Bayard Bungalow Reveal

The Bayard Bungalow project involved re-imagining the living room, dining room, and sitting room of an early 1900’s bungalow in St. Paul, MN. My clients, a young couple, had just moved in and wanted to start fresh with new furniture and decor in their first home together.

They wanted a space that they could enjoy together and with family and friends- one that felt inviting, comfortable, and inspiring. We wanted to bring attention to things like the original flooring, cove ceilings, and original woodwork, but add modern touches in the form of lighting and furnishings.

Before, the spaces felt dark and non-cohesive. It was pretty much a blank slate, begging for a transformation!

Sima Spaces Bayard Avenue: Living Room Before
The living room before

The Living Room & Entryway

This living room is their main hangout space, and they wanted to maximize comfort and seating capacity. A large L-shaped extra-deep sectional provides a comfy space to lounge, and two chairs on either side of the fireplace help to balance the room while adding additional seating. Creamy white draperies with tan stripes add some textural warmth. We lightened up the fireplace surround by repainting the tile a warm gray color, and made it a focal point with a large piece of artwork above.

Sima Spaces: Bayard Bungalow Living Room
View of the living room from the entryway

We mounted the TV on the empty wall and added a media console underneath for additional storage. Since there are no overhead lights, we added plenty of additional lighting in the form of wall sconces, floor lamps, and table lamps. A mirror on the large empty wall helps to reflect some natural light as well.

Sima Spaces: Bayard Bungalow Living Room
Sima Spaces: Bayard Bungalow Living Room
Sima Spaces: Bayard Bungalow Living Room

Like most bungalow-style homes, there isn’t a foyer area in this home, so we created an entryway by adding a console table. Baskets underneath add storage, and a blanket ladder to the left adds function and helps to balance the wall visually as well.

Sima Spaces: Bayard Bungalow Living Room

I made the living room feel extra cozy and interesting by mixing a variety of textures. There’s a little bit of everything: leather, wool, wood, metal, ceramics, stone, cotton, linen, natural greenery, and more!

Sima Spaces: Bayard Bungalow Living Room

The Dining Room

They had recently purchased a new dining table and chairs, but the room overall felt dark and lacked interest. We kept the chairs and table, but replaced the rug, added a bar cabinet, a new chandelier, some artwork and styling, and painted the ceiling a dark blue. Framing the patio door with the same linen curtains as the sitting room helps to pull both rooms together and adds a nice symmetrical touch to the room.

The vintage rug helps to anchor the room, and the dark ceiling makes the room feel bigger and adds impact. The larger chandelier balances the space better as well.

Sima Spaces: Bayard Bungalow Dining Room
Sima Spaces: Bayard Bungalow Dining Room
Sima Spaces: Bayard Bungalow Dining Room

The Sitting Room

My clients hadn’t wanted to purchase any furniture for the sitting room right after they moved in since they knew they’d be redecorating the whole floor, so they just had some patio furniture as a placeholder. They wanted their record player and records to be easily accessible, and also wanted a special spot to sit and play guitar.

Sima Spaces: Bayard Bungalow Sitting Room Before
The sitting room: Before

This room has a small footprint, but has great natural light with big patio door leading to the deck and another window. We framed the patio door with linen draperies and added a roman shade to the window. Replacing that ceiling fan with a linen semi-flush was also a big improvement!

Sima Spaces: Bayard Bungalow Sitting Room
Sima Spaces: Bayard Bungalow Sitting Room

This was such a fun project to be a part of, and to know that my clients were thrilled with the results is the icing on the cake!

Sima Spaces: Bayard Bungalow Entryway

Out of respect for my clients, sources are not shared.

Author: Laura Sima

Hey there, I'm Laura- creator of Sima Spaces. I'm a home renovator, designer, and blogger based in the Twin Cities in Minnesota. When I'm not designing or renovating homes, you can find me working as a pediatric ICU RN, snuggling my dog or cat, skiing in CO, soaking up the sun on our boat, or enjoying a glass of wine on our patio!

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