Studio Decor

[jeremyjchilds]

after looking for a long time, I have finally found a place to buy...

It is a new (1yr old) half duplex on a hillside that overlooks the 11000' mount baker!! . there are two levels for my wife, and a Walk out basement for me.

I will be using the entire (smallish) 500 sq.' walk out basement for my studio. there is a gas fireplace and sliding glass doors that will be an entrance for students there are a lot of windows and views down into the valley and mountains.

Unfortunately the previous owner put cherry laminate floors in, (I'm not really a fan of laminate)

I am looking for a bright invigorating color for the walls that is youthful, but at the same time not "mickey mouse"

Since I don't know anything about color association, can you tell me what successes or failures you have had with coloring your studio?

Or just give my decorating suggestions...I would like to go with the "nature theme" since We have a view at our disposal.

[maryruth]

You can see Mt. Baker from Canada?  Hmmm....I don't see it from my house, but I see it most days when I go to town--however I see it from the south side!  How funny...We're looking at opposite sides of the mountain...

Don't really have any help with the decor question....Do you want a soothing color or something that keeps them on their toes? 

A very light taupe or green or yellow would probably blend nicely with the evergreens I assume are outside.  Keep it earthy...What color's your piano?  Black?  Are you going to change the flooring? 

Keep the walls and floor more neutral and add the cheery colors in the accessories--window trims, art, furniture, curtains, etc....

[jeremyjchilds]

Is this the same thing you see? I amagine that it looks similar from all sides.

Yup..I'm in Canada, but right near the border...

I'll put a few more pictures up once I get them into the computer...so you can see what I am working with.

[pianistimo]

post a pic of your basement and we'll give you some ideas.

to me, lighting in a basement is of utmost importance.  i would let the top half (ceiling and first four - five feet down be white.  then you could put these huge piano keys around the room on the lower half on one wall (*is he still listening?) and then those shadow head portraits in black of all the composers you want on another wall.  (black and white is the theme here)  and for the third wall,  scattered musical terms and notes and clefs - and final wall a memorial to all your students (maybe a block of corkboard) and bulletins and stuff.  put up pics of your students and various artwork they make for you.

ps that's a beautiful backyard view you have!

[amanfang]

I agree with Maryruth.  Keep the walls neutral, but decorate with pictures on the wall, 3-d art, plants....

[rubix]

Yes, pianistimo's idea is similar to what I was thinking. One thing that can be really effective is to paint the top half or two thirds an offwhite, neutral colour, and the bottom part a really dark shade, like burgnady or blue, whatever your taste. This gives the room a bigger feel because of the light colour on the top and ceiling, but adds a bit of colour. You can separate the two colours with a running board.

[shasta]

Wow!  What a beautiful view you have!!   

[maxy]

go for red walls...  for the days when lessons will get bloody. 

[pianistimo]

my husband mentioned tonight how water leakage can damage pianos and music very quickly.  before you decorate, maybe you should try some of that water resistant paint (for basements) then use polyurethane (or whatever stuff they spray on the walls) between the joists for putting on the sheetrock.  my husband was suggesting 6" of it - but we're not contractors.  if you have lots of snow/rain - it's something to consider - a flooded basement.

also, he mentioned getting a de-humidifier or pump to get rid of the humidity that accumulates down there. 

if you really want your piano to last a long time, you have to keep it away from the opening doors, too (you mentioned a walk out basement).  i've always heard the best place for a piano is more central to the house (mid floor, mid room -away from door- and away from humidity and heat).  maybe you should refinish and put midi keyboard down there.  you could STILL teach on large keyboard - but refine stuff upstairs.  of course, getting a piano into the room might be a challenge.  it's a toss up.  but worth saving the piano considering it's expense.

if you do still use the basement, my husband was suggesting, too, a heated floor.  sometimes the basement floor gets cold in the winter.

[jeremyjchilds]

This is what the basement looks like.

This is actually the main floor, but the basement is a carbon copy except that it is all one room, with no wall, and instead of three small windows, there is one big one on the right, and then the exact same sliding door on the left. I did not take a picture of the basement bacause all of the other guys boxes are on the ground...




