Mom’s Makeover is a Family Affair

This past year I restyled my Mom’s condo for her.  She is not afraid of color and has so many wonderful things in her house…they all have meaning or memories that are special to her.  Half the fun of this job was just hearing the history of everything and, of course, spending a lot of one on one time with my dear Mom.    Here are the “before” pictures…

The living room and dining room…

 

and her kitchen.  And yes, she loves her knick knacks!

Guest room…what a cute little boy!  (Mine and behaving so well!)

Mom’s room…

and below is her wonderfully built 45 year old Sherrill sofa that she finally decided to part with.  It’s been recovered a few times in those many years!  Over the sofa is an oil painting she and my Dad bought of Pirate’s Alley in New Orleans when they lived there their first year of marriage.

Mom wanted to go with a more subdued pallette and I wanted to be sure that all the rooms flowed well from one another.  After I spent a few days choosing paint and getting it up on most walls, the troops came to help!

Above is Aunt Carol who is no slouch when it comes to being crafty!  She is very talented and volunteered to reupholster my Mom’s dining chairs. 

My Mom and nephew Luke were on deconstruction detail of the chairs…off with the old floral print!

My sister-in-law Stacey is also a patient and gifted handy girl…which comes in very handy!

Ugh!  I get the creeps just looking back at the chaos we were in…we did the whole condo in 3 1/2 days. Chaos reigns!

Luke thought it was the coolest thing ever to paint his name on the wall…

Then I taught him to spread a roller and he loved it!

Are you getting a feeling for the room?  Notice that the new sofa, rug and lamps are in.  The swivel rockers at the far end are back from the upholsterer’s as well.  The paint is “Mellowed Ivory” from Benjamin Moore.

The kitchen island was painted black.

 

Mom tries out one of the newly upholstered chairs.  These chairs where her mother’s and wouldn’t she be pleased to see her daughter, daughter-in-law, granddaughter, and in-laws and great grandson all in on the action!

Much improved!   We added more lighting, new rug under the table and de-cluttered as much as Mom would allow me to.  Tough cookie, that one.

Love the new sofa and soooo comfortable.  I love the fabric on the swivel rockers.   Notice the painting over the sofa?  I repainted and waxed the old frame (previously cream colored) and it really stands out.

I tried, honest I did!   Mom must have her things where she wants them…too much stuff sitting out drives me crazy!  But, hey, I don’t live there with her, so whatever you want to do Mom!

It’s very hard to tell here, but I painted the guest bathroom walls a lovely soft pale gold called Philadelphia Cream to warm up the white walls.

I painted the white walls of the guest room with a soft green blue and reupholstered the headboards.