Interior Design Challenge - 1 Furniture Piece To Complete These Rooms!

I’m sharing more Q&A design challenges here, these involve selecting one more piece of furniture for these rooms to complete them.

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Luxury Dining Room Console

This homeowner did a Q&A with me previously, when she just moved into this home. She asked about the big mirror in her dining room and if she should keep it or not.

I told her it would be fine to keep, but she needed to turn it vertically. You can read that post here.

Turn the mirror vertically and add 2 modern look candle sconces on “each” side. :-)

You can see she did that and installed the sconces I suggested. They look great and fill the wall nicely.

Now, she is wondering if the console is too small.

Dining room advice - Large wall with console, mirror and sconces.

Should she replace this console? Is it too small?

I say, yes.

A wider console would be better. I usually try to weight any art, mirror or tv for that matter, that hangs over a furniture piece with a size that is wider than the wall hanging itself.

Otherwise, it just looks a little top-heavy.

Here were the selections I recommmended.

Click on each photo to get sources.

Option #1

I like this one as it has a simple and more modern look with the style of grillwork. It also would create a heavier look which would balance the look of the mirror. I’d get this in the 72” version and the black iron finish.

Black iron console with travertine top

Option #2

This one is very similar but has a more delicate design. It would present a lighter look, but I think it would work well too. The length is good at 72”. Both of these are 16” deep, so they don’t take up much depth.

I really like the iron pieces as they present a different material in this area, there is a lot of wood already with the table, mirror and floor.

Option #3

If you prefer wood, I like this option. It is still long at 80” and 16.25” deep, but I do like this dark finish as it will contrast with the wood floor and table. It has such good modern lines but the brass ferrules add a nice traditional detail.

These are all great choices for a home that has a Mediterranean or Tuscan look that you are trying to modernize or update with cleaner lines.

I hope she sends a pic when she’s done!

Small Senior Living Apartment Living Room

This sweet little mom just moved into her senior living apartment. Let’s make her new home more functional and inviting for her!

Here is the space and the pieces they brought for her place, below.

There’s a tall bookcase there, her comfy wingback chair and two leopard chairs. Her daughter is wanting a table of some kind to fit in here, but isn’t sure how it would work.

Senior living apartment

Senior living apartment

Senior living apartment

Here’s a layout for what I’m proposing.

Furniture layout sketch for senior living apartment.

I would move the tall bookcase to the wall in the “dining room” of the apartment entry area. That really isn’t enough room for a dining table with place to get in and out comfortably with a walker. The bookcase looks like it would fit well there.

Then the two leopard chairs could flank the sliding door. That would look nice as you enter the apartment.

I like the wingback tucked back the corner the way it is with a little chest there. TV stays where it is.

I would add a 36” x 36” game table, something like this one, centered on the wall. I like the wood finish here and the styling of this table.

Game table that can function as a desk or dining table. Extra bonus - it has little drawers that can be helpful too.

It’s nice to have the drawers and this can be used a little desk area, a table for eating a meal or just a big surface to use by the wingback chair.

I would center it on the wall and then hang the mirror that is at the entry/dining area above it.

A game table in the center of the wall with the mirror above it can work well here.

I’d move the large floor lamp over to the other side of the wall, behind the leopard chair and get a smaller floor lamp for the wingback.

I think this will give her versatility and function and still present a nice, homey look.

See these related posts all about furniture!

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This blogpost was thoughtfully written by me, Carla Aston, and not by AI, ghostwriters, or guest posters.