A couple weeks ago we finished this wonderful family room. The client and I sat down together during our "walk-thru" consultation and decided what was going to STAY and what was going to GO.

She was moving from another home and had used browns and gold as her color scheme. She desperately wanted to move into more of a fresh, clean & modern look. She had lots of antiques and accessories we could incorporate as well as a beautiful rug she paid a lot for. Knowing that my speciality is "incorporating as much of what you have" into the design, we decided to keep as much as we could and made a list of items that we needed to add to make the transition from OLD and TIRED to NEW and FRESH.

I knew I could do this by adding some new custom pillows to her existing gold couch. Because her rug had gray, black, gold and red in it, it totally worked.

I apologize for the lame pictures, my camera died and my Ipad had to do the trick :(

A few chevron pillows combined with a some patterned gray and white pillows made it look updated immediately.

I especially loved how we added the Greek key gimp to the pillows. The lamps with stone and wrought iron and the burlap shades add a casual feel and lightened up the room immediately.

She had a lot of formal items throughout the home so we made some simple changes like painting the fireplace black to make it feel less intimidating and more inviting and cozy.

We layered books with photo's and other misc. accessories that we thought belonged in this room. I especially loved the pottery vase I found in HER existing treasures.

We added these amazing chairs that are from my "ONE by ONE"" collection. See the before and after here.

Don't you just love the pillows we had made? We are also having some bar chairs made for her in this pattern. It brings the whole room together and makes the rug work!

I found these wonderful art pieces. They are translucent leaves layered to make a flower.

I hung one on each side of the fireplace. I placed existing console tables underneath each one with fresh flowers in vases she already had.

I thought they were absolutely fabulous. When I first showed my client the picture of them, she was not quite sure....but told me she would trust me on this one. When she called me the day of the install to let me know what she thought, she was raving about these two pieces! My job is to stretch my client to try new things, usually when they trust me, they are pleased!

This little desk was upstairs amongst boxes but my intern "Audra" found it and brought it downstairs. She created this lovely little grouping of books and little treasures. I found these two African busts and thought they added a fun eclectic mix to the room (you know I love Africa since it's my birth home). My client couldn't believe I combined these items because she said her mom gave her the desk and her brother brought the busts from a vacation trip. She said they would be extremely pleased to see these items combined together in one spot in her new home.

So here is the.....

BEFORE

and NOW the

AFTER

We created this little sitting area below with the leftover furniture that didn't go anywhere else.

It's a temporary solution for now so she can at least entertain guests in her home until the new furniture arrives for this room. We used an existing table, chairs and rug. I found the lamp base in the garage and stole the lampshade off another lamp upstairs.

We have ordered some custom chairs for the round table and this will be her "wine/bar" room when the final plan is complete.

We are now working on her dining room and master bedroom and will install next week.

(Sneak Peak)

I'm crazy about this Ikat rug!

Ruthie's Tip of the week - Just because trends are moving away from gold and browns, etc. doesn't mean you have to start redecorating from scratch. Have a decorator help you incorporate the items that still have style and life in them. We have ideas that you may not have thought of to make it feasible for you to update your home without breaking the bank. The ABOVE room is a true example of a transformation that could happen in your home.

I'm taking the weekend off to spend some time with family and rest my foot (planters fasciatis) that is about to kill me. Doctors orders are to rest up but I seem to be having a hard time doing that!