Redesigning to create a focal point

The client who owns this beautiful home lives in my dream neighborhood.  It's a beautiful area with classic and elegant homes.

This family recently moved in but wanted help arranging their living room.  They had tried different options but didn't find one that had the look and feel they were happy with.

I created a sitting area to the right of the fireplace using two chairs and a drum table .  I turned the sofas so they would face the beautiful fireplace as well as the TV to be mounted above.

                                                              (click on picture to enlarge)

In the before picture it seems there is too much furniture.  With the new layout, I was able to use everything except the TV stand and one chair and still avoid a cluttered feel.  For a larger gathering, the two chairs in the sitting area can be pulled over toward the sofas to create a conversation grouping.

The built-in shelves to the left of the fireplace are very visible when entering the room so I used them to display decorative items.

When I create groupings for vignettes, I like to place similar items for greatest impact.  Shiny glass placed in front of a mirror produces a beautiful reflection.

The shelves to the right were the perfect place to store the electronics and TV games.

This room is now ready for family and friends to enjoy the new surroundings.  This family will create many great memories in this home.  That's what home is for, right?

Design Plan of a brand new home

I have some wonderful clients in the Portland area.  I did a redesign on their condo about a year ago.  They recently called me to say that they'd bought a brand new home and needed a design plan for some of the rooms.

I began with the living room.  Beautiful, isn't it?  The only piece of furniture that they will be reusing from the condo is their sectional sofa.

I created this moodboard as inspiration for the new look.

This is the 3-D view of the design plan showing how the room can look and function.  My design plan suggested adding an additional side chair, an over-sized ottoman, a sofa table, new lighting and accessories.

Here is a side by side view of how my clients can turn their new, empty, and unfurnished living room into a comfortable place to lounge and live.

If you're interested in having a design plan done for your own space, please visit www.myrenewedspaces.com or call Gina at 503-997-2325.
Thanks for viewing!

Creating a "Cars" room

My daughter's family just moved into a new home and I had the privilege of decorating my grandson's bedroom!  They're renting the home so I opted to paint a picture instead of putting color on the walls so it won't be as difficult to repaint when they move.  My sweet 3 year old boy is a big fan of anything related to the movie "Cars".  Lightning McQueen was the obvious choice for a picture he would like to wake up to.

It's certainly isn't perfect (I wouldn't want to drive on those tires!) but he's thrilled!

To make the checkered flags, I bought 1/2 yard of fabric and two black felt squares from Joanns.  After ironing, I hot glued the edges onto the back of the felt and added two ribbon tabs to hang it them.

I painted a couple of dowels black and hot glued the flags onto them.

The pennant flag is made of left-over checkered fabric and "Cars" fabric, cut into triangles and hot glued onto black rope.

This is inexpensive decorating!  After using my 40% coupon for the fabric, I ended up spending less than $9.00 for all of this!  I already had the paints and the dowels were left overs from a different project (but they only cost a couple of dollars).  

It's fun to watch your child or grand-child act as though you spent a million dollars making things that are so magical to them.  The look on my sweet boy's face was worth a million dollars to me!

Coffee sign

I love a good cup of coffee!  I like to imagine sitting on the front porch in the morning, sipping my coffee while the sun beams down on my face.  Unfortunately, that isn't how it really happens.  On a typical morning, you'll find me sipping my coffee while I sit at the computer, catching up on emails or drinking it while I dry my hair.
I was thinking about what to do with a left-over cabinet door we had from an old building display, and I decided that a vintage-looking coffee sign would be cute to hang in the kitchen.

I got so eager to start this project that I gave the door a coat of paint before I took a picture of it.  After I sprayed it with Rustoleum's Heirloom White, I printed a cute coffee sign onto regular white copy paper.

I applied a thin layer of Mod Podge to the stick the paper onto, and smoothed it out.  I find that it works best to wait until that dries before applying the top coats.  After it was dry, I brushed a glaze on top and wiped it off until it looked aged.  The glaze made the paper and the painted wood blend well so that it looks as though it were painted on.  

I attached two D-hooks on the back to hang.

Since I already had the cabinet door sitting around, this project didn't cost me a dime.  This would be so simple to do on any type of board or old barn wood.
Looking at this sign makes me want another cup of coffee.  Since it's 7:00 p.m., I'd better break out the decaf!