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SUMMER RESTYLE 2011
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Over the years, my personal style has changed. And so to has the look of our home. Through out all the changes, I've managed to merge old pieces (like my white sofa from 1998 with new (simple pillow covers from Crate & Barrel and thrift, like this years $15 faux bamboo coffee table I painted gold with a pair of modern end tables I picked up at the Salvation Army a few years back.
It's definitely been a labor of love, but it also shows that you don't need to run out to RoomsToGo and buy a whole room, nor do you need expensive custom pieces for your space to stylishly represent your lifestyle today. If you build your space on a strong foundation - neutral colors and quality furniture - your space can adapt through your changing lifestyle or your latest color obsession!
Accessories and textiles in textures and prints has also been key to the (many updates. I think because I like and use similar lines in my finds, but various scale and proportions, I'm able to mix & remix my pieces for fresh looks. Here's a peek of yet another update downstairs in our living space and some of the dining area restyled for Summer...
To read about the DETAILS, come visit me at my blog: http://nyclq-focalpoint.blogspot.com THANKS for stopping by!! xo
![BACKYARD SPRING SPRUCE UP!, Renting a house vs. owning can have its ups & downs. The upside: if something like an appliance breaks down, you can call the owner to have it repaired. The downside is though, you see opportunities for layout flow and finishes that you can't change. What do you do? You make do and make it work. Living here in Arizona the past year took some adjusting, especially when it came to our living outdoor style. In Florida, our townhome had sliding glass doors that opened up to a paver patio I designed and was FULL of greenery and privacy. Here in Arizona, the place we're renting lacks color and greenery [except for the AstroTurf which I am so grateful for vs DIRT!], but with a little thrifty TLC and savvy styling, I've been able to rescue & recreate our outdoor space for us to use before the summer heat & dust storms arrive. Here is what I did - Read details at my blog: http://nyclq-focalpoint.blogspot.com/2013/04/rental-restyle-budget-friendly-backyard.html, Patios & Decks Design](http://picklemedia1.scrippsnetworks.com/pickle_media1/media/HGTV/130514/Photo_Video_3400730543519657399537_smallthumb_hor.jpg?2)
![TOWNHOME TOUR, After sharing so many individual spaces here on Rate My Space throughout the years, here is a "Home Tour" of our Florida Townhome when we sold to move / relocate to Arizona. The house was listed on the first week of October 2011 - It had about 5 veiwings, plus three offers that same week. By the end of October, the townhome had sold, and I packed us up for our journey to Arizona [hubs job relocation]. Unfortunately, it was a short-sale... but at least it wasn't on the market long at all [esp. during the peak of the weak market]. I truly believe not just clearing the clutter & depersonalizing [removing personal photos] but Life- Styling the house [during Fall] to the 'Miami Market' , along clean curb appeal, organized closets and creating a comfortable outdoor living space helped tremendously. The Realtor was from Better Homes and Gardens Realty: He hired a local professional photographer for the wide angle shots. enJOY!, Living Rooms Design](http://picklemedia1.scrippsnetworks.com/pickle_media1/media/HGTV/130325/Photo_Video_8569131100552877122934_smallthumb_hor.jpg?8)
![Thanksgiving Tablescapes, Using items I already had, plus mixing a few thrift finds [like dishes] and updating exiting items with [gold] paint, I was able to create an organic tablestyle for Thanksgiving., Dining Rooms Design](http://picklemedia1.scrippsnetworks.com/pickle_media1/media/HGTV/121120/Photo_Video_65235144482914673749879_smallthumb_hor.jpg?2)
![Spring Stoop, While living in Florida, I learned about container gardening. It was a great solution to add color to our house front or patio, without having to dig into the not so soft ground [mostly coral rock]. Over the years in Florida, I had grown and nurtured several plants, but because of state laws, I was unable to take any of the plants with me when we moved to Arizona. Although I gave away most of my plants to friends and family, I did keep several of the containers. Refreshing the containers with a quick cleaning & a fresh coat of paint helped spare the expense of having to start totally all over again. All I needed to do was invest in a few flowering plants to give our now stacked stone stoop a shot of color for Spring.
If you're renting, like we are, this is a great little Spring Spruce-up for outside, to welcome family home with color, as well as say "Happy Spring!" to your neighborhood. Read more about the expense + savings at: http://nyclq-focalpoint.blogspot.com/2012/03/rental-restyle-welcome-spring-on-stoop.html, Porches Design](http://picklemedia1.scrippsnetworks.com/pickle_media1/media/HGTV/120330/Photo_Video_55926673062250979221379_smallthumb_hor.jpg?4)
![FALL SLEEP RETREAT, I've been contributing photos of our townhome here on HGTV's RMS since September 2007, and now it's time to move on. After a week of listing our townhome, we sold it and shortly will be packing up to move to Arizona for my husbands promotion & our relocation. I've enJOYed sharing all the various changes and transitions of our home here on RMS, and hope to share more updated pics of our new (rented place shortly! Until then, I'm posting the last few seasonal changes I've made here, including staging a lifestyle setting for our place to sell.
