About the author: Bryan Anthony is a writer for Houzz.com. Brunswick has teamed up with Houzz to provide tips on how to make your home a more active place.
Billiards Room at a Glance
Location: San Francisco
Size: About 600 square feet (55.7 square meters)
Designer: Brooke Wagner Design
When this project began, the homeowner was still a bachelor who enjoyed hosting friends for cocktails, cigars and a few games of pool. But since he didn’t want his space to feel like a stuffy old gentleman’s club, he brought in designer Brooke Wagner to give the billiards room a contemporary makeover. Removing the room’s heavy wood ceiling beams and bringing in a sophisticated palette created a space that is stylish, light and bright.
Shortly after the project was finished, the homeowner got married. He now lives with his wife in the suburbs, but the newlyweds still use the city home as a pied-à-terre on the weekends to take in shows and host friends. Luckily, the billiards room’s new look is ideal for both husband and wife.
Before: The previous billiards room featured dark wood ceiling beams and built-ins that Wagner removed. The room’s original wood floors remain, but they received a darker stain.
After: New wood paneling was added to the lower half of the wall and given a distressed gray-wash stain.
Black leather bar stools with brass bases give guests a high perch to see the pool table and plan out their next shot.
Two sets of French doors run the length of the billiards room, opening up to a deck. Wagner added a bar cart as a transition point between the pool table and the seating area near the fireplace. The walls are covered in a geometric wallpaper from Phillip Jeffries.
The four leather chairs from Lawson-Fenning create an ideal spot for guests to sit by the fireplace and enjoy one another’s company. “I chose distressed saddle leather for the chairs to bring in the color of the brick fireplace,” Wagner says.
Before: Dark wood built-ins surrounded the original brick fireplace.
The built-ins were replaced with more contemporary units in the same gray stain used for the paneling. The brick on the fireplace was power-washed.
After: The tufted ottoman is covered in a gray flannel upholstery. “It’s a classic menswear material that adds a little bit of that old-school ‘Mad Men’ look without overdoing it,” Wagner says.
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