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Room Makeovers

All Things Home

kim’s coastal bedroom | part 1 | the concept

When I mentioned that I had taken on my first design client, Megan, my mom quickly jumped in, “Well, you have to do my master bedroom!” There are two things you might be thinking right now… 1.) Your mom is the reason your business is here and she has been with you every step of the way.  This is an amazing opportunity for you to give back.  Yay! 2.) Working with your mom on a design project?  Iceberg.  Dead ahead. So, it may be crazy, but I’m going to walk the tightrope of working with my mom as a design client and we’ll hopefully end up with a beautiful room and still be on speaking terms when we’re through with the whole thing. I’ll share “before” pictures soon, but here is what she wants… She loves the beach and wants a coastal, restful feel to the room, but doesn’t want it to

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All Things Home

room makeovers | putting your money where it counts

I received a question in response to Megan’s office makeover and I thought it would make a great post.  So, here we are. The question came from Christie… “I would love to see a post on how you make your initial budget.  Did you prioritize curtains and storage ?   How do you know what things to go cheap on ?” Great question! Working on Megan’s office was a totally new experience for me, because I was working on a space for someone else with a set budget as well as a set time-frame we had in mind for completion.  There wasn’t anything it had to be finished for, but Megan wanted to be able to use her office again and I have other design clients waiting!  Both the timeline and the budget made me nervous.  My rooms have developed over years with lots of trying things out and swapping what doesn’t work.

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All Things Home

Megan’s office makeover | the reveal

It’s finally time to reveal Megan’s office makeover! Kriste and I met Megan, of the blog Mercy in the Middle, through one of our milk paint workshops.  She then volunteered her time to help as we were getting ready for the Lucketts Spring Market earlier this year.  She mentioned wanting some help with her home, so when I decided to start working with design clients, she immediately came to mind as an ideal guinea pig. Of course, she’s a little cuter than a guinea pig. It would take me way too long to recap the entire makeover, but you can catch up by clicking through the links below… part 1 | the before part 2 | the “franken-chair” part 3| the plan part 4 | wall colors & design elements part 5 | the slipcovered desk chair reveal part 6 | the Craig’s List wardrobe part 7 | the Craig’s List wardrobe

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All Things Home

Megan’s office makeover | the chalkboard wall

We are so, so close to finishing Megan’s office!  Megan and her husband, JT, came to pick up the furniture from my studio over the weekend.  Moving that wardrobe was quite a job and it was even a little nail-biting seeing if they could get it in the space, but they were able to and it will provide loads of closed-door storage. They also picked up the rug, curtains, armchair, accessories, etc., so they could put them in the room.  (Do you see the adorable antique trashcan that Carrie from Copper & Tin gifted to Megan?)  Kriste and I drove down today to check out the space and work on a few things before the final reveal. If you ever paint a chalkboard wall (or anything in chalkboard paint, for that matter), you should season the surface.  This accomplishes a few things.  First of all, it takes the edge off the black

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All Things Home

Megan’s office makeover | slipcovered armchair

If you saw the Craig’s List wardrobe makeover yesterday, you caught a peek at the slipcovered armchair… As I’ve shared before, sewing is not my very favorite thing ever in the world to do.  I do it out of necessity, thriftiness, and the desire to customize. Such is the case with slipcovers.  Unless I wanted to eat up our entire budget having this chair professionally slipcovered, I needed to do it myself in order to give Megan a cute and comfy armchair for her office. I got it done, but I did drag my feet.  This chair was staring me down for a while.  I told Megan that and she said she was glad it was staring someone else down for a change! I know how that is.  Something languishes in your stash and you know it can be really great, but you just don’t want to deal with it.

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All Things Home

Megan’s office makeover | Craig’s List Wardrobe Reveal

After lots and lots of painting, the Craig’s List wardrobe we found for Megan’s office makeover is finished! And, here she is.  The beast herself… Megan came to the studio yesterday to help us with the final coat of green on the outside (a custom mix of MMS Milk Paint in Boxwood, Lucketts Green and Mustard Seed Yellow) and the interior in Linen. Kriste and Megan also worked on cutting and hemming the curtains.  We’re just going to hang them on clips, so they just needed a double hem on three sides.  We’re going to hem the bottom in the room, once the curtains are hanging, so they hit the floor at the perfect height. This morning, my dad came over and installed some shelves in it, so it can be functional for storage. He screwed 1 x 2 supports along the back and some scrap pieces of wood on

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All Things Home

Megan’s office makeover | part 6 | the craig’s list wardrobe

When I met with Megan initially about her space, she was really leaning towards built-ins for storage.  Something similar to the ones in our home office, with a desk, lower cabinets and upper cabinets.  As I thought through the space and how she uses it, I felt like a large cabinet would be more functional for her.  We talked about it and agreed.  It was not only more economical, but it would ultimately address her storage needs better. I immediately started scouring Craig’s List and checked out a few local antique stores.  I found a perfect wardrobe with a bead board back and everything, just like the one I sketched out in the plan.  My dad sent the owners an e-mail to see if it was still available.  A couple of weeks passed and we hadn’t heard anything, so I moved on. Bummer! I kept looking and didn’t find anything close.

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All Things Home

Megan’s office makeover | desk chair slipcover

Remember the “Franken-chair” I made out of two broken desk chairs for Megan’s office makeover?  Well, it has a new dress. Here’s what it looked like before…   The base is from the chair on the left and the seat is from the chair on right. And the slipcover is made out of Megan’s old cream cotton curtains! We’re replacing them with a pretty green buffalo check that works with the farmhouse style Megan is moving towards, but relates to the traditional style (and other greens) in the rest of the house. I am planning to make a small pillow for the chair, but threw one in there for the pictures.  Ha, a little not-so-subtle branding.  Actually, a very sweet reader made that pillow for me and it was the only one in the studio that was the right size.     The ties in the back are decorative, a little

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I’m Marian, a painter, writer, and lover of all things creative. From art and antiques to home projects and everyday life, I share my journey in hopes of inspiring you to embrace your own creativity and make beauty in the spaces you live.

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