My Front Room Redo...Again

OH My....Have my tastes changed a bit in the past few years. I found these old pics on my blog....

BEFORE.....My front room without the slipcovers.



Here was my first look...back in the day when I was loving shabby chic and ruffles.

Here was my second look...I switched out to menswear type slipcovers and exposed the legs. This pic was taken at holiday time...hence the red pillows. I am usually not a red girl.

Notice the blue paint and chair rail that we removed. I also sold my wall tree (coat rack), which just looked junky all the time. Somehow our house doesn't have a hall closet.

My third look...I tried to switch out the ottoman cover and some pillows to freshen and lighten it up....but I was never completely in love. A few weeks ago I went to a clients house and saw her daughters bedroom with horizontal gray and white stripes. OH MY GOSH....it was beautiful. I finally had my inspiration. I was getting lazy just trying to change the fabrics and not repainting the blue and removing the chair rail.

I have learned my lesson! Little updates when I haven't changed the base in 10 years isn't going to make me like it more....I just need to revamp the whole thing and not try to work around things (chair rail/ blue paint).    IF....I just change it all and completely love it, I will be content for years.

MY AFTER and final look! Gray and white with a few pops of green (my favorite color). The green fabric on the pillow, I bought last year when I went to North Carolina to visit Gina from Slipcover Chic.

I found the LARGE mirror at IKEA in the As- is department for $90. I used my Wall Tree proceeds to pay for it. I was hoping it would work and wasn't too big...luckily I was right, because you can't return As-is items.

I brought in a dresser from the garage that was holding the boys baseball gloves and bats. It had paint splattered across the front of the drawers. I took some sand paper and sanded it off and then wiped some furniture oil over it. 10 min. job...and it turned out great.

With all the straight lines on the wall and chevron pillows, I felt the white chairs need some scrolly type fabric on the pillows. Made up these white and gray pillows with no piping (knife edge).

I switched my bedroom curtains with the front room curtains...the white worked better in here.

I also spray painted the legs on all the furniture white. The legs seemed to disappear into the slipcovers....I wanted them to POP!

I switched out my ottoman for a large rustic trunk that I had up in my bonus room. I got this for babysitting when I was 16. The lady I baby sat for volunteered at the local thrift store. I saw it in her garage and told her how much I liked it....next time I babysat she gave it to me as payment.

I picked up the green matelesse throw blanket at a thrift store about 6 months ago. I bought it because of the color and figured I could cut it up and make something out of it.....NOPE, I kept it just as is.

I also swiped the lamp from downstairs and put a barrel shade on it.

I am learning the art of accessorizing....last week I headed to Hobby Lobby with an old college friend that was in town. I threw anything that I liked in my cart, and decided I could return anything that didn't work. I was loving the metal industrial type stuff, and rustic items, and of course silver and green.

On my drive home from Hobby Lobby, I texted my running partner, Camille to come help me accessorize. I am still not very good at the small things. I know what I like, but pulling it together is sometimes difficult. The dresser accessories are my FAVORITE!!! I got everything for 50% off. The metal items went on sale this week, so I went back and got a price adjustment. (If items go on sale the next week, you can take them back with your receipt and get the difference back).

Close up of my trunk, my brother Clark tried to steal this from me when he left to college. He threw all his belongings in it and tossed it in the back of his pickup truck when he left. To make me feel better, he told me when I got married and wanted it back, he'd return it. 5 yrs later, I came collecting. His wife was sad to see it go.

So all in all, I spent  $150 on paint and paint supplies, and $100 on accessories. Everything else I already had in other areas of the house...HOORAY for "in house shopping". Heber was a champ and did 75% of the painting. We used a laser line to tape off the stripes.