Problem: #2 Unused dining room space
BEFORE: Space that is rarely used as a dining room with expansive built in bookshelves
AFTER: A comfortable reading nook and conversational area–with art and photo displays.
When learning about daughter “R”‘s love of reading… and the homeowners casual comfortable entertaining lifestyle– we had to use this space appropriately– Boom– Reading room/conversational room was made– This allowed a fun area for the girls to gather to chat- when entertaining- and leaving the guys to watch the game- in the other room!
Initially- we had planned on using 4 comfortable chairs and the ottoman as the center footstool/table– but– we decided to reuse what we had available already in the house to keep costs down– and took the 2 sofas from another room and made them into a comfortable space to read a book or chat with friends. We took the homeowners remnant oriental fabric and paired them with some beautiful deeply discounted remnant fabric and made… custom draperies and a few throw pillows or tie into the homeowners existing china cabinet! We toned down the angry RED paint inset in the bookcases by faux painting them into a beautiful pomegranate/persimmon color. The walls were painted the soft aqua and used throw pillows to create texture and causal. Keeping budget in mind, we took an antique table bought from a garage sale to place in-between-the sofas–that was venetian plastered a weathered grey with persimmon detailing to tie it all in. Another goodwill find- a contemporary side table was faux painted distressed teal-
Problem: #3 Living room
BEFORE: Living room was stale and not fun or inviting.
AFTER: WOW—– um…. WOWZERS—- — I “sparkle heart” Love this room-
This room was institutional stale white walls before– and it now has a beautiful soft ocean water- blue that really warms it up– and also the angry red paint in the inset of the bookcases/shelves was toned down to be the beautiful pomeogrante/persimmon color– Its just YUMMY– The fireplace was painted the same pearly sand color as the entry about the wainscoting– which adds interest and texture. The fun artwork and photos of the family adorn the fireplace and a mirror was placed below to reflect light when not in use.
This room is expansive and FUN– but lacked that before, so we had to bring in the bling! WOW–custom made drapes made in this beautiful zig zag print fabric added the proper POW while allowing us to utilize the homeowners already existing cream roman shades. We added a 3′ strip of black fabric to the sides of the roman shades for a cohesive match made in heaven.
We also took 2 craigslist- antique channel back chairs and refreshed the upholstery with the black/white damask pattern and the POP of aqua on the wood sets it off! The “esquisite” french regency sofa in the perfect shad of persimmon mohair couch was a score- where I did was paint the boring brown wood a weathered cream and glazed it and also added brass nailhead trim to give it some wowza! The aqua sofa is the PERFECT sized for the family to plop down and get their movie night on–
This room doubles as much, so we also took 2 bistro chairs and reupholstered them with the remnant fabric from the reading room to bring in the asian flair- and add to the eclectic fun– The lamps are sea glass aqua- with a cream shade- that we added a ribbon around to tie in the cream/black motif.– The buffet before was not the right size/scale for the massive tv so we took an old buffet and faux painted the weathered grey and persimmon– which is mirrored by the two end tables being weathered grey as well.
The cubby insets were that angry red– but we toned down them to the soft shade of persimmion- and then painted to life the walls with the perfect shade of mineral blue. The photos and wall hangings are what add pizazz and showcase the fun that this family offers! I LOVE THIS ROOM– Its my favorite room –
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Problem #4: eating area
BEFORE: place to eat and disorganized chaos
AFTER: Dinner is SERVED up with Style with a functionally awesome Organized “Command” Center
The kitchen is the heart of the house….. This one is a galley style kitchen with a rolling island- tied to an eating area- We added a chair rail and some paint and had custom made valances and roman shades made to bring in the bright and cheery lively feel this family had. The all time favorite thing of mine in this room that is vital for an active family is the is the framed magnetic “command” center to place all the necessary details of the month for the family to see and know.
BEFORE:
AFTER:
PROBLEM #5: Powder Room
BEFORE: plain as vanilla bathroom
AFTER: HAPPY!
The bathroom before had some great bones, but it was vanilla— We added the chair rail and grey venetian plastered below it and then cheered up the walls with the Vavoom color: Calypso. Took of the doors to the storage and painted inset with the POP of Mango and added baskets for necessities to store stylishly. As custom made valance welcomes you in.
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