Q: Love your blog. Please give some pointers to downsizing seniors….We don’t want our new apt. to look institutional and have loads of world treasures to display…
Two questions: 1. We have the option of opening up walls to create more open space. Will this make our new apt. home feel larger or is it just an optical illusion?
2. Should we take some of our treasured pieces which tend to be heavy & dark or should we furnish this new space with downscaled new furniture & risk looking like a “model” house? Many thanks.
A: Great question, and not limited to those moving into retirement communities, as you are.
First, don’t be in a hurry to take down the walls. It’s counter-intuitive, but a space can look smaller if you can see everything as soon as you walk in the door. You need to create some mystery – and you need walls against which to put your furniture and art.
Second, definitely bring 3-4 of your best antiques if they’ll fit. A dresser, desk, highboy, console table – this is the kind of thing I’d suggest, as opposed to small end tables or curio cabinets. You want the antiques to make a statement, not fill in the gaps.
Complement your older furniture with simple contemporary pieces and the overall look will be clean and stylish. Mitchell Gold‘s Tyler Collection works beautifully with older pieces; it offers two sofas, 84″W and 76″W. Pairing this sofa with one or two antique dining chairs would be lovely, and it might be all the seating you need in the living area.
Skip a coffee table in a small space and use side tables instead. Crate & Barrel‘s Era Side Table (right) is a good one to pair with antiques, as some clients recently demonstrated. Their 19th-century Capitol Hill townhouse is a fantastic mix of antique and modern furniture and contemporary art. They said that after a year of searching, this was the best side table they found.
Use contemporary shelving to display your art objects. Floating wall shelves are one option (West Elm is great for these, below), and a glass bookcase is another (such as CB2‘s extrordinarily well-priced Trig bookcase). This will underscore the intentional mix of old and new.
Finally, use light paint colors if you’re worried about the space feeling small. Benjamin Moore‘s HC-173 Edgecomb Grey has some warmth to it, so it’s modern but not scary to those with traditional taste. You could use that throughout the main living areas, possibly with a single strategic accent wall. Finally, keep the window treatments simple – Roman Shades as opposed to drapes, for example – so the space feels clean and current.
Empty room photo credit: Auris. Antiques photo credits (English Mahogany Inlaid Bookcase, Walnut Console Table, Directoire Rolltop Desk): Random Harvest.