Client Story: A Cozy, Comfortable Family Room

The client hired me to help her find an area rug for her family room...and depending on budget, maybe a new sofa and loveseat, as well.

She and her husband have a little boy who just started kindergarten and a newborn daughter. They wanted to create a more inviting family room that was conducive to hanging out, watching television, and doing homework. Her first priority was a rug because their daughter will be crawling and walking soon and she wanted a soft place for her to land.

Here are the "Before" pictures...




Things to keep in mind...

Normally, we would have taken into account the sofa when shopping for the rug, but the client was ready to replace hers and wanted me to consider the paint colors above anything else. She had recently had her family room, foyer and the adjacent dining room painted. She really liked the colors and didn't want to change them.

The dining room (which can be seen from the family room) is painted blue (somewhere between navy and royal blue). So this told us that our primary colors needed to be green and blue.

The client also prefers the "English Country" style...traditional, yet comfortable.

They also have this wonderful entertainment center that looks great in the room and offers a lot of much-needed storage, so it was staying. My recommendation was to remove the picture (on the right) and center the bookshelves on the wall, then spruce up the bookcases with books and pictures to tie everything together.

Here are the "AFTER" pictures...

After a lot of shopping, we found an area rug that met all of our criteria. The primary colors were green and blue, the design was traditional and the price was right!

Because we saved so much on the rug, we started shopping for a sofa. The client wanted it to have an attached back and deep cushions as she and her husband are both tall. We found this entire set for a steal and opted to buy the whole thing. Her husband wanted the ottoman, so we gave him his way! I like everyone to be happy.

As you can see from the picture, the sofas are brown and blue. Brown was our third accent color. The blue in the sofas pulled from the blue in the dining room nicely and also matched the matte in the picture hanging over the loveseat. We'll eventually add some throw pillows with a little bit of green in them to tie it all together, but for now, we turned to the entertainment center.

The client had a box of books in her basement, so we used the best ones. To make bookshelves look stylish and organized, it helps to remember this tip...1/3-1/3-1/3...meaning you want 1/3 of the shelves to contain books, 1/3 to contain pictures and accessories and 1/3 to be open space.

Here are some close-ups of each bookshelf. As you can see, you also want to try and use accessories that are similar in color, style and scale. It's easier than it looks, I promise. We did these bookshelves using only the homeowner's existing accessories and picture frames.




What's Next?


As you can see from this picture, the lamp in the corner is from the Arts & Crafts style and doesn't go with our new English Country look. It doesn't look bad, but it could look better, so we're currently shopping for another lamp that's more in keeping with the new style.

We're also looking for a new accent table. We'd like to find something round, but with four legs. A pedestal table would look great, but stability is going to be a big issue with a little one learning to walk soon and although pedestal tables look fabulous, they are easily turned over.

With the big items purchased, we're now going to work on accessorizing this foyer table. Check back to see how it turns out!

With this client, budget was of particular concern. She didn't want to spend more than $5,000. So far, we've spent approximately $3,000 and all we need to buy are accessories so I feel pretty confident that we'll be able to come in well under the client's budget and that makes the client (and me) very happy!

Creating Cornice Boards

Cornice boards can do a lot to maximize the look of a room and help you make the most of your windows and window treatments. They are the "master of disguise" for most designers because they can help make windows look taller, shorter, or wider dependng on how you choose to use them. They can also help you solidify the "style" of your room or help you coordinate a certain fabric in your room by giving it a place on your walls. Here are three examples...

Fabric Cornice Board

The homeowner loved this fabric when she saw it, but didn't love the price. It was pretty expensive. She wanted to use it in her master bedroom but knew that if we bought enough of the fabric to make a king-size bedspread that our budget would be blown before we ever even made it to the window treatments.

The solution? We bought enough fabric to make a custom dust ruffle and shams that would coordinate with a store-bought bedspread and then bought two extra yards to make fabric cornice boards. This helped give the homeowner a custom-looking bedroom at a fraction of the price.

To make a fabric cornic board...

(1) Measure the width of your window including the trim. If you want your window treatments to make your window appear wider than it is, add at least six inches on to either side.

(2) Next, determine how far you want your cornice board to come out from the window. I recommend at least six inches...any less than that and you won't have room for your drapery hardware.

(3) Cut MDF board to your specifications and put together using wood screws and wood glue.

(4) Using a staple gun, attach cotton batting to the board.

