This was a really fun makeover to do! This Bella Vista home consists of a husband and wife and their two "football crazy" young boys. Any decor had to keep in mind that "boys will be boys", and we had to make sure this makeover was as "flying football friendly" as it could be!
The Reuters wanted to move the kids' homework station out of the main hallway and into the formal dining room. However, when the Reuters entertained they wanted to be able to convert the formal dining room from schoolhouse to formal room, so we had to design it to easily adapt back and forth. With cathedral ceilings, decorating the arched openings and plant shelf area enclosing the formal dining room was going to be a challenge.
Paul is an engineer, and produced detailed blueprints of a TV / stereo cabinet that he designed. The Reuters needed help finding a cabinet shop to take the complicated blueprints and build a custom cabinet. The existing cabinets throughout the home were honey oak finished, but the Reuters wanted furniture that was more contemporary and mission-style. Tina got the idea to highlight the kitchen cabinets with dark "rope" insets to tie the kitchen into the new furniture and decor that we brought in. We called in Amyx Cabinets of Cotonwood, gave them the cabinet plans, and then we all went to work!
Click on the thumb pictures below to view a much larger picture.
"Before" Pictures:
Front door entrance to home. Kids' homework
station right inside front door
Entry way. Kids' homework station and family
pictures
Just inside front door, standing at kids'
homework station and looking toward formal
dining
room. Living room is in the background, behind
the dining room
Traveling to the right toward the living
room, this was the view of the formal dining
room from the kitchen
Continuing into living room, the fireplace
offers a cozy and inviting corner
View of living room from breakfast table. Big
screen TV is on the right. It was important for
the family to be able to view the TV while
eating, so all new furniture brought in needed
to be low in profile.
View of living room from corner of breakfast
room and dining table. The living room and
formal dining room were wide open for the two
young boys to be able to toss a football around
View of formal dining room from the living
room. Those are the arched plant shelves that
were going to be a challenge...
"After" Pictures:
Front door entrance to home. Kids' homework
station is gone!
Visitors are now greeted by an entry table that
doubles as a station for incoming and outgoing
mail. Mirror serves purpose of "last minute
check-up" before walking out the door.
Just inside front door, looking toward formal
dining
room. Living room is in the background, behind
the dining room. Candle holders are protected
from footballs by the decorative arched pillar.
Same view as above, but a bit further down the
hall. Picture on wall was one of Paul's
favorites, so we incorporated it into the new
decor.
View the opposite direction from the picture
above.
The new formal dining room, which is shown here
set up as the new kids' homework station. Low
profile barstool-type chairs were used to
maximize space usage. Stools are easily removed
for formal entertaining, and table can be used
as a buffet, card table, etc. Throw rug picks up
the colors from the living room and combines the
two spaces.
Different angle view of new formal dining room.
Swivel chair in the corner doubles as a reading
area for the boys. Wine buffet adds class for
when the Reuters are using the room for
entertaining. Large clock can be seen from the
living room, dining room, and kitchen, and
brings the colors of the living room into this
space.
View from formal dining room of entry way.
Again, care was taken to make all decor as
kid-friendly as possible by keeping items low in
profile.
View of formal dining room from the breakfast
table. We kept the plant shelves over the arched
area simple, and added height only at the
tallest part of the ceiling. Julie later added
an uplight pointing at the Tuscan dish. Nice
touch, Julie!
View of corner of living room from formal dining
room. Wood stove area now has custom-built
mantle surrounding the river rock. "Mom's Chair"
with mother/daughter reading light is just off
to the right of the picture, allowing Julie to
toast her feet while reading a good book!
View from the new custom-built entertainment
center. Low profile furniture was used, allowing
clear view of big-screen TV from couch,
mission-style captain's chairs, and from
breakfast table.
The ottoman that started it all. Julie showed it
to us when we first started, and she said
"design my makeover around this!" We used the
colors of the ottoman for inspiration on
everything else, including the throw rug in the
formal dining room.
Mantle custom-built by Amyx Cabinets now plays
host to wine-themed decor. Olive tree on the
left adds to the Tuscan charm.
Close-up of mantle decor. Gold colored hurricane
lamps and gold wine bottle tie into the clock on
the far opposite wall of the dining room. Notice
the dark rope inlay into the honey oak. The
inlay ties the mission-style furniture into the
mantle, and eliminated the cost of replacing oak
kitchen cabinets.
Close-up of slightly modified kitchen cabinets.
Dark rope decor was inset into new, larger trim
above the existing oak cabinets. This made the
cabinets look larger, and tied the honey oak
color to the new mission-style furniture. We
made slight alterations and additions to Julie's
existing above-cabinet decor.
The adorable Reuter "football heroes"
relaxing on mom's new reading chaise!
Tina holding "Puddy Tat" -
the adorable Reuter cat!
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