When I was growing up, I remember my mother working on our ranch house. I have faint memories of her wallpapering, painting, and replacing some early 80s brown carpet with a nice light berber. She switched her furniture out every now and again, but it was always with something she had found for a great deal at a second-hand store, a garage sale, or when she received some hand-me-downs from other family members.
She surprised me last fall when she wanted me to help her decorate. She had been saving money to work on her house one last time, she claimed, and then she was going to be done. It was time to stop thinking and working on the house and do something else. So together we’ve been working on a few of her rooms.
Let’s take a look at the living room. It still had faux painting on one wall. She had done it about ten years ago when it was all the rage. It was definitely time to get rid of that! You can see a red wall in her dining room from the living room, and she wanted to leave it . {That barn painting? Done by me and gifted to her many years ago}. We needed to play off of the red, but not copy it. Matchy-matchy isn’t awesome and red is strong, so you can get too much of a good thing quickly. So what was the solution?
First of all we had to get paint on her walls that was neutral, would feel fresh for many years, and went with the gold carpet. She has a lot of back pain, and so it gets harder and harder to paint. We painted it a soft beige that almost goes white in the bright sunlight called “A Walk in the Park” by Valspar.
This board shows the rest of the plan:
This is a working ranch house, with lots of grandchildren visiting, so we installed C.R. Laine’s Judy sectional with brass nailheads, and upholstered it in a subtle, brown striped indoor/outdoor fabric. Sectionals aren’t usually attractive. Judy? She’s got gorgeous lines. There aren’t many sectionals as attractive as her.
This Safavieh rug was the inspiration for dealing with our red. There’s enough of the dark red to pull in the red from the kitchen, but then it adds an unexpected dose of coral to the room. Just what we needed!
My grandmother; my sweet, angelic grandmother, has recently gone to live with aunts because she can’t live independently anymore, and last year she cleaned out her house. Mom and Dad received a homemade hutch from her bedroom. It wasn’t in great shape, but it is very dear, so Mom wanted to put it somewhere in this living room.
Here are some before photos:
I wondered what my mom would do when I suggested we paint it “Coral Bronze” {Benjamin Moore}, but she was the most trusting client I’ve ever had. I had to keep my jaw from dropping to the floor when she said, “Let’s do it!”
Here is what it looks like now:
Isn’t it such a fun color? It brings a huge amount of life and energy to the room that wasn’t there before.
The Cullen chair (see plan above) just arrived last week. I can’t wait to see it in person. Now all that is left is covering these pillows. This shot gives you an idea of what the new covers will look like:
I’ve really enjoyed this project. I think I’ve always been the “mystery child” to my parents. I’ve have always been quiet, but I have an intense will to do whatever I dream about. So I’ve just done things, and never shared with my parents the “what” or “why”. While I’m sure my mom still wonders how I ended up in the family, this project brought us a lot closer. What a great gift! I can’t wait to do a photo shoot later and show you guys the final outcome.
I asked my mom what it was like working with a designer, finally, and this is what she said:
“It was such a relief. I knew everything would finally look good, for once. I’ve never known how to put things together. Plus you worked with everything I asked you to. You didn’t come in and just replace everything (although you probably could have). I liked how you listened.”
Love you Mom!
xo,
Erica Anderson says
This is looking beautiful. I want to see it in person. I love that ranch house. What a fun update! My favorite part about the whole project is that you got to spend time together. Love you both
Tawna says
Thanks Erica. We sure love your family! Big hug & hope you are doing great!!
Carmella says
A fun project! That rug ties everything together so well! Can’t wait to see the finished shoot
stacey says
Your living room looks great. How is the sofa holding up? How about the upholstery? Is it keeping its shape or stretching? I am about to order a Larren Grey by CR Laine sofa and Trax Smoke is one of my fabric options I am considering. Thanks! 🙂
Tawna says
Hi Stacey…thanks for stopping by. I highly recommend Sunbrella fabrics for upholstery. Not only did we use it for the sofa for this client, I used it on some settees in an optometry office as well to hold up to lots of use. If you visit this page, when you scroll down you’ll seethe picture under “My Philosophy”.
https://tawnaallred.com/interior-design-services/