How Jean Stoffer Helped Balance Moody Shades in This Light-Filled Sunroom
The Expert Team
Photo courtesy of Jan Sexton.
When you’re living in a home steeped in personal history, you want to do the architecture justice. Jan Sexton and her husband’s Kansas home – a charming bungalow set on a farm – was built in 1912 by his grandparents. And while honoring the family history of the place was key, it was equally important to thoughtfully incorporate modern elements to accommodate comfortable, contemporary living.
So with a collection of ideas and inspiration, Jan looked to none other than Expert Jean Stoffer to help nail down the details for upgrades. The result? A beautiful and light-filled room ready for gathering.
The Before
The After
How would you describe your design style?
My style is comfortable and traditional. Since we live in a 100+ year old farmhouse, we like to respect the history of the place while bringing in modern and traditional elements.
What led you to book a consultation with the Expert?
I booked a consultation near the beginning of my project. I had been collecting ideas and inspiration, but that was about it. This room had me stumped more than any others in our home, which was unusual for me. I knew how I wanted the space to function, but was stuck on paint colors, window treatments, and scale.
How did you use your time with Jean? What were some of some of the takeaways?
Jean spent time considering my ideas, looking at the flow of the space as it relates to the rest of our home and then we jumped right into productive discussion and planning. I was on the right track with some ideas, but really off on others. These "off" ideas were paralyzing me and as soon as Jean gave me her opinion, it was so obvious to let those bad ideas go!
The room has 10 windows and gets a ton of light and I was torn on paint colors. Jean convinced me to go with the same moody blue-black on the walls and ceiling. She suggested keeping the blinds, which saved a ton of money, but really helped me figure out exactly how to wash the room in color and frame the trim around the windows.
She liked the lighting choices I had made, and just encouraged me to go for it. I love how Jean looked at things I already owned, talked me into keeping a few I had considered getting rid of, but then helped me with the right scale and layout of key pieces I would need. We settled on a comfortable sofa, a rocker and settee. We also selected a small round coffee table instead of a rectangle or square which made the space flow better.
Photo courtesy of Jan Sexton.