When I first visited Brian and Yvonne's home, it seemed as if they had recently moved in. Their home didn't seem settled; some walls were overloaded while others seemed bare/unfinished. They had been busy with the ins and outs of life and wedding planning. In a month, family would be coming into town to witness their vows and visiting their home for the first time. A professional photographer would be taking pictures in a place that didn't just yet feel like home.
It was amazing the transformation that happened in just a few hours of reshuffling furniture throughout their house. Yvonne works from home, which created another situation where someone had turned their dining room into a quick home office. People seem to think they need a whole office set up, but once you really dig deep to uncover their working habits, you often find that they never even sit at the desk and the majority of the office stuff is rarely used. In this situation, Yvonne would take her laptop to the sofa or sit at the kitchen table, so the office desks weren't even necessary. All I needed to do was find a place where she could conveniently access her printer. This meant they could have a dining space and they wouldn't be over burdened with the idea of work whenever they walked through their door or sat on the sofa; as this was an open floor plan.
Behind the sofa was the Love marquee sign they are going to use for their wedding, something fun to add liveliness to their space. Upstairs, hidden among a hodge-podge of other items in storage was a matching shelf to the one they already had set up. There was also the chaise and other furniture set aside as they didn't think it fit their room. These love birds were thinking they needed to purchase new furniture to fit their home and had no idea they already had what they needed, just in all the wrong places.
The kitchen and dining room tables needed to be swapped as the table in the kitchen had a more modern feel that would flow better with their new sofa. About that sofa... you would have thought there was something hideous underneath all those blankets, but it was a beautiful new sofa. They didn't have any pets or anything that would slobber and soil it, so why were they covering it up? They wanted to keep it looking new and nice. Here's my thing with this; this is your home to be enjoyed by you and styled for you. You should be able to kick your feet up in your home, you deserve that after a long day of work! Don't save the good plates and china for company, use the things that bring you joy every day! If you must have a cover, find a cute throw to put down, there is no need to consume the whole piece with blankets.
The couple had too much furniture in their bedroom and the dresser was a great fit for the look of the dining room. I am not a fan of matching furniture/whole sets where you have a coffee table and side tables that all look the same. You want to collect your look over time and not have it seem as if you walked into one store and bought everything at once. They had these Jetson/spaceship looking coffee table and side tables that were swapped out with a beautiful wrought iron table and nesting tables from storage.
All that greeted you when you walked in the door was a blank white wall, a black floor mat, and a shoe rack. They needed a table to set their keys and place their bags when they walked in. They had a library table in storage that was perfect.
The only purchases needed were an area rug to define the dining room and introduce some color to break up the open space; a lamp and mirror to welcome you at the entrance; some succulents planted to bring some life into the space; and baskets to bring things down to earth, fill in some open spaces and add additional hidden storage. Yvonne and Brian had recently purchased a sail boat painting and coastal pillows, but we returned them as their place would have started to look too nautical themed which is okay in a restaurant, but you don't want to limit yourself to any style in your home, it can begin to look cheesy. They are in the process of getting a more substantial curtain rod and will swap out curtains in the future.
Overall, it only took some muscle and energy to move things from upstairs down and in and out of different rooms and the result was a dramatic space lift! Now when they return from their honeymoon, they will be opening the door to their Home Sweet Home.
“I still can’t believe what Jennifer has done for us! Within a few short hours, our house turned into a home. I was so impressed by how she used what we had...she moved a few things around and suddenly the entire space was transformed! She was able to utilize furniture that I would have never thought could work in our place. The part that really stood out to me was that she made sure that the space reflected our styles and personalities. Brian and I have very different styles and she found a way to balance both our styles and create a space that we both absolutely love. She took the time to ask us what we liked and how we envisioned the space so it really feels like the home WE always wanted.
In the next phase, Jennifer went shopping with me and helped me find a few things that brought everything we had together. Although the place looked great without these things, they brought everything to a whole new level. She was very sensitive to our budget and our taste. Instead of telling me what to buy, she pointed out different things that could work and asked my opinion. If there was anything that I picked out that I really liked, I could tell that she would find a way to make it work...even when she probably should have told me to put it back.
Brian and I had started to buy a few things in the hopes of making the space look decent for our wedding and had it not been for Jennifer, that money would have been wasted. By showing us how to use what we had and helping us choose a few accessories to tie it together, we saved hundreds of dollars and years of failed redecorating attempts. Hiring an interior designer is something I never thought I would do, but ultimately it saves you a lot of money and gets you the home that you could never create for yourself. ”
We created a tray using scrap book paper and a Macbook computer box. iPhone boxes are great for using as drawer organizers.