So I live in a small space with Michael and Sir Oliver (our Springer Spaniel) and this time last year I decided enough was enough. We were done (or rather I was) with the brown paint and brown doors and so we painted everything white to make the space look brighter and feel more open.
Here are a few more ideas that helped the home revamp.
We removed the bedroom door which opened up the entrance leaving a large archway to frame the bedroom.
The above cowhide rug is from Brimfield flea market. I’m not a fan of it any more and I’m looking at buying another one. My friend got one from bazaar velvet and she loves it. There’s just so many different types of rugs that I’m spoilt for choice! I’ve written about Brimfield before here in 2014 and here in 2013.
We found the chandelier at a local architectural salvage yard. The skull head was found at Brimfield flea market.
We have four venetian mirrors in various shapes and sizes throughout our space all found from flea markets or vintage shops. They help to reflect more light into the rooms plus giving the illusion of a bigger space.
Michael installed these white floating shelves from Ikea for my shoes. The corner table that was there before turned into a mini dumping spot so we got rid of it. Before it carried an unused sewing machine and haphazard piles of hats. Also my shoes used to line around the bed and all around the bedroom furniture. They ate up valuable floor space and just looked a mess after numerous trip ups when anyone walked past them. Click here to see that same corner and table before it was removed.
All our dressers were originally brown and we painted them white. My Celine box bags sitting on top of one of them were bought used to save on spending retail.
I buy Diptyque candles once a year at their annual sample sale in Manhattan.
I now store hats in three white boxes picked up from The Container Store. Being white they disappear into the room. It’s better than having them piled on top of a table getting dusty like before.
More shoe shelves but inside the bottom half of one wardrobe. Adding shelves inside was a way to use dead space that was under my clothes. I split that wardrobe in half, keeping skirts and tops above and shoe shelves below. My other wardrobe houses full length clothes.
My vintage bags collected over the years. These hang from my standing mirror for easy access. That mirror frame was originally brown and I painted it white.
Our kitchen cupboards used to be brown. You can see the before pictures in this 2010 post! We removed them, I painted them white and Michael switched the handles to matte silver.
We suspended two light pendants above the kitchen table to help define that area.
All window blinds were brown. We changed them to white to allow in more light and blend into the windows. If you are looking to switch up your blinds to something more modern and aesthetically pleasing like we did, checking out sites such as https://www.smartblinds.org/products/motorised-blinds will help you with this little home improvement. This actually makes such a massive difference to your home, even if you have a small living room.
Click the below link to see the rest of our home!!
I store tea bags in this metal tin from Battersea flea market in London. I also got the little toy Cadbury’s chocolate van that’s above it. They are both daily reminders of London when I’m pottering around in the kitchen.
This is the only section in our home that is dark. We painted this column with black chalkboard paint for writing shopping lists, to do lists and just write fun messages. Our friends have left messages too which as you can tell we sometimes leave.
The cattle head was sent to us by a friend.
We swapped out old black diner stools (which were ripped and didn’t have much support) for these white high chairs. Having a back to these made them more comfortable than the old stools. Although we have a dining table to match our chairs, my friend had mentioned previously about a high gloss dining table she had seen online which would also go amazing with our white high chairs.
There’s a vintage wood chest that sits under the tv screen that houses a few of our things. It’s also from Brimfield market.
Our club chairs (arm chair and sofa) were purchased them from Mitchell Gold outlet in North Carolina. They supply leather furniture to Restoration Hardware and Pottery Barn so we thought what the heck, let’s go to the mothership – their outlet! The price for both pieces plus having them shipped to New York saved us more than half the price for buying those same chairs in Manhattan.
The treasure chest next to our sofa has two functions: It’s storage plus it’s a side table.
We salvaged a tree stump from the local park after it was cut down. I hate seeing trees cut down and wanted a part of one. We cut the stump into three pieces. One piece doubles as a little side table. Note. The park gave us permission to take the tree stump home.
We switched out all the door handles for vintage inspired matte silver ones with glass handles. All the doors were originally brown and were painted white.
Frye Boots: Michael’s own
We also have a white cowhide rug in the living room (just seen) – another Brimfield flea find.
Our living room space is really small so our ceiling light is transparent to visually disappear into the space.
I hope you liked the updated peek into our home and got some ideas for your own especially if you live in a small space like us.
You can see the first post made about our home here!
