House Calls Live

The Post's room makeover series House Calls provides you with decorating tips from the pros. Get inside tips that can help upgrade your problem room.

For Vanessa and Keenan Andrews, finding a way to mesh there contemporary tastes with their home's traditional architecture has been difficult. They are looking to update their living room to make it warm and comfortable.

Meredith Ericksen and Laura Caccese of Tuscan Blue Design have provided stylish ways for the couple to update their room.

The transcript follows below.

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washingtonpost.com: Welcome to this week's edition of House Calls Live. Today, we have Meredith Ericksen and Laura Caccese of Tuscan Blue Design in Frederick, Md. These designers helped homeowners Vanessa and Keenan Andrews find creative ways to give their traditional living room a modern update. Thanks ladies for joining us. Please explain your design concept.

washingtonpost.com: Welcome to this week's edition of House Calls Live. Today, we have Meredith Ericksen and Laura Caccese of Tuscan Blue Design in Frederick, Md.

These designers helped homeowners Vanessa and Keenan Andrews find creative ways to give their traditional living room a modern update.

Thanks ladies for joining us. Please explain your design concept.

Meredith Ericksen: Hi There. Our design concept began with the layout of the room because of the restraints of the space...it is a small space, there are multiple pathways through the room, and the homeowner's request for adequate seating for entertaining. In the next step we focused on blending the traditional elements in the home with the owner's preference for a contemporary style. Finally we combined clean lined furnishings with a neutral palette for a refined, up to date look.

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Fairfax, Va.: I like the architectural/sculptural ideas you incorporated in this small space. Are there other ways to add more texture and color to the room to create visual interest?

Meredith Ericksen: In a contemporary design fabric selection is often the way you can introduce more texture and depth in the room. Although you can't see it on the rendering in this room we used a textural tweed fabric on the chairs and a linen woven texture for the sofa. Accent pillows provide pattern and color for the space. Additional texture can be added with accessoried such as ceramics.

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Fixing up a rental house?: We wanted to sell our old house but since the market has tanked, we will rent it. But, the kitchen needs work! It needs a new floor and countertops -- what would you recommend as far as materials go? We don't want to put a lot of money into it, but want something eye catching and neutral, that someone else can live with. Right now there is vinyl sheet on the floor, can't use tile since it isn't completely flat where we took out a wall. There are formica countertops. I priced Silestone, and it was more than I can afford, at Home Depot.

Arrggh! I would like to make this a nice place for our renters, but everything is so expensive!!!

Meredith Ericksen: Great question. We understand wanting to keep costs down for a rental home but also the need for a nice space. In the kitchen to keep costs down for the flooring we recommend a vinly or laminate wood floor look...which you might be able to install yourselves. This give you the updated look of wood at a good price point. For countertops consider using a laminate again...now there are so many great patterns available that mimic the stone and solid surface materials that are so popular now. Consider adding a beveled edge for the countertop which gives a nice look at a low-cost.

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Fairfax, Va.: We use our basement as a media room. The ceiling is very low, about 6 1/2 ft. from the floor, and is covered with square ceiling tiles from the '70s. Should we remove the tiles and leave the support beams exposed to create the illusion of a higher ceiling? Can you suggest other ideas?

Meredith Ericksen: Yes..we do think taking out the tile and exposing your ceiling beams will give you the feeling of a higher ceiling. Consider painting all parts of the ceiling white or a neutral color. For lighting you can add track halogen lights on the beams or even simple utility clip lights. This is kind of a modern look when you 'expose' the mechanics in the ceiling.

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Fairfax, Va.: One of your recommendations is to paint the wall behind the open bookcase in an accent color to create more of a focal point. Are there any other places you would use the accent color?

Meredith Ericksen: Since the room in the feature is small and narrow we wouldn't recommend adding accents colors on any additional walls...that might make the space feel smaller. You can add accent colors with your art, accessories, pillows, throws, etc.

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Colonial Viillage, D.C.: We have a similar problem to today's question. The living room in our center-hall colonial is a bit bigger (12 x 21), but includes a fireplace between the windows on the long wall, and has to accommodate a 6 ft. grand piano that has been in my family for years. My questions: what furniture (prefereable mid-century) do I need to accommodate a seating group for six to eight, and how do I postion the it in a way that works with a piano and fireplace?

Thanks!

Meredith Ericksen: This is an initial idea...we would begin by placing the piano in one of the corners by a window. Then in the middle of the room, centered on the fireplace, place two flanking sofas..for additional seating consider pull-up ottomans, side chairs that can be positioned else where in the room. If you are interested in us laying out the space visit our website!

