Got a problem? Need some help? Just standing there shaking your head? Don’t know what to do? You’re not alone. Send us a link to photos of your design quandary and let the Desire to Inspire design crew help you …. that’s you lot… the readers! This week’s email is from Dmitriy who is really keen to help – 2 incarnations of the space, a plan and some 3D sketch ups.

Hi, I am hoping that the Design Crew can help us with our living room. The main wall is at an angle, so the left side of the room is shorter than the right side. Ideally, we would like to create two distinct areas, a sitting area and a dining area, but we are unsure how to do this without breaking the flow of the room. We are not sure what to do with the fireplace, because the way it is positioned, in the middle, seems to really restrict our options. Right now we have two couches and a coffee table on the right side of the room, and we have a console table and a piano on the left side of the room. We have a TV above the fireplace, but this placement does not work very well, because having to look up to watch it is uncomfortable. We have a small dining table in the kitchen, but would really like to have a dining area in the living room. We are hoping the Design Crew can give some suggestions.

Although we like the couches we have, we are open to replacing them if their size and shape are not optimal for our room. Same goes for the console and coffee tables and the area rugs. The only piece we would really like to keep in the room is the piano.

Plan and 3D sketch ups after the jump.

Will you indulge me with one more house by Bates Masi Architects? Just one, although there are so many in their portfolio to inspire. A smallish home that sits block like on the site but which allows the architects to play with space and voids, bight and dark, in and out. An actor’s house.

“The house became a study in architectural theatre: a series of spaces in a carefully scripted sequence that subtly reflect his professional life.”

Atmospheric. Stylish with that certain something. Oh so French. Interior stylist and trend forecaster Laurence Pasquier has “it”. The eye. The panache. The knowledge. The vision. Her work is like an installation, full of colour and drama.

I just had to share another amazing renovation by Bates Masi Architects. This ’60s house in Amagansett, NY is the weekend retreat of an interior designer and a DJ. Patina and history retained, a couple’s style allowed to shine through. Take a look up at the ceilings. Between the existing ceiling joists. Woven natural rope. Acoustic baffling, important to the DJ owner but also a wonderfulyl textural and a connection to vertical design elements and fittings. Such a cool weekender. I’d never want to leave to return to the city. Interiors by Rawlins Calderone Design.

A beautiful home on the banks of a wetlands pond in Southampton, New York. A perfect house for a perfect site. This ’70s kit house has been renovated by Bates Masi Architects, sympathetically respecting the original home but addressing sustainability, latest technologies and the relationship to the site and view. A house, an environment, enriched and enhanced. Perfect.