Afraid Your Decorator Will Make Your House Look Like Everyone Else’s?

 You may remember my colorful post:  Throwing Your Caution (and Your Floorplan) to the Wind.   Today I’m going to show you the rest of what was accomplished in a home whose artsy homeowners were ready to shake things up a bit.  This family had no desire to make their home look like everyone else’s – they wanted something more colorful, a bit more quirky.

DSC 8840 Afraid Your Decorator Will Make Your House Look Like Everyone Elses?

Living A Colorful Life

 

Upon entering the home, a living room/dining room combination runs to the right of a long open hallway.   Here was the dilemma:  the front “living” room had little purpose, except as a holding place for furniture that didn’t fit anywhere else.   Because my clients love bold color, they had painted these front rooms dark orange.  Problem was, the black furniture gave it a Halloween-all-year-round kind of feeling.  [Read more...]

SuperNeutral to the Rescue!

Sometimes a plain ole neutral won’t do the trick.  Sometimes it’s just not enough.  But then a bold color isn’t usually the way to go, either.  Especially in the most public area of your home.  That’s when you really need a superneutral to come to the rescue.  What is a superneutral, you ask?  Elusive and mysterious, a good superneutral is a chameleon.  It works with lots of colors, but isn’t a predictable beige or off-white.  It carries a hint of color, without screaming COLOR.

female superhero SuperNeutral to the Rescue!

SuperNeutral to the Rescue

 

This is the color the builder chose to coat the interior of my client’s new home.  The Decorologist was called in to intervene.

[Read more...]

A Touch of Turquoise

I’m at the beach this week, so it seems fitting to share a recent home make-over with a touch of turquoise.  The homeowner had a penchant for neutrals, but wanted to inject turquoise into her color scheme. 

DSC 9262 A Touch of Turquoise

Kristie Barnett

 

You might recognize the living room from an old post of mine called “One Day Makover.”  That one day makeover was the beginning of my relationship with this client who has been working toward making this new home her own.  This is the before of the living room:

DSC 4667 A Touch of Turquoise

Kristie Barnett

 

That first day, I rearranged my client’s furniture and helped her re-think how she was going to use her public spaces.  You’ll see more about that in a bit.  Remember this family photo wall I created?  Since then, my seamstress made custom pillows to fit her style exactly.

DSC 9237 A Touch of Turquoise

Kristie Barnett

 

Here’s another before of the entire living room:

DSC 4666 A Touch of Turquoise

Kristie Barnett

 

After creating a new furniture arrangement throughout the house (no new furniture was bought), we started interjecting the turquoise color in carefully selected spots.

DSC 9230 A Touch of Turquoise

Kristie Barnett

 

Here’s a view of the right side of the room before:

DSC 4668 A Touch of Turquoise

Kristie Barnett

 

We traded out the piano for an airy console table and a pair of lamps from the bedroom.  I stacked a couple of mirrors to reflect light and add a little glamour.  My client painted this wooden dresser stored in the garage according to my instructions. 

DSC 9239 A Touch of Turquoise

Kristie Barnett

 

I chose a fun Benjamin Moore turquoise called Spirit in the Sky.  One of my all-time favorite songs, by the way!  Here’s another piece we decided to paint turquoise:

DSC 4678 A Touch of Turquoise

Kristie Barnett

 

This fun dresser makes a great spot for keys and such in the entry of my client’s beautiful home.  We found the gorgeous lamp in downtown Franklin, TN.

DSC 9232 A Touch of Turquoise

Kristie Barnett

 

Here’s a before as you enter the home – the door is to the right.

DSC 4679 A Touch of Turquoise

Kristie Barnett

 

Now the entry is warm and welcoming.   It’s really important to my client to only use accessories and art that have specific meaning to her family – we used lots of family photographs and things passed down from her family of origin.

DSC 9223 A Touch of Turquoise

Kristie Barnett

 

Now, if you follow my blog you already know I like to shake up a floorplan if it isn’t working for the family I am decorating for.  This was formerly a living room, but it was adjacent to another living room (which seems redundant, no?).  The previous owners of this house set their home up in a similar way, which influenced my client in how she set up hers when her family moved in.  See how the dining room is at the back of the space in front of the french doors.

