The Cool House: Big Blue Sectional Reveal

Monday, December 21, 2009

Big Blue Sectional Reveal

Ta-da! Drum roll please for the stunning reveal of the formerly pink super-sectional sofa


After: Original to the house 1968 Harvey Probber sectional re-upholstered with Kravetsmart in blue chenille by awesome designer Julie Napoleon Brown and her team.


New rug is Chinese Chippendale design by Windsor Smith, also through Kravet, a 9' x 9' square terracotta silk and wool blend with a gold design and border. It's amazing what an appropriately sized rug does for the scale of the room. The sectional floats on the rug just as if it were made to measure.


Before: The sectional in its original rose pink fabric, faded by 40 years of sun streaming through those huge windows (and a little pet-related wear and tear); the too-tiny 5' by 8' rug we'd placed in front of the sofa as a temporary solution five years before. The pillows were hiding a huge split in the seat cushion that had been there for longer than that, which we'd originally covered with reindeer hide! Just out of view is a pink throw covering another hole and more than a few cat claw marks


During the re-covering phase the rug became a patch of carpet cast adrift in a sea of parquet. At this point I knew I had to go rug shopping. I can't say enough good things about the whole rug shopping experience at Kravet - they also have a fun blog Inspired Talk that is, as the name suggests, full of designer tips, resources and drool-worthy photos.


My greatest thanks, however, go to designer Julie Napoleon Brown without whom the project would never have gotten started, let alone turned out so spectacularly. She spent time trying to make an off-center sofa fit more cohesively in a trapezoid room; here she is considering the configuration of the 12-piece sectional


and shown here pondering the choice of pillow fabrics.


She tolerated my control issues as I vetoed swatch after swatch and sample after sample, then had to repeat the process with The Guy, who doesn't respond well to imposed change (unless he is doing the imposing) but in the end, as you can see from the photo, is delighted with the redone great room.


As Julie says, it needs a punch of the orange on the pillows and a few well-chosen accessories, which will come eventually (I can generally sneak one thing past The Guy each quarter), but for the moment - and most importantly - it has been cat tested and fully approved.

More Great Room before and after photos here

17 comments:

Jenn from The Home Decorating Company said...

The sofa turned out amazing! I love the color choice and the area rug combination.

modernemama said...

Thanks, I'm pretty stoked myself!

Nadine @ BDG said...

I can barely breathe with the big moment! It looks amazing-- and the rug is particularly inspired.

modernemama said...

totally outside the box - which fits me perfectly!

Jen said...

LOVE it. Very pretty.

Unknown said...

Pillows are worse than rabbits. At least you need two rabbits before they start multiplying. I’ve just counted: 31 (no exageration) pillows in seven rooms. When we moved in 5 years ago we had just one.

Think it’s time to cull the heard.

The Guy

modernemama said...

You can talk pillow population control when you learn to spell exaggeration with both gs ]:

Nadine @ BDG said...

The Guy should talk to my guy. The 'throw pillow' divide seems universal. My question-- what is the proper proportion for sofas, beds, chairs, loveseats?

Laura @ the shorehouse. said...

Oh, brava!!! The rug really completes the picture, doesn't it? It's like a whole new room for you to enjoy.

Jen @ RamblingRenovators said...

The sofa looks fabulous and the carpet is a surprising complement! Now I think you need to throw a big party and test out every one of those seats.

modernemama said...

Normally we'd be having a Solstice Party, unfortunately this year we've got too many projects going on - but drop-ins are always welcomed with a glass of something festive and nibbles!

Anonymous said...

Totally AWESOME!! Gave you a whole new room. The shots from the 2nd floor looking down on the re-done room highlight the new "feel" of the space - to me it actually makes it seem larger than it already was. Also looks like it will go well with people holding glasses with either red or white wine.

modernemama said...

I'm thinking the original Old Fashioned cocktail will go great with the colours too...

NV said...

Wow! That is 100 kinds of cool. Awesome job!

Primary Work at Home said...

I like that big sofa. So relaxing and perfect.

Jean Martha said...

It looks fantastic!

Why S? said...

That IS a stunning new look. The rug is a total surprise but what a great combination.

(I tried to comment days ago when I first read this but my connection failed me. Maybe it was overcome with awe.)