Apartment Therapy with Kristan Cunningham

A couple of weeks before Christmas, I was invited to check out the new Raymour & Flanigan flagship store in the Upper West Side and meet with Kristan Cunningham... the adorable design diva herself. You might know her from the Rachel Ray show, or HGTV's Design on a Dime. She is now working with Raymour & Flanigan, a pretty amazing furniture store that has a surprisingly decent price range. I had seen Kristan on TV a couple of times and I am terrible at interior decorating, so I was really excited to meet her and get a few tips on my own apartment! Truly. As you can see, I really need the help.





I was really pleased with her feedback. I thought she was right on and I will probably listen to much of what she said!

A couple of disclosures before we begin: I was not compensated in any way by Raymour & Flanigan for this post (but there is a coupon at the bottom if you feel so inclined). Also, my apartment looks a lot nicer now than it did in these pictures. No, really!

1. Arrangement of furniture: Do you think we are utilizing our miniscule amount of space effectively with the placement of furniture?

Based on what I can see in the pictures, and given your obstacles like doorways and radiators, I think you did a perfect job with furniture placement- and I love that you went for "floating" the sofa. It looks as though this set up probably works great for your family in day to day life. But, if you were to add pieces in the future, you might want to focus on increasing your seating options, so that you have a comfy place for people to sit when entertaining. (See my answer to dining room question).

2. Couch: Clearly we need a new one. Unfortunately that won't happen (most likely) until my husband graduates from dental school. Given what we have to work with, how do you suggest we make it work aesthetically with the rest of the living room? It is a pull out sleeper couch- is there somewhere else we should put it? What would you suggest if we were to get a new couch, given that we have a 2 year old and a 1 year old, and the space allotment?

There's no reason to rush to buy a new one until it makes sense for you- but I do think that between the vanilla walls, light dining set and light walls, the current slipcover is washing the piece out, and feels disconnected aesthetically from the rich trunk table and area rug. The damask also feels a little formal in comparison to your other choices. A new slipcover in cotton twill or micro suede in a darker color will show less stains and dirt, and will help create more of a visual punctuation point in the room. The visual "weight" of the darker color will be balanced by the window frame and again, the trunk and rug.

When you do decide it's time for a new sofa, I suggest you think about 3 things: a durable fabric option in a darker color (for those kiddie feet and sticky hands), lower arms and back (especially since the piece is floating, you want to have a clear visual path into the dining room and higher arms could make the walkway feel closed in and the sofa itself feel trap-like), and cleaner, squarer lines (they make the same size piece feel smaller in visual scale, and are also more in keeping with the young, hip, modern, fabulous family you are! I'd also stick with a sleeper- anytime you can incorporate more sleeping options into your home, you should! I think this guy- in Java- would be perfect all across the board...

http://www.raymourflanigan.com/catalog/details.asp?Cat_ID=9&ID=102041


3. How can I fix my dining room* chairs? They are HIDEOUS and uncomfy. I love the table... need new chairs. Buy new or get creative?

How 'bout a little of both... Keep the table- which I also love, as it's classic and simple- and add these captain's chairs at the 2 ends. http://www.raymourflanigan.com/catalog/details.asp?ID=101712.

The dark chocolate leather will help make that whole vignette look a little heavier, which will tie better into the living area, spills will be a non issue, and they're as comfy as sitting in a living room chair. And that makes perfect sense, because they're substantial enough to drag into the living room area when you're entertaining- total double duty!- helping make the 2 areas feel seamless in style- just flank the trunk table with them, and suddenly, you have a real conversation area! Keep the two chairs in the middle, but add lumbar pillows in a fabric that coordinates with the pillows on the sofa- maybe a deep rust or sate blue to tie in that trunk- that'll help make these guys a little comfier until you're ready to invest in 2 more.


