above the sofa and spaced out 3-4” apart per piece!
Challenge: the clients love a modern look with black and white
Solution: keep a monochromatic color scheme, vary textures and materials
Although we are all about a monochromatic color scheme and get excited when a client gives us this opportunity, it can be challenging since we want to make sure there is enough variation, contrast, and texture throughout space.
To do this, we incorporated numerous types of materials in an attempt to keep the space interesting and balanced instead of being flat and “bland”. As you can see, since we went with a dark grey fabric sectional, we decided to switch it up with the accent chair and bring in a black leather. Next to the chair, we added a black metal and brushed gold media table all placed on top of a tight knit rug. Since we went metal with the console, we added a black wood coffee table to ground the space and tie it all together. To summarize, you can go monochromatic in your scheme while still using a lot of different material types!
Pro tip: Don’t be afraid to mix metals! Mixing metals is all the rage right now and depending on the combination, it can give off a really unique yet timeless vibe in your space. For example, mixing black and brushed gold tends to feel a little vintage or mid century modern. Mixing brushed brass and polished nickel can feel modern yet traditional all at once! We once heard designer Jean Stoffer explain that mixing metals allows you to not be committed to one “time period” and can help to blend the different themes throughout the space.
Overall, we were able to take the existing layout and architecture and make it feel more elevated, better utilized, and much more functional for our #ProjectBachPad clients.
We feel so lucky to have worked with such amazing clients on this project and absolutely love the way it turned out. If you want to take the first step on your own home refresh, fill out the contact form on our Contact Us page and let’s get started!
xo
-Lilli & Sav
More photos from #ProjectBachPad are available on our Project page