Homeowners Marsha and Robert Fottler in the dining room of their Sarasota home which they recently took from a traditional style to one that embraces modern elements and bright primary colors. (Staff Photo by Thomas Bender)
An incurable home improver, I've managed for years to sublimate my grand design dreams by chronicling the remodeling projects of other homeowners for this newspaper and several magazines.
But, over the past two years, my dining/living room space has been subtly shifting from traditional to modern, fulfilling my vision for a big change. It happened in a meandering way with no predetermined budget and no overall design plan. Each of these things is a no-no in the design world when you hire an interior designer for a project. You envision an overall plan and pull together a budget so designer and client can successfully collaborate and achieve the homeowner's goal within a time frame.
But, I had no designer on call, just a stack of articles I had written that included advice from area interior designers. Their words guided my way.
The purchase of a pair of authentic Barcelona chairs from Bruce Crissy's gallery were the agents of change. Sisal rug from Pottery Barn and the wood floors are original to the house built by the Fottlers in 1976. ( Staff Photo by Thomas Bender)
Another tool is a long list of local sources for eye-catching furniture and accessories on the secondary market. Many of these places (such as Woman's Exchange) are routinely scouted by professional designers who search for overlooked gems. Designers' own homes are always fascinating.
So is their vocabulary. They talk about the bones of an object, the hand of a textile. In a sofa, for instance, designers look for meticulous construction and quality materials. But for bargain trends, there's Ikea and The Container Store, which recently opened in Tampa. And Internet shopping is a given in today's world of redecorating.
Everything started with a pair of Barcelona chairs bought at Crissy Galleries from Bruce Crissy, who acquired them at an estate sale. I've always coveted a Barcelona chair, but to own a pair at a good price meant fate was on my side. I believed the classic lines of the chairs would harmonize with my existing family antiques and vintage finds. But, the Barcelona twins proved to be agents of change. They argued for urgent progress toward modern.
Two side chairs of weathered leather and shiny stainless steel came next; they were half price when Restoration Hardware left Southgate Plaza. They were such good companions for the Barcelona pair, I continued the shiny-metal motif with a console table for the living room. An Internet buy, it arrived in sections and my husband Rob assembled it.
The Barcelona chairs were the agents of change as we went from traditional to more modern. Leather and stainless steel club chairs from Restoration Hardware. Wire and glass table from Sarasota Home Collection and purple acrylic side table from Ioptics. The column lamp from Ikea had to be assembled. The glass and metal display cabinets were a design find at Jonathan Slentz's consignment shop (Staff Photo by Thomas Bender)
Visually separating the living room from the dining space is a column floor lamp from Ikea. It was Rob-assembled, as was the round chrome and glass bar cart, which turned out to be undersized for the room. Live and learn and next time measure.
I spotted the chrome starburst mirror that is above the bar cart in a guest bedroom in a designer showhouse last year. The room's creator told me where to buy the mirror online.
As my two spaces were leaving one century for another, the room got a boost with acrylic accent tables from at Pinch-A-Buck consignment store. I already had an acrylic Louis Ghost chair that I bought some years ago at Ioptics. It's the one object that will always harmonize with traditional furniture because the French style is Louis XVI, but the fabricating material is contemporary.
The sofa stayed, but I added a graphic pillow, a round wire side table (Sarasota Home Collection) and a red storage ottoman (HomeGoods) that I stole from the master bedroom. Now it's an end table, but my winter sweaters are still inside.
I had two elephants in the dining area, a wood china cabinet that I had owned for 42 years and the oval dining table. With two leaves, it seats 12 and I've relied on it for holiday family dinners. The table and cabinet were not in the modern spirit and they (along with six Napoleon-style chairs) went to Sarasota Habitat ReStore.
Our new teak and glass dining table (from Calligaris) establishes the room as modern. For chairs, Rob went bargain hunting online and found chic metal arm chairs. They stack, which appeals to him. He bought four white and four red.
We already had white trim in the house along with a collection of white shells and coral. I added to the whiteness one weekend by painting the oil-rubbed bronze dining room chandelier a high-gloss white. The vibrant red chairs and the glossy white in the room along with the reflective qualities of all the stainless steel, chrome and glass make the room look fresh and energetic.
My final purchase pulled everything together, a pair of glass cabinets from 2nd Hand Pros, a consignment store owned by interior designer Jonathan Slentz. Inside the cabinets I store plates for setting the table along with white coral and red objects I gathered from other rooms. Designers always say to shop your house before you hit the stores.
My transformed space is modern but it also looks evolved because I've been leisurely putting it together for more than a year. Interior designers say the style to strive for feels layered over time. You don't want the finished space to look like a design showroom, museum exhibit or a stage set.
Designers say to live with what you love; find a way to make the things you love the best work, no matter what your decor. Move pieces to another room, change lampshades, reframe art. Or paint, which is a solution I chose for an old sideboard I cherish.
Artist Virginia Hoffman and I used red paint, mahogany stain and French polish to re-imagine the mundane sideboard as a buffet. It's a little odd looking but it seems at home. The buffet is something old that makes the space look lived in, which it is.
