use what you have decorating

Placeholder Redesign: Master Bathroom

by Susan on September 3, 2011

We’ve all been there. You want to make a big change in your home, but now is not the time to be spending. Whatever your situation, you still want to improve your room’s form and function NOW.

Here’s a case study of an ugly master bathroom that needed some interim love.

Dark green-ish walls, tan trim, yellow-ish ceiling, floral border, grimy shower door and dark rose shade made this master bathroom feel like it was from another era. And did you notice there are no knobs on the cabinets? A functional no-no!

master bathroom before

The Plan: hit the low-lying fruit with a budget of just $300. Here’s what we did.

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Use What You Have Porch Design

by Susan on June 13, 2011

in Before & After,Outdoor Spaces

There is something romantic about a porch. Writing A Pretty Porch with a Purpose post got me inspired to get my own porch spruced up.

But after updating eight rooms inside over the past four months, I’m low on funds and energy for this project. So I did what any sensible girl would do…I shopped in my own home. The garage, the basement, and those mysterious boxes that never quite got unpacked (who knew!).

Here’s what it looked like when we moved in four months ago…

porch before

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Putting life back in the Living Room

by Susan on April 18, 2011

in Before & After,Decorating,Living Areas,Room by Room

Hmmm, what to do with this pink, isolated, formal living room off the foyer. In staging, we call this a “first impression” room.

living room before

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The Family Office

by Susan on January 28, 2011

in Before & After,Room by Room,Work Spaces

What was I thinking!

Since I scored a larger office in the move, and decided to make it a “family office” so I wouldn’t feel like I was missing out on anything. Now my Mom Cave home office has effectively become the upstairs family room (which honestly, I rather like).

As usual, I didn’t want to spend much money – afterall, we need a new kitchen (another post for another day). So I went shopping…in my basement! The resulting collection resembles a mix of trees in the forest in a hodge-podge sort of way.

First, here’s what the room looked like when we bought the house. It sort of gave me the blues – in a dark way.

home office before

So the first thing we did was paint it Benjamin Moore Pearl Gray with white trim. Next, we replace the dark gray carpet with a variated Berber carpet.

paint and carpet

And finally, I created a furniture layout to allow for computer work, shared table surface, lounging, and even some TV viewing. Remember, this is my full time office, PLUS a place for homework and general hanging-out activities.

home office layout

Armed with a neutral canvas and a plan, we moved in. As you can see, we clearly needed window treatments to manage the glare.

move in mess

We opted for bamboo shades with shear panels to manage the light but still enjoy the beautiful view out back. Between Target and Overstock, we were able to outfit the windows for a mere $80.

home office

All of the furniture was re-purposed from our last home, representing several phases of my life:

Sofa: from our previous playroom
Table/desk: This teak table was our dining table at our first home
Armoire/Entertainment Center: I purchased this when I got my first pre-marital home
Credenza: From one of my earlier apartments – got it for $25 from an office I used to work for
File cabinets: Ok, I have no idea where these came from
Artwork: My favorite Matisse print has followed me for over 15 years

I love my little light/reader holder/phone caddy/calculator unit.

Overall, I sort of like the casual campy mixed style. Do you have a hodge podge room in your home? How have you tried to tie it all together?

Note: to see more “before” picks and view the paint choices for the WHOLE house, visit me at the HomeGoods blog.

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Use What You Have Decorating

by Susan on October 13, 2009

in Before & After,Decorating,Living Areas

I’ve never truly loved my family room. I’m holding out love waiting for new furniture after the kids are a bit older. For now, I’m making do with black leather bachelor furniture that came with the husband almost 12 years ago. I figured they’ve both lasted this long, sooooooo… lol.

Do you have a room like this? It’s a room that leads to other rooms resulting in a lack of wall space and awkward traffic patterns. When you have French doors, a large entry way from another room, and lots of windows, you have fewer options.

If sans kids, I’d pull the furniture away from the walls and really have some fun with it, but for now we need room for rumpus play.

First, the layout – it was a bit off balance to allow for free flowing traffic through the living room in the warmer months, and so the big chair could be by the corner windows.

Before

Now here’s the tweaked arrangement – we brought up a mildly attractive area rug from the basement in an attempt to better balance the room. I think a larger rug would be more effective, but the price was right for this one {wink}. I’m holding out on any shopping for this room til I get to do the whole room they way I want to.

After

Now for some “real” pictures. Note that we also tweaked the tired old mantel display. We used existing frames I found in the basement and printed out some vacation pictures in black and white. I also spotted a couple lovely black and white vases that I brought up. Plus we pulled out a few minor Halloween décor items (copper pumpkins).

First, the view from the kitchen:

Before

After

And now, the view from the Living room.

Before

After

Just for kicks, here’s how it looked before we moved in (saved the old MLS listing photos – that’s all I ever saw before moving in – hubby picked out the house without me):