Refresh and Renew

Usually from the last week of December into the first week of January is a super busy time for personal projects due Christmas decorations and travel of my clients. However, this year my personal projects extended into the end of January because I decided to do a few DIY things. So what were my personal projects you ask? My husband and I installed bead board onto the ceiling of our master bedroom and my office. The actual installation of the bead board is not a difficult as I thought but the prep work for painting the bead board is miserable. I have a new deep and profound appreciation for my painter and will not DIY a ceiling again! However, everything feels fresh, lighter and brighter and I love the feeling. Let’s take a peek into the living room of a Williamsburg that also received a fresh light and bright makeover somewhere in the heart of The Villages.

• The goalAfter-at-an-Angle
The goal of the project was to create light in the space. The space was very pretty and well done but dark and was now feeling a bit oppressive and maybe a little out of date. We brought in lots of light!

• Paint
The house was very nicely done many years ago but the dark paint had grown oppressive to the homeowners and they needed light bright and airy. We removed the light sucking sage and painted a very light golden tannish color. The room took a breath and came to life.

• Architecture
We added white wainscot around the living room which helped to brighten the room and add architectural detail. Wainscoting, crown molding, and window casing will always look amazing and never go out of style!

• Window casing
The windows had shutters and side panels hung outside the shutters. They looked nice but to brighten the space and add light, we removed the side panels and added headers to the shutters. By removing the side panels we see the side molding of the shutters and the header ties into that molding creating the illusion that the window is higher and brighter than before.

• Furniture placement
We needed to open up the room so that it felt inviting! The natural focal wall originally had the TV on a console and a clock above it. The TV feels like a black hole in the wall when it was the focus of this room. We moved the sofa to the natural focal wall and the placed a loveseat beside it on the slider wall creating a faux L shape sectional. We still had room for the leather chair angling in toward the space. We purchased a new Entertainment center and placed it on the wall opposing the slider. It looks amazing! We were able to place another chair and ottoman angled in toward the room beside the new entertainment center. All the tables have an expresso or black stain which really pops against the white wainscoting.

• The art
The art is amazing! The homeowners wanted Audubon birds and historic Florida palms. These pictures are classic and rich looking and big! We used big art over the sofa and created a powerful focal point that has the visual strength to balance out the entertainment unit.

• The Lamps
Think decadent gold! We used two golden pineapples on each side of the couch and a hammered copper lamp with a black shade between the leather chair and loveseat. The lamps are big, beautiful and classic!

• The rug
The rug is so beautiful! We increased the rug size to ten by fourteen. We love the tree of life pattern on the new hand knotted wool rug. The black vegetable died rug pulls depth into the room and promotes visual cohesion; the green, gold, red and orange tones creating the pattern stand out well and all the colors of the rug can be found in the art.

• Pillows
Zebra of course! The print is classic, neutral and the prefect pillow to pull it all together!

P.S. –Attention, club presidents! We give free decorating seminars. Call and schedule your club today. Also, we are on-line check out our web-site at www.ruthdyer.com and you can always e-mail us at ruth@finishingtouchfl.com. Call Ruth your full service decorator at 352-804-2056.

Before and After Pics Below