(5) Then attach your fabric. For a professional finish, fold hospital corners in the same direction. NOTE: If you are working with a fabric that contains a motif such as this one or a large-scale print, make sure you center it onto your board. If you are making identical boards for matching windows, take care to match the two.

Another challenge we needed to address with these windows was the street light outside. The client's husband wanted a drapery that could be closed every night because the streetlight at the end of their driveway shown right into his eyes at night...even through the blinds. We made drapery panels out of a much less expensive coordinating fabric and lined them with black-out lining and here was the final product.



Wooden Cornice Board #1

We opted for a cornice board in my daughter's room because it's a rear-facing room that doesn't get a lot of sunlight and we wanted to take care not to block any light if we could. We also wanted to use the existing blind, but wanted to be able to hide it. We could have gone with a fabric window treatment and still hidden the blind, but one of the beds sits very close to this window and I was afraid it would make that side of the room appear "fabric-heavy."

Wooden Cornice Board #2

We chose cornice boards for this room for a couple of reasons. First, this is a very traditional room in a Colonial Williamsburg home so cornice boards are appropriate to the style of the home.

Secondly, the window on the left sat closer to the entryway for the room than the other window did to the wall. If we'd gone with traditional drapery hardware, it would have appeared cramped and awkward...and even blocked the entryway somewhat.

The cornice board was the perfect solution to hide the drapery, yet still give the room the symmetrical appearance that Williamsburg Colonial is noted for.




We also chose to hang the cornice boards in this room higher up the wall in order to make the windows seem larger and more elegant.

To make wooden cornice boards:

Follow the steps above, but attach a crown molding of your choice. You can attach it to the top only or to the top and bottom as we did here. You will need a miter or coping saw for this project...or of course, you can hire me!

NOTE: In these examples, the cornice boards are decidedly traditional, but they can be made to suit almost any decor. If you prefer a modern, more streamlined appearance you can use anything from metal flashing to a simple wood box painted silver.

I have also done upholstered cornice boards with metal upholstery tacks and painted a faux leather finish that turned out better than I expected it would!

Greeting Cards = Great Artwork!

Do you have an expanse of wall or a smaller space that's just crying out for artwork? If so, here are two inexpensive options to consider using greeting cards.

Idea #1:

This is a young girl's bathroom but it also occasionally serves as a guest bathroom. The homeowner wanted artwork that was appropriate to her young daughter's age, but not too "cartooney", "cutesy" or "theme-y." I took that to mean, No Disney and No Dora the Explorer, but still something child-friendly yet adult-appropriate.

We had two identical towel bars on either side of a vanity with double sinks so the artwork needed to be small in scale to fit on the narrow walls and over the towel bars.

We decided that the best option would be four coordinating images in 5x7 frames. When we found these greeting cards, we knew we'd hit the jackpot.


The bathroom was painted a soft blue and the accent colors were yellow and green. These cards contained all of those colors and the brown-haired fairies even looked remarkably similar to the homeowner's little girl. The images were sweet without being too "cartoonish."

To frame the cards, we bought inexpensive 5x7 frames from Wal-Mart.


We painted them white and then lightly sanded down the edges to give the frames an "antiqued" appearance.

We had to have the mattes custom-cut for the cards so they would fit into the frames. We chose a soft yellow to match the guest towels in the bathroom.

We had two of the guest towels monogrammed with the homeowner's daughter's initial and VOILA! We have sweet and girly, yet not too cutesy or cartooney artwork without spending a lot of money. It was just what the homeowner requested!

Cost for this Project: I spent $1.5o per card for each of the greeting cards. The frames were $3.00 a piece and I used leftover white paint from a previous project. The mattes were custom-cut for $3.00 a piece. In total, this project cost $28.00...but the best part is that it's original and one-of-a-kind!

Estimated Completion Time: A little over two hours, counting the trip to Hobby Lobby to have the mattes cut.

Degree of Difficulty: On a scale from 1 to 10, I would give this a 1. The hardest part was finding greeting cards with an appropriate subject for our project and that only took an afternoon.

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Idea #2:
Usually, I go shopping with my project already in mind, but in this case, I did it backward. I found this birthday card one day and bought it without any idea of how I would use it, I just knew I would so I put it away. Little did I know then, that I would end up using it in my own daughter's bedroom.

After we moved my daughter into her big-girl room, we had some empty space on either side of the dresser and it made the wall look kind of bare.


Remembering the paper doll birthday card I had bought months before, I decided to use it to create one-of-a-kind artwork for my daughter's room.