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Anonymous: Are there other tricks for making a small room look bigger and to allow you to pull in extra seating when you have guests?

Meredith Ericksen: One of the most important design tips for making a small room appear larger is to not use the over-sized furniture that is so popular today. Stick to small scale furnishings...measure your space before purchasing!! Also consider using dual function furniture such as stools that double as side tables or an ottoman/coffe table. Also a nice to tuck pull-up seating is under a sofa table.

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Fairfax: Creating a focal point? I have a small room with lots of windows and door openings. And no good way to create a focal point like the bookcase. Do you have any ideas for creating a focal point without much wall space to use?

Meredith Ericksen: You know you can create a focal point with just about anything. You might want to start with a grouping of art or one large piece such as a piece of ironwork. Add lighting to accent the wall.

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Oakton, Va.: I love that big swing arm lamp in your design. I'm struggling with getting light into the middle of a family room w/o having cords (trip factor) or putting an outlet into my hardwood floors. Does a lamp like that one work going out into the middle of a room? Any other ideas?

Meredith Ericksen: This is a common problem. Here are some pragamtic solutions. You can run the cord under your rug and cut a small slit to feed the cord through. Try to run the cords under your furniture when possible. Also think about adding some overhead lighting such as halogen track lights. Good luck!

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Washington, D.C.: Thanks for taking my question. I need a way of hiding a metal box, roughly 20 inches wide, seven feet high, which is attached -on- my dining/living room wall. The box is an air flow vent and, as such, must remain intack (i.e., no holes punched in it). I cannot reposition the box -in- my walls. I thought about putting drywall/sheet rock around it, with knick-knack type of shelves attached to it, but am afraid that will be prohibitive expensive. Magnets will adhere to the box, but will paint? I would appreciate any other decorating ideas you may have. Thanks.

Meredith Ericksen: Hi. I am trying to envision what this box looks like in the room. I have a few thoughts but I am not sure of the construction of the 'box'. One thought is to put a decorative grill on it or if you want to 'hide' the box you certainly can paint it to match the wall color...just make sure you prime it and you use paint that adheres to metal...you can ask for that kind of information at your local paint store.

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Maryland: Not that you are focusing on kitchens today, but ... I want to replace my existing kitchen floor with hardwood. My husband is against this and says it would be a nightmare -- the floor would get wet, etc. I say, people have used wood in kitchens for years with no problems. How can I convince him that he's just wrong? Thanks.

Meredith Ericksen: I have specified wood floors for many kitchens. They give the room sucha warm feeling. If they are properly installed with the right type of finish coat they will last for years...even in a kitchen! I have a wood floor in my kitchen and it is 15 years old and it still looks great. Maybe you all should talk with a hardwood flooring installer about installation and the maintenance of wood floors...that might ease your husbands' worries.

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Bethesda, Md.: How do you recommend finding an interior designer that my wife and I will be happy with? We don't even know where to start. Almost all of our friends do things themselves but we just bought a house and need advice on the much smaller spaces (bathrooms mostly) than we are used to and how to utilize the space best.

Thanks.

Meredith Ericksen: It would be great if you checked out our website to see what we offer! Also another good place to start is the ASID (American Society of Interior Designers) website and look the desiger referral pages...asid.org.

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Arlington, Va.: I am planning to paint my living room Benjamin Moore HC-108 (Sandy Hook Gray) and my dining room HC-82 (Bennington Gary). I have open space floor plan. The two rooms are separated by a Fire Place. I do not know where to transition to the other color. Can I paint the FP (2) colors?

What ceiling and trim colors do you recommend with HC-108 and HC-82?

Meredith Ericksen: We looked at the colors and noticed that one is a cooler color and one is a warmer color. If the rooms are one open space then we would suggest using the HC82 along the fireplace wall and go to a lighter color for the rest of the room such as HC81. The fireplace can be a darker neutral in the same color family. Hope this helps :)

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Arlington, Va.: I am severely design-challenged and though I read a lot about design and watch design shows, I think I need information on the most basic of the design basics. Are there any books you could recommend for absolute beginner lay-people?

Meredith Ericksen: We apologize we can't think of anything right now, most of our design references we use are more technical. There is a great bookstore on Connecticut Ave called Politics and Prose. The staff there should be able to search for something appropriate. Good luck.

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Meredith Ericksen: Thanks so much for the the questions It was fun working on this project. Good luck with all you design projects. If you need any additional help visit our website www.tuscanbluedesign.com.

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