Downsizing with Designers Collective
Downsizing with Design Coaches, Brooke and Tina
We are so pleased with the way our Olympic Village Design Coaching project has turned out.
This project is a great example of how “coaching” can work in design. Our clients had sold their large Dunbar family home and were moving to a much smaller condo in Olympic Village. They were in a dilemma about how to manage all their furniture and how best to go about deciding what would fit and what they would need to add to make their new place a home that would suit their personal design aesthetic.
We started off by looking at the floor plan and images of their new place followed by a full walk around their house. We took stock of the items they had along with many measurements. The style of their home was quite traditional and their new place is very contemporary with sleek, straight lines and an incredible view of False Creek and Downtown.
After the walk around, we sat down with our clients and chatted about their stuff. That is, what items were sentimental to them, and what they felt they could let go of. Our chat was very productive because we were able to ascertain they wanted a neutral colour palette with pops of colour, comfortable but more contemporary furniture than their existing pieces, and finally, we got a sense of their budget. Our clients were hopeful we would be able to reuse their dining room table and chairs because they loved the fact that the table could expand to fit their whole family for special occasions.
Before: The family dining table
Before: The family dining table
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After: Our client’s new dining room
This buffet was selected for our client’s beautiful collection of china and we felt it was a good companion for our client’s dining table. We customized the piece with a white Carrara Marble top
At this point, the project was in our hands to come up with a plan that would suit their needs using their existing furniture, art and carpets that would work along with new items that would need to be purchased to augment the plan. We analyzed the floor plan and came up with two furniture plan options that we felt would work in their new space. In addition, we produced an itemized list of what would be a good fit to keep and a list of new purchases needed. We sourced out specific furniture pieces that would fit well with their existing furniture and fit within their design aesthetic of casual, comfortable yet contemporary, and recovered other pieces that were looking tired like these well-loved, comfortable chairs.
Before: Comfortable bedroom chairs
After: Bedroom chairs have come out to the living space.
After: Chairs recovered in a fresh fabric with a linen accent lumbar pillow
Once these plans were complete we set up a meeting with the clients to discuss the options. They were on board for most of our ideas! They then got to work with their move while we purchased the new furniture items and carpets to be delivered once they moved in. We combined many of our client’s own carpets with a few new ones to fit their new space.
Before: Living Room Furniture
Before move in, we specified the colour scheme and walls that we wanted to highlight. After move in, Tina and I went in for a “review”. We placed the furniture, helped them with art placement and made lighting suggestions. Below is the new leather chair we picked out for the ‘study’.
Another favourite chair of our clients. We removed the skirt and recovered it in a beautiful, large, and striking Paisley printed cotton. Here is the before.
Before: A favourite chair that our clients hoped to keep.
After: A favourite chair with a new life
We did a couple of “review” meetings during the move in process, which was really ideal. This way we could address different areas as items were unpacked. We worked within our clients’ time frame, budget and highlighted some of their existing pieces. One of these pieces that stayed was this custom desk that we integrated into their new space.
Before: Original custom made desk
In the end, were all very happy with the results. We felt really good about this project because it is a perfect example of how you can move from one type of space (traditional) and into a completely different space (contemporary) and still make it work to suit your style. We are pleased that our clients were able to re-use and sometimes reinvent their favourite pieces. It also is a great example of how our design coaching works. We don’t come in and completely re-design your space, we work with you to come up with a plan that suits you and reflects your own personal style.
If you are downsizing or moving, why not give us a call for some design coaching? Or drop us a line and let us know how you have managed downsizing or moving into a new space while still keeping your own design style intact.
Check out more views from this project in our Portfolio!
