Redesigning An Open-Plan Living Room With A 1950's Theme | Sarah 101 | Abode

are you going to mug me i might get a mug you it's that gorgeous one eh and i believe i can run for decent marathon download now erica and michael live in a time capsule the room is very dated looks like it did 50 years ago there is nothing tying anything together right now i know how to make it work but they may have some strong opinions about our choices it's a bit shocking i i hate it like it or not this room needs a triple shot of personality and we're gonna show you how right now great design comes from a winning formula mine is as basic as a set of building blocks put them together add up the results and you've got a sensational room erika michael and their kids live in a mix of the slim 50s and the slightly fatter 80s 49ers like many of us they're looking for direction oh groovy i want the room to fit with the whole design of the house uh it's mid-century modern this is really an amazing space that has been preserved as a museum we want to appreciate the 50s look but bring it up to today and make it current there's a huge organ in here well it just doesn't seem really appropriate to have a musical instrument right beside the fireplace some hot jazz maybe in the game okay the funky groovy furniture and some of the time warp stuff yeah also sits in total contrast to some of the newer things so that works but it doesn't work with these we have a couch and chair that i found at the goodwill on their 50 off day and 35 later we had a 25 couch and a 10 chair and then what's happening over here it's like everything soft yeah is on this side of the room yes and then there's the furniture gallery everything here is very hard if you were seated in this area of the room you'd be able to see out onto the street but you'd also have a far better connection to the backyard it's one of the most beautiful things about this house is it has a very indoor outdoor feel to it doesn't right and the window covering situation there's a bit of a problem there is no window covering well come nightfall this is a goldfish bowl probably my biggest frustration with the room is people can see in the house and it's like you're on display and i really really hate that i'm feeling as though you are eminently qualified to help these people i can help i think this is one of the few times that i walk into a room and think you know what there's actually a few things in this room that i want to work with there are a few the sofa and the chair yeah what are you thinking in terms of fabric are we going to draw inspiration from the out of doors i think that as a as a sort of design focus it makes sense to think about how you bring the outside in i totally agree okay this is what we're thinking the room needs to jibe with the homes architectural style we're going to connect these rooms to the lush outdoors and maximize every square inch i think that the first thing we need to do is figure out where we are because i believe we are lost in the suburbs first things first we need a floor plan okay let's talk about this layout we've asked lindsay a member of our crack design team to create some options right now the l-shaped space has the dining room at one end the living room at the other and storage in between i'd like to move the sofa to the far wall create another seating area in front of the window and rethink the dining room maybe it's allowing the dining room to feel a bit bigger if we do some sort of bench along the wall okay to take it up a notch and make that space seem even better i was thinking what if we treated the wall beneath the clear story window with mirror might make it look like one full long piece of window i think would help kind of draw those two spaces together do you like that idea love it right we're gonna resuscitate this mix and match museum if we don't kill ourselves first we're starting with fabric which can lead the entire scheme our inspiration the outdoors it's kind of fun too traditional too small that's a little interesting dandelions this is hitting me over the head with a frying pan [Music] hello how about this one i love that that is absolutely the perfect jumping off point fabric it's a contemporary take on mid 50s style and what a great palette to pull from all i can tell you is if the fabric is called copacabana everybody's having a really good time and there's some sort of a drink that's been made in the blender but before we pull out the blender we need to also find fabric for that 35 matching sofa and chair this is nice do you think it goes no maybe this is too plush i don't think that color how about a pattern that pattern i could do in a heartbeat that's a great pattern let's do our test i feel like i need some really good music to do this too here's a surefire test for wool upholstery fabrics check out the durability by giving it a good rub if it starts to pill or show any wear you're really gonna notice it this is looking good to me is it texture home run link to the jumping off point fabric home run it's perfect since copacabana is such a bold pattern we can only use it sparingly like on an ottoman or accessories but it's strong enough to lead the color scheme for the entire space lindsay's pulling fabrics for all the other furniture and accents going into the room you know what i don't see i don't see any sheen now it's just a matter of eliminating what are your thoughts on drapes for the space this is a nice option nine dollars a yard mostly polyester it'll stand up to the sun we're good to go i'd say we've got a pretty great foundation happening here is there anything we're missing that you would like to see oh i know furniture to put all this on [Music] chairs chairs chairs they're small those i think these are too flimsy these are bigger i still don't think they're perfect though everything here closes in the half an hour okay good half hour what about this one yeah okay right away look at this coffee table i like the chrome with the wood i want this i'm taking this home with me [Music] this is vintage chrome and modern like is it too ultra modern they're not very comfortable okay moving on [Music] we've been from one end of the city to the other in about three and a half hours and we have not found our chairs we may have found a coffee table i saw some cool stuff that i like to buy for myself i want this but the project is no further ahead and we're not batting a thousand on our fabric choices either i hate it [Music] erica and michael's family have a living dining room needing a design intervention my opinion usually overrules his i just like to make her happy their retro museum is getting shots of style