My Mother was in town this past week, visiting for the first time in four years. To welcome her, Boston decided to go ahead and have a seemingly never ending heat wave. I’m a girl who adores the summer and almost always saves her weather complaining for the winter months versus the long, languid days of summer but even I’ll raise the white flag this time, July. For you have been bloody HOT.
While the heat may have kept my Mom from walking around the Back Bay or over to the MFA for fear she'd melt into a puddle on a sidewalk, it certainly didn't stop her from doing one of the things my Mom does best. Decorating.
You may remember a post earlier this year where I showed you my repainted hand-me-down dresser turned TV stand. Now I have been talking the talk of redoing my living room for at least a year now and the dresser of course, was only the beginning. My plan had been to move away from my it was in style back in 2004 but now I'm sick of it color scheme of khaki and cranberry into my new obsession of grays, yellows, and turquoise for some time now.
But...then, life sort of got in the way of my interior decorating muse's best intentions. There were weekends away, trips to take, company to entertain, new jobs to wrap brains around. And of course, each and every time I thought further about my redecorating plans there was the nagging issue of not knowing which shade of gray was the right shade of gray for the walls. So many grays! So many subtle differences to debate over for months on end! When my mother began planning her trip, she emailed me one morning asking if I wanted the left over gallon of gray paint she just happened to have sitting unused in her basement.
Of course, I wrote back with a resounding YES. A free can of paint and my shade of gray decided upon? Come on.
A free can of paint would have been plenty in and of itself, of course but then my Mom went and upped the ante - as all the really great Moms do - by asking me on Tuesday morning, as I was getting ready to leave for work, if I'd like her to paint the room while I was at the office. Because she is a champ.
(!!!!!)
Throughout the week she and I were in our glory, talking interior plans and decors, comparing notes about what had potential, what could work where discussing colors, patterns, and design until we fell asleep, my solitary AC unit rattling away in the window. I still want to get a new sofa for the room, and I'll work on that just as soon as that little trip I took Down Under is paid and accounted for. I also have a plan in place for another hand-me-down coffee table from my Dad's house, so the room isn't completely, totally finished yet. But it's almost there. I'd say we're at about 90%. And personally, I find her to be absolutely beautiful.
The before:
These shots are from the summer of 2008 when I moved in and Mom and I decorated...the first time.
And now, the after:
While the heat may have kept my Mom from walking around the Back Bay or over to the MFA for fear she'd melt into a puddle on a sidewalk, it certainly didn't stop her from doing one of the things my Mom does best. Decorating.
You may remember a post earlier this year where I showed you my repainted hand-me-down dresser turned TV stand. Now I have been talking the talk of redoing my living room for at least a year now and the dresser of course, was only the beginning. My plan had been to move away from my it was in style back in 2004 but now I'm sick of it color scheme of khaki and cranberry into my new obsession of grays, yellows, and turquoise for some time now.
But...then, life sort of got in the way of my interior decorating muse's best intentions. There were weekends away, trips to take, company to entertain, new jobs to wrap brains around. And of course, each and every time I thought further about my redecorating plans there was the nagging issue of not knowing which shade of gray was the right shade of gray for the walls. So many grays! So many subtle differences to debate over for months on end! When my mother began planning her trip, she emailed me one morning asking if I wanted the left over gallon of gray paint she just happened to have sitting unused in her basement.
Of course, I wrote back with a resounding YES. A free can of paint and my shade of gray decided upon? Come on.
A free can of paint would have been plenty in and of itself, of course but then my Mom went and upped the ante - as all the really great Moms do - by asking me on Tuesday morning, as I was getting ready to leave for work, if I'd like her to paint the room while I was at the office. Because she is a champ.
(!!!!!)
Throughout the week she and I were in our glory, talking interior plans and decors, comparing notes about what had potential, what could work where discussing colors, patterns, and design until we fell asleep, my solitary AC unit rattling away in the window. I still want to get a new sofa for the room, and I'll work on that just as soon as that little trip I took Down Under is paid and accounted for. I also have a plan in place for another hand-me-down coffee table from my Dad's house, so the room isn't completely, totally finished yet. But it's almost there. I'd say we're at about 90%. And personally, I find her to be absolutely beautiful.
The before:
These shots are from the summer of 2008 when I moved in and Mom and I decorated...the first time.
And now, the after:
Pretty amazing what some paint, a rug, and a new chair can do, am I right?
I feel like my living room finally took herself to H&M and Jcrew, purchased a few updated wardrobe classics as well as a handful of trendier items and has arrived in 2013, leaving her 2004 style far, far behind. She went from this sort of outdated, following old fashion trends kind of a room, to this sexy, sophisticated urban girl and I just can't get enough of her.
I'm especially grateful too that my Mom had such a hand in helping my vision become a reality this time around. For all the years I've known her (which, um, would be all of my life) she has been rather brilliant when it comes to interior design. It was fun to have my own ideas to bounce off of her with this update, and to collaborate on a room we both felt had huge amounts of potential. And even though Mom had to leave to get back to her own home, now when I hang out in my living room it sort of feels like she's still right there with me, chatting away with a coffee in one hand, pouring over a design magazine in the other.
Obviously you're all invited over to celebrate in person. Just as soon as I save up enough for that finishing touch of a couch.
3 comments:
Oooooh! I love this! So light and airy and stylish! Gorgeous work, Mom and Kelli!
xox
I enjoy the transformation process. That's why I keep helping with these painting projects. I'll probably still be trying to paint when I'm 80 or standing at the ladder instructing YOU. The room did turn out great. Now I want to redo something else. Anyone??
Come to my house, Mom. We've got some cabinets and a paint sprayer. Or can you sew?
It looks great Kelli. I love, love that chair. Super work you two.
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