A ReDesign: Before & After

BEFORE

Before and after pics are the best way to show the changes in a room. I recently had the pleasure of working with a new client, Melissa, who got married in June and moved into her hubby's established home. She called me after seeing the newspaper article with my business information and asked for help. She really wanted to bring more of her personality into the house and meld their two styles together and she was having a hard time figuring that out. I went out and met with them, we came up with a plan of action and Melissa began to shop for a few key pieces that we initially talked about.

Melissa and her hubby knew what they liked, they just needed some clearcut direction on how to get the ideal familyroom put together. We also worked on the foyer. You can see from these pics that a very bad faux finish was in place. It was there when her hubby moved in the house and he didn't bother to change it. That was one of the first things I addressed and advised them to paint out that foyer one color, the same color that was flowing up the stairs.

AFTER BEFORE

Luckily, they still had some of that paint and she was able to get that done pronto. Her hubby had purchased this bench and shelves from Pottery Barn and while they are great looking pieces, they did nothing to enhance the foyer space. This should be the place to make that first impression when someone comes in the door. Bad faux finishes and cluttery furniture don't do the trick! So, I advised Melissa to shop for a foyer table they could both be happy with, as well as a nice colorful piece of art for the walls.

AFTER
And here is the AFTER, foyer table in place and the artwork. She added a new lamp and a few new accessories here. She picked up this other smaller companion oil painting for the little nook going into their bedroom and they both make a nice statement.
BEFOREBEFORE: This is the room as it was when I first met with them, except the old rug was very neutral, with no color. This is already the new rug in place. I told Melissa that once everything that was needed was purchased and in her house, I would come back over and we would empty out the room and I would put it all back together again. Just like on TV! And that's exactly what I did.
BEFORE: Wall on right coming into the familyroom, a set of Pottery Barn bookshelves with a fountain in the middle. AFTER: Melissa already owned the olive green sofa pictured here, so that was brought in and the rug was the only other thing she purchased for this room. I brought back all the accessories and shopped other rooms in the house to fill in where it was needed. We talked about colors to bring in and decided to get a rug that had olive greens that will pull into their diningroom, as well as working with the olive sofa. I told her I would like to bring some blues into the room and she was very excited about that, so made sure the new rug had blues in it. We used all her things and just moved them all around. That's the fun part about a redesign! Notice the fireplace here. It got a makeover too, per my instructions, and they did that after this redesign day. BEFORE: The red brick fireplace was a little blah and needed some major perking up. I advised them to glaze or paint the brick to tone it down & make it flow better with the contemporary feel of the room. She ordered a fireplace glazing kit and they did it themselves. I also told her to paint the mantel black. Notice the changes above the fireplace too, when you see the "After" shot below.
AFTER: The newly glazed fireplace looks great! Since their dogs are a big part of their family, I brought this dog pic from another room and it's Melissa's favorite pic, so why not highlight it over the fireplace? She had this pair of faux plants and I added them up there for some visual height and fun. ALL AFTER: This shows the Pottery Barn bookshelves moved to another wall and pushed together for more impact. This area was great for displaying all their collectibles. I used all their artwork, just moved them to different areas.
The bookcase was moved to this large wall, where it takes center stage in front of the sofa. It's a very pretty piece and looks much better on this wall where it can be appreciated. The blue fish on top was brought in from the bedroom and she already had the mirror, I just added it to the mix. The plant up there is real and looks pretty trailing along the top. Those 4 prints are original photographs that her hubby took.
Back to the bookshelves, I arranged all of those with pretty books they had, along with collectibles and family photos for a very pleasing look. All the pops of blue really add a nice contrast to the black shelves, as do the photographs on the wall above.
I loved the & sign and decided to display it in the middle. They had some nice pieces to work with that meant something too. You can see the pops of blue in the accessories, which really work well in the room.
I added a sofa table behind the sofa, with a lamp (brought in from the bedroom), accessories, and the artwork that used to be over the fireplace. See the pops of blue in the candles and single pillow on the sofa? Works well to bring in that color around the room.
They have large windows in this room that bring in a lot of light. I advised her to just leave them open with no other window treatments since this room is casual. They have blinds so don't really need more fabric in here, so we'll just leave them alone. I love the big real ficus tree in the corner.
You can see what a colorful rug she found and I thought it was perfect for them. This was one case where I sent them to do the shopping, since they already know what they like. That worked best in this case and then I came in and did the redesign of the room to pull it all together. I just loved using what they already had to completely change the space.

Melissa sent me the sweetest email:

Rhoda, thank you so much for yesterday. I have enjoyed my room SO much! This morning I got up at 6:30 to just sit in there and drink my coffee. It is so peaceful which is what I was looking for. Now, I can enjoy my home! Thank you so much. This was more than just a room re-do. I can't tell you how much peace it gives me and totally eliminated conflicts. Thank you, you are heaven sent! You had the greatest ideas, and pulled them together with expertise and ease!!

Now, THAT makes my day! Hope you enjoyed the redo! I sure enjoyed orchestrating it. Thank you Melissa, for allowing me to come in your home.