Designing A Human Living Space

Where did this ALL come from? There was
very little for living here!

I don't know about you but I have to admit being addicted to HGTV. A channel that started I think as a lark, but it's now way to buy and remodel a home that has become an industry in itself. I think however, it resembles a Hallmark romance with an all to predictable script.

     You know the routine, a couple either sees a house they want, already own or find a "deal" they can't resist but hate some of the features. The Property Brothers or any of the others, give them options that they decide to try, there is always some crisis that adds $$$, it finally gets done and everyone is happy, or so we think. I have seen articles about the dark side of this but it does give you ideas whether you like their ideas or not.

     

A few days later

     When I moved to Palm Springs as a single man, I had to take what I could afford. Friends found me a condo rental that allowed both me and my dog to live there. And when I moved there other than boxes of clothes, books and art materials, I had little else.

     Every room was filled with boxes of things, nothing to live with. I had a chair, a bed, a lamp, an antique trunk and not much else. I had made trips out here to get pots, pans, plates, glasses, silverware. Friends had given me a microwave, pot holders, iron, and a few other things that might see me through. However after days of unpacking I had little in the way of furniture and I looked like a single almost derelict  man starting all over again, and I was.

     I wanted more but had to deal with what I had at the present time and it wasn't much.

Putting things away and putting new things together. The TV stand, the dining table and chairs
in the west facing rental condo.

     I started taking the paper and kept my eye out for "deals." It was January and I couldn't afford much. Much of my money was being spent on my divorce so money remained tight. I was a regular visitor at local consignment stores, Goodwill, Angel View and Revivals, stores with donated things for sale. I put my new big screen TV at an angle so that the glare from the windows would be reduced. For a long time everything was grouped and angled for the TV. I bought and hung cheap curtains to keep out the sun from the west facing living room. The afternoon sun was intense come summer.

My new living room mirrored my rental condo and was covered with a vinyl textured wallpaper.
It was not only awful but the glue was so strong taking it off removed the drywall paper.
I glued it back and carefully painted a dove grey over it.

      I soon noticed spring sales and found a great deal on fake wicker patio furniture at Big Lots. For $500 I could get a 3-seat sofa, two club chairs with ottomans and a glass coffee table. I still had my pickup so I loaded that up, dragged it in and started putting it together. It was a deal and for 2 ½ years was the foundation of my living room in both the rental and later in the condo I purchased. They had he same condo layout so I literally duplicated the layout in the move. This furniture served me well.

This was the layout in the rental and in my new condo. When I moved into the condo I purchased I followed the same layout. It was considered temporary until I found something I liked better indoors.

     In September of 2016 I heard that one of the HOA board members was thinking of selling his condo. I talked it over from friends who said it was a deal so I made an offer and it was accepted. It was not an experience I want to go through anytime soon but by the end of October it was mine. I thought I could live with it but once in and looking carefully at everything realized it had to be changed. With only two months before my lease was up, a friend gutted and rebuilt the kitchen, I installed fans in every room, painted every room and my friend from China arrived during the holidays and we got everything out of one condo and in the new condo by December 31st. They had the same layouts, except the new condo had a small but useable dining room that allowed for a wall or more storage and a bar, I put everything in the same location. I cooked Christmas dinner in the new and beautiful kitchen.

    One of the things I noticed was how much a TV dominates our living today. Living room, bedrooms, even, in some cases, kitchens. Yes, I have two TV's and one is in the bedroom but I gradually realized that sofas angled to face a huge TV didn't facilitate conversations. When I finally found a unique sectional, a mid-Century style, I wanted it. Knowing there could be sales I waited and got a discount of 25%. With several friends we picked it up at the store, dragged it in the living room after taking the patio furniture out to the patio and assembled it. What I like about this sectional was that it had back pillows you could move around or remove completely and had a twin bed. It was minimal in design yet looked smart and fit in with the pale grey walls making the room look bigger.

     I added a fake fireplace to a blank wall, a timely addition as we struggled to find why I had no heat last February. As it was I carried a portable heater from room to room. After installing the fireplace we added a mantle complimented by a beautiful poster print of an Ansel Adams photo. I discovered just this simple addition made the room homey. Nothing beats a flickering fire even if its imaginery!

     Still the TV dominated the living room and after finding a chrome and glass sofa table put it in front of the windows behind the sofas. Treasures from my past were placed on them but basically they were hidden.

     After a trip to see my daughter in Memphis where I saw an amazing steel sculpture, I thought that I could create a painting that mirrored the shape in red and did. It was designed to go behind the sectional replacing a collection of paintings I had done. It was to be bold ... lots of red and would dominate the room. By hanging the new painting I realized that the L-shaped sectional had to change. So, pencil and paper in hand I doodled possible new layouts and finally hit upon a square formation with the sofa table exposed in front of the windows, one sofa under the painting along the wall with the other facing it and not the TV. A coffee table set in-between and I found a swivel recliner to close the square. It was the perfect solution to talking to everyone and being able to swivel to watch TV.

     With this new design I realized I had embraced change, change I found that created a wonderful solution for rearranging my living room and being able to showcase things I have bought or created and wanted friends to see.

     This creates an intimate space that is people friendly and yet not too difficult to rearrange for a night at the movies. After all, we need to create spaces for people to connect with each other not the other way around. I have seen too many people on a bus, the subway, restaurants, waiting rooms at airports either bent over their phone or as happened to me in Flagstaff sitting next to a woman on her phone at the bar who never shut up as I tried to eat my meal. She even ignored the man she was with sitting next to her. We may be more connected than ever but rarely with the person in the room with us. 

       Now the TV hasn't moved but the positioning of the furniture has. I can swivel in the recliner to watch TV or turn around to face those in my "conversation pit." It creates intimacy that doesn't require the TV to be the dominant force in the room. Those sitting under the painting have an unobstructed view and those facing can merely reposition the sofa backs to watch as well.

     My condo is only 1043 sq. ft. but for me or two or three it's a perfect size. Easy to clean and during most of the year, has an outside patio to enjoy sunny days three seasons of the year. Summer, well, all bets are off!

     One of the tricks I used in this new setting was getting snow white heat blocking curtains. When the dark walnut colored shutters are closed, its like a cave in the living room. The curtains I felt will reflect lights when they are on and with the curtains closed making the room bright yet keep much of the heat from Lucite windows out. My next project will be to insert double paned windows in the living room to reduce even more the heat that enters the condo. I have friends who did that on the west facing side and the difference is amazing.

     My advice is make your home, well, your home. Most of us can't afford the kinds of renovations we see on TV yet with a little planning, some paint and new arrangements, and yes, some daring, your can create a home that you love and be proud to use. Don't be afraid to mix styles but let that different piece be a single item and stay away from too many styles. I say stick with a simple single look and use a treasured antique for contrast. The same could be said for colors. Here I use grays with lots of red accents. Too many colors resembles, to me at least, a circus. Your home should be your resting place not a night at the carnival.

Thank you for reading my blog. I invite you to take the time to read earlier blogs where my emphasis is to explore the ways art and design affects our daily lives ... and always has. I share with you what inspires me with the hope that it will inspire you as well. Comments are always welcomed! 

Be sure to check my ETSY store ... KrugsStudio.etsy.com. I am adding many new and exciting, collectible birdhouses and craft items. Many of the items talked about here will be for sale there!