Two Inspiring Before and After Room Transformations

As the summer winds down, many of us, especially “home lovers like you and me” who adore the cozy comforts and thrive on nesting are beginning to think ahead with plans of what we want the rooms in our homes to be like come autumn.

You may already be checking out fall decorating ideas on blogs, Pinterest and fall issues of magazines that are just starting to hit the magazine racks with many ideas from beautifully decorated homes.

I know that to create a room we love no matter the season – the first thing we need to do is clear out the clutter before bringing in anything new or we will simply create an unfocused hodgepodge of stuff, not only in our home space but in our head space as well.

Besides changing up our seasonal decor, another time you may yearn to redecorate a room is when you are not happy with a room(s) in your home, so much so that when you walk into it, you begin to feel overwhelmed or just not yourself, instead of what you should be feeling… happy and your best.

Earlier this summer,  I went to visit my sisters, Carol and Laura, who live in Pennsylvania. I stayed at my twin sister Carol’s house. A year ago she came to a decorating crossroads when she realized that her living and dining rooms no longer spoke to her.

The rooms hadn’t been to her liking for quite a long time, but life and other things kept her from doing anything about it.

Last year she decided it was finally time to take action and transform her living and dining rooms into the rooms she has always dreamed about. 

The decorating makeover is quite a dramatic change that I found very inspiring and I  think you will, too.

When I walked into Carol’s house I was expecting it to look as it always has (above photos) for the past 20 years, but instead, I saw a big “style shift” that delighted my eyes. 

Living Room Makeover – AFTER

Carol thought she was only going to declutter to get the rooms to her liking, but once she removed everything that didn’t make her smile, she realized it still wasn’t right.

She then decided she needed to start from scratch and began to look for new and affordable furnishings that would fit her budget.

She ended up getting rid of everything in the rooms, even the wall-to-wall carpet and ceiling light fixtures. She took both rooms down to the bare bones and built them back by adding only items that were needed for the room to function and that made her and her family smile.

The biggest change was not only how the rooms looked fresh and new, but how happy the changes made my sister and her family. They finally created the rooms that fit their life + style.

Carol and I like white walls with lots of color pops in a room. It is the look of the house we grew up in so we gravitate to it. It makes us feel at home.

My brother-in-law is a professional house painter and likes using Benjamin Moore paint. The color of the paint on the walls is called Bistro White 7006-4. It is a Valspar color that he had made up in the BEN line of Benjamin Moore paint. He used satin on the walls and semi-gloss on the trim.

Carol likes modern furnishings, where I favor a casual cottage/beach style.

Note: The decorating style of a room is not what I am trying to point out in this post. I only bring it up to share that you should decorate rooms with only items you love and in a style that makes you feel good when in them.

What is important is… that no matter what color or style of decor you like, you should work towards making it happen in your home.  It doesn’t matter whether it is dark and moody, light and airy or anything in between as long as it makes you feel good.

Carol’s Decorating Plan of Action

Here are a few of the things Carol had to deal with to make the changes needed. Do any of these questions sound familiar?

• She works full-time and needed to carve out time to make the changes happen.  She set up time to plan and shop on her calendar, just as she would an important appointment or meeting.

• She had to figure out a budget.  She did a lot of research and found affordable furniture options and items at IKEA or on clearance at these online stores – Wayfair, Overstock and West Elm

• She had to come to terms on how to discard the many items that she no longer wanted. This included large pieces of furniture like her dining room set and the items that were given to her from family or in-laws. Many of these items she kept over the years to make them happy, even though they never fit her decorating style. 

• She found that the furnishings/items she had would not bring in a lot of money in the resale market, so she donated all of it to a local shelter.

• Then came the fun part, putting a plan together to get the new furniture and accessories bought and installed.

Always evolving. It has been a year now since she made the changes, but she still is tweaking to get things right for the rooms. For instance when I was there, I helped her try a few different pieces of large art for the far wall in the dining room. You can see one we tried is a Boat House row in Philadelphia print that is in some of the photos. She ended up not keeping this and found another large piece of art after I left.

Dining Room Makeover – AFTER

Carol wanted simple and modern pieces and didn’t want anything to look like a “set”. Her husband found the oversized canvas with the dog on a beach at Wayfair. They love that he makes the space fun and unexpected.

