Furniture for this project is from our title sponsor, Front Room Furnishings.  We purchased the art and accessories at a local deep discount store and the draperies came from a retail department store.  The indoor/outdoor rug was ordered through one of our decorators.  The paint is from Sherwin Williams.  For additional decorating details please contact Colleen Lora.  

For more behind the scenes photos, please visit the  We Decorate Columbus Fan page on Facebook. 

Before

After

After

Tablescape

The deserving couple have been knee deep in do-it-yourself projects since purchasing this century old home — but since they own Core Fitness and have been focusing all their time and energy on opening more locations to help improve the lives of Columbus, Ohio residents – they have neglected their projects. 

That’s where the Carman Hafer, Colleen Lora and the decorators of “We Decorate Columbus” come in and transform their space with furniture from Bedrooms First and accessories from Upscale Resale.  The result?  A stunning master retreat that will allow our couple to relax and renew knowing that one room is now complete.

Our client is a fantastic young family of five.  The homeowners are two busy professionals, in fact Amber owns Fireflies & Fairytales, a children’s boutique clothing store located in Upper Arlington. 

Since three young children live here the dining room table needs to not only function as an eating area, but the homework, cooking  and crafting hub as well.  So we need to deliver style to this space that is not only beautiful but durable and wipeable too!

When our interior decorators asked for adjectives to describe her dream dining room, our client said, “Beachy, comfortable and kid-friendly.”  She is tired of her “hand me downs” and wants a “grown-up” dining room in which to entertain friends and family. 

The main challenge for this project?  Space, the room is on the small end and has three doorways and a window.  So there is very little wall space.  But, our team is always up for a challenge and is confident that we will deliver the dining room of their dreams.

We are to complete her job next week and I’ll blog more project specifics once we reveal our room to the lucky homeowners.  For now, here’s some photos of our client enjoying the perks of being on TV — hair and makeup by the phenomenal stylists of The Charles Penzone family of salons.

The Bramlage family of New Albany, Ohio graciously opened their home each day to our tornado of transformation as we designed, demolished and decorated their media room in just four days.   Our hostess Venetia stepped back as her kitchen table was turned into a make-up and hair salon and enjoyed the same pampering as we have by the stylists from the Charles Penzone’s family of salons.  

Client needs:  This family moved into the home two years ago and had a large, expensive picture tube television that would not fit into the existing wall of built-in cabinets.  They debated bringing in a finished carpenter to reconfigure the cabinets to fit the television that though relatively new, is out of date because of the emergence of flat screens and home theater technology.  Colleen explained that with little design expense they could reconfigure the room to deliver the home theater experience the whole family would enjoy for years to come.

The clients had three home theater reclining seats but needed more seating for optimum entertaining.  After a quick tour of the home, our decorators saw that the client had a large sofa in her master bedroom and would gladly allow us to use it in their media room.  We explained that a riser could be built upon which to place the sofa behind the theater seats therefore accomodating six guests rather than three.  Though she had trouble visioning our design she trusted us and let us take over from there.

So, it was time to bring in the experts.  On this project demolition and construction were key – for that we turned to Josh McKinley who removed the existing media cabinets, repaired the exposed drywall problems, installed new baseboards and painted the walls and ceiling.   A special thank you to Randy Stewart of Handy Randy contracting and remodeling services for pinch hitting on the drywall repair. 

Thank you to Sherwin Williams for providing the paint – this week’s color used was “Perfect Greige”.  A great neutral that really is a cross between grey and beige.

Once the cabinets were removed, we needed to patch the carpet – for this the experts from Carpet Express were in and out of the job in less than an hour. 

And of course you can’t have a media room without the fun technology to bring your theater dreams to life.  For this, we turned to Buckeye Audio.  After consulting with the client to learn their family’s needs they installed the wiring, projector, speaker, screens and even built the riser in just two days. 

To incorporate the theater room theme without using the predictable movie posters, Liz and Colleen installed wall adhesives in the shape of movie tickets and film reels.  Carman and Darlene accessorized the clients existing bookshelves, hung artwork and even made popcorn for that theater aromatherapy!

Though the project didn’t allow for a lot of traditional decorating, it illustrates the importance of bringing in a certified interior decorator or designer like those of “We Decorate Columbus” to consult, coordinate and complete a construction related project without having to deal with finding the right contractor for every element of the job yourself.

Homeowners with smaller budgets are exploring other alternatives for the items they want to complete. For example, there are many flooring alternatives, such as tile, which can be cheaper than some woods. Not only this, but many home owners are opting to use faux wood instead of real.

There are other ways to improve your house that don’t involve remodeling or ripping up your flooring. Decorative improvements can have a big impact on your space. Bold accessories like large paintings, urns and mirrors add more drama than smaller pieces. Even getting a new paint job or adding a rug to a space can transform it. One of the biggest things you can do to your space is add custom window treatments to your space. It instantly adds drama and height to a room.

Although, many are aiming for a lower budget on their projects, you might want to consider not skimping corners on certain items. Pieces that you plan to use everyday or plan to have for a long period of time you might want to consider looking at other pieces besides the lower end ones. Other areas that you want to think twice about skimping on are things like a paint job or the one unique piece that will complete a room. Paint can make or break a project, especially if its done poorly.

If you or someone you know has anymore questions about this topic or any others on my blog, please feel free to contact me at cperry@decorandyou.com or 419-571-1672. Feel free to visit my website as well at http://www.decorandyou.com/cperry. We can complete any project from floor to ceiling in any style and budget.

We hit four different local stores HomeGoods, Joanne Fabrics, World Market, and Lowe’s to pull together this look within 8 hours.  In this case we were working on a modest budget which makes our job more challenging. 

