Re-styling?

[scaredsi11y]

So, I've gotten an urge to restyle my house a bit. Although we like most of the things we have, we've lived in this house for over three years without changing things up much. mr. scaredsi11y and I did a walk-through together this afternoon, and made a list of things we're not crazy about. After that, I started working on some sketches and played around a bit with moving things from one room to another.

Pros:

- The couch, chaise and chair in the living room are new; we bought them last September. They're the first brand new furniture we've ever owned, and we're really happy with them.

- We had a yard sale last month and got rid of tons of things we didn't use/need, so we have very little clutter. There are only a few smaller items that I would like to get rid of now, after doing some reflection on who/what they remind me of.

- I have a lot of paint and crafting supplies at my disposal, and there have been some great yard sales happening in the area lately.

Cons:

- We're doing a "buy nothing new" summer. We did talk about making an exception for this project and budgeting a small amount (probably $50 or less) to go towards the overall effort.

- I'm really happy with the the living room ideas I have so far, but I can't think of a cheap solution for the area rug. We got it for free years ago, and it just doesn't match the rest of the room very well.

- Our house is 125 years old, so it has oddly shaped rooms and lots of built-in features. This is actually probably more of a pro overall, since we love those things... but it leads to the con of not being able to move the furniture around much. The larger pieces really don't work/fit in any other orientations, so that's not a restyling option.


I'd love to look at inspirational books/websites while I'm getting ideas. I'm even open to hulu-ing TV shows that deal with this kind of thing. We don't have TV, so I haven't seen (or probably even heard of) anything recent that deals with home decorating.

If anyone has any personal project successes to share, that would be great too! July has been kind of a blah month so far, so I'm excited to have a new project to work on.
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"It came to betoken the nation's biking and adulation of automobiles!"

[happyhats]

I like to change the art and accessories from one room to another. It can really change things up. The decorative pillows on your bed now on your sofa? Things like that. Putting up more/less family photos. Using things like fabric (little used scarves, things just laying around the house, afghans) as art.

As far as the rug...could you move it to another more suitable room? It may not help you getting another rug but it wouldn't go to waste. Would some different accesories in that room make it fit in more?
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keep it simple

[scaredsi11y]

I'm glad you've had the urge to do this too, happyhats! At first I thought I was being a little neurotic. It's interesting to see how a little switching around can make the same ol' stuff feel a lot different.

So, I have a thing for vintage windows. I have two already... and bought a third one at a yard sale awhile back. I had mr. scaredsi11y hang it up for me today, in place of some so-so wall art. Then, I came up with a neat arrangement for the top of the bookcase it hangs above:

- a vintage bowl (robins egg blue border with a cream center and an atomic design in the middle - very 1950s)
- thrifted photos from the 1940s and 50s, arranged in salvaged frames
- two small candle holders with blue tea-lights

I've actually never displayed any of that stuff before. The bowl was hidden away in the bottom portion of my china hutch (it was a $1 thrift store find) and the photos were in my paper collage box, waiting for a project. I came up with new display ideas by taking everything down and making a big pile of "maybes," including things that I had stashed away and never used.

Later this week, I'm going to re-cover some of our older throw pillows and make a new cushion for the footstool.

So far, so good!
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"It came to betoken the nation's biking and adulation of automobiles!"

[jackierocket]

Oh. My. God. Since the Soon To Be Ex Mr. Rocket moved out, this has been my mission in life.

Craigslist has been my best friend. I got a new to me bench and desk. I've chucked whatever STBEMr.R was not able to move out yet into the storage space. I got a new couch. I bought new fabric for curtians. I sewed up covers for skanky looking pillows. My dresser is halfway pink. And all of this for around $125 (the couch was free).

I think we need pictures...
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"Does that mean I have a superhero complex? Well, maybe. But shouldn't there be more heros in the world anyway?" - Moon
Round Robin Swap

[Chiquita]

I had this great piece of artwork/funky Chinese writing paper thing that I have been meaning to frame for years. Because of it's size I had found that I didn't want to spend the money, yet, to get it framed. I finally went out and bought 4 of the large Bulldog clips and hung it from two of those with 2 at the bottom to keep it straight. This piece had been rolled up for years. I moved around some small pieces of furniture and now have a great area for hanging and viewing the art. The small piece of furniture was not being well utilized before, it is a small chest, it's contents were cleaned and it now holds the overflow of DVDs. That all cost about $6.

I love changing around the artwork, even hanging non-traditional things or things in a non-traditional manner. I also like moving around small furniture even if it doesn't necessary match the other furniture items. As long as there is some color harmony I think styles can mix. I've had success making new covers for tired pillows, you can pick up ugly pillows at yard sales for cheap.

[mouche]

ohh i love restyling!

i had a great time with this idea;
i put up 4 picture shelves (very narrow/inexpensive) and collected lots of my little treasures and put them on display. Things like an old license plate/b+w pics/fave books/original art/little ceramic bowl/little antique toy truck/old soda bottles/metal bird.....
it looks great and it houses/groups all my beloved items in a really cool way.
friends/family have a fun time looking at all the items.
tried to find a pic of the shelf on ikea website but to no avail...they usually come in black/white/unfinished wood - found them in the frame dept.

have fun with your project!!

[checkersumthing]

I think your urges are totally normal! One of my favorite activities when I lived at home was to pick a night when my dad was out, and my mom and I would rearrange a room of the house. He'd get home and know something was different, but couldn't put his finger on it. Then when he realized what it was, would be impressed that the two of use moved around so much furniture (it often involved moving something up or downstairs). That or my mom would decide to rearrange all the art in the house. Fun times.

Now I rearrange less, mostly because there's less to rearrange, and also because like you, there are only so many ways I can physically put my furniture in most of the spaces.

Cushions and wall decor go a long way in changing up the way a room feels.

Buying a good quality carpet is an expense, but one that may turn out worthwhile. Cushions and curtains and art are easy to diy from stuff around the home, but carpets aren't so easy. If you pick something you know you'll like, that's good quality and classic (like your sofa), it will turn out to be a good investment, especially if it ties everything together.
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i live at the foot of a mountain: some of my adventures

[PurpleDoor]

If you wanted to do a serious time investment, you could consider making a rag rug?