Design File
Abracadabra...and the clutter is gone!
Sunday, October 03, 2010
The kids are back in school and things are starting to get back to normal. Routines are in place, and so are early bed times and a little more peace and quiet. But with the quiet comes a chance to see what we’ve let go of over the summer. Clutter might have piled up and toys could have gotten just a wee bit out of control…and you’re left with those dreaded piles. This month's column was written to motivate you to clean it up and clear it out . Here are some simple tips to help you control clutter.
Sharon is a mom of four great kiddos. Like a lot of us, she is super busy balancing work and family life. Decorating is not her priority, in fact, a majority of her furniture is second hand from family members that she has collected over the years. Lucky for her, though, she moved into a home that was filled with beautiful designer colors and amazing architectural details. She’d been living in this gorgeous house for a while, however she didn’t really have thousands of dollars to spend on filling a house with new furniture. She was stumped. She wanted her house to look perfectly put together but didn’t quite know how.
Enter me, the decorator and Home Goods shopper extraordinaire! With a reasonable budget and an afternoon of shopping, we worked together to create a beautiful space that she is no longer embarrassed to share with her family and friends.
We decided to focus on just a few areas around her home that needed attention. Check out the transformations!
Let's start with the Mantel.
It just needed some paring down. We took away a few pictures and provided balance with the remaining items.
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Next we worked on the side table.
We bought a new lamp and brought in a photo of her youngest that was previously in her dining room. The lamp provides some complimentary color to the space and the sliver frame finishes the table. We organized the toys into baskets on the other side of the room and cleared off the “landing zone” that was cluttering up the ledge between the kitchen and the family room.
**************************************************************
Now that the family room was complete, we made our way to the kitchen.
Sharon felt very overwhelmed with such a large window area above her sink. She loved the window and thought it was the perfect area for her plants but felt they looked messy and cluttered. It was an easy fix for me. We focused on the copper accents she had throughout the kitchen and bought a few things to organize the area. Most importantly, we brought height into the space through the use of a plant holder and candles. We even used a plate that was a gift from her sister that was overshadowed in a display in the cluttered dining room.
**************************************************************
Finally the biggest change we made all day: THE DINING ROOM!
This room had Sharon’s parent’s dining room set and a hutch that was handed down from her husband’s family. Although this furniture might not be what she would have chosen for herself, it certainly had enormous sentimental value. The pieces just need a little shifting around and a rug to ground space from being lost in a sea of brown. We cleaned up the clutter first. In most homes, the dining room is such an unused area it tends to be a place where we put all the piles of stuff we need to organize. We purchased the new (and clearance priced) area rug, which adds a touch of warmth and color to the space. I also added a coordinating tablecloth to soften the table itself. We shifted the furniture around and took down the pictures that were clearly too small for the walls they were occupying. We purchased a long mirror for one wall and brought in a beautiful painting that was sitting in the basement storage. I added two matching lamps on the buffet table and finished off the room by untying the knot in the custom curtains and adding a tassel.
**************************************************************
Sharon couldn’t be happier with the results! Although decorating wasn’t at the top of her to-do list, it really only took a day to make this house feel like a home. Sharon commented to me that she couldn’t believe how many times she’d walked through her house feeling overwhelmed by the thought of actually doing this…and is so surprised at how easy and painless it was to finally just get it done. One space we didn’t do that day was her home office. I did give her some design advice for that space and I left her with the “homework” of completing that project with her husband. I can’t wait to visit her again and see what they have accomplished, because sometimes you just need a little nudge of confidence in the right decorating direction.
Now don’t get me wrong, I won’t be offended if one day she decides to purchase the thousands of dollars of new furniture for her home, I just hope she lets me help pick it out!
Stay tuned for more in Suzy's Design File with MK Design!
Column written by MK Design for SuzySaid Acton 2010
Sharon is a mom of four great kiddos. Like a lot of us, she is super busy balancing work and family life. Decorating is not her priority, in fact, a majority of her furniture is second hand from family members that she has collected over the years. Lucky for her, though, she moved into a home that was filled with beautiful designer colors and amazing architectural details. She’d been living in this gorgeous house for a while, however she didn’t really have thousands of dollars to spend on filling a house with new furniture. She was stumped. She wanted her house to look perfectly put together but didn’t quite know how.
Enter me, the decorator and Home Goods shopper extraordinaire! With a reasonable budget and an afternoon of shopping, we worked together to create a beautiful space that she is no longer embarrassed to share with her family and friends.
We decided to focus on just a few areas around her home that needed attention. Check out the transformations!
Let's start with the Mantel.
It just needed some paring down. We took away a few pictures and provided balance with the remaining items.
**************************************************************
Next we worked on the side table.
We bought a new lamp and brought in a photo of her youngest that was previously in her dining room. The lamp provides some complimentary color to the space and the sliver frame finishes the table. We organized the toys into baskets on the other side of the room and cleared off the “landing zone” that was cluttering up the ledge between the kitchen and the family room.
**************************************************************
Now that the family room was complete, we made our way to the kitchen.
Sharon felt very overwhelmed with such a large window area above her sink. She loved the window and thought it was the perfect area for her plants but felt they looked messy and cluttered. It was an easy fix for me. We focused on the copper accents she had throughout the kitchen and bought a few things to organize the area. Most importantly, we brought height into the space through the use of a plant holder and candles. We even used a plate that was a gift from her sister that was overshadowed in a display in the cluttered dining room.
**************************************************************
Finally the biggest change we made all day: THE DINING ROOM!
This room had Sharon’s parent’s dining room set and a hutch that was handed down from her husband’s family. Although this furniture might not be what she would have chosen for herself, it certainly had enormous sentimental value. The pieces just need a little shifting around and a rug to ground space from being lost in a sea of brown. We cleaned up the clutter first. In most homes, the dining room is such an unused area it tends to be a place where we put all the piles of stuff we need to organize. We purchased the new (and clearance priced) area rug, which adds a touch of warmth and color to the space. I also added a coordinating tablecloth to soften the table itself. We shifted the furniture around and took down the pictures that were clearly too small for the walls they were occupying. We purchased a long mirror for one wall and brought in a beautiful painting that was sitting in the basement storage. I added two matching lamps on the buffet table and finished off the room by untying the knot in the custom curtains and adding a tassel.
**************************************************************
Sharon couldn’t be happier with the results! Although decorating wasn’t at the top of her to-do list, it really only took a day to make this house feel like a home. Sharon commented to me that she couldn’t believe how many times she’d walked through her house feeling overwhelmed by the thought of actually doing this…and is so surprised at how easy and painless it was to finally just get it done. One space we didn’t do that day was her home office. I did give her some design advice for that space and I left her with the “homework” of completing that project with her husband. I can’t wait to visit her again and see what they have accomplished, because sometimes you just need a little nudge of confidence in the right decorating direction.
Now don’t get me wrong, I won’t be offended if one day she decides to purchase the thousands of dollars of new furniture for her home, I just hope she lets me help pick it out!
Stay tuned for more in Suzy's Design File with MK Design!
Column written by MK Design for SuzySaid Acton 2010
