To kick off the meeting, I gave my clients an exercise to get their reactions on both functional needs and personal style. 7 questions, 7 minutes. Here are their responses.
We discussed certain elements and adjectives that recurred in their answers. Fireplace, windows, fireplace, windows! Open, simple, traditional, comfortable, yet eclectic. "Not starck," the husband explained, "but not extravagant either." "Like Banana Republic," the wife added, "but not Brooks Brothers." We laughed. I said, I've got to write that down. Fashion brands as architectural descriptions. I like that.
After that, we looked through some magazines together in order to assign some pictures to these verbal descriptions. Through some brainstorming, a design concept began to emerge: a series of earth-toned rooms throughout the house, with each room defined by one or two accented elements (esp. fireplace and built-in bookshelf in the living room and giant window in the kitchen). The accents can be accomplished by the use of warm materials or colors, along with the proper lighting. In addition, at a finer scale, we can also have brighter hits of colors within each room. This can be accomplished at a later phase with furnishings and accessories. We also talked about the possibility of replacing the current railing at the entry (which separates the entry with the adjacent living room) with a dramatic wooden screen. The material and finish of the screen can be echoed at the coat closet and the wall that the fireplace is set into.
At the end of the meeting, I gave my clients a project matrix to fill out, which I had prepared based on our recent house visit. The matrix includes all the rooms and features of the house, so that based on our conversations so far, they can write down what they would like to see as a minimal remodel and an upgraded remodel.
