A Sitting Room for a World Traveler

My client loves to travel, and over the years she has gathered the most incredible sculptural objects from around the world. The collection itself was jaw dropping—every piece had a story. But at the same time, she felt that the room itself wasn't quite living up to the drama and mood of the collection. She wanted to elevate the rest of the room to bring a true 'wow' factor—her words!—and reached out to me to help.

Here’s the space before:

And after!

When I initially toured the space, it was clear that the room had a strong, central snapshot: the couch, framed by the bookshelves holding the collection. In the original design, the light colored couch and the white shelves allowed the collection to star. None of that was wrong, and another client might have been happy with the results. But my client wasn't one of them. She wanted the room to hold as much drama and weight and scope as the collection did, so we worked on upgrading select pieces and adding in new ones to make sure the room was as bold as the collection itself.

Painting the shelves a rich, dark color helped draw the eye directly to the collection, setting off the shelves against the lighter walls in the rest of the room. The black leather couch echoed many of the color tones of the collection, and adds a richness to the space. And finally, strategic lighting choices, including adding a statement chandelier, helped anchor that central narrative, and picked up many brass elements elsewhere in the room.

All in all, the space is now more inviting and invigorating: just what we hoped for.