Loving this Makeover!

(all photos via houseandhome.com)

Happy Monday!  I see plenty of before and afters and some are predictable and some really knock my socks off.  I found this makeover at House and Home and I truly love everything about it.  I found myself going back and forth between the befores and afters and thinking, "How did she do that?"  Here are some things that I particularly love:

1.  I think her place before was something we can all relate to.  Not awful, nice bones, but they really didn't reflect any style or personality.  I think we all have or have had rooms like these.  How inspiring to see how furniture placement, paint and being selective with choosing some really interesting pieces can just really change a space COMPLETELY!

2.  Painting the trim and wall the same color.  I know I tend to think, "Oh I want to highlight the trim or the crown molding, so I purposely choose a different wall color.  But after looking at several of her rooms, the thing that really makes the room seem bigger and the walls almost recede and seem endless is that there's no definition between, wall and window.  Except for the bathroom, it shows how interesting white walls and trim can be!  Inspiring if you can't or don't want to paint.

3.  Texture!  We've heard all designers talk about texture, but it really does make a space come alive.  Check out each of Emma's rooms... Maybe with the exception of the bathroom, every space as a bit of nature (trees, branches and flowers) , metallics (gold or metal finishes), sleek, hard surfaces and lots of soft throws and furs.

Enjoy these pics!  Thanks Emma for the inspiration!  And click over here to see the full house tour.

Living Room BEFORE

Living Room AFTER
Loving the fig tree, stacked logs, wire chairs and furs

Kitchen BEFORE

Kitchen AFTER
Loving the dark floors, (maybe slate?) and the marble backsplash!
Also, contrasting counter tops.. white on the cooktop side and dark on the island.

Chalkboard door.
What's not to like.  Great place for chalkboard paint if you don't
want to invest in painting a whole wall.

Dining BEFORE

Dining AFTER
Loving the sharp contrast between white and black. 
Another great tree and bold, oversized art.  Too often, artwork is too small.

Master Bedroom BEFORE

Master Bedroom AFTER
Loving the scale of the 2 pieces of artwork and the placement of the bed.
I wouldn't have thought of that, but oh so cozy!  Great textiles too!

Bathroom BEFORE 

Bathroom AFTER
 I actually thought it wwas pretty good to begin with... but...
Loving the blue/black paint and the shower curtain!!
( if you're curious... paint is BM, Raccoon Fur)

Our *new* Dining Chairs

Hey folks!

Here's part 2 of some change we've made in our dining room.  We're really watching our budget these days and I was looking for a way to get new dining room chairs for cheap.  I found these chairs at Goodwill and made them our kitchen chairs.  So then I gave our old kitchen chairs a makeover and they become our new dining chairs.  All in all, I spent about $100 on the chairs and fabric and now have 4 *new* chairs for the kitchen AND dining room.

BEFORE:

Simple IKEA dining chairs that we've had for almost 10 years. 

Not sure of the name, they don't seem to carry these anymore.



AFTER:

An easy project of recovering the seat cushion and making a slipcover for the back.  Nothing too fancy, but a nice inexpensive upgrade.  This will do for awhile.  :)

 

THE PROCESS:

This is how I always start painting my chairs.  Prime first.

As you can see, I did a shortcut.  I knew I'd be slipcovering the top, so I didn't bother painting the back.  If I wanted to be real thorough, I probably could've and that would've given me the option of taking the slipcover off. 

Recovering the seats

Here they are, 1/2 way done.  I just used left over gray paint from the dining room.  Worked perfect.

I slipped a pillowcase over the chair just to get a feel for the finished product.  This was my inspiration for the slipcover.  I don't really sew, so this is about as much as I can handle.

My humble workspace.  :)

Ta Da!  I like the contrasting fabric of the seat cushion and back. 

It's one of those things that is a bit off, but I think it gives it some interest.

The fabric was Waverly Bedazzle Silver Lining.  Found it Joann's for 50% off, $24.99/yd.  Love the slight ikat pattern and the yellow/gray was just right for the room.  Sorry, couldn't find the name of the seat fabric.  It was in the same section, all coordinating fabric with the Bedazzle. 

Lastly... a quick painting tip.  It was SUPER easy to paint my IKEA laminate chairs.  The primer went on smooth and so did the paint.  If you've considered painting your IKEA laminate furniture... do it, it's so easy!

Dining Room Progress

Well before the craziness of preschool and homeschool started in September, I spent some extra time doing projects around the house.  Thank goodness I did, because clearly, I don't have ANY time for it now.  I worked on my dining room in August, the same time I painted our kitchen chairs.  The inspiration for all the chair makeovers was actually getting our dining room to look like a dining room, and not an extra storage room.  As with many things, we're *almost* there. :)

Our dining table is piled up with stuff, again.  Let me tell you, it sure takes some discipline not to have that nice clear dining table as a catch all spot!  I'm almost tempted to set the table.  We'd definitely think twice before throwing stuff on there.  I hope to be able to share pics of our table soon.  :) In the meantime...

Here's our dining room buffet...

BEFORE

And here it is...

AFTER

It was fun styling the buffet top.  The only things that are new are the 2 buffet lamps that I got on clearance at Pier One for about $20 for the pair.  It was a steal!  I had fun shopping our home and seeing what we could use.  I fiddled around with different arrangements and nothing felt right until I added the woven tray.  Once I placed that, everything fell into place.  The tabletop needed some warmth and texture and the tray was just right.

Leftover dining chair fabric helps to bring some more warmth and softness.

I got this frame at Goodwill for $5.  Then I just had foamcore cut at Michael's for about $10 and got chalkboard spraypaint there too.  Voila.  I've always wanted to do this project and it was so easy.  If you've ever thought about, go for it!  So easy and gratifying!

I love maidenhair ferns and this was the perfect spot for this little guy.  Again he adds more softness to an area with alot of sleek, hard surfaces, but more importantly, he also hides the cords from the lamp.  :)

This buffet table will probably change with the sesasons.  I think this will be the perfect place to put my little Christmas village that I got on sale last year.  :)

Tomorrow... pics of our "new" dining chairs.