Before and After-Tricky Walls

Hello friends how are things? Have you ever had an odd shaped space in your home so as to have you going bonkers?  That was the case in a clients home I decorated a few years back. This couple is beautiful in every way and they even have good taste but an odd space was giving them trouble. (Now you know we can’t have that). Right! Well this sweet couple called me for help to get to the root of what was making their room look so awkward and I have to tell you I was a little scared but I wasn’t backing down from any decorating challenge so I ran over and immediately I was able to point out what the issue was. I said “it’s that tricky wall right there or should I say window” well my motto has always been If you can’t get rid of something or can’t ignore it make it a focal point. A focal point makes it something to look at. When considering ideas how to decorate you must always think about what you’re trying to accomplish. In my case I was trying to make the window go away because of its awkwardness which made it a tricky wall. Watch what I did to solve this problem.

The Rules:

Keep the dresser  
The blue carpet must stay

The desk must stay, need workspace in the bedroom no exceptions

Keep the air-conditioned in the window- in hindsight I would not have taken the photos with the AC in the window. This is a forewarning:

Very low budget

Did I do it?

As you can see there is only one window on this wall. It makes it very awkward. Would you agree?

The window awkwardness solved because we place the window covering at the width of the whole wall now we make it blend with the rest of the wall it’s no longer just a little window in the way but a wall with balance and function.

Office space before

Office space After. Sorry foR the AC in the window!

The desk that must stay very big and bulky. Yikes!!!

The Desk After, I guess it doesn’t looks so bad. Right!

This cabinet must stay,hmmmm good thing it was moved  to another wall

As you can see I moved the cabinet to the taller wall on the other side of the room. By the way this is the dresser that I had to stay because of budget so this desk and the cabinet switches places. Oh I love the African lady in the picture next to the door; isn't she beautiful?

This is the tall wall next to the bathroom. I eventually moved the cabinet to this wall this is where the dresser use to sit it was to wide so it was moved to give me room for the workspace hmmmm. (There is a reason for my my madness ha!).

Here is the cabinet moved to the taller wall- Makes more sense right? Because this cabinet has not a lot of width it gives me the space I needed to put the workspace on this wall.  Sometimes all needs to be done are a little space planning.

I love the art peace on the wall. Quick that was very easy to make. All I done was take some wood and cut it to size and wrap and staple pretty fabric around it and Walla you have instant art.

Friends odd shaped spaces aren't difficult to decorate; you just have to get creative and always remember what you’re trying to accomplish with the space and what is the emphasis you want to focus on with that space?

Before and After- Twin Beds Guest Room

This room was done for a couple who loves to travel all over the world but yet still have a few places they haven't been. Because they travel so much they’re able to meet lots of people and acquire a lot of photos from their travels so it was only fitting to have a place for their friends and family when they come to visit.  My clients called me to do their guest room for them because they wanted to finally have a place for their guest and all their beautiful photos they take on their travels. Now as you all may know in most of my designs I’m always challenged to use something or use a color the homeowner already chosen and this room was no different. My challenge this time was the paint color the homeowner chose himself and his wife was dead set against but guesses what? This was no challenge at all for me because I was so happy he made the choice because I didn’t have to be blamed for it! “hmmm isn’t hat selfish of me” but no really I loved the color from the first time I laid eyes on it. The Smokey gray color is very modern so the real challenge was discovering how to bring traditional and modern together.  

Did I do it?

Check out the before picture of the guest bedroom

Beautiful Smokey Gray Walls and a beautiful cherry-wood twin bed. Love it!

How about that bed! Pretty right! Check out the After Photo

After

Like a lot of rooms I do. Something has to stay,this was a beautiful piece of art the homeowner loved so much she wanted to honor it and keep it in the room. Here is where I used it in the room..

Before and After-Client's Master Bedroom

Hello friends, it’s time to share another before and after with you. I recently had the chance to help a couple turn their plain master bedroom into one that was warm and not so bare, now I must say it wasn’t as easy as I thought. My clients who normally trust me to do a great job I learned was very worried which had me like what! "How can you not trust me after I’ve done pretty much your whole house"? Well the trust word was quickly thrown out the window once my clients explained their take on their bedroom. My clients assured me of their trust, they said it wasn’t a matter of trust because they had complete  confidence in me (woo I dodge a bullet there) but they wanted to know that sleeping in their bedroom was going to be something they can both live with. I had to remember this is the place you first see when you wake up in the morning and the last place you see at night so this had to be something they can live with on a regular basis so needless to say I truly understood their concerns. You see my clients knew that I like to push the envelope at times they were sure they didn’t want the envelope push that far in their bedroom so I had to assure them I understood their concerns and I would make sure this room would be everything they asked for. So friends without further ado please check out the before and After of my beautiful clients Master bedroom.

