Before - Space played off the red painted buffet (I had done in FL, just before we moved in 2011) and the space was starting to become forgotten and unused...
Refreshed with a purge, pillows, paint and a few tropical like accents, we both use the space more. This has become a hideaway for Jeff (since his favorite chair is also up here).
The palms realy help give a nod to South Florida, and were a huge savings when I purchased: I found them both in reduced price areas of my local garden center (one was $2 and the other was $7)
Painting the thrift buffet (I've had now for 15 years!!) was a great way to restyle our rented home with color, without painting the walls. The color I used was Benjamin Moore's Old Navy (A fave blue for painting furniture on Pinterest!) Since it didn't even use the entire quart, I had enough paint left over to also re-paint a mirror in the living room...
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Lightened & Brightened for a Summer ReStyle...
A light white was to the wall really helped lighten the look and feel of the loft space. layering in framed textiles (I found thru thrift) + repurposing a tablecloth and an older thrift art piece helped add summery blues + print to the space...
I always loved the print of this tablecloth I picked up at HomeGoods - Even though it's from a few years ago, I used it in an alternative way (to create wall decor) it feels new again. I also updated an older green HomeGoods tray, by painting it blue, and I covered a square of cardboard with a blue printed sheet, to add a pattern insert to the tray...
Easy to do - and great way to update a fave HomeGoods find!
My White Washed Wall...
Just as I did in our Florida Dining Room (read post at: Rustic Washed Walls) I used the same technique: a bowl, water, sponge, and my free quart or Clark & Kensington paint I got last year plus a little light grey paint left over from the bedroom...
Clark & Kensington: Vanilla Latte
The hubs and I both miss living in South Florida - from the rain, to the palm trees, to coastal trips along Florida beaches. Mixing thrift finds, travel treasures and revamping pieces I had, I tried to capture that essence of what we miss about Florida here in our Arizona home. Since the lighting in this space changes throughout the day, I've snapped quite a few pictures and it was taking quite a bit of time to sort, edit, and watermark every photo (thanks to Pinterest) so I thought this would be a great time to experiment with creating a video - which is how I stumbled upon Slidely.
Although I didn't paint any walls on the second floor in our living room, I did refresh all of the black accessories by painting them wish a white wash too. Layering in the wood & wickers accents I've collected while thrifting here in AZ also helped with a coastal feel for summer...
One of my fave curbside FL finds - this branch was painted black last fall for Halloween - refreshed with white, it layered in an organic texture. The terrecotta urns I've had since my apartment days, once again refreshed with a white wash. The mirror was cherry when I scored it back in '08. I painted it black and had it over our bed in FL - Here in AZ, it's in the living room (with the second one still outside), but to update its look: I washed it over with the old navy blue I used to paint the buffet upstairs. To help weather it, I just sanded some of its raised edges...
The gold framed mirror gallery wall I pulled together last Fall still works great in the space. When I was transitioning to the whites for summer, I added blue pillow covers to two pillows on the sofa -- but it was still missing the wow. Remembering the leopard pillow I had (my friend Jose made for me before leaving Florida) was just the wow it needed...
Since I had four framed fabrics, I was able to use the double sided placemats I cut & framed both upstairs and here in the living room -- It gives just enough blue to the space. I shifted the 4 B&W coastal shots from downstairs up to the livingroom, to change the feel for summer. It become a great little backdrop to create a entertaining vignette with a $5 wood barcart I scored at Goodwill...
Since we have so many more windows here vs our townhome in Florida (and the windows are all also taller) I had used canvas painters drop cloths at each window in the living room & dining area. However, On the one wall where I only used them as singles (pushed to left and to right) I switched them for a pair of summery stripe tablecloths I picked up at HomeGoods... Just as I did in our FL Dining Room back in 2010 (read post at: No Sew Curtain Panels ) the panels were no sew and just clipped to the rod...
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Using white runners & throws draped over black furnishings helped lighted the look for summer...
To experiment with the Slidely site, the first video I created is a video home tour of my Relaxed Summer ReStyle to share with you... And no other song could possibly convey what I felt as I've tried to create a 'home' for us here but "Home" by Phillip Phillips (I get choked up every time I hear it)...
RELAXED SUMMER RESTYLE HOME TOUR
by Lynda Quintero-Davids on Slidely - Slideshow maker
(NOTE: to enlarge video to full screen, click the double arrows to the right of the volume speaker - After video complete, click ESC on keyboard to escape)
(NOTE: to enlarge video to full screen, click the double arrows to the right of the volume speaker - After video complete, click ESC on keyboard to escape)
Earlier this year, when I had attended the Design Bloggers Conference in LA (read post at: My First Experience at the Design Bloggers Conference ), "Go Viral With Video" was one of three hot topics at the conference - The other two were creating content and giving credit to photos when using other peoples pictures in a blog post (especially when posting photos from Pinterest). Creating these slidely videos taps into all three:
- You can create your own unique content with your own photos of your work.
- I don't think you can pin a specific image from a video, which will help with people copying your work plus save time editing photos with watermarks.
- Videos are going to be the next wave of change in social media (just look at shelter publications like House Beautiful and the social media war between Vine and Instagram)
I've made four videos so far using Slidely you can now view on my blog. Just click the VIDEOS tab under the header.
Most of the slidely videos are personal videos people have created, but going forward I see tons of opportunity for Slidely video application in marketing - especially for designers, Realtors, retailers or even shop owners. Just be sure to utilize the tag application to help increase your SEO. Soon, Slidely will be adding in the capability to download vids to your computer plus upload/share at YouTube - until then, have fun creating your own videos of cooking, family, friends, events or projects - whatever you want - and share them with your social media connections and friends.
Thanks for stopping by!
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LINKING POST TO:
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