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Designed for Living
NORTHJERSEY.COM ❚ THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2019 ❚ 3H
HOMESCAPE / ADVERTISING SECTION
Bringing a family room to
scale and warming up the classics
The Designer:
Jo Ann
Stephens Alston,
Allied ASID, NJCID
J. Stephens Interiors
RE: Lauren at BDNY
Mendham, N.J.
www.jstephens
interiors.com
The Challenge:
How to create
Jo Ann Stephens Alston
an inviting and
cozy family room out of a large, cavernous
space and keep it classic.
The Solution:
The family room has 18-foot ceilings
and is more than 600 square feet, and had
a floor-to-ceiling brick fireplace surround.
To begin the design process, I develop
floor plans that show lighting and furniture
together. Careful study is given to each
elevation, determining which is most impor-
tant in the room and how they will then be
delineated. Next, we determine the color
palette and how to use color most effec-
tively in the room.
To bring the scale of the room into
proper proportion, we chose a neutral
color and all of the walls and ceiling were
painted the same color. This particular
application of paint cocooned the room and
visually reduces the ceiling height to make
the space seem cozier. We added a wall of
wood paneling hand-painted in a strié tech-
nique to provide delineation to the fireplace
area. The use of the darker color provides
a cozy focal point in the room and visually
brings that wall a bit closer to the viewer.
The lighting in the room is given careful
study so that each task will be well lit as
well as providing many different levels of
light. The combination of different types of
lighting fixtures gives the homeowner many
different ways to light the room. The gilt-
and-crystal mirror over the fireplace mantel
contrasts with the green paneling beauti-
fully in the evening The lighting in the room
includes antique wood-and-brass lamps, ala-
baster lamps, hurricane sconces and a large
central chandelier, all on a Lutron system.
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1H
The classic English interior is given a
modern touch with the gray walls and
two-tone carpet as well as the lacquered
coral sideboard, with a large flat-screen
TV above – something unknown to 18th-
century English interiors!
The central brass chandelier is position-
ed both to please the eye and to rein in the
scale of this large space. The color of the
mossy green strié is repeated in the green
velvet sofa as well as in the linen floral drap-
eries. The furniture is a mix of styles includ-
ing English designs and modern touches in
the dark brown embossed crocodile leather
wing chairs and the coral lacquer sideboard.
There are two living areas in the room, the
seating area by the fireplace and an area
that includes a game table for the children’s
homework and activities.
So mission accomplished, this large clas-
sic family room was thoroughly redesigned
into an inviting and cozy environment
replete with artisanal and custom features
from floor to ceiling.
ROOM PHOTOS COURTESY OF PETER RYMWID
The designer has a degree in Fine Art and uses many of the same techniques as an artist
would use in painting when determining color placement. Here the green strié paneling
and a waxed pine mantel harmonize with the green velvet sofa and Lee Jofa linen drapery.
The molding from the fireplace wall of paneling is repeated on the walls in a faux-finish
technique. This visually reduces the ceiling height and helps to provide scale to the room.
Pools:
Get them
ready
for winter
The New Jersey Chapter of the American
Society of Interior Designers (ASID) offers
a resource for consumers interested in
obtaining the services of a qualified pro-
fessional interior designer. For more infor-
mation visit Find A Design Pro section at
www.nj.asid.org.
the pool during the off season,” says
Lehmann. “You don’t want water in that
area because when it freezes it could dam-
age the coping.”
The pool gets a dose of winter chemi-
cals. The technician will make sure that
the water chemistry — the ph, the alkalinity
and the like — is within the proper ranges.
He will also add chlorine and an algaecide.
The algaecide helps prevent algae growth
while the water and weather are still warm
enough to support algae.
The pool is covered. There are two main
types of covers. One is a mesh cover that
allows rain and melting snow through.
But once the cover dries the wind will
blow away any leaves or other debris. “It
provides an aesthetically pleasing look to
the pool and the yard during the off sea-
son, which in our area can last five or six
months,” says Lehmann.
The downside to mesh covers is that rain
contains algae, so you may have to take
care of that in the spring. Solid covers pre-
vent algae, but they collect rain and runoff
from melting snow. These types of covers
require a pump to remove standing water.
CLOSING AN
ABOVEGROUND POOL
The idea behind winterizing an aboveg-
round pool is the same as that for an
in-ground pool, but the tasks are easier
and many homeowners elect to do it them-
selves. “Taking care of an aboveground
pool is not super complicated,” says Jack
Schumann of Monarch Pools & Spas in
Totowa. “Sometimes people will watch us
do it the first time and then take care of
things themselves after that.”
After stowing away pool ladders,
the water is tested and treated as with
in-ground pools. Most pool suppliers offer
winterizing kits for this step.
If the skimmer is detachable, it is
removed and put in storage, and the skim-
mer opening is covered with a skimmer
plate. The returns, where the filtered water
See POOLS, Page 4H
dream in
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Paramus, NJ 07652
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