DEALING WITH A DESIGN DILEMMA

When I asked for help last week with a design dilemma, you guys did not disappoint.  

I received many comments with some great ideas.  

I still love the idea of adding a fiddle leaf fig tree here,

but until I brush up on my indoor gardening skills,

I have filled the corner with the table that was in front of the bay window.

Here's a wider angle of the new and improved corner.  

I also made another small change by removing one of the pillows from the backs of the love seats.  

I have a love hate relationship with these love seats.  

I used to love them, now I hate them. 

The arms are too bulky, the floral pattern on the fabric is not my favorite 

and they are quite worn from my children using them as trampolines.

I do not hate them nearly as much after removing one of the giant back pillows. 

They used to look like this. 

And a reminder of how lonely the corner looked before the table moved in. 

Ahhhh, much better, even if it a temporary solution. 

I also addressed this area.

I took down the sheers.  When we originally renovated the house, we did not replace this giant window.  As soon as we moved in, we realized that was a huge mistake.  After making all the other improvements and having everything freshly painted, the giant ugly window stuck out like a sore thumb.  Three weeks after moving in, we replaced it.  I had added the sheers to mask the ugliness of the original window and even after replacing it, I put them back up.  We get a ton of afternoon sun in this room and I was afraid the furniture and rug would fade quickly.  When I realized our windows are made from a Low E glass I realized the streaming sunlight wouldn't be as big of an issue as I had thought.  Down went the sheers and I am kicking my self for not doing this a long time ago.  I love the extra light we get in here now and if the brightness is a problem, I will just pull them shut a bit.   

I also brought back in the dark stained table that was originally there. 

I think I will paint it glossy black or dark charcoal. 

You can see on the left where I am playing around with some trim options. 

I pinned up some trim I had on hand.  The first option is a navy/charcoal trim.

I also happend to have some deep blue velvet ribbon in my stash and I tacked some of that up.  

I am loving this one.  What's your vote?

At dinner tonight, I was intently staring at the windows in the kitchen.  

My husband got scared and immediately inquired about what I was planning. 

You'll have to wait and see......

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New Living Room Cushions

Do you ever feel like decorating is two steps forward and one back.  Well that is certainly how it is around here.  I recently noticed how grubby the cover on our sofa was looking so I took it off and washed it, but then when I put it on I noticed that some of the throw pillows were stained as well.  One thing led to another and I had to drop by Home Sense and get some new pillows for the sofa.  

Now selecting cushions for the living room is always a little tricky because of the colours in the carpet.  My Great-grandparents were missionaries in South China in the early years of the last century and they brought many wonderful things home with them when they finally returned to Canada in the 1920s.  This silk carpet was one of the treasures they brought back and we are very pleased that it has made its way to our home.  While I love the connection to my Grandmother (as I always remember it being in her living room) and her parents, the rug has a variety of colours some of which I find difficult to decorate around.  

As you can see the carpet has some peachy - salmony colours which are not my favourites so I avoid decorating with them.  I do like a darker version of this colour, however, like rich rust colours so I looked for some cushions in that shade.   The colours I like best in the carpet (surprise, surprise) are the teal and turquoise colours.  So I looked for cushions that had either the turquoise colours or the the rust colour or both in them and these are the cushions I found.
Home Sense only had one that I liked in the rust colour, but I may keep my eyes peeled for another one to balance the sofa out.  

The ones on either end are my favourite as they remind me of a William Morris print.  Here's a close-up view:

I also really like the pale blue linen one on the right hand end of the sofa,

and the one in the middle is a nod to the ever popular chevron pattern (although it almost looks like a zebra and a chevron stripe got together and this is the baby they produced).

Having new cushions on the sofa means I have to have them arranged perfectly at all times so that I can admire them whenever I happen to go by the room.  Anyone else do that?

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BAFFLING BAY WINDOWS

I love a good bay window, but sometimes when it comes to adding window treatments, I'm a bit baffled.  Our bay window sat naked for quite some time while I pondered what to do with it.  I finally decided on drapes and sheers.  I admit, I am not completely loving the sheers, but as you can see, we get a ton of light in this window, especially in the afternoon.  Our rug and furniture would be ruined by the streaming sunlight without these sheers.  So for now, it works.  

One of these days, when I tire of all the color in this room, I would love to go neutral with linen slipcovered love seats, cream panels and bamboo blinds.  This room makes me drool just a bit.  

How gorgeous are those windows?

If I had a window seat, I think this would be a great option.  

