A Week of Before and Afters - Day 3: An Updated Living Room and Dining Room

Today's Agenda:  Enjoy some more of that sunshine streaming into our home today! And melting the snow!

The next "before and after" is a great example of how you can successfully update the look and feel of a room without redoing and replacing everything, not even key pieces like furniture.  Let me show you what I mean.

Here is what the entryway, living room, dining room and kitchen of this fantastic Capitol Hill rowhouse {where a really really fantastic couple live!} looked like when I first saw it. 

 

 

  

 

 

  

  

 

   

 

We met and discussed what they needed from this space.

*More mature, sophisticated look since they had not updated the space since kids were in the house

*Cooler/calmer feel to the living area; less like a basketball court {it is a very long space}

*Wanted a clean, purposeful look (no accessories just for accessories' sake)

*Keep the space open and easy to entertain in or just kick back and watch TV in

*They liked Tuscan colors (yellows, warm colors/not too warm though); but no red or eggplant 

They were willing to paint {and had been struggling with paint colors for awhile as you can tell from the primed walls and paint samples!}, wanted to recover chairs in dining room, needed rugs in the living area and dining room, hoped for a new light fixture in the dining room and curtains in the dining room.

After gathering that information and thinking about it I came up with this inspiration board and collection of pieces {yep, staged in our living area} to present to them.

 

  

And we went from there. 

Painting the rooms and adding molding to the dining room made a huge difference and was work that the homeowners did themselves -- amazing!  We chose Benjamin Moore Calm {appropriately named!} for the living room walls and in the dining room used Benjamin Moore Calm for the top half and Benjamin Moore Ashley Gray for the bottom half.  The trim in both rooms is Benjamin Moore Super White.  

And with a handful of additional changes here is what it looks like now.

 

 {Added wallpaper to neutralize the tiles instead of replacing the tiles}

  

 {Changed painting and accent bowl with ones they had}

 

 {Painted the built-ins the same color as the wall to let the objects stand out; replaced misc collection of frames with the same frames; replaced lamp shade with a more modern tapered drum style}

  

{Used FLOR tiles to create a custom rug that widened the space; added pillows to couch} 

  

{Added a side chair, blue/green garden stool, copper tray, vintage-style embroidered pillow}

  

 {Replaced painting with a warmer one; added runner and new lamp; replaced knobs; changed out pieces on the mantel}

 

  {Just left it neutral and unadorned to let the brick and wood stand out}

 

 {New chandelier, window panel, rug}

  

{Recovered chairs; added fleur de lys piece and a montage of photos/pictures to add interest/personality to the room}

 

 {Added some texture/nature and glass container to continue the glass theme - chandelier, knobs}

 

{Painted this wall in Benjamin Moore Gentleman's Gray; added some black and white photos/comics in Black/White frames}

By first neutralizing the spaces and thinking of a cohesive color scheme and style between the living room and dining room, we were then able to bring in some interesting and purposeful details.

Chandelier {Pottery Barn}

  

 Napkins {Williams-Sonoma} + Placemats {Calvin Klein via Homegoods}

 

Knobs

  

Candleholders {same teal as the garden stool / from Homegoods}

  

Pillows from Pottery Barn {same yellow as in dining room napkins}

 

Brown leather chair {West Elm}

 Blue/green garden stool {Homegoods} + bronze tray {Target}

 

Curtain + Bronze Holdback {West Elm}

 Vases {Homegoods}

 

 Painting {Homegoods}, Fabric {Ikea}, Lamp {base from Homegoods / matching tapered drum shade from Pottery Barn}, Knobs {Anthropologie}

 

 New frame {matching the ones in the living room} with photocopied picture from the book Mrs. Kennedy Goes Abroad {we both shared a love of this book!!}

  

 Another frame with a photocopied picture from Mrs. Kennedy Goes Abroad

 

With the new sophisticated look and some additional pieces, we also highlighted beautiful and meaningful details the homeowners already had.

   

 

And some just plain fun details too.

Now we have a "new" space perfect for this couple to host a sophisticated cocktail party, a large dinner party, an impromptu snow fete or to just loll about.