The Switch

Once in awhile you just need a change.  Erin and Chris had this great new piece of furniture that needed a spot to live...but they (well, maybe more Erin) also wanted a new look.  So, after a lot of discussion, pondering, sitting, and measuring...we decided to switch her living room and dining room.  As changes go, furniture rearrangement is free, fairly painless, and the worst that happens is you have to move it back.  Which means at least you get a great work out.

Here is the view walking into the living room before:

On your right 

On your left 

T.V.  location

Living room overview

And here is the dining room.  See that funky wood cabinet on the right wondering where he should live?

The SWITCH

Here is the view walking in now:

(Please note:  I apparently stink at before pics and totally missed the before of the black shelves...they were stacked before in the new t.v. location)

On your right

On your left

Old t.v. location

New dining room overview

And here is the new living room.  Now that it is adjacent to the kitchen, Erin can hostess and still be part of the conversation.

New living room in old dining room location

And the new cabinet?  

Funky cabinet's new home

(Yes, those wires got taken care of!)

What Not to Wear

A new friend of mine was in need of a major make-over.  Her look was just, well, tired.  Head to toe mossy green...like a one-piece pant suit.  Ugh!  And out of date gold coloured accessories.  Oy. My husband said it couldn't be done, but I was determined to help her.

Here she is before...yes, her shade is spray painted to match her base.

And here she is after.

Isn't she pretty?!  White spray on the base, fantastic shade find from Home Sense...TA-DA!  I feel Stacy and Clinton would approve.

Boys' Room

My two adorable nephews (aged 5 and 3) asked me to organize their room.  Okay.  Their mom did. Corinna wanted to get their closet working in a more efficient way and to do a general redo of the room.

When I arrived, the first thing we did was to empty the closet.  Corinna had already done a big purge so we only had a minimal amount to sort as we worked.  The big wood shelf you see in there was not working well because the boxes on the right didn't come out unless you moved the one on the left.  Annoying right?

Before

So we moved the shelf to where the dresser was.

Before

After

Now the boys can take their toys down easily...as well as put them away with no hassle.  The boxes at the top are hiding items that Corinna would prefer they not touch without supervision...like paint.  The red desk ended up moving downstairs to the toy area there.

The dresser got a new home at the end of the bed.  We had to pop the stereo up out of their baby sister's reach.  (Sorry Anna!)

Before

After

Next we moved the white shelf you see below to the closet.  In its place we put a crate (which you can't see in the after) for the boys to keep a few personal items they like to have close to their beds. You know...Bibles, flashlights...the essentials.

We also had a displaced easel.  Where it had been at the end of the bed it was only accessible from one side, so we wanted to put it somewhere with space enough to use it from both sides.

Before

After

Remember the closet?  The white shelf fits nicely and stores games, toys as well as a whole shelf full of books from the living room.

After

The other half of the closet had a little drawer unit.  Once the big huge wood shelf was gone, the drawers were able to move all the way across to the other side and tuck in the end, kitty corner to the new white shelf...which left this side of the closet...

Before

Empty.  

So, now a whole load of games that are currently stored in the living room are going to move here as soon as Corinna finds appropriate shelving.  

After

And what happened to the empty shelf (where the books came from) at the bottom of this unit in the living room? 

Before

After

It got its own little rearrange.