I always like branches, greenery and trees used in decor. Like in the image above, a pop of greenery in any room can really look amazing. I love the fiddle leaf fig tree in the large basket in the room above. At home it can be as simple as cutting large branches and putting them in a big vase – easy to do yourself. Here are a couple of more great examples. If you're lucky enough to have branches with blossoms that looks even better.
today we're on thekitchn.com
Excited to see my Chester cottage kitchen reno featured on thekitchn.com (of Apartment Therapy) today. This was an easy, inexpensive kitchen update that really just involved taking down a wall and a lot of white paint. Other than the wall coming down (with proper support beams added to the ceiling). I was able to do the rest of the work else myself. Be sure to check it out here: http://www.thekitchn.com/kitchen-before-after-a-rundown-cottage-kitchen-gets-a-little-charm-reader-kitchen-remodel-206561 And the original blog post about the kitchen progress is here: http://www.debnelsondesign.com/?p=1350
A room transformed with paint: before and after
I'm a huge fan of paint as the most affordable way to drastically change a room. I'm always talking about 'paint makeovers' and how much you can do with paint. Hopefully these pictures back up my claim. The living room shown above is the same room as you see below, but with furniture. I wanted to show how it looked without any furnishings and decor. This way you can really get an idea of how the paint changed the room.
It was also very affordable, I did all the work myself, so my only cost was paint. I personally removed the carpet and old drapery (in a day) and then painted the walls, ceiling, trim and fireplace in white and the floors in gloss black. At that time you could still buy oil paint, so I put black oil paint on the floors that stood up pretty well over time. The floor paint was smelly and needed a couple coats with a day to dry for each. Over time, the floor paint did chip in places here and there (mostly because I would drag furniture across it). I did consider a lighter colour paint on the floor but at the time I wanted the contrast of black.
Here's how the room looked when I bought the house, with wall to wall carpet. BEFORE:
And the empty painted room and fireplace: AFTER:
Before & After: a table gets a makeover
Back in 2007, or maybe even 2006, I bought an antique table and two benches at great shop outside Toronto. What I loved was the size, this was a suitable size for a dining room and could fit 6 chairs around it, but it wasn't overly wide. At the time it was just what I needed for my loft. Here is how it looked when I got it.
Another great aspect of it was that the legs on the table fold in underneath, so with a hatchback it's quite easy to move. The benches also had metal legs that could fold in, making the entire 3 pieces very compact. What's funny is that the table was coated with old plastic mac tac in the image of wood - so it a wooden table covered with vinyl wallpaper! I was easily able to strip that layer off and found it was previously painted green and purple underneath that. With a hot air stripper I was able to get it back to the original surface. I touched up the benches and table with some minwax stain, over the years it has faded, but here are some places I've used it. It's definitely been a piece of furniture that has been versatile and well used over the years.
In my Toronto dining room, table paired with chairs:
The dining table in Chester and the two benches pushed together as a coffee table:
Today in my office:
An easy summer DIY idea
I'm a fan of easy, stylish "do-it-yourself" ideas, and this one fits the bill. You simply spray paint a bottle to make it white; or any colour you like. I personally prefer the look of white, since it becomes so clean and fresh. This time of year its great to add some summer flowers, branches or greenery.
The trick for a really nice white matte finish is to use spray paint primer. It gives that flat, almost chalky look to the surface. The joy is you can use any bottles you have, go through the recycling and see what different shapes and sizes you have. Clean the glass and then give it a light coat of spray paint. I spray it as lightly as possible to avoid runs, you can always do a few light coats.
I often use the same vessel in repetition, or you can use a grouping of all different sizes. It makes a nice summer centerpiece!