Red Master Bedroom

Today I want to show you a Before and After of a master bedroom. The Client had already started moving furniture and taking down photos in prep for my arrival, when these photos were taken. You can see that the room is small, but the bedroom furniture is not...

 

 

 The back view, into the bathroom and closet:

 

 

 The design challenges here: A large TV mounted on the wall. Beautiful but bulky furniture. Lots of artwork and photos but nowhere to display them. Paint color that the Client disliked. Two walkways that needed to stay open, limiting furniture arrangement. A tight budget. A bad view. No overhead lighting.

 

The biggest design challenge here was in marrying the very large, dark wood furniture set with a very small room. Often the decision, when trying to make a room feel bigger, is to use light bright colors to open the space. That is one way to go, but not ALWAYS the solution. In every consultation I ask:

How do you want this space to feel?

 

The Clients response was key. When I heard her say

"I want a retreat, a sanctuary..."

I knew the solution was in going with the limitations, and painting the walls one of the Clients favorite colors...a deep, warm and rich red. (Devine paints "Paprika")

 

When you have a small space, sometimes the answer isn't the illusion of bigger, but to really embrace the cozy factor!

Now, instead of the contrast of dark wood standing out starkly against the light yellow walls, emphasizing the tiny room? The furniture and walls are in the same tone, blending into each other and the eye sees cohesiveness. This is a great trick to remember, when you have a room element that you want to disappear. Help those edges blend and visually disappear by avoiding contrast, and the room will feel softer! Save your room wall paint and use it if you need to unify the room elements.

If you have drapery rods that bug you? Paint them the same wall color and they "disappear". An ugly wooden shelf that distracts from the pretty objects displayed there? Paint it the wall color. It doesn't have to be the wall color either, just the most dominant color in the room. For example, if the end tables in your living room stand out, paint them in tones more similar to your sofa upholstery or

flooring color to help unify the space.

 

 

The Client loves mirrors and had this large one that we had removed from the living room on a previous job. In order to reflect more light from the opposite walls' window, we hung it sideways. Since the walls paneling had a deep crack in it, we "hid" that flaw with a string of pagoda lights, adding ambiance, light and more romance to the space. Knowing that the Client works during the day and the room was mainly used at night, I added only soft lighting. There is no overhead lighting in this room, so we needed to compensate for that, but without a need for direct lighting we could go in a cozier direction. Lighting really makes or breaks a room. Almost every job I've done I've added at least 2 lamps!

 

In order to help the TV blend in, plus display the Clients art, I created a simple gallery wall. Leaving every other wall in the room blank so that all attention is on this area and filling it all the way to the ceiling height was key. I would've loved to have all the frames in matching colors, but this was a one afternoon--use what is here--get it accomplished kind of day! We painted the bedroom red, the short hallway cream, and the interior doors a deep black...waiting for paint to dry was the longest part of the job! I couldn't wait to get started on this gallery wall, containing  artwork, a poem, reminders of past jobs, mementos from travel, colorful and meaningful items... all visible from the comfort of her king size bed. Before the job began, I had asked the Client to assemble all her favorite wall art for me. Then, as I hung items I went around her home and "stole" favorite photos of her husband, daughter, and more, to fill in the space completely. Now the big dark TV isn't a hole in the wall, but surrounded by personal reminders of my Clients very precious, beautiful life...

This corner window has an ugly view of construction equipment on the right but a lovely garden view on the left..We hung sheers up only on the right, to hide the bad view but allow light in.Design wise, I'd prefer sheers on both but the Client is happy because she can see her garden from the chairs now!

 

 

 

The corner is dark and is the one area the Client needs bright light to use her laptop. Knowing the Client loves her white paper Ikea lanterns in the living room, I added a corner hanging light in a similar style to those, found at the thrift store for only $2.99! I also added a small shelf table (in the same creamy tones of the chairs) to rest her laptop on and add more usefulness to the area.

 

 

This corner, previous to the redesign, didn't tie in to the rest of the room. It visually "sunk"

because every other area of the small room had very  tall, dark furniture, but low, light colored chairs alone down here. In order to bring the eyes up and visually balance the space, I hung dark brown patterned fabric across the top of the windows, in a faux roman shade type style.  On a tight budget and with very specific color requirements, I found the perfect pattern in, of all places, the Target shower curtain aisle! Keep your eyes open to every option, and it will eventually present itself. $19.99 for the curtain, cut in half, hemmed and hot glued...redesign in its element, here.

In every consultation I ask "what items do you absolutely want to keep?" because I recognize that very often we have personal attachment to furniture or artwork. It doesn't matter if the item doesn't "match" or relate to the room...my job is to help it flow as much as possible. The Client had two heirloom bamboo chairs with real jade inlaid into the backs. Because these chairs were old, beautiful and her mothers...they needed to stay. Now, design wise they might be too small and too light for the room, but my role is one of collaboration. How can I help my Client use what she has and loves? Its easy to say "Doesn't work. Get rid of it." I enjoy the creative challenge of  "Love it. Can we make it work, somehow?" YES.

