I also love that her rooms always begin with a jump-off point. I love her style so much so that I have incorporated this style of designing a room into our own master bedroom starting with a very bold striped fabric.
Thats why when my first assignment for the Interior Design Diploma course asked for me to evaluate a room and its elements, I chose one of my favourites from Sarah Richardson. The FarmHouse Living Room!
First let's talk about the feeling that we get when we enter this room.
Picture sitting close to a roaring fireplace sipping some tea and reading a book or having endless conversations with family about random topics.
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| Courtesy of: http://www.hgtv.ca/sarahshouse/advice.aspx?sectionid=61&categoryid=4945328813109537225&postid=133301 |
Doesn't that make you feel cozy and warm? Maybe just for me then. Family time is what I live for and this room is designed for family gatherings. From the wood burning fireplace to
the large Persian rug; all of the elements in this room reflect a traditional
and lived in feel. With ample seating and comfortable upholstered pieces, you can sit for long periods of time in this room because its just not a fussy room.
Just looking at the images of this room, I
feel comfortable and informal within the space.The lines have much to do with creating this feeling. We are always told to take your eyes up with the curtains, doors and everything. Sarah has definitely taken our eyes up towards the ceiling but she also forces you to look around this room.
Details such as the chair rail
across a few walls and clean horizontal lines of the sofa and chairs lead
your eyes across the room. The mantel surround and the crest are two more features that add interest and just keep your eyes moving through the room because you want to see more.
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| http://razmatazblog.blogspot.com/2010/04/sarah-richardsons-farmhouse-part-6the.html |
She deliberately keeps the diagonal lines of the barn wood
ceiling and the window treatments below ceiling height to keep your eyes moving throughout the room.
You definitely don't miss out though, since you have so many beautiful elements around the room that the room feels majestic even if it didnt have that beautiful vault ceiling. She forces you to look around the room and take in the 360 view of this beautiful farmhouse setting. And notice how all of the elements point to the middle of the room where we are meant to sit and enjoy the room. Even the barnboard ceiling points to middle of the room with the large pendant light acting as an arrow towards the sofas to sit, relax and take in the room.
Most of the
space features neutral colours to create a basic foundation but she has added
personality and style with colour through the use of accessories like vases,
throws, and decorative cushions in colour. She likes to keep the major elements of the room neutral. By strategic colour use, she can create a room that feels warm without overwhelming the colour pallete. If someone were to bore of the current colour scheme, all they would have to do is change a few cushions and repaint an accent wall and the whole room could feature a whole new feel.
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| Courtesy of: http://parkdaleave.blogspot.com/2012/01/sarah-richardsons-farmhouse-retreat.html |
The warmer tones of the colours
such as orange, ruby reds and murky greens and browns lend themselves to the comfortable and warm feeling of the room. The use of
colour is not overbearing with hits of colour in strategic spots throughout the
room to create balance.
Sarah layers her rooms so well. I once read that after she has completed her rooms, she often has more than 15 fabric patterns, textures and types in each space. And if there's one thing that we know about Sarah Richardson, this is that she never leaves any part of the room untouched. In a room as large as this one, I would imagine, she has many more. Different textures are introduced with fabrics like
velvet, silk, cotton and wool on cushions, throws, curtain panels and rugs to add
depth to the space. The use of velvet creates a comfortable feeling as if you
just want to sink into that sofa. Its the other things that she layers in, like the wall treatments (multiple in one room), upholstered pieces from multiple periods and the vignettes that give a cohesive look to her rooms. She used a chair rail but added grasscloth above and an accent colour on the bottom. Its all in the details! Even pattern in the stonework around the
fireplace layer into the texture dimension of this room.
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| Courtesy of: http://razmatazblog.blogspot.com/2010/04/sarah-richardsons | -farmhouse-part-6the.html |
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| Courtesy of: http://razmatazblog.blogspot.com/2010/04/sarah-richardsons-farmhouse-part-6the.html |
This room is surrounded by windows from all sides so there
is a lot of natural light entering the room. Since the light is coming in from
all different directions, the room seems open and spacious. But Sarah created multiple vignettes to make full use of the views of the orchard outside.
For the evening hours, two small table lamps for artificial light allows the
room to have a soft glow rather than extreme illumination. I would imagine that the fireplace
would be roaring in the evenings and illuminate the room in a nice warm glow
adding to the cozy atmosphere that this room is trying to portray.
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| Courtesy of: http://parkdaleave.blogspot.com/2012/01/sarah-richardsons-farmhouse-retreat.html |
To create balance, the designer has kept the wall colour
light and neutral along with the light coliured sofas and chairs prevents the room from feeling heavy and makes the room appeal to most people and acts as a blank canvas for the
other elements in the room. The dark wood tones which contrast the light and airiness help to ground the space. She
has achieved a nice balance between light and heavy with the choice of
furnishings and paint colours. There are some symmetrical elements such as two
sofas, two chairs flanking each side of the fireplace (focal point) while other
parts of the room are asymmetrical lending to a more informal atmosphere.
Finally, this room has a great rhythm with lots of repeating
elements such as furniture, cushions, vases, textures and neutral colours on
the walls and ceiling. On one episode of Sarahs House, she explained that to achieve a cohesive and deliberate design, one must repeating each wood, texture. and pattern in at least two locations in each room.
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| Courtesy of: http://razmatazblog.blogspot.com/2010/04/sarah-richardsons-farmhouse-part-6the.html |
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| Courtesy of: http://razmatazblog.blogspot.com/2010/04/sarah-richardsons-farmhouse-part-6the.html |
And there it is, my choice for an almost perfect warm family room design! I could only dream of living in a space like this... but dreams sometimes come true right???
Hope you enjoyed!
Ameera
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