Design Megillah: Interiors

Kitchen & Great Room Redesign: Using Horizontal Stripes

Andy and Lauren asked me for help with their kitchen/great room. The walls were a blah tan and they wanted to introduce some color and excitement to this not very exciting space. I loved working on this project because they already owned some beautiful pieces of furniture and the room has some nice features going for it, like a large picture window and great hardwood floors.

Here's how it looked before:

Here is the redesign:

Family Room Makeover: From 60's to Today

This room had a lot of good things going for it--cathedral ceilings, large windows and natural light. The family lived here for a few years before calling me for design help.

Here is the before:

The sixties called...they want their mirrored wall back!

The brick fireplace was not much better.

Here are the afters...

Family Room Makeover: Chocolate+Blue

This was another room with great bones in an older home. Although the client purchased the furniture before calling me, I was able to work with what they bought and I used a blue and chocolate color scheme to pull it together.

Pillows can make a huge difference in bringing much needed color to a room. The floral pictures were clip art printed at a copy shop in sepia tone and the white mats were painted blue to add pops of blue throughout the room.

Living/Dining Room Redesign:Using Traditional Earth Tones

This living room is totally open to the dining room. The couple asked me if they could re-use their existing furniture. Because everything was good quality, I suggested upholstering the sofa and chairs and changing the colors in the room.

We used a fall color palette--a mixture of terracotta and rusts. The prints above the sofa are one large photo I ordered online and cut to fit the six frames.

The dining room repeats the same colors used in the living room.

Our Empty Nest: Our "Downsized" Home

Six years ago, we moved from a 2800 square foot home to a 1600 square foot home.
The house is a ranch built in the sixties and the previous owners did nothing in terms of updating.

Here is a peak of the kitchen before we moved in...

Below is the kitchen after a lot of work!

The kitchen doesn't get as much sunlight as I'd like, so I kept all the colors light and fresh. I choose glass front cabinets to keep things open and light, shaker style. I think of this room as modern/cottage.

Here is a before of the laundry room...

Here is the after. No reason why storage can't be beautiful.

Living Room...

Soft blue/greens and browns give this room a Coastal feel.

The dining room was turned into a den...

Wallpapering one wall gives a lot of impact for not much money.

The foyer of our home has been completely transformed with paint. The walls got a horizontal striped treatment using a metallic glaze for a shimmery effect.

The ceiling was painted chocolate and the olive green slate floor was given a faux stone treatment with a coat of varnish to protect the finish. It has held up surprising well, after six years.

This was my daughter's room for a very short time...she got married less than a year after the room was completed! I let her choose the color and afterwards I kind of freaked when I saw she choose this intense green, since my taste is for more subtle colors...

but I love how it turned out. The black and white prints are from a Dover clip art book that I took to a copy shop and had them blow up to fit two 20 x 28 inch frames.

Den Update:A Fresh Approach

This den had good quality furniture that the homeowners wanted to keep. The room cried out for some much needed updating and freshness.

Here is the before...

Here is the after...

The owners have a large dog and asked for fabrics and colors that would hide the dirt. Natural woven shades replaced the outdated curtain panels. The framed art is fabric that I cut and taped to mats in the frames.

Family Room Makeover

This bright sunny family room is a second floor rental. The abundance of windows makes it an inviting room because of all the natural light that pours in. Here’s what it looked like before the family moved in:

Soft grey walls replaced the original yellow paint color. A large sectional in black leather fills the space without the need for too much extra seating. White curtain panels add softness without closing off light. The kidney shaped coffee table was a Craig’s List find. Here's the after:

Purchasing two identical floor lamps instead of one, not only gives more light but adds balance. It’s always a good idea to buy in doubles or more for added impact instead of using one item.

Pillows are the easiest way to bring in much needed color without spending much money or committing—easy to change in a few years if tastes change. The “art” above the sofa also adds to the color—it's scrap booking paper that I taped into inexpensive frames which come matted for instant framed artwork.