The rules

Cant paint all the walls 

Warm and cozy 

Something could live with for a long time

Small budget 

Finish before Thanksgiving 

Don't touch the beautiful tray ceiling 

So did I do it?

As you can see the room was pretty bland, bare and no real feature!

I couldn't touch the beautiful tray ceiling! What a bummer...

Hey, what you think one wall done in wallpaper?

The client's loved the wallpaper choice. This wallpaper did everything the clients wanted it gave the room character without being overbearing and most of all it gives it the warmth the clients want.

What will I do with this bland wall? I couldn't paint it that was part of the rules.

What do you think? Did I warm it up despite no paint?

Sorry for the blurriness I'm not a photographer

The clients love this part of the room. The husband said this is his favorite part.

I hate pointing out the negative but I wish I could have put the window panels ceiling to floor. I tried but couldn't find long enough panels in time to finish but it worked out because I was able to use the panels in the middle that were the clients and that too save money so it all worked out in the end.

 (But I still wish!)

I love the furry pillow

I love the leopard print throw

This room is now warm and just what the clients want.

What do you think?

Please let me know in your comments below!

Come With Me On My Dining Room Journey

Well I'm ready to tackle that old room redo project I call my dining room, I guess after living in my home for over 6 years and doing countless of other people homes I thought that it was finally time for me to get my honey to do list out.
So I decided to finally decorate my dinning room. So I was hoping you wouldn't mind going on that journey with me.  Now here's the deal I'm hoping this doesn't take me that long but as I'm always reminded there are always obstacle that gets in the way. And speaking of time what about the budget there is never a big enough one for all our wants so you can probably imagine that there will be some creative projects along the way or perhaps a lots of  thrifty finds. So with out further ado check out what the dining room looks like now.

This is my dining room today!!! I know, I know. Your probably saying whats wrong with it!! Well nothing accept the fact I never had the chance to decorate my space the way I wanted too. People always say to me whats wrong with it? "I say its not decorated its just staged".  As you can see I have my work cut out for me because if you think this is already nice I better have something good up my sleeves right?

Yellow walls

 "A lonely picture but it does pop with red"

 As you can see there is literally no art on this wall to be found, hmmmm I wonder how this wall will look after its all done?

 Look at the arched wall that looks into the kitchen- Well this was an actual wall when we first took over the house 6 yrs ago.I wish I had a pic to show you before it looked this good.

Do you think this Chandelier will stay? hmmm cant wait to find out......

 I love the table I think I'll keep it

That plant was so cute yrs ago when I bought it but my daughter apparently wanted to make me a  her own flower arrangement with the flowers from the plant. It was much fuller yrs ago.

 I think I'm going  miss how the room looks now- only because I love how light it is.

 So what about the chairs!!! Do you think they will stay? Let me tell you now they're going to stay but the question is are they going to look the same in the end? I guess we'll have to wait and see.

' I love this table' It will stay for sure!

The floors is my favorite part. My husband striped and stained all the floors throughout the house himself. I love how they turned out.

What about the curtains in the blinds will they stay? "Seems like I'm giving you a quiz or something :) but we'll have to wait and see if the blinds and curtains stay. Sorry peeps!!

How are we going to address this hallway from the dining-room? That should be interesting!

I love this part of the dining room!!! My husband and father-in-law made the shelf  themselves. This may be one of my favorite parts of the house.

Look at that wood isn't it lovely? Credit my father-in-law for knowing how to treat a good peace of wood. Thanks to my husband and his dad that I'm able to see from one room to the next. Thanks guys!!

Well that's it. I hope you’ll stick with me as I get this done its all work in progress but it makes it that much fun knowing you are going to be with me. Shout out to FFA Challenge #3: for motivating me to get this done. Thanks Mandy over at Vintage Revivals

 Please let me know what you think!

Let me know if these ideas are useful, and if there are other decorating ideas you'd like to read more about. Let’s make this official and please follow my blog for contentious updates "email me if you'd like to discuss ways to make decorating your home more effective."