31 Days of Flipping Out has been so much fun. And today’s flip is probably one of my favorites. A recent decorating client asked my sister and I to “work our magic” in her home. She has recently moved into her house and needed help getting everything finished. It was a pleasure and an honor to be asked. She previously owned an antique store so she has a lot of pretty things. She could have done it all herself because she truly has an eye for furniture, but her schedule doesn’t permit it – SO, lucky us!
Who is “us”? My company, Rave Redux (a take off from the phrase rave reviews) focuses on using items clients already own. We do this for four reasons:
- Most clients love their things and it makes them happy to keep them
- To save things from the landfill
- It’s fun to use our creative thinking caps, and
- To save our clients money.
It has been my experience that when we get tired of things we can always move things around, paint them, even take them apart and repurpose them. It is always such fun to see “old” things used in a different way. This client’s home was perfect for us because she loves the same things.
Some of my before pictures didn’t turn out clear enough with my cell phone, but the after-photos just had to be shared. She has ongoing projects and a wish list for future changes, but all in all is happy in her new home.
Welcome home! The foyer already had the furniture and the mirror was sitting atop the chest. Kristie and I simply hung the mirror and added the runner, urn and art piece. Look carefully and you’ll see a scarecrow in the mirror.
She has lots of pretty pieces of ironwork, so we hung this piece over the door. Our next visit will include accessorizing the secretary to the left.
Again, I apologize for cell phone pictures. This entertainment center was empty except for the tv. Kristie added her accessorizing magic to this piece in the living room.
This piece to the left of the entertainment center is a folding three-tiered table that we loved on the wall.
Our client has gorgeous antique pieces and this buffet used as a sofa table is the perfect size for her sofa. We left her with a short shopping list, upon which was 4 more candles for this candelabra.
We added light colored accessories to brighten up the dark wood of this secretary.
This piece was completely empty. We added books, family photos and a few collectibles. She loved the touches of red.
Of all the accessorizing we did here, her mantle is my favorite. The piece of iron weighs 900 gazillion pounds and took two of us to get it onto the mantle. It was too heavy to hang, but looks great propped up there. And believe me, it’s not going anywhere!
I heart coffee table books.
This is one before-picture of her dining room that sort of turned out. We moved one of the cabinets to another room and now she only has one on the wall to the left. No picture, but it looks great. The movers broke the mirror in the armoire and are in the process of replacing it.
We decided against the Japanese screen and added the mirrors, lamps and a pop of blue to her buffet.
On her wish list is to someday update the wallpaper and shower curtain in this bath, but it came with the house. For now we decided to make it her “frilly, girlie room.” These are before pictures.
And this is after…
We were able to finish four rooms in about 8 hours. Our client was very pleased and has even asked when we can come back to work in her bedrooms and kitchen. I’ll take my cadillac of cameras with me next time. Thank you, dear lady, for trusting us with your antiques. You have a beautiful home!