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:
We talked about what kind of look and feeling she wanted for this room. She has young children and spends lots of time at home. She wanted a place that was comfortable and welcoming, but not a free-for-all kidzone. And for the time being, she only had what she had to work with – so no shopping elsewhere! We “shopped” from around the rest of the house and found some pieces that worked together in a more interesting way, adding personal photos and decor to warm up the space. I decided to use a sofa she currently had in a different room, so that the living room could be a sophisticated retreat for the grown-ups. Here’s the after:
When installing an art or photography grouping, here’s how I determine the placement of the pieces:
And, of course, I determine where the grouping will be placed. In this case, I wanted to cluster these family pictures above the sofa in the living room.
And here’s how it looked once I installed the grouping:
Here’s a before shot of the other side of the room. The wall between the windows was really too small for the piano that was placed there.
Using a slender table and a pair of lamps in place of the oversized piano adds balance and warmth to this side of the room. And the stacked mirrors reflect the light from the lamps. This shot is a bit dark, but here’s the more sophisticated after shot:
 | What a difference a day (and a different perspective) can make! If you want to make your house feel more like a home without breaking the budget, schedule a One Day Make-over with The Decorologist. |
Ohhhhhh, those pillows with the big flowers. Aaaaayyyyy-dorable.
Nicely done, Kristie! I’m sure your client was thrilled with the results.
you are so amazing at those photo groupings!
Beautiful Kristie! I love it! You are such a talented lady.
thanks heather! seems like i do a crazy-lot of those groupings. i guess it’s the whole work-with-what-you got thing. i’m nothing if not resourceful!!!
and thank you, vicky, for your kind words 🙂
beautiful – wish you were in Central Florida!
so do I – especially this time of year!!!
Wow, that’s fantastic! I wish you could come visit my parents’ house in California.
I have LOVED watching how you have made our old house belong to someone else. It looks soo wonderful. You have such a gift of decorating for a person and their style and way of living.
thank you so much, christiana! that means a lot to me 🙂
Kristie, this is inspired! I love “shopping” people’s houses – you really did a FABULOUS job w/ this one! I especially love the art wall. I hope your client was thrilled – she should have been!
I want to see where the red couch and the piano went!
Excellent “shopping”.
i take it you know jill! the red sofa is upstairs in the kids’ den and the piano is in the sitting room that was formerly the dining room. hopefully we will do more photos and a future post when it’s all done!
ok, where did the lady get the white overstuffed armchair? i love it.
I’m wondering if you painted the walls? They definitely look a different color. Or is it just a different lens on your camera in the after shots?