One day transformation

By Nicole DeCosta

The Lake Oswego Review, Jul 23, 2008, Updated Oct 30, 2009

Jaime Valdez / Lake Oswego Review

Angela Todd with Angela Todd Designs rearranged this living room to better showcase unique items collected from around the world. A 2008 semi-finalist for the Society of Decorating Professionals, Todd said that one day room transformations are her favorite part of her job.

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Mary Moffitt and Craig Crotteau’s living room used to look like an-unfinished museum.

Collectables from traveling abroad with the U.S. Army were on the floor or cluttered on the mantle.

The room – overlooking her family’s seven-acre property in the Stafford area – lacked cohesiveness, balance and comfort. But, it had potential.

A retired Colonel, Moffitt needed an enjoyable place for her family of four – and her guests – to spend time.

Preparing for her aunt to visit was “the inspiration” that got Moffitt motivated to redesign her living room, she said.

“Before the room was functional enough, we could sit and watch TV,” Moffitt said. “But it was kind of embarrassing to have friends over.”

So she called Angela Todd with Angela Todd Designs who specialized in one-day room transformations.

With $500 for the redesign budget – and a modest budget for lighting and accessories – Todd took Moffitt’s blue and red color scheme and allowed her collections to take center stage.

“After I understood her desires, my goal was to make a sophisticated but inviting space that featured the family collections and honored the homes arts and crafts style and Mary’s eclectic taste,” Todd said.

Todd said her company brought in texture to give the room a more casual flair.

“We also varied the height of the room for visual appeal,” she said of the room that was once very boxy in appearance. “We finished the look by introducing pattern for interest and color for balance.”

Switching it up

Moffitt’s living room features a large fireplace with a minimalist mantle hugging the exterior wall.

An upright piano sits near a window seat. The walls are a shade of white. The lines are crisp.

Without altering the furniture arrangement – a couch and chair angled toward the fireplace – Todd focused on creating “casual flair,” she said, by updating some fabric and lighting choices.

“I used careful consideration while paring down and creating color balance,” Todd said.

The additional budget allowed for new lighting, accessories, pillows and a window seat cushion. All other changes were completed using Moffitt’s existing décor. And Todd pulled pieces from around the home for the living room.

Pillows were recovered in a vivid red color, pulled from the detailed rug in the center of the room. The rug – with deep blues and reds – was the starting place for colors and style.

“It helps to start with an inspiration piece; it’s not always a rug. Sometimes it’s a piece of artwork, sometimes it’s pillows, sometimes it’s a pattern on a sofa,” Todd said. “And sometimes the inspiration piece isn’t something in the room. I’ve designed a room around ballet slippers before.”

A more than seven-foot window seat to the left of the fireplace was fitted with a cushy, custom-made pillow.

“I love sitting here,” Moffitt said of her refreshed reading nook.

Moffitt traveled the world with the military and along her journey collected vases, books and artwork, all of which wasn’t displayed to her liking beforehand.

Lamps on end tables and the piano were too short to accentuate artwork.

Book collectables were forgotten in the family’s downstairs storage area.

And vases were lined up on the mantle in a row like little soldiers, not accent pieces.

“When accessories are over used they stop being noticed,” Todd said, noting that decorating in an arts and crafts style requires spare ornamentation. “If you want your things to seem special you have to pare down.”

And so the tiny, blue vase collection on the fireplace shrunk in number of pieces but grew in scale to incorporate different items of varying heights and colors.

Now, a large round clock, small stack of books, tall and short vases and a peacock feather add rustic spice to the space.

“She loves, loves, loves peacocks,” Todd said of Moffitt, “so we incorporated that into the room.”

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