Staging for Meredith's New Home: What a difference!

My client, Meredith, 

just moved into a cute little 

two bedroom home here in Richmond…

but it wasn't feeling very "homey" to her. 

Nothing worked quite right..

She hired me to come over and, 

"tweak" her home.

BEFORE:

On the wall in the living room facing the front door,

your first view upon entry is the back of this chair at a desk. 

 Not very inviting!

I'd like to move this out of the living room,

maybe into a bedroom,

and find a nice console to position here.

To the left is the rest of the living room.

Meredith has a rug that is too small for the room,

and the furniture placement is off.

 Here you see the windows at the front of the house.

 The next room you walk through is the dining room,

(Sorry I didn't get better photos…)

which connects to the kitchen.

 

Meredith uses this room as her home office,

with her laptop and printer.

I'd like to get these out of the dining room!

 Down the hall, 

you find this guest bedroom.

The room has way too much furniture in it.

And I think the bed needs to 

go on the other wall to open up the space.

At the end of the hallway is the master.

Here's the view as you walk in. 

Absolutely no focal point...

On the wall to the left, 

Meredith has placed her bed.

And on the wall to the right.

her tv.

So...ready to see how a few changes and some rugs 

can help cozy up this home?

AFTER

Welcome to Meredith's!

Here's the view you see now:

This fun chair and floor lamp.

 Here's the rest of living room.

Much improved!

I found this grey and beige rug that really helps

define this space and works beautifully with

all of Meredith's furniture.

I positioned the sofa on an angle

Now the room is conducive to conversation!

Pillows and a throw give more warmth...

And on to the dining room.

I found the rug on craigslist.

It's perfect with the espresso furniture.

We cleared out the office equipment,

and placed a wine rack and art on the back wall.

It's a lovely room that can be further cozied up by

linens..

Next, the guest bedroom.

SO much better!

The bed was placed on the far wall,

the tall chest of drawers was moved to the master.

Pictures were hung...

And we brought in this cedar chest which was 

at the foot of the bed in the master.

The textiles - pillows, rug - give this room so much warmth.

And placing pillows atop the chest makes it feel

more like a seat.

And finally, the master bedroom.

 Now the repositioned bed is the focal point!

 To the left, we brought in the tall chest of drawers 

from the guest bedroom. 

More storage is a good thing!

And the rug from the living room 

fits this space nicely,

and helps bridge this area...

to this one:

The home office area.

The chair and desk were brought in from the living room.

Meredith hung all her diplomas,

and now it feels like the perfect little

office set up!

We still need to hang art, 

and perhaps find a console 

- something like this - for the 

first impression wall

 in the living room.

But I have to say. 

It is feeling like a true home now.

Don't you agree?

Do your spaces need help?

I can help!

SheShe, The Home Magician

Sheila Fox

sheilafox@aol.com

804-402-4370

Reveal of The Ugly Leather and Chenille Chair Makeover: "Papa Bear" becomes "Mama Bear" Chair

Remember this chair?

 The thing had not one but TWO ROWS of nail heads.

After spending about 20 minutes removing about 10,

I decided I had to come up with some plan to redo this chair…

without having to remove those nail heads!

I painted the ornate wood frame in Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Country Grey,

and then French Linen….

.And I decided to paint the leather with the Country Grey

as well.

 This normally works fine and after sanding and waxing,

the leather feels buttery smooth.

 But in this case, the seat had wrinkles in the leather that I just couldn't get out.

So I had to come up with another plan.

By padding the front, and then upholstering, I could avoid taking out 

the nail heads on that part.

I've decided to use this fabric.

And for the seat bottom, this.

 And here's how I got around removing all those nails!

I took a utility knife and cut the leather just above the painted nail heads.

 Then I was able to "scalp" the seat..

 To leave just the foam and batting.

 I continued with upholstering the chair seat and front.

Pulling tight, and stapling

along the edge just above those nail heads.

 Then I trimmed the excess.

 I kept the leather arms because they were beautiful.

Here you can see a detail of the wood frame after I waxed it.

Now I'm ready to do the back.

  I'm going to use an old coffee sack.

I like this one because the logo art mimics the zebra print of the fabric.

I pulled tight, turned under the edges and stapled.

 Then I glued this gimp to cover all the staples 

along the seat

and back.

 

I finished off with some oversized pewter nail heads

to reinforce the edges…..

 And this baby is done.

 It's packed up in the car 

and going to my booth at RVA Antiques on the Avenue 

for tomorrow's Grand Opening……..

$289.

Hope you can make it!!!!!!!!

5:30 to 9pm tomorrow night

and 10-2 on Saturday.

SheShe, The Home Magician

Sheila Fox

sheilafox@aol.com

804-402-4370

Nancy's Media Cabinet gets reinvented….AGAIN!

Nancy's media cabinet…

 began like this.

 Years ago, I painted it….

 Covered the glass from the backside with fabric 

to hide the components...

Later on, 

we decided it needed a bit more sophistication...

 So I added I added an antiqued mirror effect...

 And this week,

I finished yet ANOTHER transformation.

Nancy wanted more contrast in the living room,

so while she was in Hawaii on vacation,

I was back in her living room.

This time, I painted the cabinet in 

Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Old Violet.

 Then I added a layer of Maison Blanche Navy.

 I left the inside as is, since it will be hidden.

 I painted the door frames in Old Violet.

 I dry brushed on the Navy,

and used a stencil to paint over the front of the glass with the Navy as well.

 Here it's all waxed and back together...

 Close up of the distressed finish. I used lots of dark wax.

 Added some brass pulls, and it's finished!

 Love the moroccan feel….

Quite elegant.

Have a piece that needs reinventing?

I can help!

SheShe, The Home Magician

Sheila Fox

sheilafox@aol.com

804-402-4370