Since the one wall is almost all window, I will have the piano facing the other wall. I don't imagine that water could back up and flood up into the basement, because the "basement is actually above ground...and the backyard falls away into a cliff in about 20 feet.

Also for consideration, the floors are exactly the same, but the walls in the basement are only 8' high. As for the lighting concern, we face south, so natural light is always pouring in. 

Because of the nature all around, I would like any ideas you may have with natural decorations too. Slate, wood, rockwork, etc, although I guess that may be a little mature for most kinds

[pianistimo]

my advice (not being a contractor again) would be to put in a wall that divides the walk-out door side (wind and weather) from the studio with the piano.  then, if you open the second door (not aligned with the outside door), it doesn't directly affect the piano.  you could have a second door and it would give you privacy and a studio that allows little bro and/or sis to sit outside.  or even, if you have less parents and more adult students, a feel that it is a real office/studio.  and, it protects your precious piano.  maybe you should get the piano in - then put up the wall.  french doors would allow you to get the piano out again, but the smaller door would protect the piano better.  keep the gas fireplace on the side that is not the piano side.  what a cozy retreat! 

[jeremyjchilds]

my advice (not being a contractor again) would be to put in a wall that divides the walk-out door side (wind and weather) from the studio with the piano.  then, if you open the second door (not aligned with the outside door), it doesn't directly affect the piano.  you could have a second door and it would give you privacy and a studio that allows little bro and/or sis to sit outside.  or even, if you have less parents and more adult students, a feel that it is a real office/studio.  and, it protects your precious piano.  maybe you should get the piano in - then put up the wall.  french doors would allow you to get the piano out again, but the smaller door would protect the piano better.  keep the gas fireplace on the side that is not the piano side.  what a cozy retreat! 

I like that idea, it is really professional...I would have to find a way to keep it from becoming crowded, I only have 500 SQ feet to work with.

As for your concerns about my piano, I share them, (I am actually a fairly busy technician during the mornings) I have plans to install a humidifier\de-humidifier into my piano, which was fairly pricy, so I do not want it to be destroyed. 

Go back to the pictre with the window and imagine a rustic autumn oarnge, with slate up to the ceiling around the fireplace. How does that sit with you. I do have plans to change the flooring in the basement, but not for a little while, so cherry laminate it is...for now

For flooring, I was thinking of a rim of natural slate tile around the perimeter, and then carpet within that rim.

(I do not like the current "easter egg" blue that he put in there before.)

[pianistimo]

sounds like you have some good ideas as to how you want to decorate.  darker colors tend to make the room look small though.  you can see what it might look like under www.muralsfantastic.com/id627_pool_room_fireplace.htm

if it were me (since i don't like re-painting) i'd keep the blue and add to the ceiling a rendition in white and blue and grey of this theme:

www.muralsfantastic.com/id75.htm  you can scroll down to where they also show some 3-d stuff above the fireplace.  it's kinda cool.  i could see it in white. 

ps was reviewing some of the ceiling ideas and this one looked simple:
www.muralsfantastic.com/id610.htm   

i would do what they did in the previous post (75. htm) with the window treatments.  when you make them start near the ceiling, it makes the windows look huge.  you have enough space between windows to have a little drape and possibly ties.  you could have a nice looking studio, too (in white mostly - and maybe a little black) contrast your 'waiting room/office.'  basically, imo, you don't have to spend a lot of money to get good quality.  spend it on the window treatments and the couch and table, and maybe an artist to do the mural.  the smaller one shouldn't cost too  much.  (or, do the mural yourself).  then, as time goes on, you can add stuff like molding to the top of the room.  that really finishes the look. 

my studio has all white paint with a border of black in large geometric design around the top half of the room.

[pianistimo]

here's a couch that would mirror the last suggestion of the previous message:

www.hgtv.com/hgtv/designers_portfolio/portfolio/0,2159,HGTV_16257_809,00.html

i could see this as a black couch with white pillows.  if you had a black chandalier like the one in the middle of the mural - it would tie in the white/black/blue ideas.  the window treatements could bring it all together.  then you would have a livingroom downstairs/ and studio.

