Before/After

So, I heard about a lady who does some interior design on the side for a nominal fee and my husband agreed to allow her to do decorate our recessed bookshelves in our living room so he didn't have to put up with all of my indecisiveness. Remember this post? Yeah, I'm a little kooky like that. With that said, you'll find it humorous to know that I basically paid this lady to organize my thoughts. The money would have been better spent on a therapist visit. Yep... she did little actual decorating. With exception of the two glass vases near the butterfly prints and rocks that filled the vase on the mantle, I hand picked everything. In fact, I even took a couple things she had picked out back to the store to exchange for different colors, etc. What she did do, however, was give me great ideas on how to start and finally, how to arrange the items to create a focal point. Note: If my husband asks, she did it all!

Now that you've been prefaced, here are some before/after shots. I apologize for the not-so-awesome before shot... but I hope you get the idea!

BEFORE:

AFTER:

I am most proud of finding everything on discount. (I am THAT girl who always feels the need to tell you how cheap she got it..... but I'll spare you this time!) Also, I wanted to add to the canvas, kid-friendly storage boxes in the lower left-hand shelf so I found a couple ribbons and hot glued them on. Call me crafty!

The only thing that has been modified since taking the after shots is the arrangement near the charger in the upper left area. I wasn't satisfied with it so it is now fuller and softer. It looks tons better now. I hope you like it!

Now that I've built up some confidence, I'm ready for my next decoration projects (sans interior designer lady). I'd like to do something with these two spaces. I'm thinking a console table with an arrangement and books for the foyer... possibly a fancy chocolate wall vinyl scrolly thing (for lack of a better description) above the door. And for the clock area, maybe a floating black shelf underneath to place a view various sized pictures and candles. Kind-of like this but with black and white family photos, cream mattes, and sage green candles:

Whatcha think?

Oh, and did I mention that I have a repeat of the recessed bookshelves flanking a fireplace downstairs that needs some decorating? More before/after shots to come!!