It’s that question we all face at some point when decorating our homes, how do we incorporate the big black box into our everyday decor?  In my home, we’ve done it two different ways (see #4 and #6 below), but everyone’s situation is different.

Some people have both a living room and a family room, which allows one to be more formal and the other for casual TV watching, however many need to squeeze that television into just one main living space. Everyone has to deal with their television, where to put it, and how to design around it, so I rounded up nine different options for television placement in a main living room.

1.  Curate Around It.  Position the flat screen above a console and gather a group of artwork to surround the television with prints, photographs, or other favorite framed works of art.  Adding multiple rectangles (in either symmetrical or asymmetrical format) takes the spotlight away from the big black screen and also allows you to showcase meaningful images.

Sarah Richardson

Better Homes & Gardens

2.  Flank It.  Bookcases both skinny and wide enclose a television and visually frame it with their vertical placement.  Flanking a television with free standing or built in bookcases and surrounding it with decorative objects balances the weight of the big screen and reduces the television’s dominance in a living space.

Pottery Barn

Lonny

Camber Construction via Houzz

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Hello all, I’ve invited a special guest here today!  From time to time, I ask stylists and designers I admire to chat with me here, and today’s guest is Stephen Saint-Onge, also known as “Designer Dad”! 

Stephen is the Contributing Home Editor for Family Circle Magazine and his expertise is in creating comfortable and livable spaces for families.  His practical and budget conscious designs help us all bring beautiful, easy-to-attain style into our homes.  Stephen is the husband, father, and homeowner that reminds everyone to appreciate the simple things in life: home, family and friends.  Please welcome Stephen Saint-Onge and enjoy our Q & A.  

Q:   Hello and welcome Stephen!  Share with us a little about your background and your work.

First off, hello to all the readers of your blog!  I’m a big fan of yours so it’s a true pleasure to get to talk to you this way.  I’ve done makeovers on television and in magazines for many years now.  I love that design can change someone’s life.  I have seen how simple changes can make an impact on a homeowner’s outlook and feel for their home.

In recent years, especially during the personal time of writing and photographing my first book, I realized that my focus is truly on the family focused home and lifestyle.  That’s what I’m all about, so the focus became about all things ‘Designer Dad’.   However, my blog is not solely about home design – it touches on my love of photography, food, culture, family, music, film.  As a creative person, I wear many hats so that place is the home base of all that I am doing or connected to.

A great deal of the work that I do is in the media or seen in the public eye, for example, my work as contributing editor to Family Circle Magazine or other makeover projects that I do.  At the same time, I’m also doing private client design work as well in the New York City Metro area.  It’s a good balance between keeping what I do in touch with what real families want because that is who I am designing for.  As a husband, dad of two boys, and a homeowner, I use those things as my touchstone towards reminding me of what I’m bringing to the creative table. 

Recently, my love and interest in photography has come into focus.  I now shoot all my own design projects and also launched a canvas collection of my photography and artwork targeted at the everyday home.   Photography is also going to be a bigger part of my next book project which is currently in the early stages. 

Q: From reading your recent book No Place Like Home, it’s clear your philosophy is focused on family friendly home design. Tell us where you begin when you work with a family to create a comfortable and stylish interior that reflects the needs and personalities in the home?

I start every design project with a private client the same way or even just someone coming up to me and asking me to help them figure out their home style – "What movie or TV show have you seen that has a great house featured in it that you just love?"  It is amazing how it takes people a second but then their faces light up. 

They start remembering great houses they loved or ones that caught their eye.  For those that have no idea where to begin, that is great starting point.  What is your favorite movie home? is a great question to ask.  For me it would be: Something’s Gotta Give, Out of Africa, and It’s Complicated. 

Though you may not do a whole house exactly as you see it in the film, you get the essence of what you are moving towards.  I did a behind-the-scenes visit on my blog to the homes of the series on NBC’s Parenthood  – there was a huge response from fans because they connected with those homes and loved them.  Same with my visit to the set of The Good Wife on CBS.   You are entertained but you can also be educated and empowered by design! 

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Today would feel like any other Tuesday in autumn except that it’s not.  Just like that Tuesday on September 11, 2001, this day is very different in the hearts of all of us who watched it happen.  Here we are, eleven years later still reliving the tragedy and mourning the lives lost. 

On our recent visit to New York City in August, we took an afternoon to visit the 9/11 memorial and see 1 WTC as it gets closer to completion. 

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Hello everyone, I’m excited to announce we’ve completed another space remodel as part of our Alma Project!  I hinted a few months ago that we’ve adopted a second house in partnership with our local COTS (Committee on the Shelterless) and a team of volunteers has been working on this home to prepare it for the families that will be moving in shortly. 

This home serves the purpose of helping families that are in immediate danger of separation because the parents don’t have a place to live, often they’re sleeping in cars.  This house helps keep homeless families intact so that CPS does not separate the children from the parents.  It’s a place for families to reside temporarily while our local COTS helps them obtain more permanent housing.  We couldn’t be prouder of this hall bathroom remodel!

This could not have happened without the support of some very generous sponsors and a team of volunteers.  Just like with the kitchen remodel earlier this year, Home Depot was a very generous donor, supplying us with the new vanity, toilet and faucet, and we are extremely grateful for their support!  Glidden provided the paint, and with some money raised from our Alma Project fund, we were able to add the extras.  

When we started, this shared community bathroom was a complete disaster, and in desperate need of upgrades.  Here’s a peek at the space two months ago before the remodel began.   The tub and flooring were dingy, discolored, and in very sad shape.   The vanity and toilet were really bad too, so we removed everything in the space except the tub and started over. 

Here’s how it looks two months later!

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