In this living room and dining room we mixed in flea market pieces, antiques, and refinished pieces to add personality and sophistication to the spaces. This curated approach gave the impression that these rooms were put together over time and enhanced the new furniture purchases.
This is the 2nd installment of “Resurrecting 202.” My last post was all about the design changes we made to a flooded home. Now we are going to talk about furniture selection and decor. Basically everything was replaced, and I mean everything! To make sure it didn’t look to sterile and too new (yes, that’s a bad thing), I mixed in items that could not be found at you local furniture store. I shopped auctions, flea markets, and even Facebook Marketplace.
In the living room all the upholstered furniture was new but I wanted to add just a couple older pieces and customize where possible. The two side tables were found on Facebook Marketplace. The coffee table was also found there, and although I gave the frame a coat of paint, I left the top gently worn to give it an aged look and I changed out the one piece of hardware with a cool new pull that I purchased online. I also mixed in old photos in flea market frames; again, to give it an aged look.
I made pillow covers to go over the “oh so boring” throw pillows that came with the couch to give the room a pop of color and coordinate with the rug. Why did I do this? If everything in the room was brand new it would lack personality. This family has a lot of personality and it should be reflected in their home.
Here are a couple photos of the new living room. 1st one is the before and next 2 are after:
The dining room was given a new arrangement and a little bit more sophistication. The table had been pushed against the far wall which gave more space but in doing that it just made the room look awkward. I pulled the dining table back to the center of the room and added a buffet, chairs, colorful draperies, and original artwork. The buffet was from a local furniture refinisher. She had a piece for sale and we were able to customize the color to fit our design plan.
We then took a couple of the homeowners’ chairs that made it through the flood, and had them painted the same color. The dining table was from a friend and the large rattan chair was a flea market find. The original artwork was a splurge but there was an art gallery closing and giving deep discounts so we took full advantage of that, plus the colors were perfect. The printed draperies pulled the whole space together. Again, all these pieces gave this room the look of a purposeful design without looking like a furniture showroom. It was designed around the family and their wants and needs.
1st photo is before and 2nd is after.
