It all started with a lamp ...

One of my favorite kinds of projects is a 'do it in a day' re-styling. I love going into some one's home and moving things around, using what they already have and making it look like new. I did that last weekend with a new client who has a beautifully re-done Victorian house. It was not my usual design style but was a ton of fun and I loved the way it came out. I am kicking myself for not taking any photos. But yesterday I had a chance to work with my dear friend whose house I showed you a couple of months ago when we re-designed her living room and dining room and this time I did take a few photos. To remind you here is an updated photo of the living room with the new rug in place.

A funny story about the rug ... I had found the perfect carpet - a gorgeous creamy white wool with a fun graphic pattern in it in a slightly darker color and ordered it in a custom size with the edges surged. It came in and had a weird petroleum odor to it. The vendor checked the entire stock in the U.S. and it all smelled the same and the earliest they could get another roll was going to be December. This was back in August. It was a very, very expensive carpet to start with and with the edges surged it was going to be even more. You know how it is when you are done with a project and your budget is shot? Well, my client started thinking maybe the rug was a little too extravagant and unnecessary anyway. So she cancelled. I found a decent rug at Cost Plus World Market for $399 and it worked just fine. I love when that happens.

I also love the new dish on the coffee table. It was a gift from a friend of hers who brought over cookies and told her the dish was hers to keep. Ahhh... I love that! I think it is the perfect touch and she can use it as coaster for her iced tea when she sits here and reads.

So today we worked on the downstair's guest bedroom and put some finishing touches in other rooms in her house. It all started with this bad boy:

She called me a couple of days ago and said she found a lamp at TJ Maxx and had bought it but just wasn't sure. Could I come over, she asked, and give my opinion and maybe help her pull the unfinished guest room together?  When I saw the lamp I was floored! She only paid $99 for it and I was tempted to tell her it was all wrong and then buy it off her. What a great find! So here is where I started this morning:

The room was painted last summer in Benjamin Moore's Palladian Blue HC-144.  The daybed / trundle was purchased online and was a huge bargain as was the beautiful armoire that we found at HomeGoods. The room had sat unfinished through the living / dining room remodel.

The first thing I did was try out some pillows that I had made a while back and thought they just might work in the room. They did! The client had the white quilt and pillows (also from Homegoods) and the pillows were perfect. The artwork above the bed was a leftover piece from her previous living room and was about $30 from HomeGoods. When we purchased fabrics for the living room we ordered a yard of the aqua fabric that is on the bed. We didn't have a plan for it but liked it. It will be made up as a long back pillow.

The next thing we did was drag a chair from her master bedroom to see if we could use it in the guest room. The chair was purchased years and years ago the first time we did her living room. It was "okay" but never really looked all that great. This summer we moved the chair in her master bedroom and it was nice but too big for the space. So we dragged it and squeezed it though the narrow guest room door (had to take off the door to fit it in) and put it in the corner. It is not what I would choose if I could pick anything, but I have to say it works and I am very happy with the feel it gives the room.

We borrow a couple of things from other rooms (the blue vase and frame) and picked some roses from her garden to finish off the table. I would like to add a mirror on the wall behind the chair and we have a print that is being re-framed to go next to the armoire. Something like this would be fun:

{pinterest}

So that is how we spent the first hour.

Then I went around the house and hung artwork that had been previously used in other rooms ...

I love how this pulls in the colors from the living room and also the new guest bedroom.

We moved to the upstairs guest room and added the print above the bed and then moved some things around the master bedroom (which I will share later) ...

I love how repurposing old things can bring new life to a room.