THE REVEAL: Living Room Makeover - From Sad and Stress-Inducing to Sunshine-y and Happy!

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Reveal day :) So excited, you guys! So, yesterday was my first blog post in 6 years (yikes - those years got away from me and so much has changed!). And today I get to finally show you my first client project completed! So, if you missed the before pictures and the process and all the good background info, you need to go back to yesterday’s post! But if you’re caught up and ready to see all the goods, then let’s go!

So, just a refresher. This is for my friend and first official client, the babelicious Kimmy! This is the first of several rooms I’m working on for her. She wanted me to transform this room from a stressful-to-look-at and avoided room to one that would make her want to be there and that would make her eyeballs happy to look at. And I can confirm that it is a whole new room with a whole new vibe!

Here’s my favorite shot! Le sigh….all the heart eyes. So, if you read yesterday’s post (if you haven’t, SERIOUSLY, go read it because that’s where all the details on the thought process for this room are!), you know that I had a different art piece in mind to replace the beautiful-but-brooding lady that was formerly living here. But, as the universe (aka God) often does, it dropped the perfect piece from Facebook Marketplace heaven right into my lap. This peacock piece (which I am have already called dibs on to get back from Kimmy should she ever decide to part ways with it) caused me to take a turn in colors by adding this most awesome shade of blue, which happens to pick up the same blue bits in the curtains. And it was all meant to be, because a short while later, that blue poof also dropped down from FBMP heaven, and it went PURRRRRRRFECTLY with le peacock!

One of the things Kimmy asked for was a TV stand that fit under the already installed soundbar. This one I found on FBMP and it fits perfectly. I also wanted to create a gallery wall of art around the TV to give it company and so it wasn’t just a lone big black rectangle on the wall.

All 3 of these pieces to the left of the TV, came from chasing them down on FBMP. The “Farmers Market” piece has all the right colors and I love how graphic it is. It’s PERFECT in here! The other two pieces are quieter more traditional pieces that have nice calm peachy tones with some subtle turquoises that go well in here. And I love how they are so different from the other one.

This yellow mid century vase is AMAZING. I found this at an estate sale, out in the middle of nowhere, on a shelf in a very dusty barn/garage. I was obsessed with it and brought it to my own house waiting for the perfect place to use it. And K’s living room was perfect with all the yellows working together.

Pink circle pillow: Crate & Kids ; Yellow circle pillow: Estate sale

The leaning piece of flying or diving ladies under the TV is just a small fun pieces I found that Kimmy loves. It’s fun and quirky, like this room, and like K herself :)

To the right of the TV, on top, is a piece I found on FBMP. I originally showed Kimmy a picture of it and she wasn’t into it, but I liked it, so I picked it up for myself. Then, when K came over one night and saw it in person, she really liked it, so it came to live here because it is seriously perfect for this room. Moral of that story: I am always right! Just ask my family :)

Then there is a basket, which K already had and really liked. It was just sitting on a table, so we put it on the wall because why not. I’m a fan of putting pretty things on the wall, even if they’re not necessarily meant to go there.

Then, there is an awesomely framed mid century lady portrait (below is a close up). I got this from a vintage seller on Instagram; her shop is _my_fox_shop. I just had to make sure you saw it up close because it is SO good. The yellow and blue details around her eyes and in her hair are really cool. Also, that frame! Love.

Lamp: FBMP ; Side table: Kimmy’s, vintage ; Greenish turquoise circle pillow: Crate & Kids ; Square pillows and orange vase: Kimmy’s

I love this peacock picture so much. As soon as I saw this peacock on FBMP, I immediately thought it was perfect for this room. I loved it so much that I spent weeks (literally) looking for one for myself. Actually, when I showed one of my BFFs the picture, she also went on a rabbit hole search for one for herself. It’s from Target’s Opalhouse line, but is no longer available. And other people are looking for this. So, if anyone has this and wants to sell it, let me know! I did find that you can get a print from Artfully Walls. The brooding lady that was in this spot before was very heavy and had a big anchor screw in the wall, and since the walls are plaster, we didn’t want to drill a new hole unless absolutely necessary. This lightweight framed peacock is smaller than the lady, so we hung the peacock on the same anchor screw, but that left a lot of new empty space on the wall. So, I took one of the starbursts from a grouping of them hanging in the entryway and hung it here. I love asymmetry and it fills it in nicely. Kimmy’s good friend, Lisa, helped move the curtain rod over a little so we could have a straighter curtain fall, and to fill the space better, but due to some plastering issues, we couldn’t get it moved over any more for the time being.

I found that floor lamp on FBMP to replace the paper lantern one that was there before. I always love a good globe lamp. They’re just fun in my opinion.

Striped bolster pillow: Crate & Kids ; Other two pillows: Anthropologie ; Vase: Estate Sale

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGHHHHH. YOU. GUYS. Do you even know how much I freaking love this table. I have found literally hundreds of secondhand finds over the years, but this is definitely one of my favorites. Yes, it is as perfect as it looks. You can read about it in yesterday’s post, which you probably read if you have gotten this far. Also, just letting EVERYONE know that I will be buying this back from K if she ever chooses to part with it.

