Home

[Oznell]

Hey, I think it's very sweet that a few of you feel bad about not being positive, in your reactions to any of these posts.  Don't worry one second about that!  Your opinions matter, whether I agree in part or in full, or not at all.

I've noticed before that Maria's "one-day" makeovers tend to not find not much favor here, and that's fine.

Personally, I like it when she sort of meets people "where they are at",  and accepts the challenge of getting it all done in a whirlwind. It's just one day.  It imposes certain potentially daunting limits, and they can't always get everything they want in one go, but it's always with the full cooperation of her "client".  As I said, this process is definitely not the slow, savoring of a lifetime of deliberative curation. 

I see so many of those, and love them.  But, also get a kick out of this more "quickie" ( ha) aspect of Maria's work.  And as I mentioned, she's giving them a start, with the opportunity to build on what's been done.

By the way, I'd not think twice about sweeping off the lamp from the table for dining.  She mentioned that herself.  I love a more lived-in, "library look" in a dining area, and I think she helped give this rather severe, clinical area, as she did in the living room, just more 'oomph' and vivacity....    

[qualitygal]

@Oznell  The one place I recall, that I really noticed the lights or lighting, was the old show, West Wing.  They used that lighting, to warm certain areas and I just loved it. I agree the lights do add accent.

[shoptilyadropagain]

IMHO the "after" isn't really an improvement in either room. They just have more "stuff" that really isn't necessary and just gives the rooms a cluttered vibe. It wouldn't have taken much to pull each "before"room together and give them a more inviting look and feel.

[Iwantcoffee]

---

@jlkz wrote:

That wire coffee table takes up a lot of real estate.  There needs to be some space, like a shelf under a glass top to provide needed storage.

Those wires collect dust and are a needless chore that could be done away with.

---

I would remove the coffee table. I like space to walk and move around.

We do not have a coffee table.

Instead of the art on the walls, I would add pretty, colorful pillows to the sofa.

We had a neighbor who made her pillows and they were beautiful, added so much

interest and color to the room.

[50Mickey]

 I watched the video on YouTube where she explained why she decorated the two rooms the way she did. I will say that the rooms looked better in the video than the still pictures. She also replaced the living room rug. 

 My thoughts on the living room is that the placement of the furniture needs to be changed. I don't know how but that back wall looks strange with the placement of the  artwork. Maybe one large picture that would bring in green and warm tones would be be better that the  additional pictures that look like they are just thrown up on the wall. 

 I would remove the books and lamp and just have one thing on the dining table either the vase of flower stems or the bowl. 

Maria did a good job with what she had to work with and I bet she had a small budget. I enjoyed her video and I am going to watch some more. Thanks Oznell for posting this. 

[Sooner]

The designer did a fabulous job and used a few tricks to fool the eye into seeing more space.  She used large art in a variety of sizes and styles and spaced them to cause eye movement, thereby making a sense of more space visually.

Photographers and photo editors know that eye movement that creates a great photo and makes the viewer become more involved than a single point of interest.

She added lighting and objects to encourage eye movement--which creates that sense of space.  

And she used muted colors in the same values to give a restful sense to the room.  More colors or brighter would have made it feel cramped and busy.  Enough is enough.  I would have liked blue, but green gives a little more warmth. 

I am so thankful for this post!  We are sorting through and hanging a LOT of artwork of various sizes and styles this week.

[CANDLEQUEEN]

I think it needs a bit more color, and I really don't care for the artwork either. It seems disjointed some how to me.

[faeriemoon]

I think she did a great job considering what she had to work with, and the time frame limitations.  I like the green accents, and considering how small the space is, I think they are green enough.  If they were too bright they would really overpower the rest of the decor.

[DottieBlue]

I think she did a wonderful job, especially when you take into consideration that the clients needed to keep most of their things. 

I've never seen a lamp placed on a dining table before.  Is there a floor outlet for it, or does the cord stretch across to a wall outlet?  I probably would have used a wall sconce or floor lamp instead.

But all in all, I think it is a wonderful improvement.

Reading this thread makes me miss the decorating shows that HGTV used to have.  

[QVCisFun]

This is another nice quick makeover by Maria Killam, @Oznell .

Like the big landscape picture she chose for the living room wall, and it was a way to add more green(ery) in the room.  Like how she arranged the pictures on that wall.  She has a talent for creating nice gallery walls, which I think are hard to do well.

The lamps make a big difference and add warmth.

Even though the dining room looks nicer in the After photo, don't care for lamps on dining room tables (except, for example, when working on a project that needs more light), as they seem in the way, inconvenient, the light is cast too low to evenly illuminate the table when dining, it's hard to pass the mashed potatoes to the person sitting across from you although the meat balls can be tossed over, the cord to the wall may present a tripping hazard, . . .  Do like the botanicals.

Fascinated by bricks being on the interior window sill, seems very unusual. A cushion might be a nice addition to go with the pillows already on the brick.

Rearranged some of the Before-and-After photos, that were taken from the same angle, to be next to each other (makes it easier for me to compare):

Before and After:

Before and After:

Before and After: