Lisa Herbig knew what she wanted. She just didn’t know how much she’d love it when it was done.
By Christy Marshall
Photography by Anne Matheis
The problem: A living room that, over the years, had lost its oomph
The goal: Lighten, brighten and freshen up the room
The designer: Hilary Beyer of Frank Patton Interiors
Lisa and Tom Herbig have lived in their Webster Groves home for a decade, raising their three sons and daughter there and filling it with treasures, from the blue-and-white china to wonderful pieces of furniture Mrs. Herbig discovered at local estate sales. But the living room—with its green walls, café curtains, bulky table, white couch and small mirrors on the wall—wasn’t all she hoped it to be. She asked interior designer Hilary Beyer of Frank Patton Interiors to make it lighter, brighter, fresher. She also suggested painting the walls yellow, the trim white, the ceiling a different color; using chintz fabrics; and adding accessories for black accents. She even had the style selected.
“I like country French,” Mrs. Herbig says. “I like that cottagey feel of a lived-in house.”
First things first: paint, all from Sherwin-Williams. The green walls were repainted a creamy yellow (Butter Up, SW 6681). The woodwork was trimmed in Honied White (SW 7106) and the ceiling painted a pale, pale blue (Lauren’s Surprise, SW 6791).
Ms. Beyer immediately zeroed in on the Herbigs’ white couch—which she argued was too small for the room. In light of Mrs. Herbig’s affection for florals, Ms. Beyer ordered a new Harden sofa, upholstered in a red, pink, yellow and blue chintz. The three large windows fronting the room were dressed in panels of off-white taffeta-like material that gracefully puddles on the floor. The two existing wing chairs were worked into the décor, but the coffee table was replaced with one that was more French country.
Mr. Herbig, a local representative for Mohawk Industries, found the brown-and-white checked area rug to go under that coffee table. Mrs. Herbig found an antique sewing table at a Ladue estate sale, providing the perfect spot for an existing lamp. Ms. Beyer had pillows made out of the same fabric as found on the new couch.
Through the years, Mrs. Herbig had collected a number of blue-and-white pieces of porcelain, which Ms. Beyer snatched up from all corners of the house and artfully arranged in the corner cabinet and on tabletops. “We featured them in the living room as an accent color and collection,” Ms. Beyer explains.
Mr. and Mrs. Herbig survey the room approvingly. “I love it,” she says. “I think it’s beautiful. I love what they did. And, she really did keep to what I told her I wanted.”
Q: What’s your favorite thing in the new and improved living room?
A: I just love the couch. That’s where we started and what we used as our color template.
Seven tips from Hilary Beyer, ASID
1. If rooms flow into each other—as in this house, through open doors and arches—it works best if they relate to each other somehow. Here it was by the use of color. The red we picked up from the dining room, the yellow from the family room.
2. Eclectic is quite popular as it allows for the purchase of fall-in-love-with furnishings and artwork and an individual look. To steer clear of complete disorder, there should be similar elements: color, compatible scale and organized collections.
3. Take measurements and draw up a room in quarter-scale first to determine the size, quantity and placement of the furnishings needed, space’s function and traffic flow.
4. Family heirlooms, artwork found on trips, accessories or collections of items related to favorite hobbies add interest to a room.
5. A room needs a focal point. In this house, pairs of objects or collections bunched together are good for continuity.
6. Good lighting is critical in any room. For night, table lamps or floor reading lamps are best. Depending on the room, there should be three or more in a triangular or rectangular configuration.
7. Plants add life to a room and connect the inside to the outside.
Bottom Line: What would it cost?
Sofa (by Harden), Frank Patton Interiors: $1,934
Coffee table, Frank Patton Interiors: $749
Framed bird prints, Frank Patton Interiors: $838
Autumn white drapery panels, EXPO Design Center 2 @ $89: $178
Black studded mirror, Frank Patton Interiors: $389
Floral needlepoint pillow, Frank Patton Interiors: $160
Floral arrangement in wooden vase, Frank Patton Interiors: $295
Set of four blue plates, Frank Patton Interiors: $50
Karastan wool area rug, Mohawk Carpets: $1,000
Drapery rod, Lowe’s: $39
Blue pot, Garden Ridge: $30
Yellow pillows, HomeGoods, 2 @ $20: $40
Red pillows, Frank Patton Interiors, 2 @ $100: $200
Bronze monkey, Frank Patton Interiors: $149
Blue and white pot, Garden Ridge: $25
Blue and white vase, Garden Ridge: $10
Grand Total: $6,086
