I’ve gotten a lot of positive response to my posts on working with what you have—which makes me really happy. After all, aren’t we all working around one thing or another to find a pretty solution that we can live with?
Since we had no walls in our foyer, I created this “entry” along a narrow front hallway in our last house by using items I already had--a rounded console table, a flea market mirror and a thrifted lamp. Photo from Better Homes & Gardens.
I have a couple more of these posts planned and an opportunity for you to share your own solutions soon. But, in the meantime, if there are “working with what you have” topics you’d like for me to cover, I’d like to hear about them. I’m hoping to feature problems that aren’t too specific to one home so that more readers will benefit. Feel free to share your ideas in the comments, or email me. Although it might not be possible for me to reply to each individual dilemma, I’ll definitely let you know if yours is chosen for a future post.
The main issue I'm trying to work around with our house is the newly installed wall-to-wall bad quality cream colored carpet. We don't have the cash to tear up brand new carpet that we hate and install the hardwoods we want, but with twin 2 year olds who spill EVERYTHING something must be done. Can you layer over plus wall-to-wall carpet? I dunno. I'm at a loss sometimes. Oh, and our kitchen is carpeted, too!!
ReplyDeleteGreat topic idea. Thank you. I feel your pain. We once rented an apartment (with two kids) that had carpeting in the dining room. WHY? This is just asking for a disaster...
DeleteWhen we moved into this house every room except the upstairs bathroom was carpeted-- kitchen, dining room, downstairs BATHROOM, "mud room" (they used that term loosely)--everything. I finally got ticked off and pulled up the carpet in the downstairs bathroom to find really beat up hardwoods. In the kitchen, the carpet is super glued to the 1950s linoleum. Someday...someday...
DeleteI also have ugly wall-to-wall carpeting in my rental living room, kitchen and bathroom. I've put a great vintage rug down in the living room, but the kitchen and bathroom have me at a loss.
DeleteEmily, I love the topics you've been tackling and am so looking forward to seeing more!
that should say "plush wall-to-wall..." not "plus". My bad. :)
ReplyDeleteI second the idea about working with builder basic carpet! Also what about working with a long narrow living room? We can't knock out a wall to make it wider, and the fireplace is on one of the long walls. Makes tv and furniture arranging difficult!
ReplyDeleteIt's like you read my mind. Working on that long, narrow living room post now. It'll hopefully be up tomorrow....
DeleteWe have a long narrow room with a fireplace too. I feel your pain.
DeleteEmily, you did an e-design for my long narrow living room and your solution was absolutely perfect!! Feel free to share it. Lori Wojciechowski
DeleteEmily, you did an e-design for my long narrow living room and your solution was absolutely perfect!! Feel free to share it. Lori Wojciechowski
DeleteLori, Thanks for reminding me of this. I looked back at it and remember it was a challenging space plan. If you have any finished pics of the furniture in place, I'd love to see how it turned out.
DeleteI've been enjoying this series too, Emily! We have dark baseboards & window trim in our house, and painting it all a lighter color is a big job. Plus they are tiny cheap-o baseboards anyway. So it seems that if we were to put the effort into updating them, it may make more sense just to invest the money & install all new baseboards. Not sure how many others have this problem, but I'd love to see your ideas on working with dark trim.
ReplyDeleteI've heard others say the same thing. Great post idea. Thanks! Let me do some thinking :)
Deleteworking around builder light fixtures. we are in a new house but light fixtures are far from cute.
ReplyDeleteloooving that gold bamboo mirror. Did you spray it? Looks GORGEOUS with the black, white and red lamp!
ReplyDeleteNo, was lucky to find it that way--at the flea market, for $25. I tried to contain my excitement when he named his price :)
DeleteI second that light fixtures comment. We're in a rental, but i'd be down for a solution since they seriously stifle every bit of creativity i could possibly have. Here's a link for a photo of what i'm talking about and working with, hoping other people have the same problem so you'll help us :)
ReplyDeletehttp://www.homedepot.com/Lighting-Fans-Indoor-Lighting-Indoor-Ceiling-Lighting-Ceiling-Mount-Lights/h_d1/N-5yc1vZbvm1Z1z10gov/R-100686829/h_d2/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10053&langId=-1&storeId=10051#.USvbkvLwCM0
This might be a silly question, but can't you still change out the fixtures in your rental if you put them all back up when you leave? It might not exactly be "working with what you have" but there are some really great lighting options out there for not that much money. And, I'm a firm believer that changing out lighting is one of the best and easiest improvements you can make in a room. I personally think that even if you spent a little money on lighting, it would be worth the investment.
DeleteI love this topic and I think it's very helpful to us non-designers. I look forward to you continuing these types of posts. And I think it will be interesting to see what others have done to work with less-than-ideal situations.
ReplyDeleteThanks!
Id love to see some ideas on how to use a bonus room as a guest room as well. We don't have a spare bedroom, and I've been working to figure out how to put a bed in our not very big playroom for guests. Thanks for a;; your ideas!
ReplyDeletejennie
www.stitchybritches.com
I'm not sure that this could be included with the "working with what you have" series, but I would like to know what your tips are for blending color schemes and styles in a house with an open floor plan.
ReplyDeleteI love this series! I would like to see something about working with a house that has almost no natural, direct sunlight. I have a large, vaulted living room with north-facing windows that overlook a covered patio so there is literally no direct sunlight in this room. I feel like every corner of the room is in shadow. I don't know what to do about paint (light or dark, cool or warm).
ReplyDeleteI like your style! And I'm learning from you, thanks!
