6 June 2012

a rental living room: before and after

I've finally finished refreshing my little living room in my rented condo. Stuck with bad carpet and beige walls, I worked with white, gray and greige to create a cozy modern-vintage style room that's so full of warmth and personality I don't notice the ugly stuff any more. 


Here's what I began with when I moved in. 

BEFORE
AFTER
My one investment piece was the classic straight-lined gray sofa from Revolve. I added a knock-off Nelson bench and Eames chair, along with a vintage mid-century modern chair (that I still need to recover) from a local shop for $50!! 



I added wallpaper backing to the IKEA shelving unit, snagged a lovely old worn bench from a local antiques shop to sit my tv on, and used my own artwork and photography on the walls. I always bring the outdoors in, and branches and Spring blooms make for amazing free decor. 




It's my favourite space in the condo. What's your favourite space in your home and how did you make it your own? 

10 comments :

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  2. Oooo I do love a good before and after! It's so hard to inject personality into rental accomodation when you are stuck with so much, but you have done a fab job.

    Really love the artwork around the TV and the textured cushion on the white chair :)

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  4. Looks wonderful! I love the old bench used for the TV stand, and your original artwork is fabulous. Cheers for making a sad rental into a beautiful home.

    *Tania @ Passport2Design.com

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  5. Kelly, you've done an amazing job working with the carpet & wall colour - your living room looks warm and comfortable and welcoming and chic, your artwork is fantastic!

    I really like how your TV wall looks - the art kind of helps to downplay the TV. I think I need to do something similar on the wall around the TV in our family room. Thanks for the inspiration :-)

    Kelly

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  6. Looks fantastic. I love all the layering and mix of colors and textures. I can see why it's your favorite room.

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  7. Hi Kelly, I have come from Barbara's blog - your condo is LOVELY and full of so many ideas I want to try now! Is the strippable wallpaper more $$ than regular wallpaper?

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  8. @Lisa

    Thanks Lisa for stopping by and for the kind words! This particular paper I got from Home Depot and tested it out to make sure it really was strippable, and it came off without a problem. It was the same price of regular stuff- around $35-$40/roll.

    Another options is Tempaper, which comes in many more options of great colours and patterns, but it is about double the price, so I stuck with the Home Depot paper since it worked with my space anyway.

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  9. beautiful home! Love the transformation ... and once again great designs do not equal to deep pocket! It's all about smart savings and investments for a high end look, but at reasonable ticket price. Bravo :)

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I'd love to hear from you. Thanks for making my day!