22 February 2012

Client's Living Room Before & After

A couple of years ago around Christmastime, I was contacted by a husband looking to give his wife a design consultation for Christmas.  He bought her a gift certificate & surprised her with it.  We met a month or two later & had a two hour consultation in their home.   I've always thought this was one of the sweetest things ever & thought about the clients from time to time.  She & I had sort stayed in "cyber" touch, and I was thrilled when they contacted me this Fall to redo the living room in their new home.   I would describe their style as very cozy, warm & a bit English.  (Which makes sense as the husband actually is English!)They started with a white box: popcorn ceilings and wall to wall white carpet. They were SO ready to get the house feeling like them and were thrilled to ditch their existing pieces for new ones that reflected their taste.

Here's the room before:

(That's Bailey on the floor :)

And here it is now:


A natural woven rug & shades are on their way but I think the change is already incredible.  CarrMichael Construction ditched the popcorn ceilings and replaced the carpet with hardwood.  The walls were painted  in Benjamin Moore's "gentle cream" to warm up the room.  We kept their existing Victorian wing chair (which is SO similar to my Madhatter chair!!) in its original fabric and added a super-comfortable English arm sofa, storage ottoman for toys & puzzles for their little cutie pie, and skirted wing chair.  My client found everything for the walls at flea markets, antique shops & thrift stores.  (Go Emily!! :)

Here's the other side of the room where there was an awkward opening to the stairs that prevented them from having a balanced seating area and the cozy feeling they were after:



And here it is now, all closed up:



I love the little rush seat bench between the windows:


Here's a close-up of Emily's 'found' artwork above the sofa:


{Sofa pillow fabric: Ralph Lauren floral, Michael Smith's Indian Flower & a discontinued olive green paisley}

I think my favorite little spot is this skirted wing chair with the "goddess" floor lamp:



And finally, here's one more shot of the whole room:



Anyway, I'm off for the day but hope you enjoyed!!  We have another one tomorrrow so I'll be sure to post pics when I can.

xoxo, Lauren

If you'd like help creating a home you absolutely love, contact me about our design services.

Also, I just wanted to add, that due to time contraints & our project schedule, we are only able to take on full-service projects like this one (vs. design consultations like the one I mentioned at the beginning of this post).  I'm looking into the possibility of adding staff & making design consultations available again in the future, but for now, it's full projects only.  I will be sure to let you know if / when this changes!! :) 

27 comments:

  1. So warm and cozy, what a great transformation!
    Nancy
    http://www.powellbrower.com/2012/02/custom-planter-boxes.html

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  2. Before and After posts are always awesome. This is as much a room to relax in now as it is a room to host guests! Love!

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  3. My nose has been pressed to the computer screen while I keep repeating "Oh my goodness how does she do it"!! Lauren, You never cease to amaze me. Thank you for sharing your beautiful work with all of us. XOXO

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  4. Much better...pretty and cozy now!

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  5. I love this space! My favorite area in this room is the sofa/gallery wall. There's just so much color and such great collection of artwork. Thanks for sharing!

    abodelove.com

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  6. That looks so great! What an amazing change, and it seems like it really fits them. :)

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  7. Love this space. You really made it warm and inviting. The colors of those pillows on the sofa are amazing.

    www.idesignlove.com

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  8. Looks fab! Sometimes, you just need someone to help you figure things out.

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  9. Looks so warm and wonderful. Do they want a rug in the future? Its actually really nice to see their shiny wood floors :)

    Bethany
    www.powellbrowerhome.com

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  10. Loving the shape of the tall chair from the back (in the before pic) The room is so elegant now! The tall drapes with the mirror in between the windows makes the room really lovely - beautiful vision!

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  11. This is so soft and pretty! I love that they kept the original fabric on the wing chair and the thrift store/flea market gallery wall is fantastic!

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  12. So lovely and warm! Makes me want to curl up with an old book and a cup of tea.

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  13. The room is wonderful. The rush seat bench really adds to the "English" feel. I've been looking for the perfect bench for 2 months now and that is it! Where did you find it? Is it available to the public? Look forward to hearing from you. Thank you.

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  14. ....sorry: email for rush seat bench questions: waitwait11@gmail.com Thanks!

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  15. Great changes! Love the floor and all those "found" art pieces.

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  16. This is a gorgeous living room! Love the colors & seating arrangment. Great finds for the wall art too! The natural rug & shades will finish it off so nicely!!
    Christina

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  17. This looks great! As always, I love your work! :)
    Have a wonderful evening!
    Megan

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  18. As always, great job. Love the old artwork collection...fits the room perfectly.

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  19. I love the ottoman and am looking for something similar in my living room. Where is it from? catrina.gomez@gmail.com

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  20. The space feels so comfortable and homey - perfect for an active family!
    www.chattafabulous.blogspot.com

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  21. I have the same mirror. :)

    I want the sofa. Is it a slipcover?

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  22. What a transformation! It looks so lovely and inviting!

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  23. I love how that turned out, Lauren ... and at first I thought it was your Madhatter chair!! What a great job she did on the artwork, too. Lovely!

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  24. Wow! It looks beautiful! So excited to see that ottoman. I have one on order and can't wait for it to arrive. I love it even more seeing it in this space :)

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  25. Oh MY GOSH OH MY GOSH OH MY GOSH I LOVE this room! You did a fabulous, fantastic, incredible, breathtakingly wonderful job as always.

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I love hearing from you- thank you for taking the time to write!! :)

*If you have a specific question, I'll try to answer it in the comments section so be sure to check back! If you're looking at an older post, email me directly. Thanks!
~Lauren