ReplyDeleteI'd like to know how to incorporate good 18th century furniture, that I could not afford to replace, to look more updated in my home. Thanks!
Both of my girls just got bigger beds and I'm dealing with this right now. My first instinct was to buy new bedding for both but when I looked at what I already had, I found an old white queen sized duvet and cover from our old bed that my daughter loves on her full sized bed. Work with what you have!
ReplyDeleteThis is a great series! I would love to see something on furniture placement in different types of rooms when you don't have the option of tearing down or moving walls. When we first looked at our house prior to purchasing, it was empty - it wasn't until we moved in that I realized how awkward the living room was. 2 sides are open/have partial walls or colums, 1 wall is all windows, and the other wall has a fireplace; additionally the room isn't big enough to 'float' furniture away from the walls. So frustrating trying to figure out where our furniture should go without looking weird! Thanks again for the great posts on working with what you have! :-)
ReplyDeleteHow about a fireplace that is on a corner? - I have no idea what pieces of furniture I should have or how to arrange what I currently own.
ReplyDeleteEmily,
ReplyDeleteThanks very much for this practical series! I look forward to hearing your ideas in your posts. Could you address decorating a room that has vaulted ceilings? Thanks!
I love these posts, it is something I have been focussing on my blog! I would LOVE to see dealing with ugly bathrooms!
ReplyDeleteI'd be interested to hear your tips about what to do when you have an open floor plan and you're trying make a color story flow from one room to the next without have it look A) matchy-matchy or B) complete randomness! seems to be my challenge lately :) thanks, and your house is beautiful!
ReplyDeleteI would love to see your tips for making the most of a small master bedroom. We have a small master bedroom and I would love to make it more functional, stylish, and more sanctuary-like for my husband and me.
ReplyDeleteI fully second The Davis Family Three's suggestion of working with small master bedrooms--ours is roughly 11'x14'. I am pretty good with making small spaces work, but I would love to see your suggestions.
ReplyDeleteFor example, how much of the wall should have artwork and how much should be blank? How can I make it look finished without looking cluttered or cramped?
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ReplyDeleteI have 2 delimmas in our house....the first is our house is formal with lots of chair rails, high ceilings and heavy moldings. Beautiful, right? Except we are not formal people. How do I "homey" it up? :) Next, our 2 extra bedrooms have very little usable wall space. Both bedrooms share a jack and jill bath with the doorway to the bath on the same wall as the entrance door. The next wall has double closet doors. 3rd wall has an extra wide window. Thus leaving 1 wall. The other bedroom is the same layout with the entrance doors and closet doors and then the other 2 walls has a window in each corner leaving little wall space. Both rooms are small, 10 x 10. Help!!!
ReplyDeleteThanks for this series. When I chose to be a SAHM, I realized that I'd have no choice but to work with what I have lol! I appreciate the tips (because, really, I need some guidance in the area of visual arts). Have a great one!
ReplyDeleteI would love something on living with carpet that doesn't match the rest of the house. Two of my sister in laws, plus myself, all purchased homes in the last year with large, carpeted basements. We were just discussing the other day how expensive carpet is and that it would be a waste to replace perfectly good carpet simply because the color is too warm (my case), too dark (one sister in law), or too light (the other sister in law). I am guessing this is a fairly common problem for people buying existing homes that aren't major fixer-uppers. I would love to hear your suggestions.
ReplyDeleteI love this series, thank you :) It's been fun to see different ideas, I've definitely been more inspired to go-with-the-flow instead of wanting to demolition!
ReplyDeletewhat about working with brick? our fireplace in our rental is a yucky, floor to ceiling, reddish brick. I think exposed brick can be really beautiful, but I have no idea where to start.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your blog. I really enjoy it. I'm not sure if others have this same issue, but we have that lovely orangey pine paneling all over our basement. We spend most of our time down there, but are not at a point to paint over it or remove it. Any ideas on ways to modernize it or perhaps colors to accent it that would help? We have decided that reds, oranges, and yellows really just make it look even more orangey. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteLoved the red couch post. Yes! How about working with light blue wall to wall carpet, a three season porch, a playroom for multiple age kids, a house full of honey oak floors and contentment in the midst of chaos!
ReplyDeleteWell well. My very latest blog post was on the difficulty of working with this bossy burgundy carpet in our new bedroom. It gets even harder when you have a husband with definite opinions that are not the same as yours... which could be a topic for another post!
ReplyDeleteHow about mixing an existing bathroom tub in great condition (large soaking tub but it's chocolate brown) with new sinks?? The sinks now are brown as well but cracked so we will be replacing them. Will white look odd?? We don't need the extra expense of a tub, but I want it to look like it flows rather than a mistake. I would love some help on that!!!
ReplyDeleteOf course I love the idea of working with what you have. It calls you to greater creativity and efficiency.
ReplyDeleteI'd love to hear your tips for working with red brick. My style is a lot like yours: jute rug, gray walls, pops of color, linen, leopard, black and white stripes and florals with lots of fresh art mixed in. I'm scared to decorate my family room (where I spend 90% of my time) in this style b/c I'm afraid the brick will clash. Thanks for the tips. This has been a fun series for sure!
ReplyDeleteI know this is a broad topic but I would love to read about working with small/starter homes. For example, we live in a 1600 sq ft. Split level home. We have 4 children so it's fairly tight. Specific things we're working with are: no dining room, smaller eat in kitchen, shared children's rooms. We love our neighborhood but this being our first home we've had to make some sacrifices on space. I wonder how many others are in the same position: making a smaller house work for a while until we can buy a larger one. Thanks.
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