[pianoannie]

Jeremy, it's hard for anyone else to make suggestions since everyone's taste is so different.  I do agree with you about getting rid of the easter egg blue.  But I LOVE the floors (at least in the picture it looks beautiful).  But as I said, everyone's taste is different. 

I'm not sure what kind of orange you're referring to---do you mean kind of a terra cotta, earthy orange?  That would fit with the outdoor view, but to me it wouldn't be very youthful or fun.

Choosing a paint color can be so hard!  I must have looked at hundreds of colors before I finally had my interior repainted a few weeks ago (went with a light golden tan in some areas and a similar but darker hue in other areas).  I assume you've been picking up those little paint sample cards (that have several slightly different shades of a color).  I had numerous paint cards taped to the walls of various rooms, and I would study them at different times of day, in different lighting, and kept going back and forth on favorites until I finally narrowed it down.

[pianistimo]

yes.  what piano annie says is kinda what a lot of people are doing (neutral colors).  i just thought that if you decide what you want to spend on, sometimes it can be to go with less paint and more furniture.  it gets expensive.  but, you don't want a color you can't stand either.

also, along with the different lighting at different times of the day (as suggested above) you can go outside and look in.  it's kinda cool at night to see what your color does for the room.

i picked up on outside colors, too, and brought them into my house.  for instance, my kitchen is a kind of leaf green (with bits of red gingham on stencil and someday on curtains).  the mid- room is yellow, and livingroom a sort of rose color.  at night the rose color looks really formal, yet the kitchen is casual during the day.  i took a chance on the dining room and painted it flamingo pink.  it's wild, but cool to look in at night from the outside.  it warms the place up. 

[pianistimo]

say, jeremy,

i was watching a show on decorating today and thought of your studio (piano area).  if you used the outer area as a sitting room, you could use the inner studio for corner desks for you and your wife. they attached both with a sort of counter and put cabinets below and above.  this would give you a place for the computer (private area of the house), bill paying area, and a place for office stuff and also your music.  with enough cabinetry, you'll have a clean look.   

[jeremyjchilds]

That's good advice, but I think I would like to keep the whole room open...

I have three bedrooms on the third floor, and one of them will be the office, (so I will have a higher "expense" ratio)  My wife does not teach with me, so there need not be any provision for her downstairs.

I was thinking of just having my piano at one end of the room, and then having  some armchairs at the other end facing the fireplace for the parents...

As for color, I am drawn to taupe (of course..who isnt..) but I would like to try something new, I will be picking up paint samples for the yellow color....kind of a butternut squashey sort of idea...then have larger pictures on the wall with thick black frames...and of course the slate perimeter (probably 8" wide) around the walls with a cream berber carpet in the middle...or maybe just the laminate if I run out of money for a while.

What colors are your studios? what mood does it set? Where in your place do you teach? Do you make it to appeal to parents or students?

As you can see I have a lot of questions, this is my first dedicated teaching space that I have ever tried to set up.

[pianistimo]

the butternut yellow sounds good.  i hope that you enjoy your decorating as much as i have.  my studio is right next to my entryway and is only lacking some french doors.  the climate here in pennsylvania is such that if the front door is open, the piano inside the studio to the left (room with bay window) is exposed to the elements of cold, humidity, and heat.  i can't wait to get the doors on.  also, it invites anyone to play the piano, whereas when i get the doors, i'll keep them shut when lots of kids come to play.  (have a piano and organ in the room - and the kids really like the organ - but the keys get sticky).

i like the natural light that comes in the room by day - so your idea of open may help with natural light.  however, you could put recessed lighting in if you ever decided to close the space and add a door. 

the carpet sounds like a beautiful one (berber).  we put creme in our home, too, which makes it look bigger.  it's a lot of cleaning, though.  if you put in a darker color the room might look smaller, though.  it's a toss up.  guess you could use runners.