4. I want to utilize our wall space, make the room look bigger. Any suggestions?

You took a great step, by hanging the mirror over the dining table. Unfortunately, because the mirror takes up such a small percentage of the wall, you're losing a lot of the impact that a reflective surface can have. I suggest swapping that guy out for something much larger, or, adding various sized additional mirrors for a "gallery" style wall treatment. For the TV wall, the last thing you want to do is add fussiness around the screen that'll distract from your view when it's on. A floor lamp on either side of that credenza will add some texture and depth to the room without competing with the boob tube, as well as give you some warm light on that side of the room. By the way- I don't see a single lamp or overhead light- how the heck do y'all see in there!? I'd swap out that plant in the dining area for a table lamp as well so that you have a distribution of light throughout the space.


5. Where should Bob* live?

I think Bob should live on that nice deep window sill, as long as it doesn't get too hot there :).

*Bob is our fish. He is a superfish. Took a cross country, week long trip in two inches of unpurified water and lived to smile about it. I thought he needed a throne.

6. I am interested in the space saving furniture that we talked about at Raymour & Flanigan, and I'll bet my fellow apartment dwellers are as well. Can you suggest some of your favorites?



The captain’s chairs that I suggested for your dining/living solution are one of my favorites for that reason- they're a small enough scale to sit at a dining table, yet substantial enough to use as occasional seating in a living room or den.

I also love beds with storage incorporated underneath, like these http://www.raymourflanigan.com/catalog/details.asp?ID=9509 as they do the work of a bed and dresser in the footprint of just one.
And keep in mind that in a small space, anytime you place a piece of furniture, you're taking up valuable floor real estate, so try to make each piece work as hard as possible. You're entry table is a perfect example: you gained a surface, but within the same footprint could've gained storage a swell. A piece like this http://www.raymourflanigan.com/catalog/details.asp?ID=99335 makes better use of the vertical height and gives you a great place to stash away the life essentials like keys, mail and wallet- while maintaining a calm and tidy look. The open bottom on legs keeps it from feeling too heavy.

Or, you can tuck something like these storage ottomans http://www.raymourflanigan.com/catalog/details.asp?ID=101974#AboveTabs underneath to stash games and such, but also to call on when extra seating is needed, as they're lightweight and easy to move right over to the living room.


7. Would you suggest moving the kids area in the foyer somewhere else? Is this space we should be using in a different way, given that it is the first thing people see?


If you have space for that table and chairs somewhere else, I think that a lot of the visual chaos could be eliminated by taking them out of the equation. And you're exactly right- it IS the first space people see and will set the tone for the rest of your home, so making it feel calm and tasteful is important. Their art can absolutely remain, however. I'll have more thoughts on that in #8.

8. I could use some tips on color. We moved here three months ago and have been so busy with school and life that I haven't had any time to devote to decorating. Ok, I never do or will anytime soon. Anything you can suggest to tie the place together, rather than looking like a hodgepodge?


I think that the throw pillow on sofa / lumbar pillow on dining chairs idea is a great way to cross reference some colors between the two spaces, which will create some consistency. The trunk that you already own should be the touchstone for your whole palette, as it's the one thing that strongly suggests a color scheme- but does so in a subtle way. If painting is an option, I think that you can establish a scheme and make a dramatic statement from the moment folks walk in the door by painting that hallway in a dramatic shade, like slate blue.

There is a lack of natural light in this space already, so playing on that and creating this moody transition space will make your entry into the sun filled living area feel like an explosion into wide open space. Your kids art can then be framed inexpensively in matching thin edged frames to pop off of that color, and as they add up, you'll have an entire gallery space made up of your kids work, presented in an upscale, tasteful way.

I'm in LOVE with that couch. And it isn't $4,000! I'll let you know when I update my apartment with her suggestions... I'm afraid it might take me a while (everything does lately). The original idea here was to offer Kristan's tips to one of my readers. I am still very interested in doing this, but I don't know if she will be available. What do you guys think? Would you like some feedback on your place as well?? I'm thinking if I get a positive enough response here, she might just do it. Let me know what you think, and if she agrees I'll pick one of you (random) that sounds excited ;)

Also...this week I'll be giving away an America's Worst Chef's video game! YAY! TTFN!