and common sense there's actually a few things in this room that i want to work with our goal is to give it a personality lift hello and our plan is to maximize the layout by creating two seating areas in the living room and jog the new dining room against the wall for more space every dining room needs chairs and that's where we're starting do you think it's a problem that these chairs are on wheels and they also swivel i'm gonna sing i think it's inviting misbehavior yeah can i get up from the table can i go and do my homework can i hang out with my friends okay move away from the naughty no luck with the dining chairs how about something for the living room those are some chairs in need of some love they need new upholstery but look at the fabulous shape like super fabulous shape i love a chair that has a little crook for your elbows and the comfort of these chairs that's what we need they're bouncy i love this i really do but what does our upholsterer think i just had a chance to glance at it but uh first of all the all of these totally unique really according to eugene these chairs are 1950s originals totally in tune with our mid-century theme i never seen braided hay in my entire you've never seen that what does a gay horse say i don't know hey but a room doesn't live on furniture alone the fixed elements need attention too does that appeal to you that definitely appeals to me i love the white-washed finish refinishing the original floors will run 2200 turns out new flooring won't cost much more and if the difference is only 800 between keeping what we've got refinishing it and going with that i'm all over that and all over that fireplace looking to add a natural element and a little pizazz by using one single slab of marble you can do something that is so beautiful if it's in the budget always go for the best quality you can afford this piece here is called amazonia okay comes from brazil i like it as long as the price point doesn't make you feel like you're getting a brazilian okay this would run us about twenty three hundred dollars installed okay i just had a brazilian this would be about twenty two hundred do you wanna see another choice yes this one here this would run us sixteen hundred dollars installed there are only four or five blocks of this left in total and then it is gone forever you like a design classic baby this is it so what do you think i think we do it out go the old narrow strip floors and in come the new lighter and wider planks once done the new marble arrives and gets installed doesn't fit nothing a little trim can't fix and we've got a plan for the dark dreary wood paneling wow look at that hugely successful oh stunning with the brick the original brick and the floor new floor this floor is just bang on perfect it's actually better than i could have imagined with the brick paint colors have been sampled on the wall too dark too gray too green too brown i'm thinking it's this one it's got a bit of gray and a bit of green i love that too there it is it's done great [Music] do you need an owl no a stuffed fish no i need a light fixture [Music] i don't know but i'd like to meet the former owner how about those not quite right for our mid-century dining room let's look elsewhere oh that's the one speaking of the dining room it's tiny which is why all the storage was crammed into the corner of the l-shaped space i think we can put the storage back into the dining room where it belongs we could actually create a tall storage tower that could flank right opposite where the fireplace is and i'm thinking that we basically use two wall cabinets this is a like a fan cabinet or a refrigerator cabinet if we put three of them side by side we can create a seven and a half foot long bench okay then we can actually put a top on it so this would be a custom top that we'd get made from our poster right for a family with two kids the seat needs to be durable look at that is that the right color color coordinated leather seems to be the right solution and at only 3.75 a square foot it's a deal in here you can have your measuring tape nice cake to go in front of the banket the search for a dining table begins starting at the auction house there it is with a floating glass top and mirrored base let the bidding begin 200 at 220 and 240 now 260 urine and 280 asking 280 i have 300. things started off well but the bids continue to rise way past what we're willing to spend 1700 asking sixteen hundred dollars somebody wants that table sold sixteen hundred oh well you win some you lose some no dining room table but at least we've addressed the fireplace changed the floors and found the jumping off fabric this is a fabric that will get people talking i could live with it on a cushion it's a bit shocking maybe pin cushions you know that old sofa and chair we've got plans for them i really don't like that plaid i just think it's so ugly and dated how much did she dislike it i hate it did she use the h word i i hate it to be perfectly honest with you i now love the first fabric in comparison i just think this is horrible and i can't picture it anywhere in my house what did that plaid ever do to you did you have to wear it for a school portrait or something listen it was a 25 sofa if she doesn't like it when it's recovered in our plaid fabric she can take it out to the driveway and light it on fire for all i care huh to plaid or not to plaid that is the question today's case study is this mishmash mid-century living dining room that works but it doesn't work with these and that's what we're trying to do just got to win erica and michael over on a few things i really don't like that plaid honestly i hate it i think she's wrong i think this fabric is perfectly well suited to the application to the clean lines of this sofa it also works with the lines of the house all i can say is i hope i can prove it wrong you shall come around i'm sticking with my decision that means we're moving forward with the plaid on the sofa we also found more occasional chairs to reupholster and we're custom designing an ottoman to work as the room's focal point with that cha-cha copacabana fabric you'd think we'd have enough furniture by now but guess again this might be when you know you have a drinking problem when you're hiding your wine whatever do you mean no time for messing around we still need to find a dining room table it's not a good day [Music] this is a great looking table does this have a raw edge on it it does this could work really well with our floors and this will be a nice anchoring element for our banquette it's got that kind of indoor outdoor vibe going this is the table this is the table this is the table