You guys. Doesn’t this spot just look like the PERFECT spot to hang all day???? I want this to be my living room! I put my heart into this room and I realize as I’m writing this that I truly feel like I designed this space for myself. It’s all the things I love. And I’m so thankful Kimmy gave me the opportunity to design her living room, and put her trust in me to translate what she said she wanted to feel in this space into a reality. And it makes me feel SO happy to know that she loves it. This is the text I got when it was all done:

“I love my living room so much, Loveley. I need you to know that. It brings me a lot of happiness.”

And that brings me a lot of happiness.

Okay, enough sappiness. Keep going and you’ll get some satisfying before and afters!

Side table: Kimmy’s own, vintage; Striped bolster pillow: Crate & Kids; Curtains: Anthropologie

Hope you liked it! The next project is Kimmy’s dining room :) Can’t wait to share that with you soon too! K, byeeeeeeeeeee!

THE BEFORE and PROCESS: Living Room Makeover - From Sad and Stress-Inducing to Sunshiny and Ecstatically Happy

Hi my friends! It has been SOOOOOOOOOOOOO long, YEARS, since I’ve written a blog post, so this is exciting! Not only is this my first blog post in forever, but it is my first styling client EVER (that’s not myself, haha). Okay, so let’s jump right in!

Almost a year ago, I decided that after YEARS of wanting to start a styling business, I was going to just do it. I put the word out, and immediately, my friend that I’ve known for years said she wanted me to come over and help her with her house. I’ve been to her house many times over the years, but no impression ever stuck, except that she has a great house and layout, and I remembered I loved the big yellow sectional in her living room. Oh, and she has a great new kitchen. So, we set up a time for me to go over to her house so we could discuss what she needed and wanted. EEEK! I was SO excited to have a real official client!

The client: I met Kimmy about 19 years ago (gulp! how has this much time passed?!) when I started dating my husband. They had been friends for years, and so I inherited this great human being through him. Kimmy is a super fun, super friendly, super social, super busy gal who has hosted tons of parties at her house over the years. She’s a lawyer, but the not terrible kind :) Also, she is recently divorced and has two bubbly fun kids. So, that means that she can change up her house to make it ALL hers, however she wants it, without having to compromise on anything! Yay!

The situation: As we were walking through her house, she had several projects that she wanted to work on. Her living room, her dining room, her entryway, the “loungey” area of her kitchen, and her bedroom. Looking around her home and she had very strong feelings about it. Most of those feeling can be summed up in a phrase she used a lot in showing me things. “I hate this. This just stresses me out.” She had hated it for years, but like many people, she just ignored it and continued to live in the spaces as they were because she has a full life going on and no time to dedicate to doing something about it. Plus, not knowing what to do to change it, or even how to start makes it even harder. So, we started with her living room.

The room: Okay, so here are the before pictures of her living room.

I took these pictures the first time we talked about it. Kimmy HATED this room and said she avoided spending time in here. I asked her what she was open to changing, and what she wanted to keep. Here’s the list:

Keep

• Sectional: It’s huge and it was expensive when she bought it.

• Side tables: They are vintage and she likes them.

• TV: Obviously. The TV and soundbox were installed in the wall, so they are staying put.

• Wall color: She adamantly likes this wall color and it’s staying.

• The big portrait art piece: Kimmy loves her and she has to stay

Change : Anything else could disappear into the abyss

The ask: Kimmy wanted a space that could be just for her, to have a place to relax and lounge. They have a TV in their kitchen lounge area, so the kids didn’t have to be in here to watch TV. Basically the ask was to make her not hate it. We discussed colors she likes, level of boldness she likes, etc. Like me, she is into color and she likes eclectic. Oh, and she also didn’t want to spend an absolute fortune.

The plan: I had no plan, of course, because this was the first time I was doing this for someone else! So, I told her that I was thinking of just doing what I always do with my own space. Build it slowly over time and go vintage or secondhand as much as possible because 1: it’s better for the planet 2: it’s better for the wallet 3: it’s more unique and eclectic. She was totally on board. Also, ordering and buying over time instead of all at once would be more realistic from a spending perspective and also from a time perspective (which most moms are short on!). So, overall, my only plan was that I was going to turn this space into a place that she absolutely loved and that made her happy instead of a place she avoided.

My thoughts: Even though this space wasn’t what Kimmy wanted at the time, I knew a few things. One, it had major potential. It gets amazing natural light from those huge windows. That big yellow sectional didn’t fit in with the current sad state of affairs in there, BUT, it would fit perfectly into the “happy” space that would come to be because yellow is amazing. So, that yellow would be our jumping off point. And two, Kimmy is such a bubbly and friendly person, and this room was not syncing with that AT ALL. It was just making her depressed to look at it. So, I was going to create a room that matched her personality. Fun, happy, eclectic, and whimsical.

