room redesign | BJTO Designs

One of my favorite design blogs is Design * Sponge by Grace Bonney. It’s fun, informative and ever so creative. Grace Bonney is a Brooklyn based writer who created this blog in 2004 and has really cornered the market on design blogging. We should all be so fortunate. I just finished her 2011 book, Design * Sponge at Home, which is page after page of ideas, color and inspiration. In keeping with my efforts to focus on color and paint this month I wanted to bring this wonderful book to your attention. I hope to give many of you ideas for achieving your New Year’s resolutions of redoing your home. Following BjtO Design’s mantra of adding color, scale, balance, style and function to your home is a great way to organize your approach to any room. Pick up a copy of Design * Sponge at Home at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, West Elm, Anthropologie and several other locations. If you don’t follow the Design * Sponge blog, check it out…

Benjamen Moore’s Color Pulse color forecast has won awards and international recognition. Ask your architect or designer to order you a copy. It is well worth the $75.

For 2012, to Preserve and Protect is the connection between human beings and their environment.

According to the folks at BM… “Our lives are enriched by conservation and enhancing the natural world. Preservation is a call to embrace the wonder of nature and the rhythms of its changes. The journey along the way becomes as important as the outcome.

For 2012, Color Pulse will focus on four key elements that support the theme of preservation: Heritage, Process, Protection, and Enlightenment. We are enlightened to move forward towards a kaleidoscopic vision for a sustainable future.”

Preserve and protect certainly resonates with me and prompted the team at BjtO Designs to explore the connection between our design concepts and nature. How does adding color, scale, balance, style and function support preservation? Here are three unique projects…

This casual dining area overlooking a salt marsh leading down to Marion Harbor is enhanced with marsh grasses collected from outside the window and arranged simply in an antique pitcher. The house was sited on this waterfront property with many conveyances for preserving the vast salt marsh. It is a uniquely designed house – resembling the bow and stern of a ship with walk out decks which are reminiscent of ocean going luxury liners.

view off deck overlooking marsh on Hammett’s Cove…

The kitchen eat-in area had an awkward view of the marsh and harbor beyond, so our in-house artist Louise created her version of the beach grasses and buoy just outside the window. In order to accommodate the ship design the outside wall angle was such that it obstructed the view. Our design approach to offset what may be seen as a flaw, was to recreate what was just outside the window but not readily visible. The home owners were great bird and nature watchers and it was important to them that the natural habitats be preserved.

the view from Cove Street…

screened in porch overlooking the view

living room and dining room just inside screened in porch…

The view which changed daily, offering up something new to see everyday we worked on this project. The common denominator was the sand, the rocks – the beach grass, hence we redesigned the room by using Benjamen Moore’s carrington beige on the walls and selecting very neutral furnishings with a punch of blue, coral and rust. All very organic in look and feel.

At BjtO Designs our design decisions are always influenced by what is outside the windows. The way a house is sited on a piece of property affects the natural light, available sunlight and how the shadows fall in a room. The colors outside need to be in harmony with the colors inside – whatever is in the line of vision is important. The change of seasons also plays a role in how the room will look year round and needs to be factored in. Land preservation and conservation is not only a genuine interest of mine it greatly determines how we approach our projects.

Not all of our projects are waterfront properties, yet it certainly is a perk! However, working in many of the lovely Boston suburbs offers the same challenge of blending nature and interior design. This region of the country offers the broadest range of historic homes and modern design. Our office is in Lincoln MA, the home of the Gropius movement and modern design side-by-side with homes from the late 1600s. This diversity of architecture, preservation of the Minute Man National Park, balance of urban and rural farmland along with the Charles River conservancy makes for such a special place to work. Benjamen Moore’s emphasis this year to preserve and protect really resonates with all of us at BjtO Designs.

Last but certainly not least is my favorite redesign. The home owner was a very talented artist who worked along side me and spurred me to give it my all for this staging project. It’s a twist on this year’s theme – preserve and protect can also extend to family history. A perfect example of preserving our heritage, protecting the family’s heirlooms and gaining enlightenment in the process was experienced in total with this room redesign…

Lincoln redesign…

The use of the Historical Color, HC-7 Bryant Gold adds the drama and warmth the living room was lacking. A trunk found in the basement had been in the home owner’s family for generations but in need of some TLC. Our Jack-of-all-trades, Claudio made it whole again – now used as the coffee table, anchored by a threadbare but lovely Oriental rug which had also been in the family for years. Three tables were strategically placed around the room, used as lamp stands as well as offering a way to display the owner’s art books and decoratives. Two royal blue wingback chairs were purchased second hand and gave the color contract that made the room pop. For me the pièce de résistance is the wonderful artwork, some of which was done by the home owner and some was done by her Aunt. All fun loving, colorful and adding whimsy.

Aunt’s blue cow…