Monday, April 13, 2009

Living Room Makeover - Completed!

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Okay, here are the promised before and after shots of our recent remodel...

First, a caveat - I accidentally deleted my ENTIRE file of Before shots when I was organizing my photos recently. These lost photos showed the room with all of the furniture in place, pictures on the walls, etc. But, I do have a few that survived in a different folder, and a few scattered about from different events or posts. So, those will have to do.

Here is a quick look at 3 of the 4 sides of the room, so you can get a glimpse of the updated room.














And, here's a view of the Before and After, including the details of the changes we made in each shot.

BEFORE: ......................AFTER:

Before: striped paper, busy mirror, varnished oak trim (and daughter in her new Christmas PJs)

After: serene green walls, white ceiling and trim, and a sleek off-white mirror














To make this fabulous transformation, we:
  • Got rid of that busy wallpaper, varnish and all.
  • Then, we used our lovely new green paint on the walls (it's a Ralph Lauren color, but the paint can only features the color formula and not the name, so I don't know what it's called).
  • Painted the trim Vermont Cream, and the ceiling bright white instead of the old dingy beige.
  • Got rid of the busy silver mirror and substituted a sleek off-white one with beveled edges (gotta love Home Goods).
  • Put in all new white ceramic switch plates and outlet covers, and got rid of the 1960s dingy ones.
  • Re-arranged the ENTIRE room layout, so all furniture is now in a new spot, including the leopard chair.

    BEFORE: ..................................AFTER:

    Before: large brown sofa along the long wall, a tired abstract print, and a busy corner (and daughter opening Christmas gifts)After: the entertainment center flanked by two off-white bookshelves and modern prints








This wall is probably the most dramatically different. For this transformation, we:

  • Moved the sofa to the opposite wall, so it's now under the big picture window which is across the room from where the sofa is in the above photo.
  • Moved the very large entertainment center out of it's dark corner next to the big picture window, and centered it on this large wall, where it seems MUCH less bulky and imposing.
  • Pulled two bookcases from another room and flanked the wood cabinet with them.
  • Brought our favorite books from another room for the shelves, along with the photos that were scattered about the living room, and a basket from one of the bedrooms.
  • Found two fabulous abstract prints (Home Goods) that were a great color match, and also brought in the theme of movies...now we just need an Oscar statuette for one of the shelves!
  • Found a fantastic faux movie camera (Home Goods) for the top of the right-hand shelf.
  • Bought very inexpensive mood lighting at Home Depot - one lamp for each shelf - lots of symmetry going on here!

Isn't is an amazing difference!!!

BEFORE: ..................................AFTER:

Before: a very busy corner with way too much going onAfter: a calm serene corner with a pretty bookshelf and photos












This corner also shows the marked difference in the look and feel of the room. What was once so busy and fussy is now calm, orderly and serene. To me, this hardly looks like the same house.

We're donating the huge couch and chair to a single mom who really needs them, and are waiting for the delivery of two brown loveseats that we found on huge clearance. We're also donating the huge and heavy glass and brass coffee table and will purchase some type of wood side tables and coffee table once the remodeling coffers refill! And, she'll also get the fussy tasseled lamps, but we're keeping the vase of curly willow, which is now moved to the next corner of the room near the picture window. Once the loveseats come in, I'll post a before and after of the window side of the room (I also have to figure out what's going on those windows - right now, we're curtain-less and living in a fish bowl!).

Overall, we're just so pleased with our new room and love spending time in it. It was well worth all of the hard work.
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8 comments:

Skebba said...

It's amazing how much difference along removing that wallpaper made! Looks excellent.

P.S. Good luck with getting the Oscar statuette! One with your own name on it would be particularly thrilling wouldn't it!

LoveANewIdea said...

Kelly-
I know - isn't it amazing?! It looks so different and definitely FEELS different. We've had this same experience with all of the wallpaper removal we've done in other rooms...it's surprising how busy wallpaper makes for a "busy" feeling.

The statuette is the hardest part of my project! I've looked online, thinking it would be fairly easy to buy a mock Oscar, but nope. I'll keep my eyes open, though!

Skebba said...

I still think you can get your own. I've got some very good ideas for a movie script. It involves a genius mathematician who has a free-spirited roomate and his neice for friends. He joins the CIA and decodes magazines for to weed out government threats. In the end we find out it was all a part of his schizophrenia. I don't think it's been done before.

LoveANewIdea said...

Kelly-
You are too funny!

Alaskan Dave Down Under said...

It really does look like a totally different room now, good job you did.

LoveANewIdea said...

Dave-
Thank you!! We love it. I think I'm going to wait a few months before I tackle the next room - it's the room we keep the desktop computer in, and it's also the room that's kind of like the "junk drawer"...ever type of miscellaneous item ends up in it. We really need to get it under control - but I need a little break!

Jeannette said...

What I see in your redo is you've make the room more inviting for activities. Read those books, play that guitar, watch the birds out the window...rooms are so much nicer when they are lovely and functional, when living is a stronger statement than fashion.

LoveANewIdea said...

Jeanette-
I think you've hit the nail on the head! We actually talked about this while sitting in the redone room - how we WANT to sit in the room now, WANT to read the books, watch the movies there, etc. And, it was interesting at Easter brunch to have people finally migrate out of the crowded kitchen and into the living room.

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