~Best of 2016's Home Renovations~
Finding My Design Style
I am a design fanatic at heart! I switch out decor and furnishings like most people switch out light bulbs. One reason for so many changes, is that I could never quite get the room to look exactly like I wanted it to look. There are a couple of reasons for that! I used to think that designing on a budget meant that I was stuck with what I had! Then I discovered how to refurbish furniture and suddenly something that seemed out of date could be made new again. I have a few hand me down pieces from family members and some second hand furniture that I have made into my own style by painting it french country. What I started to realize by slowly changing these pieces that I was changing them to a style that I liked.
I also believed, because I had been told by many, that every room needed color. What is funny to me, looking back, is that I don't like bright colors, but rather muted shades of creams, grays, greens and blues. I like to see those muted and soft colors or textures in pillows, art work, rugs and flowers. And more times than not, I would be drawn to monochromatic color schemes that I would see from others' homes.
Pinterest helped me to define my style the most by picking things that I really liked and categorizing it into a board. If you go to my Pinterest page and follow my boards, you will see my style emerge from the pages. Over the last few years I have been changing how my home looks to fit that style. I have been purging what I don't like, painting rooms, buying furniture and decor that suites me and my style. After all, a home should be what it means for you and your style; a reflection of you and your tastes and comfort. Even on a budget, you can find ways to make your home feel more like....YOU. The time frame may take a little longer on a budget, but the result is still the same.
Here is a more comprehensive look at what we have done in our home over the last year to make it our style. It's still an ongoing process, but it's getting there and now every time I walk in the door, it feels like HOME!
We have painted the living room, kitchen, dining room, guest bathroom, laundry room and hallway. We would still like to paint the hallway to the media room, the guest room, the master bedroom and master bathroom. I would also like to paint my daughter's room but she refuses the change because she knows I want to paint it gray. I told her I would compromise for a color of her choice but I'm still working on her! :)
Here is a look at our Dining Room Makeover. Most of our house when we bought it 5 years ago, was painted a dark beige. The dining room was painted a dark brown. It was too dark and my furnishings just didn't look good with this color. The more furniture pieces that I painted and refurbished, the more I knew that the wall color needed to change. The gray we choose for the walls is "Amazing Gray" by Shermin Williams. Those of you who have been following along on the blog, also know that we went through a few grays before we found the right one.
The before pictures will show you the dark brown color and how small the space looks. After painting the room, it looked brighter and bigger.
We restyled the dining room table and chairs and here is how it looked for our fall home tour. We expanded the table by refurbishing the leaf and adding it for Christmas time.
The living room has been through multiple changes and furniture has been removed and some replaced. We will soon be replacing our sofa and adding a few more pieces in the next few months. This room has gone through a few more changes since Christmas, but we will show you more of that in our next few blog posts.
As you can see, we got rid of the red couch, painted the walls and rearranged furniture. This is what it looked like after painting as well as some changes made for Fall and then the home tour this Christmas. We added a new rug, pillows, and we took out this brown chair and added a new gray french country chair. We are still transforming this room but should be finished in the next few months.
The Kitchen Update is one that I really am glad we did! I would love to pull up the still existing brown tile floor and add hardwood floors to match the living room. I would also like to replace the counter tops and the tile backsplash with something more updated. I'm just going to say that sometimes builders don't have the best design style and I'm going to be extremely rude by saying that our particular builder might need some help with that! Brown floor tile? And the brown floor tile along with the brown tile backsplash and the brown and black granite countertops just kinda want to make me scream! On top of that, we had tan walls to match all the brown tile! Some of that tan (yellow-brown) had to go and of course the easiest was to paint.
We had to be careful that the paint color we picked didn't cause the tile to jump out at you! In fact, we wanted you not to notice the tile color at all but here I am pointing it out! :) We chose a soft greige (gray with brown undertones) to compliment the tile and counter tops that we were not going to replace. Here is what it looked like after. Can you see how much brighter and lighter it feels? I think that it works with the tile and countertops for now.
The guest bath was actually painted by the previous homeowners and apparently they like bright colors because this room, prior to the makeover, was bright mustard yellow. Now...I like mustard, just on my sandwich and not on my wall! LOL!
Here is a look at the renovated bathroom; before and after.
On this bathroom makeover, we painted the walls gray, painted the mirror a creamy white and replaced the light fixture glass sconces for about $12. Here is what it looks like now.
The tiniest remodel, but the one that brought me big amounts of joy, was the laundry room. And here is where I have another gripe with my builder, or we could say builder's in general. Have these people never done laundry? Because most houses have tiney, tiny laundry spaces that are usually located right off of the garage. So I've got to walk through my garage into the laundry room and be greeted by my laundry machines and dirty laundry. It's not always pleasant! If I was going to build houses, I would make sure that laundry rooms were larger and if they had to be attached to the garage, it should be big enough to have a mud room and lots of organization so you actually want to enter your home, without seeing all the laundry that is waiting for you! :) At least with the added character we put in the laundry room, we don't mind as much to walk through it now! Here is a look at the before and after.
We painted the room gray to match the kitchen and then built and installed the industrial farmhouse shelving for additional storage.
I have found that everything looks so much brighter and I feel cozy and calm in my new improved spaces. Paint is the most inexpensive and effective way to refresh your home. Now it's time to get started on my new painting projects this year!
Until next time....
Blessings!!!
