The Soulful House

Archive | Room Makeovers RSS feed for this section

Teeny Weeny Makeover on a Teeny Weeny Budget

by The Soulful House on February 27, 2013

Take a look at my half-bathroom wall…

This is the scene that greets you as you enter the room. Are you bored yet?

It’s impossibly lackluster and after two years it was time for a fix.

If you know me, you know my love for board-and-batten and all things cottage/farmhouse. (Not to be confused with “country” which is another thing entirely, and not my thing at all.) I wanted this bathroom to feel larger than it is, with a little “farm charm” and reminiscent of the aesthetic in my grandparents’ 1921 lake cottage in northern Wisconsin. (The most beautiful piece of paradise you never imagined in the North Woods.)

So began my transformation, starting with white paint on the bottom 36.5 inches of the wall, overlaid with lattice strips of wood spaced 10.5 inches apart.

I followed much the same process as the board-and-batten in my son’s room you can read about here. And remember that faux Roman shade I made for the kitchen? I decided to try it out in this room for a different effect.

I cut each of the lattice boards to the exact length needed (my house isn’t exactly square) and then alpha-labeled each board so that my power tool recruit (aka good husband) would know where to place each board.

So the new, improved and not-so-boring-anymore bathroom is…

The map on the wall was the perfect size if I turned it sideways, so naturally I did. (Hey, when you think about it, we never use maps ONLY in their “North Up” position. They’re meant to be used in 360 degrees.)

For inexpensive artwork I bought a 1970s National Geographic map of the Great Lakes ($7 on Etsy), mounted it to foam core and cut it in quarters.

It reminds me of my childhood and wonderful summer vacations to Wisconsin and Michigan and those gorgeous lakes.

I pulled in a little nostalgia with a vintage Campfire tin my Grandmother gave me last summer. It had been in her kitchen for about 80 years.

I replaced the light fixture glass with seeded glass covers that cast really interesting shapes on the wall and give an artwork quality to the light.

The total cost for this space was $120 for paint, oval mirror, wood strips, a new towel hook, the National Geographic map and the foam core.

And so it is complete. I love walking in the space now!

BEFORE

AFTER

Comments { 1 }

Living Room Makeover – Warm and Dated turns Cool and Zen

by The Soulful House on October 6, 2012

This is one of my favorite before-and-afters ever.

Take a look at Becki’s warm but dated living room when we started.

She had never loved it, and for the longest time had wanted something more reflective of her zen and minimalist taste. Many months of planning and hard work later, (and trips to Pier 1, Lowe’s, and Chik-fil-A!) here is the reveal.

I still can’t believe it.

Before:

After:

The yellow and red window dressings were replaced with these lovely rich and textured brown tones.

Before:

After:

(Had to get a live shot of the desk in use.)

Bookcases before:

Bookcases after:

(Next up will be spray painting the brass accents on the fireplace to a black.)

We found baskets that carried the accent colors of dark brown and sage into the shelves.

Drapes before:

Drapes after. (Click here for the how-to on making these DIY painted drapes.)

We were able to keep papa’s favorite chair which brought a nice industrial and minimalist element to the space.

I somehow forgot to take pictures of the sofa wall before we started work, but just imagine a completely blank yellow-y wall above a tired tan sofa.

And now, the wall is this:

We brought in textures, color and contrast with the sofa fabric, pillows, blankets and rug.

The walls are painted Sherwin-Williams Amazing Gray in flat and the floors, stairs and banisters were stripped and stained to a walnut finish.

The picture frames were all spray-painted the same shade of espresso.

Okay, one last look at the dramatic change from this:

To this:

Be still. My heart.

Comments { 2 }

A DIY Living Room in Progress

by The Soulful House on August 3, 2012

Remember my living room? It looked like this last time we talked about it:

Something has been snoozing me out about this room ever since. Neutral upon neutral upon neutral.

And then I saw Emily Clark’s family room:

That navy and white was speaking to me. I loved every single inch of it.

And then I saw THIS:

More crisp navy and white with walnut-y trim. It gave me the same feeling as looking at Emily Clark’s living room.

So I spent the next month ~~obsessing over~~ researching Pinterest to make sure this was the right direction. It was hard waiting because I’m not known for patiently planning and thoughtfully considering. I typically just go for it. But I’m learning that sometimes that doesn’t turn out the best result.

Pinterest didn’t let me down…

(Source: HGTV Designers’ Portfolio)

(Source: ? Anyone know? It wasn’t attributed on Pinterest.)

(Source: http://dianebergeron.com)

So after much drooling and planning, stage one of my living room went from this:

to this…

The walls went from a dingy tan to Sherwin-Williams’ Gray Clouds in flat. It’s a cleaner more modern shade that works well with the yellow accents and the navy/white combo.

My favorite feature in this room is this wood slab that used to be a coffee table top. Here it’s used as a sculptural element, bringing in the warm wood tones to balance the room’s coffee table, leather chair and side table. It’s a full 5 feet tall.

Best of all, I found this in my neighborhood in somebody’s trash pile at the curb.

I know. Right?

The yellow pillows were made from $3.99 Target placemats using this tutorial from SAS Interiors.

The blue and white striped pillow was made from a twin sheet cut in half and assembled with this no-sew tutorial.

The most impactful piece in the new color scheme is the 6-paneled abstract painting. I needed color on that wall but didn’t want to assign too much of a theme by using an actual painting of something. (Not to mention I didn’t want to PAY for a giant painting.) So I bought six 18×24 canvases on sale at A.C. Moore for $7.50 TOTAL, used navy blue paint from the boy’s bedroom project and white paint from our family room makeover.

Behind the lampshade is an old barn wood frame that I lightly whitewashed and then hung to “frame” the light cast from the lampshade. When the room is dark it’s a really cool effect.

Cool things are happening on the other side of the room too, but they aren’t quite ready to show. I’m still layering and texturing.

For now, I like where we’re headed. And for $27.50 you can’t beat it.

That’s…

$7.50 – canvases

$8.00 – two placemats

$12.00 – twin sheet set (for blue/white pillow fabric)

Comments { 1 }

Easy Bathroom Facelift

by The Soulful House on July 8, 2012

You may remember that we took down the giant glass-plate mirror that was in our master bathroom and replaced it with two framed mirrors. (Read about it here.)

Well, improvements are contagious in our house and shortly after the master bathroom upgrade we started sideways glancing at the plain ole builder-grade mirror in the guest bathroom upstairs.

Yep. That’s the one. (Extra credit if you can spot the dirty hand towel. Hey, that’s a Pottery Barn towel I’ve had for 11 YEARS and it’s still holding up great.)

Well, I was only days away from delivering a baby, so my sweet hubs took on this project entirely. He had replaced the light fixture from the original builder’s bulb strip a few months back, but we hadn’t painted yet.

Next, he spackled some dings in the wall.

And THEN came the painful part. Hubs and my dad were in the process of hanging the mirror with the original wire backing that had already held this mirror for several years in other places in the house. Well that wire (thick sturdy stuff) BROKE right in the middle and my hubs’ finger was crushed between the very heavy mirror and the porcelain countertop. (~~I didn’t think to take a picture of it at the time.~~ I’ll kindly spare you the photo.) A few x-rays later confirmed his finger was broken.

Undaunted, he painted the wall and hung a new bracket to secure the mirror, not trusting the wire again.

Then he installed a new faucet and….voila!

Do you recognize the mirror? It was originally in the dining room, then moved to our mantel for the holidays. Now it’s spray painted white and fits the bathroom vanity space perfectly.

The faucet upgrade makes a big difference.