My morphed Livingroom Before/After

As life goes on, your style probably morphs. I used to like muted colors (true) and old fashioned interiors. I still love that, but as a person I want to evolve, explore and change, and I want my surroundings to do that with me.  Slowly but surely our home went from a French European country look in pale hues, to a more electrifying modern space. Nothing is right, nothing is wrong…I simply had a change of heart and wanted my home to come along.  And I promised myself most of it would happen by making over existing items. Simply taking what I already had and updating it.

This is what our living room used to look like. Creamy walls, natural tones and a touch of red.

It was a relaxing space, but I never felt excited about it. The couch and coffee table were taking up too much space.

I always draw to come up with inspiration.  I have to draw what’s in my mind before I do anything. I have a million designs always swirling about my head and it’s always really fun to see how a crazy thought looks on paper. You can always put together a mood board, but you can make them look pretty and it doesn’t always transfer to a room. In a drawing you will see angels and colors play together even if it’s a 30 second sketch. And a drawing will look worse than in real life. Kind of like trying on clothes in a fitting room with bad lighting and no makeup. But if it looks good there…you know it will look really good. (That’s one of the reasons for drawings on LiveLikeYou.)

First I drew a quick 30-second sketch of a mint green living room like this…

Mint green walls, white curtains with red graphics, red garden stools, bold yellow chairs. Hmm…could have been nice…

I was on this path for quite a while….but decided against a white and red curtain, and drew another version, and another.. and another.

I finally felt drawn to the one below…

Aqua walls with chartreuse curtains and white and purple accents.

It started small with spray painting a couple of the lamps  to fit my drawing and earn a spot in the room….

This lamp became….

…this turquoise lamp from the corner of the sketch.

And you might remember reading about the old “Truman” couch as we call it, that would have been trash, but I didn’t have the heart to throw it out because of my beloved dog. (You can read that story here)

It was in the bedroom and only being used by animals at this point. But it got made over with…

…with bold turquoise velvet like my drawing.

We started painting as you might remember….(read that story here)

I took this chair (this is a picture from the store I first had it done in an olive green in corner of first picture)…

….it needed a modern look.

I used some Kelly Wearstler fabric remnants I had.  But this time around I used the fabric inside out.

I started assembling fabrics that I liked together that resembled my drawing. They looked good with the green vintage bench I had just bought.

Loved the black and white wall paper, but I was still unsure where that would go.

So this drawing….

….would soon be a reality. A couple of months later it looked pretty close in this snapshot that I took….

I ended up using my existing zebra chairs from another room.

It evolved a bit more and now it looks like this….

Image Tanya Malott.

Still like the drawing just moved a few things around a little bit.

Image Tanya Malott.

My favorite part was seeing my drawn curtains come to life.

Then the crazy purple makeover…(read about it here)

Image Tanya Malott.

The piano bench got a purple lucite bench and the old Mexican gold mirror was painted purple lacquer to Dan and Luke’s horror. They were both pretty mad after that one. Now they’ve come around.

The black and white wall paper ended up in the “Chanel hallway”…

The black and white can be seen from the room….you can see a glimpse of it in the image below.

The green door that closes off the kitchen sums up to colors.

Image Tanya Malott.

Image Tanya Malott.

Can you guess what is missing from drawing??  Yes the garden stools.  So I’m ordering these today and I just got these pillows!

So this is our living room today….I have no idea what it will look like ten years from now!

Has your home morphed with you? Do you have before and afters? Please send them to me and I’ll post them on the blog.

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30 thoughts on “My morphed Livingroom Before/After

  1. Exquisite- love love all the colour. The yellow drapes and velvet sofa are divine and I ADORE the french gilded zebra chairs and the black/white one. My absolute favourite element is that black and white wallpaper in the hallway- absolutely/insanely gorgeous. You are such a talent my dear- utterly inspired by your beautiful home!!!

  2. Gorgeous! I admire your talent for pulling in a lot of colors together and making a room feel vibrant but still cozy. Those zebra chairs and the couch are my favorites. Love your "new" room.

  3. wow – stunning room – thanks so much for taking the time to show us the complete transformation! And I would love to know where you got that piece of coral on your coffee table – I have been looking for one like that!

  4. Wow I cant believe how dramatic your style change was. european country to super modern bright and bold! Very gutsy. the outcome is fantastic though!

  5. Oh my,
    we are on the same wavelength,

    I am having a little remodel in our house too and I am
    leaning towards the turquoise, green, and yellow colors.

    I am excited to see how yours will look after.

  6. Wonderfulllllllll Jill! I always say, "Your home, is a reflection of your heart, next your mind." So, I must say- It's so nice to see you evolve from feeling down (with a tough circumstance you've been dealt), to seeing you BLOSSOM, and get your color back- your zest for life, just like your home! I'm really glad you
    LIVE LIKE YOU!
    Bravo & Congrats! -Julie Shay

  7. I love every single thing about that room. Oh my gosh. All the colors. The gorgeous furniture (especially the chairs!). And the cool accessories. AMAZING.

  8. Having just been to your house I can say, it is fabulous! I love the colors, my favorite is the corner with the piano, It just pops. Soooo much better then before. Well done Jill.

  9. That was so fun! I loved seeing how your creative process works. I love drawings too! I love seeing them come to life. Such a fun and pretty room. Awesome! Can't wait to see it continue to evolve. Thanks for sharing.

  10. Such a delight to see the transformation. What is great is that the choice of colors defines the room as lively and inviting. I am in the process of searching for a color for drapes…a long process for me. I know I want taffeta and your drapes design band is a great inspiration for me. Thank you for your time in showing this to us!

  11. You already know that I LOVE your home! Your rooms are chic, inviting and happy! (Make my own rooms like tired gray, mice…)

    You should get a TV series in Sweden. They could need your help in stepping out out the Swedish design comfort zone. Add some color – live a little!

    Hugs to you!

    Mon

  12. I love seeing the journey a room takes! Both designs are lovely but I am drawn to more colorful spaces so the current design leaves me swooning.

    You can see my love for color on my most recent blog post. I would be honored if you would click on over.

    Love your blog! Until next time!

    Haley @thedistractedblogger

  13. I love the idea of sketching something out like this. The curtains are my favorite part i think. All the vibrant colors look so great together. It takes so long to get such a big and important room together like this. You did a great job! I have some before and afters, perhaps I shall send them your way!

  14. I love the color used near the piano. Wall color and the mirror – would you be willing to share the color? i would love to use it in my daughters room.

    Your house if FABULOUS!!

  15. First of all I would like to say superb blog! I had a
    quick question that I'd like to ask if you do not mind.
    I was interested to know how you center yourself and clear your head before writing.
    I have had trouble clearing my mind in getting my
    ideas out. I do enjoy writing but it just seems like
    the first 10 to 15 minutes are wasted simply just trying to figure out how to begin.
    Any ideas or hints? Thank you!

  16. First of all I would like to say superb blog! I had a
    quick question that I’d like to ask if you do not mind.
    I was interested to know how you center yourself and clear your head before writing.
    I have had trouble clearing my mind in getting my
    ideas out. I do enjoy writing but it just seems like
    the first 10 to 15 minutes are wasted simply just trying to figure out how to begin.
    Any ideas or hints? Thank you!

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