 

I decided to take the color of the jade and the cream color of the chairs and incorporate that into the design plan. Now, how to marry the deep red walls with jade green and keep it all from looking

like a bad Christmas card? The key was in the bedding. I searched and searched until I found the

perfect bedding that would tie it all together...Knowing my Client dislikes anything that is too country style, I found a Bohemian quilt with lots of color and almost gypsy, Indian style pattern in it. With the perfect cream background, the deep red of the walls, chocolate brown and touches of the green jade color we needed. It helped unify the artwork and chairs in such a way as to create the harmony needed in a room with so many colors!

 

The Client texts me every now and then, saying again how much she is enjoying her retreat.

She longed for a sanctuary, and now she truly has one and its so very HER. Success!

 

Dining Room Makeover

This is the left side of the room, the second part of the Living Room Makeover I posted about!

The photos were taken with my phone and are a bit grainy in the "Before" and a bit dark in the "After" but they show the difference pretty well, still!

 

 

 

We had already moved the bookshelves and started the job when I remembered my camera. What we did in this room (besides move bookshelves!)

1. Painted the paneling a warm cream

2.Moved all the office supplies to the (surprise!) office.

3.Hung a wreath in the window to echo the circle shapes we used in the living room.

4. Added more lighting to the dark space by spray painting a $3 thrift store lamp in matte black and adding a modern drum shade.

5. "Borrowed" a beautiful cloisonne pot from the backyard for the beautiful jade plant that just wasn't as beautiful in it's black plastic nursery pot.

6. Painted the stained white canvas chair seats (more on this below)

7. Mostly? We did a lot of accessory swapping and re-vamping!

 

Notice how dark the room was, even in the mid-morning:

 

 

 

Ta-da!

 

 

 

 

 

The white cotton canvas seats on the chairs were stained from years of use. (Why do furniture manufacturers use such impractical material, anyway?!) We talked about re-covering them in a new fabric which isn't very difficult. I've often recovered seats, and it only takes some time, attention, and a good staple gun. However, in this case we were dealing with time and money constraints and I decided to simply paint the cushions. You know how when you drip a little latex house paint on your jeans and it NEVER, ever washes off? The answer is yes, you can paint fabric and it lasts forever, is super durable and even scrubbable, once dried!
Since I know the client well, I knew she'd like green...and it tied in well with her green kitchen which is adjacent...and I happened to have the perfect shade on hand, since it was leftover from my own kitchen!

 

The trick is to use latex paint (acrylic is too watery) and apply it in two thin layers instead of one thick one (therefore, no streaks or bumps) and this type of cotton canvas is the perfect material for this method because it absorbs so well. Oh and to save time, tape off the wood with blue painters tape instead of removing the seats!

 

 

Home Office Organization

Making your home comfortable and inviting is more than painting the walls and hanging artwork! That's why Fresh (re)Design is more than decorating, because I love to organize a room! Maybe you enjoy what I call "the frosting" adding those pretty touches to your home, but the clutter is distracting from that great look you had envisioned?
If you need some hands-on help, someone to come in, roll up their sleeves and help you tackle that overflowing closet or office space, I'm your girl. Don't be embarrassed, either...I have three sons, and seriously, there is no amount of mess that fazes me! (I've seen and smelled some rough things, let me tell you!)
Today's post is about a Client who wanted a little help re-designing her office space.
Check out this Before and After!

There are exciting plans for this home, and especially for this combined dining room/office area. New paint, flooring, window treatments and more (that I cannot wait to show you!) With holidays around the corner, this family wisely chose to wait until the New Year to start the (re)Design. No problem. Except, wait! Out-of-town family will be coming for Thanksgiving dinner...and this is their view from the table! The Client and I quickly decided to break her project down into two jobs, and make Stage One happen NOW. I tied on my super-decorator cape and swooped over for the afternoon, reassuring her the whole way that we really could fix this, even  without purchasing anything new.

This home office serves a busy homeschooling family with three children, and Mom also needs to run her small business out of this area. It easily gets cluttered, with so much going on each day!
The challenges:
1. The space is only about 10 by 12 feet across and the entire area in front needs to remain clear as it is a walkway to the kitchen and the backyard.
2. A non-functioning fireplace on one side (that drips) and large windows on the other.
3. Not enough storage. The oak bookcases are large but without doors they hide nothing. The owner doesn't necessarily love their style, but can't afford to replace them just yet. On the plus side-they are sturdy and high quality and "almost" fill the back wall.
4. Two computers and two printers that are all used daily, but the long desk to hold them all had become a clutter catcher, with constant piles on its long horizontal surface.
5. Homeschool paraphernalia and art, while adorable, had taken over the walls and bulletin board, leaving no room for Moms photography business to really shine!

Are you ready to make some changes in your home but feeling limited by a tight budget? I can help you tackle your large projects, and am thrilled to work with you in stages.

 

After three hours or so of working together? A much calmer space...all ready for Turkey Day!

 

To meet the challenges of the space, The Client and I worked together and:

1. Replaced the long L shaped desk with a wonderful antique oak table the Client already had. Putting the computers in an L around the top loading printer made a tight but efficient workspace that will prevent clutter from piling up. In order to fit the second printer in the space, I borrowed a small sewing cabinet she had in her dining area and tucked it into the corner.

