Hello! Our week at Mark and Brandy's draws to a close with shots of two rooms that really get at the heart of this blog: using what you've got and making the best of it. Let's start off in the living room, the first room you see when you enter the house. It's been sporting black leather sofas since M & B got married...so like, forever. No but really, can you feel the 80s? They're alive and well in this room. Or they were. Let's back up a sec. Here's where we started.
There we go. Now can you smell the 80s? You can also see some of our family room shopping haul (those gold tables, the big wicker basket, the pillow on the ground), and some of the bride & groom's wedding gifts. But mostly, you can see the 80s. Black leather sofas? Check. Marble side tables? Check. Large hutch displaying china no one uses? Check. Waverly curtains complete with valance? Check and check. Maybe those last two are more 90s - I believe they were an attempt to modernize this space, years ago. We weren't going to get new furniture in here, and even though we toyed with the idea of trying to take the top off the hutch, it became clear that that was a bit ambitious as well. (Remember, while all this is happening, a super cute DIY wedding is also being executed, so we had to prioritize. Almost like in real life). So, using things almost entirely from the house, with the exception of some Goodwill vases and a couple pillows, we got to work. We used this painting, which actually started in the dining room, as our inspiration.
Yep, there's the rest of the wedding gifts. Anyway, it made so much more sense for that large, bright painting to be centered over the sofa and greet you when you walked in. So we switched out the Thomas Kincaid for it.
That's a little better, no?
Then, we washed and brought in some outdoor pillows she already had (the mintier ones) and added three new pillows to the mix, for less than $30 total. I found that silver tray at Goodwill for$3, the green vase on the tray at Goodwill for $3, and bought those round pinecone-y things and the bamboo sticks and plant spray at Ross for $15 altogether. Everything else was in the house. The curtains, which may make the biggest difference, had been hanging in the family room. This room felt pretty big and empty once we'd cleared out the presents, so I borrowed a chair from a back room to round everything out.
I really wasn't sure about this room: it was so cobbled together that I was afraid it would be a big failure. Marble plus wicker? Random stuff? But it all worked out! I just kept adding things in in the hopes they would work well together, and I think they do. And the side bench by the chair is serving a lot of function, actually, holding reusable bags and returns because this is the last spot you see before you walk out the door. I love me some function. And I love me some sunlight; the new curtains, minus the valance, are seriously the MVP in this room.
Last, and possibly least, is the bathroom. But I wanted to share it with you because it was such a simple transformation that I thought you might be inspired for your own space. The guest bathroom started out looking a little bleached of color.
To spruce things up, I brought in a new rug (moving the one here to the laundry room), and grouped together accessories we already had to provide a pop of red.
That red flower was once a pair, and was hanging out lost in the house. I rescued it and it became the inspiration for in here. The rug, which has a little more red than is showing up here, was $20 at Ross, and I love its relaxed boho vibe, and the fact that it will be perfect for hiding wear.
The "towels" on the counter and towel bar are actually curtain panels from back in the day. There are real guest towels under the sink. I also poured the hand soap into a real soap container, which makes such a huge difference over the disposable plastic ones. The tall urn and knickknack container? Gifts I bought for Bran from Pottery Barn almost ten years ago - I have great taste. But really, this could have been a more high impact makeover, especially if I'd brought in some more bright colors. But I really wanted to just do a sprucing up, working with what we had and not fighting it. Quick, clean, easy, and still feels like a completely different space. Love that.
The experience of doing Brandy and Mark's house was great one, and reminded me of my top tips for making your space feel better, both in terms of looks and functions. Want a rundown?
1. Plan something. If you need to light a fire under yourself to get things together, plan a dinner party or gathering to motivate you. You'll actually do all the things that are driving you nuts but that you haven't gotten around to yet, and you can enjoy the benefits of your labor for long after the event. Plus, it's nice to have people over.
2. Use what you've got. The expression, these days, is "shop your house." I like to shop, so I support it. Even atbasic level, this can be great, because moving things around can feel new and fresh, and it doesn't cost you anything. We rotated area rugs, throw pillows and art, all over the house. It's really fun to see how things look in different contexts. But also,
3. Creatively repurpose. Outdoor throw pillows in the formal living room? Sure, why not? I mean, this house has three dogs, three cats and at least four human inhabitants, so outdoor materials should probably be the exception, not the rule. Using old curtains as a stand in for towels is another way we saved money this time around, and though we bought it, using the shower curtain as a valance in the kitchen saved us cash, and the leftover material can be used as window treatments in the upstairs bathroom and/or to make new curtains.
4. Spray paint. And otherwise transform. The lightening up of the end tables and tray in the family room was huge!
5. Scrub and organize. Though I didn't share before and after photos of the organization projects at Brandy's, mostly to protect the innocent, we did every room more than surface deep, which will make everything that much easier to keep up. Organized spaces make the whole house feel like it's working with you, not against you. I know, because Brandy's called in the middle of the day to talk about what a difference it's all made! And, any time you're doing a refresh or makeover, or whatever we're calling it, is the perfect time to do a deep clean. Clean the window sills when you're hanging new curtains, vacuum under the furniture you've moved, break out the magic erasure for the walls, and your whole space will feel brand-spanking new.
One more time, because it's fun, a before and after of the living room:
