Guest Room Before

You've seen the after. Now I'm gonna hit you with the before.

vs.

A Knight's Tale

My mom recently decided to redecorate my brother's room and called me in to assist. I was happy to help...Hizzy Tizzy loves a good design challenge! I don't have any before pictures ULGH...but let's just say it was a hot mess. The bedspread was my old bedspread from middle school...I am 25 now. It was not good.

The Project: Trace's room

The Budget: $100

Trace is 11, and he loves 3 things: reading, knights, and horses. Those were the design inspirations. Several things couldn't change: the bed, the dresser, and the books! That kid had books on his bed, under his bed, on the dresser, and overflowing the 2 small bookcases he had in the room before.

The first item of buisness was to change out the 80's purple bedspread with a more up to date look. One trip to Ikea, and we were set. This bedspread/skirt combo is perfect for a young boy and is neutral enough to let the knight accesories, like the art and accessories, pop out and make the room. The red velvet pillow was just enough to set the bedspread apart from being plain, to being part of the theme. And yet, remove the pillow and it is plain enough to be versatile for later years where a "theme room" may be too young for him.

Things to note: we took out the 2 smaller bookcases against the back wall and replaced it with one larger bookcase. The bookcase was a budget cheat because I had it in my house, but ran out of space for it and donated it to the cause. However, it helped tremendously!

The gazillions of books all had a home at last.

The other thing Trace had at LEAST gazillion of was little knicky knacks. Turns out, he is a severe pack rat at the ripe old age of 11 and has saved anything anyone has ever given him. In addition to these saver habits, he has been known to ransack Goodwill bags and take items out to place in his little bedroom rescue habitat. He might end up on Oprah for those hoarding shows they talk about where people live in millions of piles of crap and make tiny piles through it all. The bookcase helped to display some of his favorite knacks, and the solution for the rest was 2 seagrass baskets stacked up beside the bookcase. They are easy to navigate and provide excellent storage for all his little treasures.

Trace and mom take all the credit for the big picture above the bed. Trace picked out the print, and mom took it to have it framed and matted. It turned out wonderfully and was a perfect addition to the "knight room".

Another neat idea we had for inexpensive art was to hang toys on the wall! The two swords were toys Trace had outgrown, so we threw them up on the wall as art. They look great, they were cheap, and it reduced the clutter on the floor. Win- win for everyone.

Another budget cheat. Trace had a birthday right around the time of his room design, so big sis Hizzy Tizzy made this super duper bean bag chair for relaxing and reading. I used red velvet, grey flannel and a houndstooth print to work with the Knight theme but be cozy and soft for lots of hours spent reclining and reading.

This piece of art is another Hizzy Tizzy original. I made this using an old window frame. I painted it black to match the theme and attached a fleur de lis hanger on the bottom for storage and display. I alternated cork and patterned paper within the frames for displaying pictures and other special items. It fits so well in the little corner it lives in.

Designer's Challenge Complete!! A Knight themed room for a a great little dude.

Before and After: Living Room Edition

BEFORE

AFTER

The first project I want to feature is our living room. I am so proud of how this room turned out- We didn't do a ton of work to the room, but it still feels like we made the most of a really awkwardly layed out room size. The room is loooooong and narrow, and has doorways and passthroughs and windows in some weird spots. Since my husband didn't love my sweetly put suggestion that I needed unlimited money to buy whateva I wanted for my long skinny room, I had to improvise. And by improvise, I mean use the junk I already had. He's so annoyingly right. Sigh.

All that to say, furniature placement was a bit of a challenge. Even though this room is "done", I still obsess think about ways to make the furnituare arrangement flow better.

Mooooving along. When we moved in, we lucked out-- we LOVED the color the room was painted, so we didn't have to change the paint. The paint color is "Toffee Crunch" by Behr...I never would have picked something so dark, but I am really glad we decided to stick with it, because it's very warm and cozy feeling.

The only other major changes we made in this room were the lighting, the floors and the fireplace. We had the floors professionally refinished and they turned out beautifully. The fireplace project I will save for another post- but we just did some small tweaks to brigthen it up and freshen up the 1970's motif it was sporting before.

Aw, look. Boaz kept following me around messing up my pictures My picture taking helper.

BEFORE

AFTER

My favorite things about this room are the contrasting patterns. I love the floral curtains with the crazy animal stripe on the chair, and the plush plaid feel of the rug.... The husband in the chair entranced by his favorite toy is also a nice feature. :)

BEFORE

AFTER

Another HUGE difference was the lighting.

For a long time, we had only the 2 side lamps and the 2 small lamps on the mantle. Needless to say, peeps, it was a dark, dark time for us. Literally. It was really dark in there. We had 4 can lights installed, and it had transformed the living room. We had them installed professionally, because while I ridiculously overestimate my abilities at do it yourself projects like to be optimistic about my home improvement skillz, I'm not crazy. Where electricity/possible electrocution and cutting/possile falling through the ceiling is concerned, I call in the pros.

Seriously, the dog found his way into every. single. picture. What a diva.