Day: April 14, 2016

Okay!  Week One went off without a hitch.  I seem to have made some great strides in my DEN make-over.  Made lots of decisions last week and started ordering items.  Here is my FLOORPLAN:

ORC – DEN – new Floor Plan with new furniture

As a decorator, I always like to start the design process with a FLOOR PLAN.  It is like a road map for the room.  It tells me where the furniture should be placed and what size furniture will be appropriate for the space.  Also, it helps me identify the traffic pattern for the space.

BEFORE – dirty old chair in front of chest with boat, no mirror

After I have the floor plan tackled.  My next step is to try and find inspiration fabrics and pieces that will help me narrow down my choices.  I usually like to start with fabrics – as fabrics and trims are what I’m passionate about.

The fabric I started with is Pondicherry by Scalamandre.  

I have loved this fabric since it first came out.  Attracted to it’s cornflower blues and limeade greens, I bought a huge memo sample of it years ago and vowed that I would use it SOMEWHERE in my next house.  So, after I moved into this house, I started accumulating yardage of it.  I knew that (one day) this would be my drapery fabric.

Next up was trying to figure out how I wanted the overall look of the room to feel.  I’m a color fanatic and love seeing rooms with happy but tasteful bursts of color.  I, briefly, thought that my room should be all beige with the drapery treatment as the “pop”.

           

 Beige = Sophisticated, texture                                           Color = Fun, Flirty, Happy

However, I realized that if I had a beige room that wouldn’t be true to who I am as a person. Although I love the look of a sophisticated and serene beige room – that’s not who I truly am. So, I decided to put in more colorful upholstery pieces. Because in the end, colorful rooms make me more relaxed and happy. I wanted this Den project to reflect that.

So….LONG story short.  For my Den:  I ordered my sofa in a Pale Blue – Cowtan & Tout solid fabric. It has a great texture to it.  I also trimmed the bottom edge of the skirt with a Stout Brothers wide trim band.

   I ordered two Thibaut “Cheverly” chairs.  This was a big splurge for me.  I wanted a pair of matching chairs in this room.  I also wanted the chairs to be comfortable, masculine (but feminine) and comfy.  The Cheverly chairs have faux bamboo front legs.  And, I emphasized the nailhead trim by adding a banded tape around the bottom edge.  I upholstered them in a green/white Leopard fabric that I fell in love with (bring in the feminine!) from Lewis & Sheron.

 

I bought a coffee table online from the girls at Palm Beach Regency.  I hated to paint it – as it was painted white with pink details.  But, pink/white wasn’t quite my vision.  Hence, I had them lacquer it “Denim” blue from Sherwin Williams.

Sherwin Williams, DENIM

I was definitely struggling with end tables.  I envisioned a pair of painted creamy, transitional end tables.  I found them at Tritter Feefer – the Wynn Chest.  But, after adding up my costs for the room, I had to abandon this dream and settle for something more economical – like this end table from eBay.

As luck would have it – I got an email for a house sale about an hour away and came home with these two LOVELY BEAUTIES!!  SCORE!!!

   While buying these end tables, I thought that I might paint them a cream color.  But, I’ve since changed my mind.   I like the mahogany – it’s too pretty to paint over!

HERE ARE MY BEFORE SHOTS:

                                           
                                           

Please don’t forget to look at what the Featured Designers are doing HERE.  And, click HERE to see what the other GUEST BLOGGERS (like MOI) are doing.  That’s it for this week – stay tuned and don’t forget to comment!!