r/InteriorDesign

I have a hallway that has 6 doors: 3 - 30 in bedroom doors, 1 - 28" bathroom door, 1 - 24" hall closet door and 1 - 18" hall closet door. We already replaced the bathroom door with this style a few months ago and are getting ready to do the others to match. I am concerned about the smaller doors though. For the 24", I wonder if it is going to look weird since those lower panels will look so narrow. It will also be the one you see the most because it is at the end of the hall, straight on. (A side note on the 24" door: the hallway is only 36" wide and this door can really be any size and I was going to go 26", but I think making it 24" will allow some wall to show on either side of the casing rather than the casing go all the way to the edges.). For the 18", I don't even know if you can get this style. I was thinking of getting the 18" one in this style and maybe the 24" one as well. What do you think we should do with the smaller two doors?

Hi again! I posted a little bit ago some top options I had for my layout, but now I’m doing a different unit and have the exact couch and rug I would be using.

I’m almost convinced on the first option, but I’m worried about the TV not being centered to the couch. The separation of the sleeping space is a fun plus for the 2nd one. (I truly don’t mind entering my bed from the foot!)

Thoughts on these layouts? I also included two other options I toyed with.

(I love that lounge and ottoman it’s an eames replica so won’t be getting rid of it even though I know I don’t need it)

Thanks :)

We live in a small 1929 Mission Revival bungalow in SoCal. Our hall bathroom is this pink bath and I need help deciding what to do with it.

The rest of the house (master, kitchen) is updated (2015ish). Is this pink bathroom a complete gut? Or is this something I should preserve because it “adds character”?

The arches are true to the house and would be preserved. I’ve included some renderings of how to incorporate them should we proceed with a guy remodel and reconfiguration of the layout.

I’d love to hear some thoughts. Thanks.

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Update #1:

Wow, thanks everyone for replying. I couldn't have made a better decision than to ask here. Everyone I know was telling me 'ah yes, its a good idea, it looks nice, blah blah. But I didn't have the courage or guts to believe in myself and leave things as they were and just improve/tweak some small things.

A lot of folks are asking, but we sell burgers. Its a burger joint. Not necessarily fine dining style, but more like fast casual. We tried to capture more volume & with focus on speed I guess.

From what I can summarise from your answers, lighting seems to be the core fundamental issue. Then its the sort of combination of cold materials (steel, tiles & diomand hatched patterns). Finally, some would say its the booth design.

I'll work on this. Try to salvage what I can and plan another major makeover. Thanks everyone for the absolutely brutal, throat-cutting feedback. It'll make a funny case here for a while i'm sure (what not to do in interior design!)

Update #2:

I've removed those hideous flourescent tubes and its immediately better. That was probably the quickest solution to toning it down.

I don't want to revert the design necessarily back to where it was. But I'll pivot towards the 'spirit' of that design.

Update #3: Damn nothing could prepare me for the brutality of yee lot. I love it. This really is one of those cases of 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it.' Ironically, i was the one who designed the first one. I guess i just trusted other people a bit too much.

I should clarify those hatched patterns are just vinyl layed over a stud mdf wall. That can be changed relatively easily. So can the corrugated steel (but i think it might look nice when the lights are warmer?) The difficult part is the tiles. I really can't do anything about that for now.

Final Update: Honestly thank you so much Reddit. Some of you really gave helpful feedback. I admit I am completely shattered, in all aspects of the word. Never felt this depressed in my life. Ah well. It is what it is. I can only keep moving forward. This is the last update before I get back to work.

Images:

Old Design (the wooden floor image)

New Design (hatched walls)

Third (concept - final version, from another side)

TL:DR

I basically committed to a design that I was convinced would improve our restaurant experience - a brighter, higher energy space. But It may have backfired. And now, I'm not sure how I can pivot or even restore our original vibe. Looking for advise / brutal honesty and feedback. Really beating myself up over this.

Long Version:

I got a design done from a professional company near me and they produced a concept for a new floor/dining area for customers that I thought would work nice.

Some context:

Originally, the restaurant had a sort of rustic look. It was a little dark - you could barely see what was inside during the daytime. And at night, it had a warm look. A lot of black everywhere, on the walls, ceiling, dark coloured wood, chairs etc. The only light source was some warm toned edisson bulbs.

The space felt run-down more than anything. But it sort of got by. Anyways, it was created on a low budget (like, just some paint and wallpaper & a mural artist to do some chalk art).

The objective of the renewal was to increase daytime visbility, lighting and ultimately, sales. We wanted to make the most use of our space and meet competitor quality & customer satisfaction (we got a lot of complaints about our atmosphere). We also wanted to create some extra seating & add some booths for larger groups (of which we get quite a lot of)

For better or worse, it seems most people who ate at our place, or who reviewed it, said the atmosphere was dull.

Post-Refreshment:

The idea for the designer was to go for an industrial vibe over a rustic vibe (corrugated steel panelling on walls, a sort of diamond hatched half wall trailing the length of the unit, with a cove for LEDs). The objective of the steel panelling was to reflect the various hues and accents of light sources. The concept itself was bright. Looked pretty cool on visuals.

But when we did the works, we noticed a substantial drop in footfall traffic (-15%) and less customers during our previously busy hours. I dont even know if people are satisfied or not, but now I've invested time & money and have to watch our performance take a hit. And its crushing/ putting me under immense pressure.

My Case:

So i came here, to reddit. To where I was hoping I could get some help/advise on what is the best course of action to restore the mood or atmosphere I had before without needing to fork up a tonne of money again. Based on your guys' experience and insights.

I don't even know if the issue is a visual one. I just know that it wasn't like this before. And its definitely a result of something that was done to this renewed space.

We remodeled our bathroom wich was... dated to say the least. The new inspiration for the design is meditaranean.

We chose to get rid of the bath for a shower, with a two tones green zellige style tiles. As the room has no window we put a grey terrazzo floor to add some brightness. To emphatize this mediteranean style, we have built thick shelves made of plaster.

Finally, for the furniture, the goal was to have as much wood as possible, to bring some warmth to the room. We chose acacia as it resists well to the humidity, it as a nice dark tone as well.

For the living room, i was thinking about putting a sofa and a coffee table on the top side of the layout, but the problems start when i try to include a small dining table (for ex., 50x50 or 70x70cm, check out the idea on the 3rd image).

The TV bank is already set, because all the connectors for the broadband and the TV outlet are on that wall, so we had to put it there anyway. Unfortunate that there isn't a way to directly position a sofa in front of the TV, but i might solve it with a TV hanged on the wall with a rotating frame.

The bedrooms and the kitchen are ready.

Both 2D and 3D screenshots included. I used the free version of Floorplanner for them.

Any tips? Thanks!

The Context:

This is a center hall colonial in the Northeast. The kitchen sits in the back corner, connected to the dining room, main hallway, and a secondary guest entrance. Since we usually enter through the basement/garage, this guest entrance is high-traffic only during entertaining, but we do have a small reach in pantry there as well. The kitchen does contain the only interior exit to our deck, so maintaining an uninterrupted flow is a priority. We are a family of four.

Orientation: The back wall (French doors) faces WSW and the right wall faces NNW.

I've included the floorplan from my Sketchup model at various angles include the first couple with shadows on for a Morning, Mid-Day, and Evening representation. Note - Haven't used shadows before, but figured out how to set my location and align my model. Although looking again it looks like I need to adjust the front windows in my model and add a roof, but not hide it like in the evening capture.

My Plan:

Entry/Exit: Swapping the existing 70" slider for a 60" Outswing French Door (Exterior Deck is 34' x 14'). This extra 10" of wall space seems critical for the cabinetry run, but I’m curious if anyone foresees issues with natural light. I did widen the window above the sink for better symmetry and to bring in more light to that corner.

Cabinetry: Running to the ceiling with finished 3/4" panels, including 3/4" gables for the fridge surround. Planning for a 3/4" finished top panel for 3" crown with 1/4" reveals.

Aisles: Maintaining a 42" minimum on all work aisles. The aisle behind the island overhang is intentionally wider to facilitate flow while people are seated at the island. Right now is a 13 1/2" overhang and 48" aisle.

Island Alignment: The island length is currently set by a sight line from the countertop edge to the French door window panes. This currently puts the island base inset ~3 1/4" from the wall cabinet run.

The 'Dead' Space: To the right of the island, there’s a transition area that’s too small for a dining table but too large to leave empty. I’m leaning toward a tall pantry cabinet and a window bench to utilize the space without blocking natural light or the path to the deck.

