Design Details: How to Show Off Your Curves
How to Dress Curvy Walls and Windows Right
I'm a home makeover TV show producer, interior designer and the creator of Decor Demon, lifestyle editorial with an edge. http://www.decordemon.com
I'm a home makeover TV show producer, interior designer and the creator... More »
One thing I learned from Jennifer Lopez and Kim Kardashian is that curves, when fully embraced, are a good thing. Now you're all like, "Whatchutawkinbout, Willis? Houzz is a decorating and design site, not celeb gossip central." Well, my point is that curved walls, while tricky to work with, can do great things for a room depending on how they're addressed. From a cliffside contemporary to a Malibu Mediterranean, here are some voluptuously vernacular examples of how to work with curved walls.
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| The first thing I think of when I see architectural features such as curved walls is "How the hell do I hang art or drapes on a curve?" Costly, custom hardware is pretty much always going to come into play, but choosing the proper draperies isn't so tough. Consider ripple-fold panels instead of traditional pleats. The overall look is more tailored and fits beautifully with the modern, unfussy look of floor-to-ceiling glass. Here's a great example from The Shade Store. |
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| On the flip side, if you've got expansive, curvy, floor-to-ceiling exterior glass walls, it's likely they're meant to capitalize on a view such as this home by Fulcrum Structural Engineering. Dressing these windows would have been a crime. Unless the homeowner detests the breathtaking, multimillion dollar view. |
No way to dress a curved wall with framed pieces? Turn the entire thing into a work of art by covering it with something interesting. A concrete look like this can be achieved with decorative paint and/or skimming the wall with plaster. Or, for decorating a curvy design on a dime, stick with painters' tape and a few gallons of latex, and go with alternating, random, vertical stripes.
When it comes to corridors, hallways and stairwells, curved walls present no challenges at all. In fact, they simply act as eye candy adorned with nifty, safety-focused hand rails.
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| Again, the curvy stairwell, another great opportunity to turn dead space into a focal point; stacked stone is often the best idea since its installation works well with curves. |
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| Curves on exterior, load-bearing walls: the perfect situation where everyone wins. Modern architecture lends itself to curvy, conduit-like situations. The glass needs not be addressed with window treatments since it's simply working as a way to bridge the gap between the indoors and the outdoors. |
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| If your home's curve is too drastic to accommodate a salon-style gallery, work the area as its own large piece of art. A cost-effective way to do this is with a prefab wall mural. You can find an awesome, uber-affordable world map mural at Amazon. |
Here's an example of how multiple framed pieces hung close to one another work well in hiding the fact that they're hiding a curve.
Another option: Invest in an art hanging system made for curved walls.
Another option: Invest in an art hanging system made for curved walls.
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| If you've got the bucks, a curved wall built-in can make any displayed object 10 times cooler. The geometry involved is pretty much all precision-based; labor costs can easily rival that of a used sports car. |
A curved kitchen: architecturally astounding. With the right cabinet maker, a curved cabinet-and-counter installation can make the lines of a kitchen as delicious as the food it cooks up.
Next: Browse more home design photos.
Next: Browse more home design photos.
Ideabook published on Jan. 26, 2011.
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with its flat overhangs, forms a sweeping crescent around a swimming pool that has a Feeney architectural metal cable railing fence system. It was originally designed by a follower of Frank Lloyd Wright, updated by Mark English Architects, and built by Bill Fry http://www.billfryconstruction.com/.
Learn more about this award-winning San Francisco Bay Area home remodel here:
http://www.billfryconstruction.com/portfolio/mid-century-modern/