Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Redecorate Without Spending a Penny

Sunday was my niece's birthday.  The birthday celebration was at my brother's home.  After lunch, my sister-in-law and I started to chat about her plans to update her bedroom.  They want to redecorate the room and she wanted my opinion.  (Before I continue this story you should know that I had no idea how much furniture we would start to move, so I don't really have before photos and all the photos were taken on my iphone).  So...we went upstairs and I took a look.  She told me that her plan is to remove the wall to wall carpet and add hardwood floors and to repaint the walls.  She wanted my overall impression of the room.   She had this very large chaise lounge in her bedroom.  The piece felt very overpowering in the space.  It didn't take much convincing to get her to agree to let me move the chaise lounge to the sitting room on the first floor.  She thought my brother would be against the idea, so I called my husband upstairs.  I knew he would move the chaise with me.

Here is the chaise in its new location, the sitting room.  It goes perfectly with the decor in there.  They colors in the room are golds and creams and they have a black baby grand piano.  The chaise looks so much better here.  What a perfect place to curl up and read a book or listen to someone playing the piano.  I wish I had taken out my phone to take photos of my husband and my sister-in-law's sister-in-law (got that?) carrying the chaise down the stairs.  We were all laughing so hard because it felt like we were doing this undercover, all the while with my brother in the other room watching the football game with everyone else.  My brother and his wife have beautiful furniture, most of it from Ethan Allen (my favorite store).  It was just a matter of moving it all around.  Next step was to add a seating area to the master bedroom where we just removed the chaise lounge.

Here is their new seating area.  One of these chairs was in their family room and the other chair was in their foyer.  My husband brought them both upstairs to the master bedroom.  The table in between the two chairs was one of their night stands.  The truth is that they need a desk area in the master bedroom.  This new desk will be in lieu of a nightstand.  My sister-in-law has put me in charge of finding the perfect desk.  I am in love with this new seating area.  I wish I had a before photo of the chaise lounge in this space (I did ask my husband to bring everything back upstairs just so I could get a before photo...he didn't go for that one).  Isn't it gorgeous?
Then we moved the chair from the sitting room (where the chaise lounge now resides) to the foyer to replace the chair that is part of the new seating area in the master bedroom.
(Are you all still following me?)

Now that I took away one of the chairs from the family room, I needed to add something back.  I added these two stools that were just hiding in a corner.
I also needed to balance the piece of furniture that was to the left of the fireplace.

I did that by having my other brother (I needed to recruit more people in my plan at this point) move this little secretary desk to the other side of the fireplace.
Then we moved this chair and table over to the right in order to center it more in the window.
Four rooms redecorated and not a penny was spent.
So what is the moral of my story?
Before you go out and spend any money on new furniture...first shop your own home.  You will be surprised at what you find.  If you are having trouble seeing your existing furniture in a new light, ask a friend or relative to help you.  I promise, you will have so much fun!
-Judy

23 comments:

  1. This whole story cracks me up because it sounds like something my family & I would do...moving things around undercover while my poor unsuspecting (brother, brother-in-law, etc.) is watching the game in the other room. LOL
    Your sister-in-law is lucky to have you to help her.

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  2. Great job! Everything looks great! I totally agree about "shopping" your own home first, even though you have had pieces for years they look totally new when you rearrange things around!

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  3. Great advise Judy, I totally agree. The fun part is, some people do not even realize the stuff they have tucked away and how great it looks out in another place they never would have thought of. Nice job!

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  4. I love how everything turned out! Whenever I shop my home, I first get nervous about making the changes for some reason and then usually end up pleasantly surprised at the outcome!
    -Shelley

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  5. Judy, this was a great post! I have been shopping my home since after
    Christmas; and have yet to spend a penny! Not sure if that means I have too much stuff, or if I'm just a savvy shopper! Lol!

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  6. Lovely post. After melding two households and finishing a large reno we have a rule in the house that we 'look in the basement' before buying anything.

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  7. This post shows that sometimes we forget about things that we have in our own homes! Sometimes its good to give your furniture a double look, obviously you liked it in the first place it has to fit somewhere in your home.

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  8. Love it! Judy you are so funny! I can just picture you trying to convince those guys to move everything around. LOL! It looks so fantastic though and I totally agree that you should always shop your own home first. I've been amazed at how moving a few things around makes such a difference! :-)
    Vanessa

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  9. Haha! Was anybody left watching the game by the end of your switcheroo-ing, Judy? : ) Did your brother like it? Great idea to move those chairs - together - to make a new sitting area in the bedroom. It looks like everything moved to its new spot very smoothly and was meant to be there!

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  10. I did this to my best friend's house. She was convinced her fiance wouldn't want her to move things around, so I too called in my husband to help. And like you, it felt like we were doing undercover work! It was so much fun! In the end her fiance was fine with what we did, but now every time I'm over for coffee he looks at me and says "don't move the furniture," or "wait til I come to your house and redecorate." I just smile, and say "go for it, Carl."

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  11. So, when can I book you into my guest room! I think you need to pay me a little visit...

    ;)

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  12. Great job Judy! Your SIL is lucky to have you:)

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  13. One lucky sis-in-law! Lookin' good shopping home first!!

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  14. so helpful! love all the new decorating! :)

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  15. Can I get in line behind Sue to get you up here for a week to move things around at my house? I like this sort of decorating and I had a chuckle at the thought of the unsuspecting husband, watching TV while all this took place. I'll bet he liked the result.

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  16. What a truly fun time this was! You'll be talking about it for years. And I love the fact that you just gave pieces of furniture a new home and 'ta-da' - a fresh new look. Great lesson here.

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  17. great advice. I'll remember that and invite you over when I'm ready for a change! :)

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  18. Great idea...Maybe I should try that one. lol

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  19. I loved getting to read about your secret mission. What lovely furniture they have.

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  20. Great advice Judy! I really need to keep this in mind. Thanks so much for the inspiration!

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  21. Weird. Comments are being dumb again today on blogger!

    But...

    I love this whole story. I felt like I was there as one of the undercover decorators!

    You really have a knack for this! Your family and friends are lucky to have access to your talents!

    Thanks for a cute link for the letter I.

    A+

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  22. Thanks for all the input Judy.. yeah I agree with you. Checking out of unused things and open your mind in possible things to do and you can decorate even your not spending a penny.


    Thanks,
    Nancy
    Window Planet - Superior Quality Windows and Doors

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