The big changes: So, with yellow being the jumping off point, the first two things that needed to change were the rug and curtains. The current rug was ridiculously too small for that space and that sectional. And those curtains had to go. As far as curtains, I have had these Anthropologie ones floating around in my brain for years because they are fun and vibrant:

She LOVED these curtains, and ordered them for both living room AND dining room, since both rooms flow into each other. As far as rugs, based on those curtains, I gave Kimmy a bunch of options for rugs that I thought would be good, and this is the one that stood out and she fell in love with:

It is sooooo good. Notice that it doesn’t really “match” the curtains and they are different styles, but they are both colorful and whimsical. You will see that they totally work together when you see that “after”. EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK! I’m excited to show you. Anyway, the coffee table. We needed a coffee table that worked with those side tables. I wanted a big round one to fit that sectional space. The long one was not cutting it shape or size wise, and was badly in need of a refinish. I gave her a bunch of options of style and of all of them, she really REALLY liked the drum shape below, which I totally agreed is the best option since we have leggy side tables. So, I started looking for wooden drum ones, secondhand and new. This is what we were planning on at that time:

And then, as is usually the case, the universe dropped the MOST EPIC COFFEE TABLE OF ALL TIME in my lap!

If Kimmy said no to this, I was totally just going to keep it for myself because I loved it SO SO SO MUCH. And, AND, AND! It was PINK!!!!!!!! The holy grail. Not only is it the absolute best color of all time, BUT, it would go perfectly with that rug and my theme of “happy”! Also, it was so insanely well priced. Like, WHAT!? So, Kimmy liked it too, based on the meh Facebook Marketplace picture I sent her. Even though the picture was just meh, I knew it could possibly be the best thing ever. And it was in purrrrrfect condition! So, I snagged this behemoth and brought it over. Side story: When I went to pick it up from the seller, she said another lady had tried to buy it before me, but she couldn’t fit it in her car (it’s HUGE), so she VERY sadly had to leave it behind. Clearly it was meant to be for me! After carrying it all around the house to the backyard and through the doorwall due to its size, we plunked it down on that rug, and the heavens parted and angels were singing! Kimmy LOVED it in person so much. Of course she did because it was sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo good, and only a crazy person wouldn’t love it. Note: I have dibs on buying it it if she ever goes crazy and decides she isn’t into it anymore.

Next up was that TV wall. Reminder:

A credenza or TV stand kind of thing needed to go there. So, again, Facebook Marketplace to the rescue! I sent Kimmy lots of pictures of different ones, and this one was in perfect second hand condition, and would look amazing with those side tables. It had a mid century modern feel without being vintage or too retro feeling. Perfect.

Seating. So, when Kimmy was giving me her original run through of the house and everything she hated about it, she mentioned this one side of the entryway by her front door.

That huge glass piece is an art piece created by her talented mother (how cool is that!?). She loves it, of course, and she said this little antique cabinet can go, but as far as the chair, she just moved her hand in a big circle over it and said, “I hate everything about this.” She wanted to see if we could sell it. It was a dumping ground for clothes in her entryway. We all have “that chair”. Anywho, looking at her living room, I wanted to close the area into more of a “conversation pit” that felt cozier. So, next time I was over there for a progress visit, I told her my conversation pit idea and then moved that chair from the entryway over to the living room. It was a good color for the palette we were doing, and it was free. No need to buy new (or new-to-you) furniture when you can shop your own house! She immediately loved that idea and no longer hated that chair because now it 1) had a purpose, 2) made sense style- and color-wise, 3) was saving her $ since she already had it, and 4) got it out of its original despised spot.

Now, for that big beautiful portrait art piece. Reminder:

So, I like this piece, and Kimmy LOVES this piece. But, this lady is just too pensive and moody for the feeling I wanted to create. So, I asked K if she was open to moving this lady to another space that would be better for brooding. And then I started looking at art. I find a lot of my own art second hand. Or, I should say, they find me. But, while I was waiting for the universe to bring me a great vintage or secondhand piece of art, I knew I had to find a big piece to go in that space and the feel and colors had to bring on that not-drug-induced happy euphoric feeling I was going for. I looked through lots of new art online and sent some over to K. Big new art is expensive. It just is. I fell in love with this piece from Minted (an artist I love and have a few pieces from) and was slowly getting her to agree:

But then. A really great piece fell into my lap AGAIN. And, it costed waaaaaaaaaaaaaay less than the ones I wanted new. I showed it to K and she loved it and LOVED the cost savings, so it was a go. And it really took things in a new direction. Thank you again, universe! Eek! But I’ll show you what it is in the AFTER pictures (coming Friday!). So, I’m going to wrap this very long tale up today with just these notes:

I wanted a gallery wall of art around the TV to fill that space and mix the TV in so it’s not just a big black rectangle on a blank wall. I found all of the art secondhand. I also changed out the floor lamp to match the vibe. K, that’s it for today! No more to share until I show you the final thing FRIDAY!!!

K, byeeeeeeeeeeee! :)