When I'm Not Working On My Home

I have taken a break from doing projects in my house for a few reasons. 

One, I tore my meniscus in my left knee on my birthday outing at the beginning of April.  It has been a slow recovery.  The first few weeks after the injury, I wasn't able to bend my knee hardly at all without shooting pain.  That limited the projects that I was able to do in my house.   

Two, I have been saving my money to buy the Flor tiles for the dog's room (see this post). 

Three, my sister needed a new design plan for her living room.  I volunteered to give her my opinion.

This is the first time working up a design plan for any one really.  So I was super excited and I felt like a professional designer.  Then, I was kind of worried that she wouldn't like what I came up with.  But she didn't hire me or anything.  It was just a fun challenge for myself.  I really like what I came up with and I hope she takes my advice and really does some of my suggestions.

I had her email pictures of her living room.  When I visited to take measurements, I forgot to bring my camera.  She wanted to clean first any ways.

Here is her room as it is right now.

She has changed things around several times in the 2 years she has lived there and nothing was wowing her.

The furniture needed to stay.  Which was a huge challenge for me.  But I worked with what she had and added a few pieces I thought she was lacking.

Here is the floor plan that I came up with.

Here is the screen shots of what the room would look like.

In Chief Architect (the design software that I use), I placed her existing furniture in the room and came up with a plan that I thought would suit her family.  The software limits some of the styling.  So of course, there needs accessories added to the bookcases and on the tables.  This software is just a tool to see how the furniture fits in the room. 

The patterns on the curtains, pillows and rug aren't necessarily what she would use.  I love chevron stripes so I couldn't help add them.  I do think she should still use the dark navy blue on the curtains and the rug, but in whatever pattern that she likes. 

There was a space near her kitchen that only had a china cabinet.  It seemed like wasted space.  In order to create a dining area, I had to block off the doorway that went into the hallway.  They have another doorway into the hallway in the kitchen.  I wasn't sure why the house needed 2 doorways that go to the same place.

I thought a pallet wood feature wall would be the "wow factor" in her room.  I added that to the large wall that the TV is on.  I got the idea from the blog Bower Power.  Here is a picture of what they did.

You can find out how they did their pallet wall here.



I scoured blogland for other DIY projects that I thought she could incorporate into the room to save money on updating her living room.

A Painted Rug like this from Birdhouse blog.

You can find the tutorial for this painted rug here.

Drop Cloth Painted Curtains from A Drop in The Bucket.

You can find the tutorial for these curtains here.

Large framed chalkboard like this by PB & J Stories.

You can find the tutorial here.

Photo Banner like this one by Dear Lillie.

You can find the tutorial here.



Monogrammed Drop Cloth Pillow by It All Started With Paint.

You can find this tutorial here.



Silhouettes by Brooklyn Bride.

Get the tutorial here.



Milk Glass by Ruffled.

You can find the tutorial here.

Book Page Art by Life as a Thrifter.

You can find the tutorial here.

Chalkboard Chargers by Tatertots & Jello.

You can find the tutorial here.

Paint Stick Sunburst Mirror by Centsational Girl.

You can find the tutorial here.

Jute Bottles by Living With Punks.

You can find the tutorial here.

Ombre Lampshade by Vintage Revivals.

You can find the tutorial here.

Book Page Wreath by The Shabby Creek Cottage.

You can find the tutorial here.

Reclaimed Wood Candle holder by Stephanie @ Home.

You can find the tutorial here.

Map Monogram by Callaloo Soup.

You can find the tutorial here.

Jute Table Runner by Tara Dennis.

You can find the tutorial here.

I love all these projects and I think if my sister incorporated some of these projects into her room it would give her the wow factor that she is looking for.

Now that I finished her design plan, I purchased and installed the Flor tiles for the dog's room and my knee is finally feeling better,  it is back to some projects.  Tomorrow, I will be posting what I have on the agenda.