This is one of my favorite room makeovers to date – just finished this one on Monday.   The client and her daughter follow my blog and contacted me a while back about doing a revamp on their living room here in Nashville.  The reason why I love this project is because it was all about enhancing the beauty and function of the space while using what was special and meaningful to this family.

 

 

Ok, let’s get started!  This is the view of the living room from the entry of the house when I first arrived.  To be fair, my client had pulled a couple of extra pieces of furniture into the room for me to consider, like that wood dresser in the front.  Anyway, she was looking to freshen up the paint colors (currently sage green in the living room and light yellow in the dining room.  She also really wanted to add an electric fireplace, but feared that it might look too fakey in the room.

 living room before

 

I typically start my designs out with a good plan for furniture placement that invites conversation and highlights architecture.  The plan was to install the fireplace directly across from and centered on the bank of windows.  The new conversation area would cluster around the fireplace, leaving an easy path to walk through to the dining room (and on to the kitchen beyond).  

After Design Intervention by The Decorologist

 

We traded the sage green walls for a more vibrant greeny-blue.  This color really makes the dark wood look richer.

antique desk

 

The dining room walls went from a butter yellow to a light blue from Benjamin Moore’s Historic Collection, while the ceiling of the dining room was painted the same darker color as the living room to create flow.   I didn’t like the paint treatment below the chair rail – I suggested it be painted all out in trim color to create the look of real painted wood wainscotting.  Here’s the before of the small dining room:

dining room before

 

Doesn’t the wainscotting look so much better?  There’s still some work to do on the back wall of this room, but I wanted to go ahead and show you the difference the paint made.   I definitely think some vertical plate groupings would be great in here, bringing in a darker blue and the coral color.

Dining Room After – Benjamin Moore’s Palladian Blue

 

Here’s a before shot of the side of the room where the fireplace ultimately went in.  Notice the fabric on the wingback – this was reupholstered to update it and tie into our new color scheme.

before

 

I hung about 20 pieces of art on these plaster walls in a couple of hours right before I took this photograph.  Doesn’t it look as though the fireplace has always been a part of the room?  Love the way this turned out!

Cozy Living Room After

 

Another “before” from the opposite angle:

Before

 

The “after” is a warm, inviting room to curl up in front of a fire and read a great book (historical fiction, anyone?).

Living Room by The Decorologist

 

Did you notice the new linen-look upholstery on the sofa?  Here’s a secret – it’s actually painter’s dropcloth!  An inexpensive, yet elegant way to recover tired furnishings.

Dropcloth Sofa Upholstery and Eclectic Art Grouping

 

Here is where the sofa with it’s dated upholstery was formerly positioned:

Before

 

Now, a cute pair of yellow bamboo chairs flank a small dresser in front of the beautiful windows. 

Fresh, New Space

 

There are so many interesting things to see in this room – my client wanted to make sure she could still be “surrounded by my pretties.”  I think that we achieved that goal!

Art Grouping

 

Last but not least, let me show you the fabulous wallpaper we found for her entry.  It’s grasscloth with a light blue trellis pattern.

Blue Trellis Wallpaper

 

A rectangular mirror with a fat gold frame will be hung directly above the entry table.  The table is actually a family heirloom – a baby crib flipped over and topped with glass!  I have to give all the credit for that stroke of genius to my client – what a fabulous idea that turned out to be.

Upcycled Antique Entry Table

 

This was the view of the entry before.  The walls were peach, as you can see.  You can also see where I taped off the area to install the fireplace with painter’s tape on the first day I was there!

Entry Before

 

Now, this is what you see when you enter the front door.  What a difference!

Entry After

 

This client and her lovely daughter were so amazing to work with – they were completely open to every recommendation I made for their space, and it really paid off in the end. 

If you’d like the gift of a room makeover for Christmas,  now is the time to purchase a Decorologist Gift Certificate.  My rates will be increasing at the first of the year, but gift certificates are available through December at my current rates.