This summer, my daughter experienced a road trip to Maryland from Maine. Just because I am the mom and the fact that my daughter had never driven further than Boston....I really couldn't relax the whole week my daughter was away. So of course that meant I needed a project to keep my mind from worry. The family room had been the 
first room done when we moved into the house in 
1993, it was time for a change. I wish I had the 
before pictures of the room, but think green and harvest gold stripped wallpaper, heavy wooden cornices over the windows, heavy drapes, and dark harvest gold paint on all the woodwork. My house was built in 1853 and the first owner, a judge, had used the room as a study. That is where I took my decorating cue from, making it again look like a "studious" study. The floor to ceiling shelves were laden with books, antiques, my pottery collection....way too much stuff. I decided for a complete change, the paper came off, walls and ceiling were patched and painted as was the woodwork. If that wasn't change enough, the shelves got decluttered and replaced with some new fun collectibles. Here is a look at how it turned out.
first room done when we moved into the house in 
1993, it was time for a change. I wish I had the 
before pictures of the room, but think green and harvest gold stripped wallpaper, heavy wooden cornices over the windows, heavy drapes, and dark harvest gold paint on all the woodwork. My house was built in 1853 and the first owner, a judge, had used the room as a study. That is where I took my decorating cue from, making it again look like a "studious" study. The floor to ceiling shelves were laden with books, antiques, my pottery collection....way too much stuff. I decided for a complete change, the paper came off, walls and ceiling were patched and painted as was the woodwork. If that wasn't change enough, the shelves got decluttered and replaced with some new fun collectibles. Here is a look at how it turned out.Ilove the lamps. The one on the Eastlake piece is from the 50's. It was so dingy when I found it, I didn't even know it was cream color. The lampshade is a .50 cent lawnsale find. The other lamp, an early 50's find, is a table and lamp combo that makes a perfect end table. I got that at a church sale for $8.00. Actually, the whole room was done in less than a week and for real cheap. The ceiling paint was a simple flat paint, cheaper than ceiling paint, the wall paint was an "oops" paint from the local hardware store, the woodwork paint I already had. The drapes I made from a $1.00 a yard fabric.....I couldn't have bought 4 pre-made 93 inch panels for any less. The large pillow was also $1.00 a yard fabric and the trim was a total of .75 cents. It matched perfectly. The little pillow was actually covered in a different fabric and when I went to redo, got a nice suprise that the original pillow underneath (a lawnsale find for .50 cents) was already a perfect match. I just added some of the trim to make it coordinate even more.
The room went from a dark, heavy, and over stuffed room to light, bright, clean and crisp. The first thing my daughter asked when she returned home....."didn't sleep much did you mom."
No comments:
Post a Comment