Before and After: A Fresh Take on an Outdated Family Room and Living Space

 

  I absolutely love seeing before and after photos of rooms that have

been completely redone.  Perhaps it's the brilliance and stark difference

in the transformation itself or the fact that a room can be imagined in 

million ways.  This family room or common living space is functional,

chic, fresh and posh.  I love the neutral color palette with brilliant pops

of color all around the room.  Don't forget the shiny nail heads and 

sparkling lamp for some glamour and posh... And all the fantastic 

shelves for much needed storage.

 

 Can you believe this is what the room looked like before?

Totally outdated and just blehh.

 

 

Fortunately, the room has great architectural bones and details.

And born out of that old outdated room is a completely 

transformed and beautiful room.  What a stark difference. 

The designer blended all kinds of furniture and textures for

 a cohesive room - a knack not everyone has naturally. 

A built in bench seat with drawers for storage below is the 

perfect complement to the bay windows.  The bench seat

looks so inviting with all of the pretty pillows and throw.

 It never hurts to have a statement piece like the wing chair

in a gorgeous fabric.

 

When in doubt, a mirror above a fireplace mantel is always

a good bet.  Pair with mercury glass, frames or colored glass

and you'll always have a winning combination.

 

 

A great use of an unutilized corner.  Love the pretty curves on

the underside of the desk.  A writing desk can always be used - to 

put a laptop, write cards, and to sort mail, papers or magazines.

 

 Anything such as an end table that can do double duty like storing 

toys is always worth its weight in gold.  The nail head like finishing

on the storage bin gives a posh look to the room.

 

The finishing touches and details such as this fuzzy rabbit

often make all the difference.  It gives the room such a 

cozy and homey feel.  

So what's you're favorite thing about this redo?  Are you 

inspired to overhaul any of your rooms at home?  Projects

on the horizon? 

Feng Shui
Before & After

I'm sure many of you have heard of Feng Shui.  I may admit

that some of it may sound hokey or new age, but it's actually

been around for hundreds of years.  For those skeptics, even

if you don't believe in "chi" and energy flow, many feng shui

principles around the design and arrangement of items in the

home are actually sound principles that can in fact make a 

positive impact in your surroundings.  You can always take

away the specific concepts that resonate with you.  The book

above called Feng Shui Before & After is a great introduction

to basic Feng Shui principles in your home.  Don't worry and

have fun!

Photos from DIY magazine

A Chic and Gorgeous Seaside Cottage Renovation

Moving from the "Sound" side house from the earlier post this week,

I thought I would show a very different kind of waterside home.

Jill Johnson is a designer who lives in Manhattan Beach, California.

The house was redone on the inside and outside from scratch - and

as you can see above - with fantastic results for a 1800 sq ft home

where every crook and cranny was put to good use.

I really adore the kitchen and how she used accessories to add a

splash of color (greens and blues.)

Can you believe this was the kitchen before? 

The kitchen was a complete teardown.

A closer look at the details of the kitchen - white cabinets

with luxurious marble and nickel pulls.  Green and blue dishes

and accessories litter the kitchen.

As I mentioned before, the house is only 1800 sq feet and so

every space there was, nooks and drawers were built in

including this sofa across from the kitchen.

The original exterior of the house.

After exterior renovations...Now that's what I call

a Major upgrade on the curb appeal of this home. 

The new window shutters, wood shingle siding and

 brickwork all make a huge difference including

opening up the car port space.

Here is Jill Johnson hanging out at the front door of her home.

A before shot of the master bedroom.

This is what her bedroom looks like now.  Absolutely

divine isn't it?  I adore the colors she used and love her

taste in furniture and fixtures.

A fun living room with lots of different prints.

Her baby's bedroom with a "To die for Armoire" in a

shade of Robin Egg Blue.

What a fun and cozy dining room.  I'm a huge fan of gray and so

I find it cool how she painted the table gray to match the wallpaper

and fabric on the chairs.

Did I mention that I love this woman's taste in furniture?  Right

down my alley with all of the Hollywood Regency references

with the faux bamboo furniture.

So what do you think?  It's sort of like a cottage with a chic and

sophisticated edge to it.  What's your favorite room or thing from

the house?

Photos from Coastal Living

Before & After ~ Bathrooms

I adore before and after images of a space.   They really show the

power of transformation and what can one do with a space though

sheer imagination.  The above bathroom was a very mundane and

outdated bathroom that was totally redone in a clever way with a

skylight and opposing double vanities.  In wall space was very

efficiently used as storage.

Bathroom #2 just totally looks undone.

And Voila!   A gorgeous modern bathroom remade

complete with bead board and architectural details

in the bath tub surround.  Notice how a brilliant

shower curtain can totally transform a bathroom.

This was once a very upscale bathroom - you can tell by

the marble tiles.  However, its days are definitely over.

I love the organic feel of the stone wall in the shower.

This bathroom screams boring track home.

This bathroom however, totally screams custom made

bathroom with a beautiful cottage feel.  What a difference!

A complete Wreck.

And out of the wreck is born a gorgeous unisex

bathroom.  Great for the modern guy or gal.

Hmm.  Probably not to everyone's taste.

White wash it and it becomes a very classy piece.

Wow.  A throw back to the 70's. 

Talk about pink tiles.

And it becomes a classic and traditional bathroom.

Any of you out there thinkign about a bathroom

remodel.  Hope this has given you some inspiration.

Photos from HGTV.com

Kyle Schuneman's Fabulous Makeover for Tyra Bank's Office

Earlier in the year, I did a post on a wonderful

L.A. based interior and set designer called

Kyle Schuneman. He did a makeover for

Tyra Bank's office earlier in the year which

I think is absolutely fantastic. You can tell

that his makeover would be affordable for

the average person.

I adore looking at before and after photos. And
what a huge difference it is before and after!

Kyle really did wonders for this office. Seeing the

before and after photos really gives one a sense of

the transformation that took place.

The photographer responsible for much

of Kyle's fantastic work is Joe Schmelzer.

I adore the mirrored dresser. Kyle put a lot of

mirrored finishes aroudn the office for a super

chic and glam feel.

Here are some closer up photos of the office.

He found room for a chaise and a little

mirrored end block to serve as an end table.

The frames are so much fun.

The purple colored water in the vase

is a cheap way to create an absolutely

awesome detail.

So what do you think? You can totally

tell that he made this transformation on

a reasonable budget. I couldn't help

but go nuts over this office!

Photos from the Love List and Bloomacious

Photography by Joe Schelmzer