Kitchen + Living Room Makeover Reveal!

I finally get to reveal the amazing transformation of this Kitchen + Family Room.  After months and months of kitchen renovations, painting, shopping, decorating, this space is finally complete!  We started with a "builder basic" home and I transformed it into a unique, one-of-a-kind space with gray, navy blue, and lots of added color throughout space. 

Let's go back a bit......and reminisce quickly about how this space used to look! 

 

After just moving into this home, the decorating was minimal.  They needed help with adding more color to all of the tan walls, adding interest to the space with artwork and pictures on the walls, adding some softness to the space and color with new window treatments, and more storage for the little ones.  My goal was to give this young, vibrant, fun family a new space that really reflected their personality more. 

A good tip, when wanting to redecorate, take pictures of the room at different angles.  You can get a better visualization of the space -- walls that need pictures, what to paint, and options for furniture arrangements.  
 

We started with a Design Scheme for the space.....and built the room around that!

No matter what your decorating budget is, you can do a lot in a space if you know which items to spend more money on and which items to save on.  This way you really get the most bang for your buck!

Family Room Reveal! 

 

One of our biggest challenges in the Family Room was the fireplace wall.  You can see in the before pictures that there was this huge awkward niche in the wall above the fireplace.  The homeowners were stumped!  They had no idea what to do with it.  And neither did I at first!  Do we decorate inside of it?  Do we accent it and paint it a contrasting color?  I decided to just cover it up!!  No amount of accessorizing inside the niche would ever make it look better.  So I bought a piece of artwork from Art.com on a canvas that was just big enough to cover the hole and finally make the fireplace the focal point again! The artwork alone was not enough.  So I added a simple orchid for some layering.  But anything more would just make the small mantle feel crowded.

Big Transformations in the Family Room:

--> making the fireplace a focal wall with bold stripes <--

--> hiding the awkward niche above the fireplace <--

--> added bookcases for extra storage <--

This kitchen makeover might be one of the biggest transformations ever.  It is such a dramatic before and after from what they started with, to what they have now.  And there really weren't any major renovations, besides incorporating granite counter tops.   It just goes to show, how some little changes, can make a huge impact!

Big Transformations in the Kitchen:

--> painted the kitchen cabinets white <--
--> island cabinet painted black <--

--> added crown molding to top of wall cabinets <--

--> new granite replaced the old laminate counter tops <--

--> added hardware to the cabinet doors <--

Kitchen Makeover Reveal! 

Every new client is a new friend for life for me!  This family was awesome to work with.  And I can't wait to do more projects together in the future!! Overall, I took a basic home and just added more style and personality into the home.  Paint -- the easiest thing you can do to change a space, made a huge impact in this makeover with the gray walls throughout the first floor and the light and dark gray striped wall.  Other than that, it was just about bringing in a few bold accessories to really add drama to the room to get the biggest bang for their buck -- curtains, colorful pillows and fabrics, large gallery wall, big pieces of artwork! 

Next week I will have more information about details of their space -- gallery wall, DIY Chalkboard, tips on decorating above kitchen cabinets, tips on decorating bookshelves...........

Client Design Progress + Design Tips on Remodeling

The Kitchen + Living Room Design I am working on for a client is smoothly and quickly moving along.  At the beginning stages of design, it can seem like things are never going to happen and things move slowly.  But once that first coat of paint gets up, its like a quick non-stop process of shopping, making decisions, picking out fabrics, managing the entire project from start to finish!  It's a quick, fast-paced design world that I love!!

So here is an overview of how this project is coming along!

If you remember from this post, I chose navy and grays for this client as a basis for the overall design.  The navy and gray will be accented with punches of black and white, yellow, green, and turquoise!  It's going to be a vibrant, fun space for this young family!  

This whole design overhaul came about because of this kitchen...

 

 

Some MAJOR design features this kitchen was missing...

1.  The cabinet height -- tall ceilings but short 30" cabinets.  They have no crown or architectural detail at the top of the cabinets to give them height or interest.  

2.  The cabinet color - a basic builder grade cabinet in a natural oak.  I see these cabinets all the time and people just don't know what to do with them or how to decorate around them.

3.  Laminate Countertops - I want to give them a more durable natural stone countertop.

 4.  No Hardware on the Cabinets -- just some simple knobs or handles on a cabinet door adds instant style and interest to a kitchen.

5.  Wall Paint Color - Again a builder grade paint color that runs throughout the house.  The owners inherited this yellowish, tan wall color when they bought the house, but have never re-painted because they struggled with what color to choose. 

...and how I am going to fix it!

1.  Same cabinets - New look!  I am tricking the eye into thinking the cabinets are visually taller by adding architectural detail.

 

It is a little hard to see in this picture, but we added a 2x4 to the top of the cabinets for added height with a large crown.  Now the cabinets are almost 8" taller!  I love this trick for cabinets or even if you want to give it a larger crown height look.  It is a cheap and easy design trick you can do with existing cabinets or new cabinets. 

2.  Yes, we painted the cabinets white!  What a difference this makes!!

 

Look at the difference with that crown on the top and with the new cabinet color!  Wow!  It looks like a completely new kitchen!  The island was painted black for interest and to match the existing black appliances.  Now the appliances don't stick out like a sore thumb as much!

3.  The laminate was switched out with granite.  Venetian Gold granite.  There are future plans for a backsplash but we haven't gotten that far yet!

4.  The cabinets finally have some hardware on them to open the doors and drawers a little easier.  We chose brushed nickel to match the faucet and keep with the modern design style.  Knobs on doors and handles on the drawers.  Don't be afraid to use both together on your cabinets. 

5.  The ugly yellow, tan is finally gone!  Hello, GRAY!  I chose Sherwin Williams Passive 7064 for all of the walls -- that includes the living room, kitchen, dining room, entry way, up the stairs to the loft and hallways.  Some people think they have to do each room a different color, but I actually think picking just a couple of paint colors for the entire house is much more sophisticated.  Bring the color in with the accents and fabrics.

Always, ALWAYS put paint samples on the wall in your home before painting.  Especially if your chosen paint color is going in this many rooms.  Paint can look so different than the little swatch at the paint store and up on the wall in your home, in your lighting.  Especially gray.  Gray is such a hard color to choose because it can look too blue or even too brown depending on the undertones.  We were going for just a good solid gray!  I have used this gray before with past clients so I knew it would be perfect for them.  

SW Passive 7064

I am adding a little accent color with wall paint.  I chose Sherwin Williams Cityscape 7067 for an accent stripe in the living room which you will see a little later.  

But here is what the kitchen now looks like with the walls FINALLY painted gray!

 I am loving this soft gray color.  You can tell the walls are definitely "gray" but it is still light and bright.  There is a lot to do yet and it is still a work in progress as you can see.  But we are moving along quickly!  So that is where I am with this client design! I'll keep you updated with more info as we move along! I think it already looks 100% better!

Here are some fabrics I am throwing around....for curtains in the living room, valance in the kitchen, and maybe some throw pillows on the couches!