Love the Space you Live In!

I’ve got exciting news for you today!  I have a new contributor to my site!!

bre

 

Bre from Rooms for Rent guest posted for me last month, and I fell in love with her {and so did y’all!}  Her heart and her style are a PERFECT fit for Beneath My Heart, and I know you are going to love hearing from her each month.

Welcome her with lots of love! :)

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Hello Beneath My Heart readers!!

I am so happy to be back with all of you today. My hearts desire as an Interior Decorator and a blogger is to “Help others Love the space the Live in.”

So today I’m going to share with you how I transform a room from just a room with items I own in it, to a room that is totally my style, filled with items I love.

I always tell my clients if you don’t absolutely love it, than you can live without it. Now I know that some things we need just for pure function alone, and our budget isn’t always there, but lets work with what we have and begin to get to the space of our dreams.
When I first started with this room, it was filled with hand-me-down furniture, no dimension, no texture, and nothing I really loved. When we first moved in I painted the walls “Woodsmoke” by: Glidden. Paired with the white trim, I was in LOVE.

Before I brought anything back in the space, the color just felt right, but as I began to put things back, I could not figure out why a room I had just painted, with a color I loved, did nothing for me. It was blah. And other than the paint color, there was nothing in the space I loved.

*Sidenote, I’m sharing these photos with all of you because I don’t want to just tell you it’s possible, I want you to see that it is truly possible, regardless at how embarrassing the quality of the photo is.*

So, let’s pick apart the photo above, shall we? You can see the nice medium grey paint with the white trim, lovely! Everything else, not too much. Cluttered shelves in buffet, cream colored candles on the sconces, the ivory table cloth, and dated wood chairs. They are fine, but nothing that screams my true style, or taste, just as I said before Blah. So I began by bringing in some dimension. Using a lighter shade of grey (Sherwin Williams : Mindful Grey) I painted some horizontal stripes (you can read the full post here).

Along with adding some stripes, I got some different baskets that fit the shelves better to help organize things, and give a cleaner look. Next I focused on bringing in elements I really loved. I was always drooling over spaces with lots of white in them, so I knew what I had to do next.

I swapped the ivory candles out for crisp white ones, and brought in more white elements. White plates to hang on the wall, white pitchers and creamers, lanterns and candles. I purchased a new lamp to replace the black modern block looking one, with a whimsical patterned lamp shade on it. Now that my look was starting to come to life, I continued to work my way around the room swapping out things that I absolutely did not love. I painted our hand me down table, and replaced the sets end chairs with wicker chairs to bring in some more texture, and give the table more character.
It’s more affordable to swap out 2 chairs rather than 6, so if you can’t afford making larger purchases at first, or in my case a whole new dining room set, focus on little improvements you can do, until you can afford what you really want. Here’s how the room looked as it was starting to take shape.
To add more layers to the room, I painted the upper half of the door that leads to the playroom with chalkboard paint, added a few more white plates to the wall to give some dimension, and we added a chair rail to the wall. (You will also notice from the very first photo we added the hearth and wood stove in the left corner, you can read about that project here).
The curtains were already in place, but I added the roll up bamboo matchstick shades to all the windows on our first floor. Layering your window treatments is a great way to add dimension to a space, and bring in more character.
It would have been easy to have stopped there, but one major thing was still bothering me. The table! So when the time was right, we were able to get the farmhouse table I had always wanted.

 

Saving photos for inspiration from Pinterest, and magazines are great ways to stay focused on the overall look and feel you want. Just don’t get too focused on it having to look exactly like those photos. They should be more of a starting point, and as things come together your true style and taste comes out.

Another thing I do to really help my clients gather vision for their spaces is create a mood board similar to the one below. It really helps bring life and vision to their space that they seem to be stuck on.

And you might remember from my post over here beforedon’t forget to take chances! Some of my greatest rewards have been from taking my biggest risks.

So no matter where your budget is, or what stage you are at, just remember your ideal space is not out of reach.

Got a question, or would like help with one of your rooms? Shoot me an e-mail at doucettedesign@comcast.net, I would love to here from you!


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12 Comments

  1. What a great post! Thanks for the reminder that we can start small and it will lead to something big! Gorgeous dining room :)

  2. I LOVE the table…exactly what I have been looking at. Where did you find it? I have seen some at Arhaus, but was hoping to find somewhere cheaper possibly! Beautiful room!!!!

  3. I thought we were the only people in the world left with that type of dining room chairs! Except we “can’t get rid of them” because they were passed to us by hub’s grandparents. at least now I can take comfort in knowing that at least they would look better painted!!!!
    THANKS!

  4. Great advice! I’m in the process of doing the same thing…room by room. I have to love something to keep it. Being in like just doesn’t cut it.

    Your dining room turned out so pretty.

  5. Great advice! I think people stop because they feel so overwhelmed with reinventing a room. I do sometimes, too. Do the big things (like painting) to get a feel for what you want, and then dust the room with your accessories. Add another big piece or change a dated or unwanted item out later…ouila! …you’ve got a great, new room!!!

  6. This is such a great post! Rarely are real women able to makeover a room all at once. Room transformations take time! I so often see before and after photos that are incredible, but what we don’t see is all of the in between. We shouldn’t get discouraged when we aren’t in love with our space, but keep working at it!

  7. Oh, I am so glad she will be joining your site, Tracy! I fell in love with her blog when you had her guest post and I absolutely love this post – so practical in showing simple, inexpensive ways we can change a room to truly suite our style and taste.

    Welcome, Bre!

  8. Great advice! My whole house is blah, I live with a collector of everything and the whole house has stuff, stresses me out really.

    Where did you get the farmhouse table? I love it. Currently my dining room does not have a table, not that I can fit one due to the two hutches and computer hutch. But I have always wanted one.

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