The finishing touch

The project that I posted about here needed to be accessorized and a party is just the thing to make things happen quickly.  I got a call last week ... "I am having a First Communion Party on Saturday (yes, another one!!!) ... do you think we could finish everything by then?"  I have to admit, it was a tall order considering my already committed work schedule, but even so, I wanted to try. 

If you remember, we had the 'bones' of the living room from our one-day bargain shopping spree where we found some pretty incredible bargains at HomeGoods and Living Spaces ... so this was my new starting point:

Before

I met with my client and we made a list of things that we needed to do. I had two days to get it done and I thought I would shop one day and install the second. But after the first day of shopping I met with my client and brought over a few of the things I had picked up and found out that the direction I had gone was a disconnect for what she had wanted. I had gone more rustic, she wanted more glam.  It was a bit of a set back because of the lack of time but not an unusual process in trying to understand what a client wants. Sometimes it takes them seeing what they don't want, to help them discover what they do. She was able to clearly articulate what exactly what she wanted ("girly, glamourous, silver and creams, pieces that look acquired through traveling," were some of the words she used) and I went back for round two. 

So now on a real time crunch with one day to go, I set out again with a list of all the places I wanted to hit and one of the first places on my list was Ikea to get some inexpensive ($119) barstools that my client had found previously and liked:

Ikea

On the way, I popped into a Crown Books clearance store to get some "travel" coffee table books and on a whim walked in to a Marshalls right next door and found similar barstools for $49! I was on a roll...

Do you see the wrapping paper in my car? I cannot walk into those bargain stores without finding something for me too!

The barstools were perfect and started me off on a day of successful shopping. I went back to HomeGoods and picked up a couple of side tables and a cart full of accessories and then added a few things from West Elm and Z Gallerie. 

I had a handyman hand the curtain rods (silver) and I tacked up one to make sure it was right.

After

 I was happy with the way it turned out, and kept my fingers crossed that she would too. When she got home she called and said, "You nailed it." I was all smiles.