Contemporary Update

One of my favorite clients gave her mom a gift card for my services last Christmas.  Below is the email I received from her mom after she opened her present.

Hi Beth!  There hasn't been a present in a long time that I have been so excited about!  I cried on Christmas morning when I read the certificate that Traci typed up!

Here are pictures of our living room, dining room, family room, kitchen and foyer.  My wall colors are Martha Stewart....... Georgica Beach and Westport Tan. They're probably not available anymore for you to look them up. They're kinda sage/tan. The accent wall in the kitchen looks orange in the picture but it's rust. I am VERY content with the colors and would prefer not to paint but I'm also not opposed to it if you think we should change colors. I definitely would change the accent wall without thinking twice.

So, I headed to Michigan in February for a weekend makeover.  Here is what we were able to accomplish.  

Linda had great overall style and accessories but needed some help with furniture lay-out as well as bringing some warmth to the rooms with layering of accessories.

Dining Room Before:  I needed to create some warmth with paint and curtains because the furniture color  is light and there is little contrast in the room so it seems a bit boring.   My client didn't want to spend much on this room so we moved the furniture around providing more balance, a warm color on the walls, a new chandelier which also helps create some texture in a pretty simple room.  

Dining Room After:  This picture was taken before we finished hanging pictures!  

Family Room Before:  Again Linda had great pieces but the room felt a bit disjointed and lacked a real focal point.  I moved furniture around and created a seating area that is truly beautiful and functional.  My favorite thing is how we took the two chairs and put them together to create a love seat/satee.  It really helped balance out the room and gave the whole room a pulled together feeling.  

We added new pillows, switched out the coffee table for a smaller one, and hung some new curtains.  Linda also painted the week after I left  (I tried to honor her wishes to not paint but after seeing the house realized that paint would make a huge difference!)

This is the only picture I have of the entire room and it doesn't really do it justice but that is the problem when the client is in Michigan =)  We also bought new artwork that is pictured above and below.  Love the canvases!

2 chairs pushed together to balance out the room make a huge difference!

Entry way Before

This was so simple yet adds so much.


This room we just added some interest by purchasing the large picture to use as the focal point in the room.  We also rearranged the furniture a bit to bring some balance and although you can't see it we also added some texture and interest with new curtains.