By now, you know how I feel about most appliances...ugly but necessary. I found this oddity at The Guild Shop. The microwave fits PERFECTLY inside the space and Donna now has 33 more drawers in which to put stuff.

Before this project, I was a "hot glue gun" virgin. Oh, I'd heard about what it was like, but I just wasn't ready to commit. I had so many questions. What would the gun feel like in my hand? Should I use protection? Would I smoke a cigarette afterwards? Would I hate myself in the morning?
It was so much more that I ever imagined it could be! And I 'm going to keep on doing it.

.For me, less is NEVER more. As you can see, I didn't stop with shells. I used chunks of coral and turquoise,too.

Donna desperately wants a real zebra rug, "real" meaning it was once attached to a zebra. She can have this one for $2,720, OR I can keep looking.

Here are some perfectly adequate rabbit pillows for about $350 each. Those were some big bunnies. Probably too big for the stew pot in "Fatal Attraction".

....but check out my chinchilla(yes, real fur!) pillows. With these you don't need a pet. I bought the fur piece for $45, and had the pillows made by Rosy at Draperies For Less for $45 a piece. That's just $60 for a "pillow pet".

As promised, here is the stunningly chic blue suede sofa. Not what you expected, right? Me either. You see it in it's "Harley friendly" state. Not my taste, really....this might be a problem.

I have already heard that many of you are EAGER to see the "after"s. Patience, dear readers.

Here is the dining room WITHOUT the mountain of boxes. It still qualifies as a "before" photo. A massive amount of de-cluttering is needed before any real decorating can begin. I won't bore you with those details.

For fun, I shop. I could gold medal in SHOPPING if it were an Olympic sport. Today, after finding the fabulous$358 four poster bed, I bought a divine pale blue suede curved mid-century(50's) sofa for $1,200. Donna asked for a blue sofa. Done! I'll have a picture of it tomorrow.....

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!