2. Swapped the contents of the black chest of office supplies (that they use frequently) to board games (used less often) and moved those to a different cabinet which the kids can open more easily. (A big part of my job is learning how YOUR family uses a space, and helping you to do that more efficiently) on top of this chest, each child has her schoolwork in a separate bin for daily use. The big chest also hides the ugly, open fireplace and underneath it was a perfect spot for storing the large rotary mats and guillotine paper cutter the Client uses for her photos.

3. Tidied up bookshelves and decluttered baskets. Hung the clock a little higher and added some personal touches to the middle shelf to catch the eye. Examples of Moms lovely work now displayed above the mantel and a soft light above the bookshelf and ahh...

Mobile Home Makeover

Most of us don't live in our dream home, do we? Very few of us have the financial resources to make our house "ideal" with stunning architecture, expansive square footage or sweeping views. But just because its smaller or older than you may like, doesn't mean your home can't accurately reflect YOU, and be a warm welcoming haven for your family. This is my goal, when you hire me for a redesign job. I spend time learning who you are, how you use the space and what makes YOUR heart sing. A cozy, serene space that brings lively comfort to all who enter? That doesn't come from architecture, nor views. You don't have to wait for your "dream home". It can be achieved in a short time, on a very tight budget, and I can help. Here is a great example...

Though the client had a beautiful collection of art and accessories, she was frustrated with her dark and dated manufactured home. The combined living and dining room is a great floor plan, but arranging furniture in such a way as to not block the many walkways had been a frustration.
Enter Fresh ReDesign! The "Before"

 

 

 

 

 

One day of work and around $100 in supplies later, we had this:

Issues addressed in this area:
1. Brightened the room by painting the back walls a warm, creamy neutral color. The client didn't want to paint ALL of the paneling, and it didn't need it. Just doing the back wall made the room feel much more expansive and became a bright focal point.

2. Rearranged the furniture for better flow, including swapping out the TV table for a smaller one from the dining room. Then hung a coordinating fabric behind the table in order to hide the many electric cords and neaten up the area..

3. Edited out extra accessories and limited the color palette to mainly red, cream and black for congruity.

4. Added layers of texture to counteract the many smooth surfaces (TV, paneling, windows, coffee table) by adding plants, baskets, throw blanket and more light. Most of these extras were purchased at the Goodwill for very little expense.

5.Broke up the many rectangle shapes (again, in the TV, windows, tables, mirrors, posters) by adding the three round plates above the television, then repeating that shape via the Japanese sun in the art print hung nearby.

6. Painted the old black wood stove chimney in the ceiling to help it visually "disappear". This worked far better than the blue paper parasol the client had tried to hide it with formerly.

7. Added the large area rug from another room to soften the space under the coffee table. As you can see, a big part of the re-design is "shopping the house" in order to restyle using what you already have and love, just in new ways!

8. Removed a large, dated mirror from the back wall and re-purposed it in another room. (to be shown tomorrow!)

The very best part of this day was the clients reaction when she walked in and saw her new room! This was my first paid job (despite years of fun playing house for myself, brave friends and desperate family members)  Hilary had believed in me so much that when she heard my hesitant-but-hopeful talk of doing it as a job, she had jumped up, pressed money into my hand and exclaimed "Do it! And I want to be your first client!" She had so much confidence in me, that it gave me boldness to move forward. And now the job was done, and I'd had fun...but would she like it? If she did, it meant yes-I could I actually pursue doing something that was so fulfilling and fun for a real job.

Her tears of happiness and exclamations of disbelief was such a joyful relief to me. They fanned the little spark of hope in me into a bright flame! Hence, this blog and the business Fresh ReDesign was born. Thank you, Hilary, for trusting me with your home, and believing in me! It was great fun!


"Do what you love and you'll never work a day in your life." 
 -Warren Buffet

My home on the web.

What makes a home welcoming?

(my three sons "home" built with their Dad and Grandfather by scrap wood in patient trees!)
Is it the colors, the arrangement of the pictures, or the wide smile and enthusiastic greeting of the friend who throws the door wide open to your knock?
Well, this pretty little blog is the brand spankin' new "home" to my current business adventure. Consider these little tapped out words to be the equivalent of my pulling out the coziest seat and offering you an iced tea!

What is Fresh ReDesign? It's an affordable decorating service that offers consulting...rearranging...shopping...painting...sewing...organizing...and mostly? Fresh eyes and new vision for your design challenges! That room that is frustrating you, the decorating decisions you might be stuck on, the area you've tried to rearrange to no avail?  I love that! Seriously.
Love it like nerds love pocket protectors.

For more information, including my design philosophy...check the "About Me" page.

If you live locally, check out the "Get Fresh" page for more information about just how I can help you, fees and a consultation page.

And don't forget to check this blog frequently for clients before and afters, tips for decorating on a budget, DIY projects and more! Thanks for stopping by! 

Welcome!

Welcome to my new adventure!