admin
I love these doors and panels stuffed in an alcove in the As Is section. Turned on their sides, they make really cool headboards. This one has raised panels that could be covered in fabric or even a cool paper.
This North Seattle home was going on the market, so the realtor asked me for advice on how to bring it up to speed for as little $$$$ as possible. What it needed was an updated focal point – the REALLY dated trim on the fireplace – think early 60’s colonial……. and the hearth itself. The home is small, with great hardwood floors throughout – so the potential to Pottery-Barn it up was so there! The scalloped trim above the mantle and along the bookshelves could be easily resolved with a few strips of plain MDF, but I so wanted to change the brick on the face of the fireplace and the blue tile hearth.
- Demo!!!
I used a water based wood stain to apply to the brick. It actually did the trick, making it a nice deep brown, and taking out the orangy color and covering up the white spots. The too large mirror was thankfully not adhered to the wall, and it was chipped, so I replaced it with one that had a little more scale for the room – ie:smaller!, and framed, to it made a nice statement. You gotta love WalMart for things like this – even the Salvation Army had some nice ones to choose from.
The hinges on the cabinets were sceaming to be painted black – easy easy, and purchasing black door pulls made the look just like I wanted. Taking out the blue ceramic tile and installing newer, smaller stone tile was a little more challenging, but actually a lot of fun. Smacking away at the old stuff was quite catharthic, if a little messy. Removing the old fireplace screen just made sense – it was not only dated but was starting to loose it’s function!
Everything got a fresh coat of warm white paint, accessories were added, a new light track installed – and voila – a brand new focal point for potential buyers to admire.
AFTER
This client had lovely things throughout her home and didn’t want to shop for any more accessories. She challenged me to ‘redo’ her bedroom – using what she already had – within a 2 hour time frame. I challenged her back – no peeking until I was done! Fortunately, the soft yellow walls and hardwood floors worked in my favor!
