Creating a Retreat for a Family

Interior decorating

Creating a Retreat for a Family

23 March 2021

When we met with the home owners for the first time, they were looking for help to freshen up their beautiful traditional house. They wanted their family room and powder room to reflect their tastes. Creating a comfortable space that the young family can grow into was equally important.

As for many family room gatherings for conversations, board games or watching movies was the main goal of their family room too. We wanted to seat six people comfortably.

The alcove above the fireplace presented a decorating challenge. To tie it with a fresh nature inspired theme with lots of cool greys, blues and greens, the alcove was wallpapered and had a texture and some shine to it resembling the sky. A sun shaped mirror helped add light. The birds topped off the serene scene.

Shiny mahogany floors throughout the house were balanced out with the lots of neutral grey and blue in the walls and other elements of the space. Colour was used sparingly to create just enough interest, but not to overwhelm.
All of the upholstery fabrics selected for the design had performance qualities making them child and pet friendly to give the young family a peace of mind when accidental spills or messes happen.

Variety of textures starting from leather in the ottoman to the velour of the sofa and the soft pile of the area rug make your eye wander around the room going from one interesting piece to another.

The main concern in the powder room was black granite countertop that was difficult to keep clean as well as the outdated vanity.
The cure was to replace the vanity with a wall to wall one and use light quartz as the countertop.
Wallpaper in a light blue-grey colour with winter branches made the trick to marry this space to the new theme in the family room, but still keep cohesive with the rest of the home.

Before photos will give you a sneak peek at what these two places looked like before the big transformation.

I would like to thank Marisa and Bryce for their trust and patience throughout the entire process. You have been a pleasure to work with!

Here is what they have shared about their experience:

We absolutely love our new living room and powder room designed by Marina.
She really took the time to listen and understand what we were looking for, and absolutely blew our expectations away!
We highly recommend working with Marina, she chose furniture and colours that we love and never would have thought to pair together ourselves, but that look absolutely amazing. She was very helpful in choosing furniture that is beautiful, practical and comfortable in real life.
We will certainly be working with her on future rooms in our home!

~ Marisa Borracci