The Living Room,"before"

Here is Amanda's brand new living room, nicely furnished and functional.She has done a fine job of furniture placement. That sleek, skinny new TV could actually stay right there and not bother anybody. Well, except maybe me. I vote we hide it. And, as I'm not a fan of fans, we'll replace this one with some drama. What the heck. Let's replace EVERYTHING with some drama.......

The Living Room, "after"

The first major purchase I made was the 11' by 14' Oriental rug. It defines the space, sets the tone, establishes a color palette and creates warmth. I found this rug at the Guild Shop for $717, alot of look for not alot of money.

The Living Room Strips Down

It all had to go before I could begin to transform.

A Living Room "during"

Things are beginning to take shape and come together.

A Living Room "after"

Accessories are SOOO important.

The Danish Modern Chairs, "before"

I haunt the Guild Shop. These beauties walked in the door five minutes before I did. I snapped them up in a flash. The next photo shows them re-covered and painted gold.

Hiding the TV...

is always a fine idea. Here, it lives in a stylish Chinese lacquer cabinet. I re-covered these classic Danish Modern chairs in a leopard print and painted them gold

The Entry Hall, "before"

This arrangement works. It's just not as exciting as I'd like.

The Entry Hall, "during"

This antique Suzani, although stunning, is TOO big for the space.

The Entry Hall, "after"

I finally found a great place for those blue vases. I also stopped fighting the limited space and scaled down my pieces.

The Mood Board

Here is the "mood board", a tool designers use to convey mood, theme, ideas, concepts, etc. Amanda, my client, "got" it right away.By the end of the project, it should all make sense.

Amanda's Living Room

Here is the living room "before".Pretty nice just as it is. Amanda has a good sense of design, color, and scale. Of course, I'll have to HIDE that TV, even though it is new, handsome and not hideous (for my feelings on "hideously huge" TV's, check the previous project).

The Mantle Close Up

Here is the mantle up close. I intend to paint the walls on either side and above the fireplace the two colors of red on the mood board. Because there are WAY too many squares in the room, some circle and odd shapes are called for. Maybe the mirror?

Amanda's Stairwell and Landing

The block glass window is very dynamic and just begs me to paint a dramatic flourish around it, possibly in black. The tiny alcove on the left will be highlighted with a deep color and unexpected objects.

Amanda's Kitchen

Here we see the kitchen, part of the landing, and the two alcoves on either side. My plan is to use vivid, luscious colors inside the alcoves and on the very limited wall space in the kitchen for pop and zing!!!!!!!

Scary Storage Solutions

This picture needs no explanation. It's just sad.

Sublime Storage Solutions

Let's all breathe a "sigh" of relief. The red lampshades and the warm yellow walls are so elegant. That pesky TV is hidden inside the vintage armoir. The four poster is highlighted in gold. Another homerun.

The Camel Lamps "before"

The camel lamps are very cute, but they just didn't hold their own among the rich colors of the Indian themed bedroom. So, without any prior experience, I decided to cover the shades in a beautiful turquoise sari material. I now have great respect for all covered lampshades.

The "Thirty Hour Lampshades"

Here is the delightful finished shade after thirty hours of a learning curve. What can I say? I don't give up easily.

Living Room Faux Marble Mantel

This is my living room. I don't have a true "before", but this is a "during". The inside 8" of the mantel is marble, and the wood surrounding it I painted to look exactly like it. I used the same high quality oil paints I use in my fine art work. The cabinets are edged in gold. I knew SOMETHING would go inside each panel, but I didn't know what.