Transform our house into a modern home, tailored to our wishes, and guide us through the process of making the right choices so that colours, materials and furniture harmonise fluently.
Existing situation
The house is a spacious semi-detached house built approximately 30 years ago. After having housed various residents over the years, who all put their own stamp on the house, it is time for a thorough and complete upgrading, especially the main living floor. The living floor includes the entrance with a staircase going up and down, a door to the kitchen, a door, with a window to the left, leading to the living room, and another door to the office. The kitchen was outdated and technically no longer workable. The living room contained a mantelpiece that once held a heater but which was no longer used. A TV area is situated behind the living room. The dining room is in front of the living room, behind the kitchen. The different spaces are all connected in an open-plan fashion. There was tiled flooring from the early 1990s. All walls were painted white and, together with the furniture, the space had an inconsistent look and feel.
Design
After an intensive design trajectory, we proposed the following design. We believed that the hearth should become the focal point of the living room again. We designed a new, gas-fuelled fireplace that can be easily and remotely operated and which also offers a very high heat efficiency rate. To connect all the living areas – the living room, dining area and kitchen – we created coves between the walls and ceilings. See drawing.
This makes the ceiling more exciting, something is happening. It makes a connection between the spaces and also offers the option to add built-in lighting. The fittings are rimless, giving them a subtle look. We replaced the kitchen and integrated the high cupboards into the wall, thereby creating a calmer atmosphere. The kitchen was delivered by Straight Interior Design and comes straight from the factory in Italy. The inner walls were given a strong colour and the outer walls a shade of white, to provide contrast. The darker colour will be at the back while the white shade moves towards the light. The darker shade is Railings by Farrow and Ball, a black/anthracite shade with a blue base, which matches beautifully with the floor we put in. The floor was levelled and then covered with Egaline, after which a cast floor has been added, which also runs through to the living room. The window next to the door to the living room has gone to create a wall where we could place a sofa. The door to the living room has been replaced with a metal and glass door so that natural light can enter the hall, and the steel matches wonderfully with the colour Railings. The back of the room has become a TV room. To separate the TV room a bit from the sitting room, we created metal sliding doors. When closed, the doors offer the same sound reduction as normal doors but when part of the family wants to watch TV and some others don’t, the transparent partition still gives this sense of being together while there is no hindrance from the other room. Straight Interior Design supervised the entire interior design and furnishing process. The result is that all the materials, pieces of furniture, fabrics, window decorations, and lighting complement one another and connects with each other so the residents feel and experience harmony within the spaces.
The entire composition radiates calmness, which is also clearly visible in the photos.
Realisation
Thanks to the intensive supervision by Straight Interior Design during the realisation, and the countless choices made to create this complete interior, the clients are exceptionally pleased with the result. We also thoroughly enjoyed the collaboration.