Here's the breakdown:

I bought four shadow boxes at Hobby Lobby. They were $3.99 a piece, but on sale that day for 40% off...


The frames were made with unfinished wood, so I had to paint them.

TIP: With unfinished wood, it's a good idea to sand it down with 220-grit sandpaper before you paint. Otherwise, the wood will rise with the paint and make it appear scratchy and rough.


And don't forget..."Take the time to prime!" Memorize it...Know it...Live it. If there is any tip I can give you that will help you give your painting projects a more professional outcome, it is primer. I never paint anything without priming the wood first.

To save money, I used the leftover paint we used to paint my daughter's furniture. The color is Cream Delight by Valspar.

I thought it would be cute to use a coordinating paper behind each of the dolls to give each box an individual look and make it just a little more interesting to look at. It's scrapbook paper and I bought it at Hobby Lobby too. (Just a note to the CEO of Hobby Lobby..."You're welcome.")

Now with any shadow box, the key is the shadow. I used a foam board. I went with a 10mm depth which is the thickest size. I did it because this particular shadow box was kind of deep and I wanted the doll to really stand out. I cut the board lengthwise, long enough where it would give a strong foundation to the paper doll and widthwise, I cut it thin enough where you wouldn't be able to see it from the side.

I attached it to the back of the doll with double-sided mounting tape. I used mounting tape because I wanted the bond to be stronger than probably regular Scotch tape could provide.

After that, I put the lids on each box and called it a day! This was a fun project and I love the idea that my daughter now has totally original artwork for her room that's cute and girly, but says nothing about her being a "diva," "princess," or "drama queen." Because she's none of those things...at least not every day. ;o)









I'd never done this project before, and although it seems pretty straight-forward, I'd like to share a couple of lessons I learned...

I'm almost too embarrassed to tell you this, but I suppose if I didn't think to do it, someone else might not either. The shadow boxes come with the hanging hardware already attached. When you go to glue the doll inside the box, make sure you check the back first so you don't accidentally glue the doll upside down. I did it on, not one box, but two before I realized what I'd done.

Take the time to tape off the frame with painter's tape to protect the glass. I didn't and it was a real chore to get all the paint to come off when the project was done.

To do this project, you will need:
4 Shadow Boxes - $9.40
4 Pieces of Scrapbook Paper - $1.16
Spray Adhesive
Paint and Primer
Double-sided Mounting Tape - $4.99
10mm foamboard - 4.99
Birthday Card - 4.99

Total Cost: Approximately $26.00
Timeframe to Complete: Approximately 4 hours
Degree of Difficulty: On a scale of 1 to 10, I would give it a 3.

Client Story: DeCluttered Bookcases

BEFORE:

This client is putting her house on the market and wanted me to de-clutter and stage her home for sale. This is the bookcase in the upstairs den. The family has lived in this house for more than ten years and in that time, these bookcases have become the catch-all for clutter and collectables.

GETTING STARTED:

Actually, the bookcases didn't look that bad, they just needed to be streamlined and de-cluttered. I started out by taking everything off the shelves so I could work with a clean slate.

Then, starting in the lower, right hand corner, I began to replace the books and accessories in a manner that was easier for the eye to follow. This is a rather large room and the bookcases stretch the entire length of one wall. Because of this, we decided that fewer, larger accessories would be on a more appropriate scale than lots of smaller accessories.

The biggest thing to keep in mind when organizing bookcases is that the binding of the books creates a lot of color, so by organizing them in a the way that is pleasing to the eye, you eliminate that chaotic feeling. To help with symmetry and flow, break up the books by adding accessories, plants and photos.

AFTER:





Tip: Not all of your books need to be stored side-by-side. It helps to break up the monotony by stacking some of them on their side.

This room looks a lot like a library in an English country home. The homeowner has it furnished with comfortable leather sofas and it's wood-paneled...so cozy! Oftentimes, in libraries, artwork is hung from the bookcase because of the lack of actual wall-space. In keeping with the spirit of the English country home, we opted to hang this clock from the client's bookcase.

Here, it serves two purposes...one decorative and one practical. Decorative, because it helps break up the expanse of books on the wall and practical because the homeowner wanted a clock on this wall that could be seen easily from across the room.

As you can see, we eliminated the cluttered look of these bookcases while still finding plenty of room to store the client's collection of books.

Cost for this project: $0. We used only accessories that the homeowner already had.
Estimated time to complete this project: Approximately 3 hours
Degree of Difficulty: On a scale from 1 to 10, this project was a 3.