Transformation in Progress

My formal living room is in transformation mode, as is most of my home. I wasn't able to do a whole lot to the house right after we moved in because of my pregnancy and the sudden passing of my grandmother. We moved in late June, I was in love with the formal spaces (living/dining) and saw the possiblities, I knew right away what I wanted and where I wanted it to go... I just had to wait to execute the transformation.


I had a few pieces that came along to the new space, I still wanted to incorporate these items into the rooms to not only use what I already have, but to retain some sentimental qualities that came along with the pieces. So here is a breakdown of the formal living room you see so far...



China Cabinet - A super sweet deal from Salvation Army on a half price day... I paid 30.00 for that piece. I completely refinished the cabinet. There was a glass shelf missing, I contacted a local glass company and paid around 24 bucks for a new glass shelf. The china was purchased on overstock.com for less than 100.00 right after my wedding in 2009. I decided to go with the dark finish for the stain, the cabinet was a light finish with a yucky gold fabric on the backing when i bought it. I went to the local Home Fabrics store (I am in there at least once a week) and found a really pretty, ornate patterned fabric for 2.99 a yard. At the time, my house was gold, burgundy, brown, and amber tones...which explains the colors selected for the china and the backing on the cabinet.

Pendulum Clock - This was the first new purchase for the house!!! I was sooo looking forward to sharing this piece with my Nannie, I had ordered it and was expecting it to arrive within days of her passing. I ordered the clock from overstock.com after doing some serious searching. I was only willing to spend 65.00 total, I found this clock, read all the reviews, and even searched other sites selling the same piece. Overstock made me a happy woman for 54.65!

There is a vase in the room that I purchased on impulse after lusting over it for months... this Blomster vase was 39.99, I've had it for over a year and I want to display it in a location that will fit its grand size. For now, its going to be in the formal living room until I find a spot for it.

Candle Holders - I found these two little darlings in Big Lots of all places, right down the street from my home, they were hiding behind some other drab candle holders, maybe someone planned to come back and get them? They were 6.99 each, I get to the register and guess what... half off! I ended up paying 3.49 each for these lovely jems! I knew I wanted to give them a touch of color, but as you can see, they had remained the same for a long time after I bought them.


Bird Cages - These were my first Home Goods purchases. I bought them and honestly had no where for them to go. I knew I wanted to spray paint them, but that was all I knew for sure. I've decided to fill them with flowers, I am sure that wont be other peoples style, but it reminds me of a piece my grandmother had when I was a girl. So far, all I have done with them is paint them gold.

So as you can see, there is a whole lot of work to be done in the formal space - the lovely formal dining room is right beside the living room. And as I mentioned before, there are a few pieces with sentimental value that I had to bring along to the new house. A dear friend of my grandmother's gave me a beautiful dining room table and chairs (or at least I could see the possibilities) last year only weeks before his untimely passing. It was my goal to paint the table and chairs, and re-upholster the chairs. My first stop was Home Fabrics. I purchased the fabric my grandmother picked, two lovely neutral shades of upholstery velvet. The Almond fabric was 6.99 per yard, I purchased 4 yards and the Pale Green fabric was on clearance for 3.00 a yard (I could hardly believe it) because there were 6 chairs total, and 4 would be green, I bought all they had left in the store, 5 yards. Here is my finished product, I painted the table and chairs Polished Pearl by Behr.

The dresser on the left was a find from the local thrift store (again right up the street from my home) I remember texting my friend Katrina with a picture and asking if I should by it... It was 30.00!!! She quickly replied with an emphatic YEAH... GET IT!!! It's nice! - I am finding I seem to be in the 30.00 range quite a bit with my thrift store purchases! I decided on a Martha Stewart paint for the dresser. I sanded her down over a weekend, primed and painted her and had my husband bring her in the house, I kept all of the original pulls and bought new clear knobs for the three center drawers.


So now that you see the space I have and furniture in the two formal areas, I will be updating the space with "before" and "afters" quite often.