Switch the Swag - Shelterstyle.com

Switch the Swagdiy decorating By JOETTA MOULDEN
Photography by JANET LENZEN

After

CLEARING THE CLUTTER, UPDATING WINDOW TREATMENTS AND
ADDING NEW PAINT GREATLY IMPROVE A LIVING ROOM

AFTER: Deeper wall color, reupholstered furniture in a more casual arrangement,
simple window panels that extend onto the sidewalls, plus new flooring, curtain
rods and a Pottery Barn “Malika” rug simplify the formal room..”

Mary and Tom called me because they wanted to Before BEFORE:
update their formal living and dining rooms at minimal The pale wall color, for-
cost. guests to enter and to choose practical fab- mal floral fabrics, stiff
rics that you can imagine children sitting window treatment and
They liked the fact that I work with what clients have instead of starting on. Mary showed me one photo of a room that furniture placement, and
over. Before we met, Mary had dutifully pulled photos from magazines of she loved, and was excited to learn that most of white wall-to-wall carpet-
rooms that she liked. her furnishings could be rearranged, reupholstered ing said, “Do not enter.”
and reused.
“I didn’t want to make costly mistakes and didn’t want to toss out every-
thing that we had. We wanted a timeless, fresh look, with color and design tip> In order to achieve a magazine
choices that would last and not look ‘trendy’,” Mary explained. look, a lot of simplifying and de-
cluttering must take place before adding
It had been a number of years since the couple had removed the wall any new elements. She was delighted that her
between the dining and formal living rooms, and at that time, Mary had
tried different paint swatches on the wall. She chickened out, playing it safe
by painting the walls off white. This is what a lot of my clients do—play it
safe with light beige walls, light carpet and the same window treatments they
had before. Yawn.

“I knew the floral look was outdated and with the light walls and carpet
the room felt cold,” Mary said. She admits that having white carpet under
the dining table made her feel anxious when they entertained and she was
really glad when I recommended putting one practical floor throughout the
entry, dining, living room, den and kitchen. “I wanted warm, casual, com-
fortable and timeless rooms, but didn’t know how or where to start,” Mary
explained.

tip> In a traditional formal room, it is even more important to
create a casual, friendly seating arrangement that invites

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diy decorating

window sheers could be recycled and that we would not only work with the blue
armchairs, but actually create an entire color scheme around them.

By the end of our first meeting, Mary was feeling very comfortable with what we
had decided upon. The sofa and wing chair would be recycled with new fabric, a
Malika Pottery Barn wool area rug would be added on top of new Armstrong Grand
Illusions Cherry Bronze flooring from Forsyth Floor Co. and the dining room furni-
ture kept. A Ballard Designs.com cord cover would be added to the existing chande-
lier and Tom would rub paint on the mirror with Modern Masters Metallic Paint
Collection paint (“English Brown”) and hang the mirror vertically. Artwork, family
pictures and lamps were moved to different rooms.

We also agreed to add solid curtain panels on each side of the existing sheers, new
curtain rods and set up another time to shop for fabric at Interior Fabrics. I suggested

Beforethey buy a casual Square Head floor lamp from Target to place beside the formal

sofa.
While Mary had paper and pen out to write notes, I assured her it was not neces-

sary because I would write everything down and allow her to instead listen and ask
questions. The notes, drawings and sources then allowed Mary not only to discuss
the meeting details with her husband, but also to take them with her shopping.

After

AFTER: Simplifying the top of the After
sideboard and rehanging the
freshly painted existing mirror ver- Before AFTER: The dining room was updated by adding new flooring and simple curtain panels,
tically completely changed the moving a pair of dining chairs on each side of the sideboard and adding a chain cover to
mood of the sideboard. the chandelier.

BEFORE: The top of the side-
board was cluttered with family
photos and so many accessories
the lamps were pushed to each
end.

trade secrets BEFORE: Dated, swagged window treat-
ments, too many dining chairs around the
• Think “green”—painting an existing mirror and reupholstering table and a bare chandelier chain made the
seating instead of buying new repurposes them and saves money, room feel quite formal.
too.
JOETTA MOULDEN offers home makeovers
• Paint consistently gives the most “bang for your buck.”
using your own home furnishings to create the
• Think outside the box. A new Ballard Designs.com chain cover
can transform an already-paid-for chandelier for pennies on the dol- home you’ve always dreamed of. Joetta believes
lar.
your pieces collected through the years reflect
• Sometimes the most effective strategy is not to buy more furni-
ture and accessories for your home, but to first rethink the pieces your personality and can be artfully arranged. Before
that are already paid for. Her ability to focus on your personal style and
not let her own preferences influence the design

of your home makes her unique. See more

makeovers on her Web site at www.shelterstyle.com, e-mail her at [email protected] or

call 713.461.2063. If an initial appointment or referral is booked by February 28, a 15 per-

cent first meeting discount will be given. Shelterstyle.com holds a "Pages of Happiness" rating

and, for the fourth consecutive year, a “Super Service Award” presented to 5 percent of

companies that achieve and maintain a superior rating on www.angieslist.com.

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