….the 2011 TOP 10 Makeovers!
10. Front Hall/Entryway Changes….
Hands down, the most heavily trafficked area of our house is the entryway and front hall.
This area serves as Mudroom, and every single downstairs room is accessed from this entry hall. One of my most recent makeovers was the repainting of the Hall Pew, with my newly discovered best friend “Annie Sloan Chalk Paint” – POST HERE
…last fall…I changed the way we tidy up the front hall when I stumbled upon (no pun intended) a new way to store the bottomless pit of shoes which constantly litter our front entryway. I had my eye on this dilapidated old hamper….which sat on the front porch of the Greenwood Country Store, rain or shine for months. I kept thinking
“I LOVE the bamboo but what do I need with another side table?”
Well, turns out the FAUX Bamboo/FAUX Side table – held a surprise in store for me!
and became a shoe storage work of ART! POST HERE coincidentally, My third most popular post of the year.
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| yuck! |
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| Yeah! |
…and Voila! it does not get much better than this!
9. Dresser Transformations:
I have a soft spot for Dressers. Okay, an obsession. There are at least two in every room in our house . And in 2011 they were the subject of my most frequent
and some of my most rewarding makeovers.
makeover(S)
See, I had a difficult time choosing my MOST Favorite Dresser transformation –
there were so many good ones,
it was the year for dressers I guess,
so instead I made DRESSERS themselves as an entire category..
.and here are the entrants :
I just swapped out the print last week…
The Calypso Blue Eastland Dresser makeover –
was My 2nd most popular Post
My daughter’s baby dresser was transformed from this…
to this….
Little Girl Dresser Grows Up!
and one of the easiest and most popular makeovers…
8. Lighting Upgrades!
One of my mantras is to “make it work with what you have”.
This translates… that on our budgets, many things will wait, but many things CAN and DO happen – within each individual budget.
For 7 years, I lived with antiquated and non working lighting in our home.
In 2011, I, room by room, upgraded the lighting, by budgeting,
scoping out sales and sometimes just being in the right place at the right time!
THE LIVING ROOM CHANDELIER
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THE DINING ROOM CHANDELIER
TABLE LAMPS
New lamps which make me very very happy!
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| New Hall Pendants (I just did these and the post is coming this week!) |
7. Easy as Pie Window Cornices
This was my Fourth most popular Post and my Personal favorite DIY Makeover of the year! Both Posts include tutorials with step by step instructions to make your own
cornices!
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The Master Bedroom and My daughter Phoebe’s
Cornices made with Dwell Studio Fabric and Foam Core Board!
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6. The Dining Room Makeover!
This year, little by little, I made over our most versatile room in the house. With a great gently used indoor/outdoor rug, new window treatments, lighting, paint color changes, furniture make overs, The Dining room, which serves as the place where we eat all of our meals, the homework room, my Art Studio, and the game room, became one of my favorite rooms in my Old Country House!
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and…JUST LAST WEEK,
THE DINING ROOM GOT ONE MORE UPDATE!!!
5. the Kitchen Cabinets Re – Do
This makeover, which includes steps 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 encompasses Stage 1 in what I hope to eventually be a complete kitchen Remodelof our 1967 Avocado oven Kitchen. The whole thing began last February and was finally completed in early September! It is amazing to me what simply changing the cabinet door fronts and hardware has done for the overall feel and modernization for our VERY dated kitchen.
4.Striped Laundry Room
Who knew that doing laundry could be fun? What began with my nursing my sick child back to health and repairing a broken dryer belt, ended (as so often it does) with me completely transforming a VERY sad, dreary, end of the road room…into the happiest room in the house. POST HERE. and Here
3.Pink Living Room Transformation
Once upon a time, the Dining room was yellow and was located where the Pink Living room now is and the blue playroom is where the Brown Dining room now is. In short, as the kids have grown and our daily needs have changed, I did some necessary rearranging and the end result was a Beautiful New Pink Living Room. Bit by bit, upgrade by upgrade, the favorite being my newly reupholstered chevron sofa...I have created a haven for myself, amongst the chaos which so often defines our home.
2.Phoebe’s Teen room
When I was growing up, our family moved about every 3 years. Sometimes it was fun…an adventure…but often..it was tough. New schools, new friends, new house…but it took me having kids of my own to grasp how VERY difficult it must have been for my Mom to move…and replicate her life…as a Mom…over and over again…in a new town. And I realize now that she must have found great solace and joy as she settled into a new town with 4 kids…..in the redecorating and recreating of new bedrooms for me – her only daughter. I have such great memories of going to the fabric store…flipping through wallpaper books, picking paint colors and combing Goodwill and Antique stores for furniture to transform. Eventually I think I had a room in nearly every color…and subsequently I learned to LOVE decorating and was able to find the beauty in almost any color palate.
I have brought this passion, shared with my own Mom, to my relationship with my own daughter , Phoebe – also an only daughter and we LOVE redecorating her room, though, thankfully she has only had two homes and two bedrooms to decorate in her life.
This past Spring, while Phoebe was away on a school trip, which took place the week of her 13th Birthday, I did a complete Surprise Makeover of her bedroom. She and I had discussed colors and she gave me parameters, like “No Green”, etc.
Thankfully… the results were everything we both dreamed it would be!!!
The room has held up to 6 months of her living as a full fledged teenager in it and this fall I had one of my most popular Link Party entries with an update of her room.
Have you guessed what Number 1 is?
1. The Pink Cabinet Makeover!
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This has been My Most PINNED Photo on Pinterest!
and my MOST READ POST BY A LANDSLIDE! Was it the Missoni? The Pink? What was it? Timing…I believe…is everything! |
I am still relatively new to blogging, and thus, the ins and outs of why things work…or why posts don’t work…what brings readers to my blog, draws them in…well, is often still such a mystery to me.
I have done makeovers…and have written posts…incredible posts…amazing makeovers…that have fallen flat like a bad joke, or a missed punch line.
AND then…there is the Pink Cabinet Makeover. One day, last September, with not much going on(well, except the Missoni madness at Target) …save maybe an itch for a Pink Pick Me Up…I grabbed some paint and painted the inside of a cabinet in my Living room, Spring Bloom Pink.
Coming up next…
1. New Hall Pendants
2. A NEW CAR!
3. Not one, but two broken arms
4. Febr review – long overdue!
5. More Paintings…
1. New Hall Pendants
2. A NEW CAR!
3. Not one, but two broken arms
4. Febr review – long overdue!
5. More Paintings…
Hi Lesli, really love the blog and your style!
Funny how your hound seems to sneak into your photo shots too, mine has issues with that also…:)
Recognized your Santos Wisemen!
Really enjoyed your paint choices…great ideas for my home!
Why Thank You Tiff! Yes, Charlie goes where I go, and this, he ends up in many photos. Happy decorating!
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