Out with the old ... in with the new

"That moment" ... when you discover you have an extra hour because you forgot to set your office clock back. This happened to me yesterday and it was such a gift! How is your week going? Are you enjoying the time change? I am loving getting up with the sun ... I am not loving it getting dark so early.

Several (four?) years ago I purchased an Ikea dresser for our guest room. It was the summer both girls were home. It was a temporary need and at some point the dresser ended up in the kitchen.

When we remodeled our kitchen we threw a marble top on it and it serves as extra storage and occasionally as a sideboard for serving. I never changed the glass knobs I had put on it when it was in the bedroom.

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Add a couple of years, current research on some kitchen remodels I am working on, fabulous Pinterest images of amazing brass hardware, a nice gift card balance at Anthropologie .... can you see where this is going?

Barragan Gleam Knob | Anthropologie

Out with the old ...

In with the new!

I'm kind of loving it!

I am also loving the progress we are making in this living room ... 

Here are a couple of inspiration boards I presented to the client when we started. The goal was to add some color and storage to a plain living room:

This was purchased ...

Britt Bass Turner | via

 The Ikea media cabinet and new lamp is in place ...

And the new pillows are finished. The client found the ottoman at HomeGoods. Love. The new rug is on its way.

You might also remember this board:

I posted about this master bedroom here and here. The mirror arrived and everything is in place. 

My iPhone photos are not doing me any favors these days ... I have got to learn how to use the camera I bought last year ... something else to do in my spare time. 

Oh, and I just saw this! Have you read the book?

Look what I found at HomeGoods!

I just finished a living room I have been working on for a couple of months. What I love about this room the most is that every single accessory including the artwork came from HomeGoods. It excites me to be able to pull together a room that looks much more expensive than it actually is. 

We replaced everything in the room except for the existing wall color, carpet and the television. My client and I spent two days together - one to select furniture and a new area rug, and another to purchase accessories and style it.

Normally when I style a room I use a combination of accessories from HomeGoods and Target and then fill in with a few items from the more expensive stores where I need to. But I got lucky this time and was able to find everything I needed from a few HomeGoods stores.

 Here are a couple of photos of the room before we started:

The client loved the feel of her existing sofa but it was just too big for the room. She wanted to have another sofa that was just as comfortable. I helped her select one that had cleaner lines and the off-white leather helped formalize the room without taking away the comfort. We moved the sectional to the family room which we will be working on next.

We selected side chairs at West Elm during their 30% off sale and I had custom pillows and a new window seat cushion made while we waited for delivery.

The area rug was from West Elm and the side tables and coffee table as well as the media cabinet were from Crate and Barrel.

The biggest eyesore in the room was the television. Putting the media cabinet underneath to anchor it made a world of difference. Here is the TV wall before:

There are still a few adjustments that need to be done with the TV cords and components but you can see how much better it looks already:

I love the way this room turned out and I can't wait to get started on their family room.

Happy Monday everyone!

A one day styling job

The weekend before Thanksgiving, I flew up north to spend a day styling my sister's living room. I had gone up in August to help her select some new furniture and it had finally arrived. It was one of those whirlwind finish-in-one-day jobs - the kind I love!

She had purchased a new sofa and side chair, and the rest of the furniture she already had. 

The goal was to make the room comfortable but also a little more sophisticated. The sofa was purchased with her dog in mind - so we made sure the fabric was easy to clean and also dark. Both the sofa and chair were purchased from Crate and Barrel.

Here is what the room looked like when I arrived. The new furniture was in place but as you can see it needed to be freshly accessorized:

The yellow accent wall was painted when the room was previously her studio - it will be re-painted to match the more neutral side walls.

The wine cabinet was replaced with a more formal looking antique dresser that used to be here years ago and the top of the fireplace was in great need of some updating.

The first thing I did was take measurements and some "before" photos to refer to when I was shopping, and then we headed out to a few stores. We came home with a carload full of stuff and I started placing things where I wanted. We are waiting for a side table for the sofa and a beautiful brass lamp but this is the almost finished room:

Melrose Table Lamp | Crate and Barrel

Moving the antique dresser back in made a huge difference in the "entry" area:

The accessories were a combination of things my sister already had, Homegoods, Crate and Barrel and West Elm. What a difference a day can make, right?