Questions:

1. Does the island-to-door alignment make sense visually? With the overhang only the counter will stick out ~5" past the door jamb. This is also a reason to switch to the French Doors.
2. Thoughts on the window bench vs. an alternative in that transition area? Counterspace would require raising/shortening the double window there, but it faces North and looks out towards the neighbors.
3. Thoughts on dishwasher placement vs. to the right of the sink and in the path of the sink-to-range portion of the triangle. Seems better than blocking this flow or a down door and boiling pot of water.
4. Do I go wider on the window? I think this is the best balance of cabinet layout, as going wider and having the sink and range fall in alignment would shrink the rightmost cabinet to a 12" and also make it difficult to have vertical alignment of the pendent lights while still feeling centered with the island. I do have about 2.5" of filler on the run.
5. Any flags or things to consider?

Structural Note:

The wall between the kitchen and dining room is load bearing. Removing would definitely open the space and we have two large cottage style windows in that room, but cost\feasibility of doing such is a concern given the point load would fall in the middle of the garage.

Thank you in advance.

 

Edit:

I forgot to mention that the fridge gable ended up only 3.5" from the outside corner wall that turns down the main hallway (currently 41"). I thought about furring out the wall 2" and it looks far better on the model. The hallway is very open to the left side, and the longest enclosed run with a wall on both sides is 4'.

I’m buying a house and I have two rooms that could each work as either a dining room or living room, and I’m stuck.

Here’s the situation:
• Room A (front) smaller, less natural light, vaulted ceilings
• Room B (back) bigger, more windows, better light
• Kitchen opens directly to Room A
My instinct says: living room in Room A (up front, welcoming for guests) and dining in Room B (the bigger, brighter room. I like the idea of walking into a living room but

The problem: that puts the kitchen opening into the living room, when functionally it makes way more sense for the kitchen to open into the dining room.

Note; I am buying this house and moving in with almost no furniture. And I know very little about design choices or what’ll look/feel mo better.e

I’m first-time home looker/buyer, and I came across this condo online. There are things I do like about it, but one thing I do not like is that there is mostly shelving in the kitchen rather than cabinets even though the listing description literally reads:
“Updated kitchen with white countertops, plenty of cabinets and a mosaic white backsplash.”

Cabinets?? There’s only one upper cabinet!

If I were to add cabinets, would I completely remove those shelves then add cabinets? Or keep the shelves and add around them? I have family who can help with installing, just wondering how to go about having actual cabinets. The kitchen is small, and I need as much cabinet space as possible! (And paint/change the color!)

Please, without just bashing what we have (because I know it’s bad which is why I’m coming here for help), can someone please give me ideas. We are using an existing plan from our builder and want to keep the dimensions the same, which means the garage cannot move. We will have a walk out basement so we also cannot add “jut outs” to the back. We are building on 50 acres and the land is totally secluded/private. We are going for a farmhouse feel. This is just the main floor. My MUSTS are dining room, island, walk in/hidden cabinet pantry, laundry room, master with walk in closet and separate tub/shower, and we plan to add a tub shower to the powder room. Ignore the stairs in the garage. Those will move. Can someone PLEASE help me with ideas to get the pantry closer to the garage entrance. We would also love to have some type of sliding glass door along back of house to lead to the back deck. I am open to moving the dining room out of the “jut out” if needed. We also cannot put anything underneath the stairs and we will have stairs leading to basement. I am open to moving the placement of the stairs as well. Pleaseeeee help!

Are there ways to work with this townhouse? The counters & floors need to stay a few more years, Tile stairs are killing me, how in the world do I get rid of them as tile and wood? Is the open railing OK?

Hello! I am working on a new design for my kitchen and we are completely transforming and enlarging the space. After many layouts we landed on this. We ended up opening up a wall in order to make room for an island. Curious to hear anyone’s thoughts on this and if we have any blind spots in the design. The full height wall sections start with a wall oven cabinet, the followed by 48” panel fridge and then 5’ of full height pantry

Thank you!

This is my current layout of my main level. It sucks, specifically the kitchen. Its small with an awkward corner. Im looking for ideas of an open concept still with counter space, storage, kitchen table, couch, and possibly the tv. Help, ideas.. anything.?

I’m really needing help understanding how the veining in this countertop affects the shape of the room. I have a 55x22 inch vanity on the left wall of a longer narrow bathroom and I’m stuck trying to pick a countertop. I fell in love with this quartzite remnant but the veining would be vertical from the pov of the sink rather than going down the length of the vanity.