The dining table and bench were bought on clearance at West Elm. The ghost chairs are from IKEA. The faux plant is from HomeGoods.

She gave away almost everything she had in her previous china cabinet which included collectibles and various sets of china and glassware. She only kept what she needs when she entertains. It all fits into this buffet style cabinet from IKEA.

She had always known that beautiful hardwood was under the carpet in both rooms, even on the staircase. Removing it and having the floors refinished made the biggest change to the open concept space. She added seagrass area rugs to both rooms.

How to Begin Transforming a Room

Before you begin redecorating a room no matter if you are starting from scratch or using what you already own, here are a few tips that will help you successfully get any room in your home into a room that you love.

Declutter:

To transform a room in your home you can’t simply declutter it by organizing the contents in it. If you simply organize your stuff, it will be cluttered again in a short amount of time.

To successfully declutter a room, you must first decide:

1. What is the main function the room will be used for?
2. What do you want your life to be like when in the room?

Once you know the answers to these questions then you need to begin the decluttering process and discard:

1. Items that no longer have a role for the function of the room.
2. Items that no longer bring you joy.

Organize:

When you have removed the items that are no longer needed for the functionality of the room and that do not put a smile on your face, this is now the time to organize what is left.

New Furnishings Are Not Needed For Decorating Success

Maybe you can’t do a complete style-shift by getting new furniture like my sister did, but you can still make big changes in your own home and here is how:

EDIT – Ask yourself:

• Does it have a purpose?
• Does this item really make me happy?
• Does it really add value to my life?
• Do I still like this item?
• Have I used it in the last year?

If the answer is no to any of these questions, then you should discard or move the item to another room until you can make the final decision as to how to discard it.

If you still can’t decide on a few items, ask yourself:  Why am I keeping this? Is it for sentimental reasons?

Items that triggered happy memories are tough. They spark real joy, remind you of someone or a certain time or event in your life. So, yes they make you feel happy, but do you really need the item to treasure that memory?  Try to think of these items in this way:  Nobody can take away a memory. If everything was lost in a fire or a flood, the memories would always remain.

If you can’t part with an item, then try to think of a creative way to use it so that it is not just a pile of stuff. For instance, a game you played as a child. Does it have a playing board that could be made into a tabletop or hung on the wall as art?  Think of how to use the item in a decorative way.

SHOP YOUR HOUSE

If you don’t have the budget for new furniture, you can still make a huge difference to a room by removing everything in the room. At the same time you can do a deep cleaning. :-)

Decide what furniture needs to go back into the room. Change the placement of the items.  Look at the furniture in every room in your house. Would a sideboard in your dining room look better or be more useful placed behind a sofa in your living room to be used as a sofa table with storage?

• Do you have an area rug in another room?  Move it and layer it over wall-to-wall carpet in another.
• Instead of hanging smaller pieces of art or photos by themselves, group them together on a wall to create more impact.
• Use a tray from your kitchen to group smaller items together on a coffee table.
• Stack books to raise the height of a lamp.
• Do you have a pretty quilt stored in a linen closet. Bring it out and place on the back of a sofa.

You get the idea, allow your mind to think of new ways to use everything you own in new and unique ways

BE CONFIDENT IN YOUR CHOICES

Don’t second guess yourself and your ideas about how to use furnishings. Try things out, some will not work, but keep moving and playing with all the furnishings until you like what you have created.

KEEP AT IT

Your home is a living space, not a storage space.  Decluttering and decorating is not a once and done process. Life will change, new items will be brought in throughout the year. Take a hard look at the room seasonally to keep things in check to make sure they always make you smile.

Carol has shelves in her basement where she organizes her decorative accessories that are not in use. For instance, when summer is over she may place this faux plant there and replace it with a large blue and white vase filled with orange mums.

I realize not everyone can start redecorating a room from scratch,  but even by making a few small changes in a room using what you already own you may be able to make a big difference that will make you smile.

With the fall season soon upon us, why not experiment a little to see what you can come up with to create a cozy fall room you will enjoy all season long.

Furnishing RESOURCES

Dining Room:

Dining Table and Benches  – West Elm – No longer available

IKEA Ghost Chair 

Dog Art Print Wrapped Canvas

Sideboard: IKEA

Seagrass Rugs 

Living Room: All from IKEA

IKEA side table