Frugal Makeover @ Emily's

Yesterday, Jamie and I did a very frugal makeover at our friend Emily's house (kitchen and family room). Emily and her husband Doug are on staff at our church-- hard workers! To prepare for this, we 'shopped' at The Find and loaded up LOTS of items that could possibly be used in their space plus things we could think of like hammer, nails, hot glue gun, measuring tap, spray paint, drop cloth, cameras, .... When we arrived, we first took pictures, then made two piles of their things-- stuff we could use and stuff we could not use. Then we rearranged the furniture to make it more cozy:) I love that word! Next we looked in their bedrooms for other furniture that might could be used (the living room is large and long). If they have hidden cameras in their house, they would laugh so hard to see how we moved furniture. We had a few laugh attacks at ourselves. Of course, there were things that we wished we had to 'finish' it like a large mirror, an area rug, curtains, and a different coffee table, but it still was a big transformation. I'm a little disappointed in my pics; don't feel like they do it justice:( but the best part was that they love it!!

Before: We took stuff off the refrigerator to de-clutter and removed the decor on top of cabinets. We added a rug from their living room to warm up the floor;) Instead of plastic storage containers on top of refrigerator, we added wicker baskets.

Before: The table needed to be turned. Emily plans to paint it soon.

After: The rug helped make the kitchen more homey.

After: I'm so glad we buy pretty books at yard sales because they are perfect for adding a little warmth and layering.

After: We moved the table and added neutral placemats, napkins, and rings. We used Emily's plate stand for a centerpiece after spray painting it red.

The plate stand looks so cute red!

After: We brought these with us and it worked so well with her neutral colors.

Before: The couch, loveseat, and recliner were very spaced out. There were no lamps, wall art, end tables, or coffee table. Their two daughters are under age three, so there were lots of toys too.

Before: We swapped out a neat dresser and bedside tables from their guest bedroom and replaced it with the girls' toys and books.

Before: The rug was too small for the large room. The couches needed throw pillows  for color and texture.

Before: Since the kitchen, breakfast nook, and living room are very open, we tried to eliminate as much clutter as possible.

Before: The toys got a new home and the DVDs were stored in a little media cabinet that we brought.

After: Here's the dresser (that Jamie informed me is now called a console) that we moved to the living room. Jamie had the idea of displaying Emily's beautiful pottery here - I wanted to take it for my house;). The short candle holder, previously gold,  got a quick makeover with red spray paint- love! When we find a mirror, we'll hang it here.

After: We hung two of their pretty photos above the recliner along with two black crosses. The fireplace now has a red rocking chair and a large vase instead of toys:). The mantle is really pretty without the stack of DVDs. We just added a candle, a large turquoise vase, and a silver plate. Emily had lots of candles in the fireplace which looked fine, but we improved it a bit by added a candelabra. We found the two tables in their master bedroom and are using them for a temporary coffee table. We put a large wooden tray on top to hold magazines.

After: LAMPS make a huge difference! We had these two white lamp bases and some random shades, so we spraypainted the bases black and topped them off with drum shades.

By moving the furniture close together and adding 7 throw pillows and a few throws, the room seemed much more cohesive.

After: There's Jamie taking pics;) Another shot of the room. An area rug would be great in here!

After: I love how these little black and white photos look in the kitchen.

After: We brought over this little chalkboard/ mail center.

And to keep it real, this is how we move heavy furniture. Lol. We got a work out!

Before: Getting ready to spray paint in the front yard!