WOW! Where does one begin? As I said, the reason Donna called me was to rescue her from overwhelming clutter and her best intentions. That, and the fact that her dog, Harley, had been missing in the boxes for two days. He's fine, by the way. Just a little dehydrated and disoriented.
But back to the boxes. That is, without a doubt, the neatest, best looking mountain of boxes I have ever seen. Kudos to you, Donna!

Alas, the dining room again. I think this picture speaks for itself. Donna is clear on her feelings about this chandelier...."hideous". I tend to agree. The doors on the left go into the kitchen.

Here is the "breakfast nook"(breakfast for her dog, Harley, that is, as you can see by the bowl) in Donna's kitchen. She had already painted it a cheerful Restoration Hardware "BUTTER"(I'm not kidding....that is the real name of the paint). There are two windows that look out onto a lovely tree lined street(that qualifies as a "nice view") ,the same great shiny white crown molding as in the dining room and another "hideous chandelier".
On the other wall, out of view, is the microwave oven sitting alone on a table. I have very strong feelings about exposed wires, ugly appliances, and televisions...mainly that they should be hidden. So, the challenge in this room was to hide/minimize the microwave.

No, that's not an"after"picture of
Donna's dining room. I'm very good, but I don't have magical powers. This is a picture of my entrance hall. And, yes, those are giant flowers painted on the walls. I have some "before and after"s I'm saving for later. I just slipped this in to tease you and to show off a bit.
Of course, not everyone is going to want giant flowers on their walls(my husband being an example of this.....happily, he has grown to love them). Donna was very clear about what she loved and wanted. She wanted animal prints, hearts, crowns, and SHELLS and lots of them. Happily, these are all things I love, too. And, I knew I was in creativity heaven when she said,"just design it as if it were yours!"

Here is the living room, with just a hint of the dining room. It is a scary hint. As in the next photo, all we really see is the window. AND, in the lower left corner, the scariest item in the whole apartment, THE HUGE TELEVISION!!!!!!!! This television would work well in a sports bar, hung way up on a wall for hundreds of people to watch. What to do with it?

In this picture of the living room, we again see the BIG picture window. Usually, I am excited about BIG windows because they let in light and provide a view. However,THIS view was of the parking garage roof, parked cars, and an appliance graveyard. Donna assured me she saw only the beautiful trees in the FAR distance. I assured her everyone else would see only the parking garage roof, the parked cars, and the appliance graveyard. My dilemma? How to hide that"view" and still let in the most light?

Here is Donna's bedroom. She desperately needed more, and, dare I say, prettier storage. I am always keen on hiding TV's if possible, so that was a goal. The dress form was her mother's and I needed to "dress" it up and find a home for it.

....and another view of the bedroom. These are obviously the "BEFORE" pictures, and I will be referring to them as I go along.

The scope of this project sort of slipped up on both of us. She knew she wanted furniture for the living room. I talked her into actually having a dining room for eating. As an afterthought, she mentioned she would love a four poster bed.
We hadn't really discussed budget, and part of the thrill of decorating for me is to see how little I can spend and still get something fantastic. I practically LIVE at The Guild Shop in Houston, so that was my first stop. Hiding in the corner behind a huge feathered Polynesian headdress was my first purchase, a black and gold four poster bed. I bought it for $358,saving at least $1,ooo the first day without even trying. What a high!