DSC 4664 A Touch of Turquoise

Kristie Barnett

 

We moved the dining room into this space, which is directly next to the kitchen.  And we exchanged the crystal light fixture with this large burlap pendant from Pottery Barn to better-fit my client’s style.

DSC 9257 A Touch of Turquoise

Kristie Barnett

 

While this area was formerly for dining:

DSC 4672 A Touch of Turquoise

Kristie Barnett

 

Now it’s a sitting area where my client can read a magazine as she watches her children playing in the backyard.  The bookcase (formerly dark green) was also painted in our Spirit in the Sky.   I really love the pillows – I came up with the design and my seamstress from Ruffled Linens brought them to life.

DSC 9264 A Touch of Turquoise

Kristie Barnett

 

My goal is always to take the things that are important to my client and make it all come together in a beautiful and cohesive way.   I hope that’s what I’ve done here.

DSC 9270 A Touch of Turquoise

Kristie Barnett

 

If you need help making your decor dreams come true, contact kristie@thedecorologist.com to schedule your appointment today!

How Color Can Change Your Home’s Groove

Happy Monday, dear readers!  Have I got a fun room makeover for you . . .

DSC 9036 How Color Can Change Your Homes Groove

Kristie Barnett

Suppose you lived in a home that looked about the same as it had for the last 50 or more years?  Same paint color (or lack thereof), same finishes, same old groove.

DSC 5700 How Color Can Change Your Homes Groove

Before Makeover

 

This mid-century ranch needed to find a new groove.  It was kinda like a Sleeping Beauty, just waiting for The Decorologist to pucker up and . . . well, you get my drift.   [Read more...]

Small Changes, Big Impact

I staged a home yesterday for sale and thought I’d share with my readers how small changes can make a big impact.  Most of the changes here involved removing and pairing down tired accessories and furnishings, then adding a few on-trend accessories.

DSC 8794 Small Changes, Big Impact

Beautiful Brick Home for Sale by Realtor Jim Allen with ReMax in Brentwood, TN

 

This is how the entry looked prior to staging with The Decorologist:

DSC 8118 Small Changes, Big Impact

Entry Before Staging

[Read more...]

One-Day Makeover

Do you ever feel like your house will never feel like a home?  Sometimes a fresh perspective on the things  you already have is all you need.  This client had a lot of nice things and recently moved into a new home.  She was having a hard time making her stuff work in this new and different place.  I had helped stage the home she just bought, so she contacted me for an interior styling consultation.  This was the way her living room looked when I arrived:

DSC 4666 One Day Makeover 

[Read more...]

Do Your Walls Make You Happy?

Well, do they?  I think the things you hang on your wall should make you happy.  They should reflect your interests and your tastes.  They should put a smile on your face when you walk in the room.   DSC 4511 Do Your Walls Make You Happy?



  [Read more...]

Warm Up Your Living Room for Fall

I admit it.  I know the trees look pretty, but I hate this time of year.  Shorter, darker days.  Dropping temperatures.  Heavy, itchy clothes.  Summer’s more my thing.  What I do like is warming up rooms for fall.  Adding color, laying in some pattern, and layering texture can really add warmth as the temperature drops.   Today I’m sharing a recent room redo using only the client’s own belongings to turn up the heat in a cold living room. Autumn tree 300x240 Warm Up Your Living Room for Fall


[Read more...]

A Living Room Update


Today I thought I would share some Before and After pictures of a recent living room update.  Actually, it’s a living room/dining room combination.  My client wanted an update and wasn’t sure where to start.  She had nice furniture in neutral colors, so I suggested we change the wall color, rearrange furniture, and add interest with lighting and accessories.


Here’s the Before from one end of the room:

DSC 9459 300x199 A Living Room Update


[Read more...]

Creating a Library


DSC 54422 176x300 Creating a Library I’m always encouraging clients to make their rooms more functional, more beautiful, and more “them.”  This is a great example of taking an underused room and making it highly useful and true to the homeowner’s interests.  These homeowners are true bibliophiles (that means they’re readers icon smile Creating a Library ).  But all their books and bookcases were stuffed into a guest bedroom.  It made perfect sense to bring the books into the place they actually lived – or should I say, now actually live.  This room had little function for them before, except to hold hand-me-down furniture that didn’t reflect their own tastes. 

[Read more...]

pixel Creating a Library