I can see myself curling up with a good book and possibly hiding out by closing the curtains 

I adore this casual look.  We just had dinner at some friends' new house on Sunday.  

It's actually a very old home oozing with charm. 

They have a beautiful bay window in the dining room that they want to add treatments to.  

There is a window seat underneath and the windows are leaded glass.  

She is thinking of doing something similar to this.  

They want privacy in the evening, but of course, 

they want to showcase the beautiful leaded glass most of the time.  

She will likely choose a more formal fabric, but I think this style is a great option for them.  

I looking forward to seeing what she decides on.  

Can't believe I didn't smuggle my camera in during our visit.  Next time, I promise.

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Use a Rug... for Inspiration

So today, lets talk about using an inspiration piece

to pull the room together.

This friend of mine was ready to freshen up

 a number of rooms in her home. 

She really liked the idea of bringing in some orange.

And knew she needed to purchase a few new pieces.

Her walls were recently painted a lovely gold and sage green.

so we wanted the color palette to have those colors.

I really thought a rug could be the perfect solution to pull it all off.

We found that perfect rug at Pottery Barn ...of course!

 For over $1000.

We decided that we would keep looking----

and found THE inspiration piece

we were looking for at TJ Maxx-HomeGoods,

for $199.00 Can you believe it~!

It was a great shopping day.

It was warm and had golds and greens as well as the Orange

she wanted to add to the space.

It made for a great inspiration piece because it had

3 of the colors that we wanted to place around the room. 

Here is the Living Room

BEFORE

AFTER

We picked up a couple of IKEA chairs to help lighten up the space,

 as well as some new toss pillows---

You know how I love to add pillows!:)

BEFORE

AFTER

What a different feel the room has now

with the rug and the lighter chairs.

BEFORE

AFTER

We decided to make a little entry grouping.

It really worked well in that space.

See how well the cabinet goes with the colors in the room.

The floral pillow on the couch has just the

right colors and design to go with the rug. 

And my friend picked it out herself.

Many times when I work with a client and they need

 to purchase new items, I tell them to find something

 that they really like and that has the colors

we are looking for.

There are other times when I do the shopping and get what

 I think works. But most of the time the client shops for

 thier own accessories--

 it gives them a real feeling that the space it theirs,

because they picked out something that they were drawn too.

It also gives you such a great sense of ackomplishment

to know that you chose something that really worked.

Lamps behind the sofa looking out into the fall leaves---

(I LOVE Fall! Have I mentioned that before?)

I love putting a round table between two chairs,

and this one worked out great!

BEFORE

 AFTER

We changed out the curtains.  Using a gold color similar to the wall
softens the space and lightens it up.

I would prefer the rod to be hung just down from the ceiling,
because it pulls your eyes up and make the room feel taller.

My friend is waiting on her sweet husband to finish up the job.
I will post the before and after photos when it is done. 
You will be amazed at how different it feels!

Notice the artwork on the wall also has some of the same colors

that we were pulling around the room.

So if you are wanting to create a new feel to a space

Using a Rug for the inspiration piece

may just work for you!

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Sneek Peek... on 3 Room Redesigns

This is the house of a good friend of mine. 

Her house was ready for a good "facelift"!

Here is a sneek peek at what we did.

I will show you some quick before and afters

and in upcoming posts

 I will give you all of the juicy details and more photos!

Living Room BEFORE

Living Room AFTER

Kitchen BEFORE

Kitchen AFTER

Family Room BEFORE

Family Room AFTER

It was quite the project and we had some really funny stories.

My good friend Connie does a blog and is a fantastic writer.  

She will be doing a write up on the redesign

and I will be sure and give you all a link, so you can see

 how it all went down from her perspective as well.

See you at the end of the week!

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Arrange Your Furniture on an Angle

We gave this living room a little shake up!

BEFORE

AFTER

We turned the couches on an angle and placed them close together

 in a L pattern so you can have a nice conversation

without having someone walk between you.

BEFORE

AFTER

See how welcoming and inviting this arrangement feels.

We have divided the room up into different areas.

The back wall with the keyboard now feels like it has it's own space.

The two couches create a conversation area

as well as tv viewing.

BEFORE

AFTER

On this back wall we arranged a nice reading area

with a lamp and table.

It also works for veiwing the tv.

Notice how we added a lamp and some flowers on the table.

This is a quick easy way to accessorize a tabletop.

The red pillow in the chair is a nice way

 to pull color around the room.

Overall, we created a warm inviting place

to visit, read a book or watch a movie!

Try placing some of your furniture on an angle

 and see what you think. 

You may be surprised!

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