FAVORITE BEFORE AND AFTERS

Lately I’ve been working hard on some projects around our home and I can’t wait to share an upcoming reveal with you next week for our master bedroom, which I’ve been hinting about recently. Until that time and since I can’t share it with you quite yet, I’ve decided to go through some older posts and compile all of my favorite before and after photos with you. Some have evolved along the way while others have only a small update. Either way, it doesn’t really take much to change a space drastically. Sometimes it can be as simple as colorful accessories – I’ve talked about this before in many posts – and sometimes just one item can completely transform your space. I’m always about finding ways to refresh our home but most importantly, I love the challenge of doing it without spending a fortune. Read on for some fun DIY inspiration you can use for your own projects.

~ THE LIVING ROOM ~

 Below is our living room from last year.This shot is also from last year, not that much is different – just a few accessories have moved around (this is shot with a filter).
Here it is now with a healthy dose of blue and white (which continues to move all around the house), new mirrors and some blue pillows added to the mix. However, the biggest change in here is our ottoman. I recovered it last summer with a tablecloth I found on markdown for next to nothing. What started out as a ‘test to see if I’d like it’ has become one of my favorite DIY transformations ever. I added the turned feet as well and for less than $100, it’s a completey different piece, which also creates a different room. You can read about it HERE.GET THE LOOK OF OUR LIVING ROOM :

~ THE KITCHEN ~ 

Here’s the kitchen from two years ago. My lantern pendant light was black and I decided it needed an update so I painted it gold, which I talked about in my last post, My Top Ten Style Tips.

I used an inexpensive bottle of acrylic paint to achieve this look. I really love how it turned out as well as the two tone quality it has now.There’s not a huge change in here, but simply moving things around seasonally makes a big difference and I do it in this space as much as any other. I also removed the black quatrefoil mirror and replaced it with a frameless regency inspired one. I still love the original look of our kitchen, however the lighter brighter feeling in here really is beautiful.  UPDATE : We added a new built in shelf in our kitchen and we’re absolutely LOVING it! You can check it out HERE!GET THE LOOK OF OUR KITCHEN : 

~ OUR DAUGHTER’S ROOM ~

A bold and vibrant Palm Beach inspired space was the goal in this original design. I must admit I loved this so much and I miss it!
That being said, we absolutely love the new palette. This is where color and pattern make the biggest impact. The guts of this design remain the same, but a fresh, new wall color and new bedding and rug make a WORLD of difference. You can see the full reveal HERE.GET THE LOOK OF THIS BEDROOM :

~ THE DINING ROOM ~

In our dining room, it has been a progression over the last six years and we started out with a somewhat clean direction and only a small amount of pattern mixing. Here we had white Ikea drapes and the intention was to keep it as bright as possible with the black wall color. Please excuse the poor image quality, but you can see how the current look really takes shape with the custom ikat drapes and pillows that a very talented friend made for me.
This is when it starts to get exciting haha – with the addition of our dramatic patterned outdoor rug, there’s a tension happening in here, that at first is hard to comprehend, yet it works so well.
Here is the most recent – our new pendant light is the finishing touch in this collected, layered room. I talk about this in detail and the reasons I chose this fixture HERE. I couldn’t be happier with the outcome in here, although I am considering painting the black walls another color but I’m on the fence right now…my hubby says no, but we’ll see!GET THE LOOK OF OUR DINING ROOM :

~ THE ENTRY CONSOLE TABLE ~

Do you recognize the table? It’s moved into our daughter’s room and is being used as a desk. Here, it provided a punch of color that I really loved but I felt it was time for something more grown up when I stumbled across our console table that we currently have. Try to ignore that wire hanging down – the perfectionist in me can be lazy sometimes haha.Here it is, in transition, with one of my favorite lamps by Barbara Cosgrove – it was a HomeSense find and I’ve yet to find a matching one.Here’s our current look with lots of blue for Spring, but overall this table is far more sophisticated than the previous one and is the perfect backdrop for my revolving rotation of accessories.GET THE LOOK OF OUR ENTRY : 

It amazes me when I look back at old photos, how incredibly different things once were. Even though the overall feel of our home is the same, the small changes we’ve made over six years have helped evolve our style into something a little more sophisticated, collected and grown up. I don’t think I’ll ever stop trying to find ways to create something new in our home, there’s something about the challenge of executing the vision in my head and bringing it to fruition. Sometimes it turns out exactly the same and sometimes I find myself completely surprised with the outcome. Decorating is all about having fun and trying something different. Which one of these before and afters is your favorite?