Amy’s Design Dilemma: Solved
When Amy sent us pictures of her living room a few short weeks after we whipped up a custom mood board for her space, we couldn’t wait to share the goods! Here’s her letter:
I’m so excited to share my “after” pictures with you! I absolutely LOVE my new room and so does everyone else. I had a party Friday evening and the changes were a big hit. Funniest comment was “now that you’ve changed it, I just have to tell you that the brick was horrendous!” That cracked me up because I had to agree! And using your inspiration I was even able to save money and repurpose some things that we already had. We already owned round coffee & end tables, so I used them. And I used some advice from your ‘How To’ section to spray-paint the existing fan using Rustoleum for a whole new look. I love the wall color you picked so much (BM Sepia Tan 1116) that I painted the entryway the same color and am about to paint the hallway walls the same color too. We also loved your idea of a darker accent wall near the kitchen, and went one shade darker (BM Classic Caramel 1118). I haven’t hung up any artwork yet, but I plan to frame some of my photography soon. The makeover was a LOT of work (especially the brick!) but so worth it! I’m actually on the sofa emailing this to you while watching a movie. We never hung out in here before because it didn’t feel cozy or welcoming. Now we want to be in here and my husband keeps saying how awesome it looks and he didn’t even want the brick painted at first! Thanks again SO much! You’ll be hearing from me soon in regards to my kitchen! -Amy
To refresh everyone’s memory, here’s Amy’s living room before the overhaul:
And here’s the same space after our custom mood board makeover:
Didn’t Amy do an amazing job?! We love everything from the freshened fireplace to the cozy patterned rug, and of course the golden wheat tones in the curtains and on the wall (especially that accent wall near the kitchen) really add a lot of warmth and ambiance to the space. And you know we’re loving that Amy got all DIY on us and spray painted the existing fan to make it work. Love that!
So what do you guys think? Any favorite parts or kind words to pass along to Amy in return for sending her fabulous after photos our way? Let’s give the girl a round of virtual applause!
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Comments
We use Photoshop but it’s a pretty pricey program. The good news is that we have heard great things about polyvore.com and it’s free. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Love this room make over! Did you install blinds? I can’t tell from the photo. My other question is about the TV stand, I don’t see it on the mood board but love it. We have one of these oversized TVs and we are struggling to find an inexpensive stand that is stylish and can hold the weight of a 42” flat screen TV.
To paint both the celling fan base and blades which tutorial would you suggest; “spray paint almost anything” or “paint almost any piece of furniture tutorial” or one for the base and the other for the blades. Please advise. Thanks,
Cassie
Hey Cassie,
Either method should work swimmingly. Home improvement is definitely full of different solutions! You could spray paint the fan like Amy did (first taping off or removing the parts that you don’t want to get spray on) or use a paint brush which is a lot more controlled (you could do that while the fan is in place, just throw a drop cloth on the floor and get to work). Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Lisa, I bought the tv stand at JC Penney, it was on clearance for $209. It was just a few weeks ago, maybe they still have them. My tv is 53″, so it should hold yours just fine. The blinds you see on the window to the left of the tv stand were already there, they’re white wood. I only added the curtains to the bank of windows on the other wall. The rod had to be 200″ long! The curtains alone are perfect, we actually have closed them quite a bit at night.
Cassie, I read the ’spray paint almost anything’ tutorial for the fan blades. I took the blades off the base, removed the hardware, put out a big piece of plastic (it was the new rug packaging!), laid out the blades on little pieces of wood so they weren’t on the ground and sprayed away. It was so easy, I’ve never used spray paint in my life and the blades look great. I waited 24 hours and then put everything back together. I had so much fun painting the fan blades that I decided to spray paint the wicker baskets the same color with the paint that was left. If you click my Flickr link (http://www.flickr.com/photos/aimlyss/sets/72157622134345598/), you can see a couple of shots showing how I did the spray painting.
Thanks for the comments! And Sherry & John, thanks so much for the awesome mood board and ideas!!! :)
Aw thanks so much for dropping in to offer those pointers Amy. You’re the best!
xo,
s
Looks Great !!!! I tried the Sepia Tan in my LR but it was too dark for the room. Would you suggest I go up one shade lighter in the same color series? Thanks.
Yup, just slide one or even two tones lighter. The lighting in your home is probably just different than Amy’s. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Wow! Sherry, John and Amy, you did such a wonderful job. Thank you Amy, for sending in the “After” pictures. I always want to see how the rooms turn out! I liked the curtains so much I just ordered some for my living room, which also has white shutters. I think it will make the room finally feel finished.
Can I ask what color of paint was used on the fireplace?? Was it the BM Sepia Tan 1116?
Wonderful job on this makeover. I found that the Monroe Bisque worked best for my room. I also have the same drapery panels, Linden Barkwood in Toffee and want to use a woven shade, will you please recommend something from Smith& Noble or another online retailer for a coordinating woven shade for my large 96″ wide window? Thank you so much.
You have a great website !!
Hey Catherine,
We don’t specifically shop for readers unless they’re clients (you can check out our design services here: http://www.younghouselove.com/home-advice/) but we would recommend checking out places like Target or Walmart for super cheap and amazing woven shades (we got all of ours at Walmart, and for our large picture window in the living room we actually just hung two next to each other for a seamless yet totally budget friendly look). Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Thanks , you are the best. I’ll check Wal-Mart and hang 2, that’s a great idea.
Hi Amy! Love this makeover. Wanting to paint our fireplace (although it’s not a whole wall it would look SO much better painted)…did you use specific directions, get directions from a home improvement store? Any advice would be appreciated! Thanks!
M
Looks really good – well done Amy.
Sherry, can I ask what software you use to put together your moodboards? I want to make a few myself to show my new decor.