Warrior Statue in Media Room

This wacky warrior statue presides over the media room. I feel sure she had something in her hands at one time.

Donna's Dining Room "AFTER"

Here is the dining room today. I incorporated most of Donna's favorite design elements. I used vibrant colors, shells, grand scale,animal prints, varied textures, and multi-functionality. AND, I hid the shredder and printer! Kudos to me!

Another view of the BIG sofa and mirror.

Rosy at Best for Less made the luscious drapes and throw pillows.

A close up of the plethora of pillows. Remember, more is more.

I found the perfect black stand for the TV, which hides also the equipment. I magically found the cool sage green architectural piece above it. Adding something weighty above the HUGE TV dimishes its size and importance.

This is one corner of the entrance hall. Donna loves CROWNS, and we're looking through one.

Here, at last, is the finished dining room. Donna was the ideal client in that she trusted me completely. This long wall (formerly hidden by the mountain of boxes,remember?) was the ONLY place for a desk. This one is functional, beautiful, and capable of hiding the printer and shredder (a MUST!!!!!).

We both love grandly scaled pieces like the mirror, which just rests on the desk. Another Guild Shop find were the shadow boxes with sea fans inside , which I painted a different shade of blue. A happy accident (one of many) were the exciting patterns thrown on the walls and ceiling by the lovely new chandelier. I didn't plan that, but I will take credit.

When we learned she could stay for many years,we went wild and painted the whole place. We chose this muted blue over the grey, but before we could put it up, we had to strip off all of the old wallpaper underneath. Donna wisely left town, and came home two days later to this. Everyone HATED the purple square insets. I knew they would perfectly tie in the purple drapes, which no one knew were coming. Heh heh...

My friend, Jerry, is eager to see the finished project. Here is a reminder of how the breakfast room looked....

...and here is the finished room, minus some books on the bookcase. What do you think?

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!"