Friday, February 12, 2010

Extreme Home Makeover

A lot of people have asked if I had a nice "vacation" to Utah a few weeks ago. My response is usually that it was great to see my family and friends, but it was also very exhausting. I spent a lot of time doing a living room makeover for my parents. They just moved to a beautiful new house. However, the decor was....well, I'll just let the pictures speak for themselves.



When I first walked in their new house, this is how I saw their living room. Please kindly ignore Noah's toys, but do not ignore the brass lamp with crooked shade and the random Valentines heart which was strategically...or maybe non strategically placed on the 'too small for the room' entertainment center. You might also notice the brass pieces inserted in the end and coffee tables. Or the tree that just kind of appears. My parents both knew it wasn't that great, so they agreed to give me a small budget to redo the whole thing. I asked for $300 and told them that would include furniture. Yea! I love a decorating challenge!

Here's another angle. The couches are really good so we obviously kept those. The little computer station had to go though.

I went to a consignment shop looking for furniture. The owner of the shop did not want to show me this piece because it was so beat up (the picture doesn't really show just how dinged and hammered this little guy was) but as soon as I saw it, I fell in love with it and knew it would be perfect. We took it home for $60 and busted out the electric sander and some black paint.



And WALA! Look what a little black paint and some sandpaper can do! My sister helped with the painting and shopped with me for accessories. We both had the same vision because we picked out the same things!
Here, I tried to take a picture of the mirror that we got at Wal-Mart for $40. Since the picture was taken, my parents have got a buffet table to go underneath it.

Here's the best shot I got of the whole room. We kept the tree, but moved it to the corner. We got the rug at Ross for $20. The decor on top of the entertainment center was from Kohls, Hobbly Lobby, and Wal-Mart and ranged in prices, but nothing was too expensive. We stayed under our $300 budget.



Here is another great find we had. We got this end table and bought it 'as is' at the same consignment shop as the entertainment center. It was $50. The lamp matches the plate and vase on top of the entertainment center perfectly, which is crazy because we got them at different stores. We put together the candle tray with purchases from 3 different stores also, which amazed me how everything just came together.

My parents have since bought a big clock to put on the wall to the right of the entertainment center. I bet it looks great there!


Thanks Mom and Dad for letting me put my touch on your house! I hope when you spend time in that room you remember how much I love you!!!

So, what do you all think? Give some love to my parents house, I guarantee they will read the comments! :)

9 comments:

Shantelle said...

Can't believe the difference just a little change can make. Looks great! Next time you're in Utah you're welcome to come makeover my house :)

Brittany said...

that looks great. you are so creative. i'll have to get some pointers whenever we get a house!!!

Guin said...

You did a fabulous job!!!! Thank you for sharing. I'm trying to find way to 'improve' our living room. So far, I've just rearranged and done curtains. I love your inspiration!

MKS said...

i love it! consignment shops are the best when it comes to redecorating on a budget. it is SO classy! love love love it!

webster said...

looks good, can you come to my house?

Randrea said...

That's great! I love it! We need to look around here and see if we can find some furniture to re-finish.

The Lowden Family's Blog said...

Wow Court!! That looks great!! We love garage sales!!

Brittney said...

Court! That's awesome! Next time you come to Utah I need your expertise (and some Joe Veras!)!!!

Rachel said...

Courtney, you did a fabulous job! I didn't even know you were into decorating, you will have to give me some tips someday if we ever get our own house!