We chose a mocha leather accent chair to create a corner vignette and accented the area with a crisp white pedestal table.  The striped baskets were the modern gray and yellow color scheme.

We discovered a great coordinating damask and  a stripe fabric to create a custom headboard and trim for the off white sheers.  The window treatments were so special with the striped trim at the top along with the Button accents hand made from the damask fabric we had left over from the headboard creation.

Lighting was a huge issue as the room had no permanent lighting.  We found an awesome chrome lamp dripping with crystals for sparkle and shine.  This reminded me of a Classic Hollywood lamp, so luxurious.  The pair of bright yellow tableside lamps with damask patterned shades sitting on the mirrored bedside tables were definitely the icing on the cake.

All the elements of the room were addressed: color, furniture placement, lighting, bedding fabrics and pillows, window treatments, accessories, furnishings and a rug within timeframe to the client’s total satisfaction.  Another complete WOW room by the We Decorate Columbus team.

• Wimpy table lamps beside beds and sofas. If you are sitting in bed the light should flow from the shade to the top of your shoulder. In the above photo, the lamps are too small in scale to shed light properly and seems out of balance with the very large headboard.
• Lining your rooms walls with furniture. Furniture is best in conversational groupings that float in front of your focal point. Unless you plan on having a dance in the middle of your floor!
• Not enough, or too much light. Every room should have three types of light: overhead, task and accent. If all you have is an overhead light you are in essence, lighting nothing when you light everything. Get some table lamps, a floor lamp, and uplight for a tree, etc.
• Art hung too high… Take a cue from the art galleries where the center of the art is hung at or just above eye level. For above a sofa, art should be hung 4-8 inches above depending on your ceiling height.
• No window treatments or just blinds — enough said, it’s like getting all dressed up and forgetting your earrings — it looks unfinished.
• Mirrors hung over beds or fireplaces. Mirrors should be placed where they reflect something worth seeing. If there is a pretty chandelier sometimes a mirror hung over a fireplace does work. But as seen in the photo above, the mirrors hung over the bed do not reflect anything pretty and should be replaced with some artwork.
• Improper color transtions from room to room. Color should flow, it doesn’t have to be the same but it shouldn’t shock one when they walk from one room to another. My exception to this is children’s rooms, they love those hot colors and deserve a room that reflects their personality.
• Little knick knacks. Choose fewer accessories that are larger in scale and group together in odd numbers. It looks less like clutter and is easier for you come dusting time.
• White ceilings — especially if you have beautiful crown molding. If you are color shy, paint your ceiling a lighter version of your wall color. If you are bold, look at the color wheel and choose a complementary color for impact – your moldings will POP!
• Going overboard with the faux painting treatments. As with everything, moderation is key.
• Forgetting the floor. Area rugs are art for your floors and anchor your seating arrangement that is now away from the wall. Just make sure the rug is large enough – at least the length of your sofa. You never want your walls, ceiling and floor to be all the same color = boring.
• Ignoring a room’s character or focal points. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen someone place a sofa or a television in FRONT of their fireplace, how sad. Same with having a beautiful picture window with no soft window treatments.
• Overstuffed bookshelves. Unless you are loaning out books, your shelves should be 2/3rds full and have things on them other than books to add interest. A few framed photos, some greenery or accessories and some books placed on the horizontal will liven up your shelves.
• Buying matching suites of furniture, whether it be a bedroom or living room. That is so 1960’s. Furnishing your space should not look as though it was done in a day. Matchy-matchy lacks originality and does little to reflect your personality.
• Buying without planning. By taking the time to measure and do a floor plan you will save yourself time and often thousands of dollars. I’ve seen a ton of folks with furniture that is too large for their space and they always say, “It didn’t look so big in the store.”
• Sloppy slipcovers. There are good slipcover companies out there and you can always have an upholsterer make one just for your furniture. Yes it costs more, but it is still less than replacing the sofa and it won’t look like you are trying to hide something.
• Not painting the angled parts of dormer walls. When the angles are the same color as the ceiling and not the walls your eye travels the room going up and down in a choppy manner. When the walls match the angles your eye flows more smoothly and you are not distracted by the angles.

That’s my list for now – please let me know of your design pet peeves, I look forward to your comments. If you found these tips helpful, I now have a FREE  e-mini mag full of such design tips and inspiration. If you wish to receive my newsletter, simply email me at colleen@colleenloradesigns.com and type “newsletter” in the subject line.

And, you can read the article, “A Day in the Life of a One Day Decorator” to see how our Team worked hard in three homes creating one day magic. Click on the images below to view them in full size.

1. Black, Brown or Navy Blue – Having one of these darker colors in every room helps rest the eye. It can be in wood on the feet of furniture, wrought iron in lighting fixtures, or the frame on a piece of art, to name a few.
2. Rugs – Area rugs or wall to wall carpeting are important to have in every room because they add warmth, define the space and anchor color.
3. Art & Accessories – These finishing touches help to include your personality and accent colors, both of which make the space truly unique.
4. Glass and/or Glitter – Whether its a mirror or crystal on a lamp, glass and glitter bring about dimension and reflection which adds more interest to a room.
5. Greenery – Plants are a natural product from the earth and therefore add life to every room.

Beginning shortly, we will provide examples of “Before and After” Make Overs to highlight those special spaces that our residential and commercial clients love.  Subscribe here to receive our next Make Over article and you’ll receive interior decorating tips as well.

If you have an immediate needs or any questions, please contact us:

Sally CaJacob
Owner, Interior Designer
Columbus, Ohio
Ph: 614-485-0917
Email Sally