phew now that we've found the table we've got some chair options which i suggest you test out before you buy comfort is key as soon as you put your back into the chair you slide forward this one is incredibly chic and you know what it does this piece of wood is digging right into my back it's like a karate chop right in the middle of the bag oh thank you you just karate chopped me i know can you illustrate your points verbally from here on forward please oh yeah oh you are right about this this is awful this hurts my back your chop hurt a little more karate chop but if this is still uncomfortable this okay hello i'm so comfortable there's some flex to the back i got some squishy on the c this is it 69 bucks yep 150 bucks yeah 189 bucks you're in the most expensive chair but it's leather okay i'll admit it sometimes the most expensive option simply is the best better still the seats match the leather top banquette we're building for the dining room so we've got all the furniture for this open concept space and all we need are rugs to anchor everything i think they're great one more purchase left artwork to tie everything together would you like this no that's too red it seems woodsy there to me yes the whole landscaping and the connection to outside so i'm not really feeling that i want more of a woodsy woodland tree so you don't want a landscape well okay i guess that would be the faster and easier way to upset it yeah would you do this sure i would it's not really a landscape it's a streetscape i mean this would be an investment piece back at the house remember that fishbowl effect we found a fabric and now lindsey's got some questions [Music] i need clarification on how the drapes are working here okay so we decided we elected not to remove the pre-existing valance because it means patching the whole ceiling and we're trying to save money i think we have two options one is because we're keeping the valance our best option is to go with a metal track with rollers we could install a track in front of the valance but the drapes would fall too far from the window whenever given the choice i always like to experiment and try something new so i had this idea what if you could do a blind that pulled up from the bottom so you could pull it part way up that's weird i think that's crazy i think it's really weird i just think it's it's odd guess not so we're sticking with that 9 yard curtain fabric to give erica michael and the kids some privacy and take a look at the smoked mirror panels which will reflect the landscape view from the dining room we're working overtime to give this mid-century modern room some charm we'll get a look at it all next this mix-and-match mashup is becoming a modern masterpiece regardless of niggling doubts i really don't like that plaid i just think it's so ugly and dated [Music] just drop her [Music] when selecting side tables the rule of thumb is no higher than the sofa arm it's too small mine feels a little low mine is too tall this little guy here is just right my goal with this living dining room was always to make it feel like one terrific space with continuous flow this interior is a living space that showcases what can be done with some great decorating solutions when we saw the room for the first time we were thrilled i really couldn't believe it was the same space it's just totally transformed it's really beautiful my goal was to make the room work with the architecture and the origins of the house to make it feel that it was connected to the surroundings and create more of an indoor outdoor flow and lastly to make sure that you felt that you were able to use each and every square inch of this room because when you take advantage of the whole space it actually feels pretty roomy [Music] we wanted this house to be lighter brighter modern contemporary and usable for this family so what we did was two separate seating groupings further expanding the space and the usage of the living room and still linking it into what is still the obvious dining area we've created storage beneath where you sit and a single storage tower i think it's clever and space saving by simply putting up a bit of mirror on the wall i was able to create a reflection from the backyard suddenly you've got another whole wall of windows it's that easy the design really hit my two objectives which was to bring the outside in and keeping that mid-century modern style to it the floral fabric on the ottoman is beautiful in fact it's probably one of the most striking things in the room i love our vintage sofa and chair i think the makeover on those two pieces is nothing short of spectacular and i couldn't be happier with it you know what the plaid fabric actually looks really nice on the couch and chair i was terrified of it i really thought it was ugly when i saw it but really on the furniture it's perfect for the room i do love it now that we have window coverings we're using the space in the evening and we really weren't before instead of just me sitting in the lightroom at nighttime reading uh now the whole family's using the living room so it's great the redesign has changed our life the way the whole design comes together the layout everything right now i'm picturing the kids just playing there lying on the couch reading and we're all you know we're living happily there it's so surpassed my expectations i'm just really really thrilled with how it turned out i just like to say three things to sarah and tommy thank you thank you thank you the magic of this room and everything we did revolves around furniture and it revolves around making the most out of the space you've got we didn't change any of the essential structure all we did was help this home realize its potential because it had lots of potential movement for me oh that's dusty on the end i think that's been sitting on the floor yeah what are these you want one of these see design team member gone look at this [Music] that's a beautiful fashion should we make a marching band hold on hold on [Music] okay we're not gonna get any money doing this [Music]

Channel: Abode

Views: 163,258

Keywords: home and garden, Abode, Abode channel, home renovation, renovation, home and garden channel, home and garden tv shows, home design ideas, garden design ideas, sarah richardson full episodes, design inc full episodes, sarahs summer house, sarah off grid, sarah 101 season 2, tommy smythe, hgtv full episodes, open plan interior design, open plan, open plan kitchen living room design ideas, luxury interior design, professional interior design, how to choose fabrics, design life

Id: LR8fpty5zL8

Length: 22min 13sec (1333 seconds)

Published: Sat Feb 26 2022