On one hand I think it helps the room because if it went down the length of the vanity it may just emphasize the narrow space. On the other hand, maybe the room needs the lines to go down the length of the vanity to flow with the space.

Would it be bad if I cut the slab at an angle so the lines are angled? What if I used the left half of the slab where the lines aren’t as straight up and down? Any opinions or advice would be greatly appreciated!

We recently bought a renovated Victorian terrace, and I’m struggling with the dining room layout/design.

The room is quite small (3.85m x 2.56m) and has doorways in all four corners, plus spotlights instead of a central pendant, so it feels very boxy and lacks a focal point. I found older photos of the house and originally two of the doorways were arched (see photo 3).

I’m considering reinstating an archway in the doorway shown in photo 1. We probably can’t do both arches because the hallway side may eventually need a door so we can keep our cat downstairs when needed.

My questions are:

• Would adding one arch back in help soften the room and improve the flow visually?
• Would architraves be a better option, or would that feel too heavy in such a tight space?
• Any suggestions for creating a focal point or adding texture/character without a fireplace?
• Since we can’t replace the spotlights, what would you do lighting-wise to make the room feel less flat?

I’d really appreciate any ideas, especially from anyone who has dealt with awkward Victorian layouts or small dining rooms.

Our master suite has a vaulted ceiling reaching ~13.5' at peak, with the ensuite opening directly off it. I'm working through how to handle the transition between these two connected volumes and want to use wood treatment as a way to define each space while maintaining a cohesive relationship between them.

My proposed approach: Clad the bathroom ceiling in T&G penny gap cedar to draw the eye up and emphasize the vault, while treating one or two walls in the bedroom (likely the closet wall and the wall the bed is against as imaged) with flat-finished teak or cedar paneling to anchor the room horizontally at eye level. The bathroom gets overhead emphasis (where you naturally look up while showering or soaking); the bedroom gets vertical plane emphasis (where you orient toward the bed). Drywall stays white in the bedroom to keep the vault feeling tall and uncluttered. Why I think this works: Each room gets its own spatial identity through which plane carries the wood, but a shared species and finish family ties them together as one connected suite. The contrast in application reads as intentional zoning rather than inconsistency.

Where I'm uncertain and want to pressure-test: Does applying wood to different planes in adjacent rooms hold up as deliberate contrast, or will it read as two unrelated decisions when viewed from the doorway sightline? Is there a stronger argument for treating both rooms as a single continuous volume — wood ceilings in both — given how connected they are spatially? If I commit to my proposed approach, should the species be identical across both rooms, or is matching undertone enough?

Hello,

my wife and I are furnishing our shared office space. I was hoping for some insight on the furniture placement? Everything in the mock up is proportionate to its real life size

The black L shaped desk is mine, I’m hoping to mount a monitor to a wall so feel my desk should be facing a wall

Top left is my wife’s space; the maplewood rectangle is a sit/stand drafting table the white rectangle a shorter rolling table with wheels for a modular work space.

The orange rectangle is a chair that folds out to a bed

There is a window along the wall where her desk and the chair are positioned here

the Pinewood colored rectangle is a set of shelves.

My thinking in this draft was that we both get work spaces that are a bit separated but both get a nice view behind us (aside from the closet behind my wife)

The chair/ bed has privacy for whoever is using it from outside the room

Bright light from the window diffused by the shelves behind my desk

I like the idea of nobody having their back to the door

May I have some insight on where my thinking might be misguided or help with honing in this idea and executing the vision?

Hello! Most of our kitchen is coming from ikea except the cabinets above the range will be a custom size from the company doing our wood fronts so that they go to the ceiling. We like the look of all cabinets being the same height (in a line). We are doing a hidden range hood 650cfm that will vent out. The cabinet depth is 15”. We have the cabinet and hidden range hood 24” above the cooking surface because we were told that was the minimum and want to be able to easily reach the cabinets on either side of the range. We went to look into which induction ranges to get and noticed that they all say 24” minimum for non combustible material and 30” for combustible (wood insert). Now we aren’t sure what do. We live in the US and these rules are different in Europe where a lot of our inspiration photos are from. I’m 5’5 and my boyfriend is 5’9 so 24” should be enough room to work and see the back burners.

My thought process is we could have the bottom panel under the cabinet be shown so the doors are above them and then cover that panel with metal or whatever they said the material must be covered with.

I attached some of our inspiration images at the end

Any suggestions?