The changes I made in our bedroom started back in August, with changing textile accents from fuschia to orange. In years past, I've used orange downstairs in our LR / DR for Fall - but I did crimson this year [to be posted later]. The orange worked well paired with grey, black & white to transition from Summer to Fall. Adding more textures & layers to the bed gave the room a warm feeling. Switching out fresh cut greens & coral to burt orange autumn leaf sprays - also used downstairs in previous years - gave the space a simple touch of Fall. Prior to selling, I had mixed our NYC wedding photos with photos of NY. To depersonalize, I removed the personal photos, but kept NY mixed with horses - again for an Autumn feel. The framed horse images I made last year from a calendar and used them in our LR / DR. To add in some wood accents to our black furniture, I used some of my thrifted trays on night stands & displayed some of my wooded bead necklaces, I also found through thrifting.
The wall color is RALPH LAUREN - Urban Loft Collection - MERCER UL240., Bedrooms Design](http://picklemedia1.scrippsnetworks.com/pickle_media1/media/HGTV/111012/Photo_Video_19683632179619727830232_smallthumb_hor.jpg?12)
![BLOOMS IN THE ROOM, From those thrifted Easter eggs spray painted gold and thrifted Easter bunnies sprayed white, to thrifted white dishes adding texture and even West Elm after Christmas clearanced gold table runners added some chic shine to our table. Place cards I made help personalize the place settings on the table, which I reused later in mini chocolate filled Easter basket giveaways. Spring touches surrounded us, from the inside out: Spring bunnies were in the container garden out front and hidden eggs out back on the patio.
Some last minute fresh flowers [white roses the hubs brought home Saturday evening] were added to the table in another thrifted vessel on Sunday morning...
Our semi-homemade meal consisted of a Honey Baked Ham complimented by fresh brewed ice tea, homemade mash potatos, sauteed string beans and glazed carrots. I also used baby carrots in mini pots to create a indiviualized veggie tray., Holidays Design](http://picklemedia1.scrippsnetworks.com/pickle_media1/media/HGTV/110425/Photo_Video_89232728903574768283622_smallthumb_hor.JPG?9)
![Easter Elegance, For a simple & understated look for an Easter, Palm Sunday, or even Passover table, you can't go wrong with a classic palette of cream, green, and accents of gold. For Easter, another use for those hanging eggs: Paint them in this years metal trend color - gold and use them as your napkin ring for folded or rolled napkins. Add a simple pattern to your place settings like the Wedgwood plates I found thrifting [set of 6 @ 3.79] or gold detailed glasses [set of 20 @ $12] also found through thrift. Layer in lacy details like embroidered napkins or fluffy flowers like bunches of hydrangea.
As an alternative to flowers for Palm Sunday, simply use fresh cut palm fronds.
More tablescape ideas are shared on my blog at http://nyclq-focalpoint.blogspot.com Happy Spring and thanks for visiting!, Holidays Design](http://picklemedia1.scrippsnetworks.com/pickle_media1/media/HGTV/110416/Photo_Video_43204251972086980408739_smallthumb_hor.JPG?7)
![EZ Garden Update, The quickest and easiest way I have found to add color to our garden is with container gardening. Color pops in pots, in various sizes, play peek-a-boo amongst our landscaped greens. I wanted our town home front to be more individualized than the others, so I chose to use rocks vs. the community mulch. I arranged two types of rocks [salt & paper marble chip and red lava] in a curved pattern to have an organic element breaking the straight edges seen from all the pavers. The stones add texture and are less of a mess than the red mulch - which when it rains, splatters on the base of homes and causes stains. Using containers has helped personalize our curb appeal. It's also a great way to take the colors from inside - out. This years colors of pinks & greens really pop against the Ebony wood-stain freshly painted pots. The Spring garden was finished off with an updated [4 yr. old] wreath I hung on the door for Easter. More details are available on my blog at http://nyclq-focalpoint.blogspot.com, Gardens Design](http://picklemedia1.scrippsnetworks.com/pickle_media1/media/HGTV/110405/Photo_Video_90943719182294743579492_smallthumb_hor.jpg?9)
![Hoppy Spring!, Over the weekend, I did a simple update to my Thrifty-Three Spring vignette. I simply switched out the green apples for green grass [found on clearance after Christmas at West Elm] and decorative crackle eggs I found at Homegoods [back in February - only $5 for 16]. I removed the metal & glass candle holder and replaced it with a cluster of three bargain bunnies I found thrifting [at only $3 each]. They were all different colors, so I cleaned, primed and sprayed them satin white for a refreshed look and simple add for Easter. While thrifting, I also found a tube of multi-colored textured eggs I also primed - but sprayed gold. I hung them from the mixed blossoms & branches already on the buffet., Holidays Design](http://picklemedia1.scrippsnetworks.com/pickle_media1/media/HGTV/110405/Photo_Video_78982155451190384754775_smallthumb_hor.jpg?5)
![Vignette Thrifty-Three, I created a fresh spring vignette with three thrifted pieces I found last year - a white & gold speckled pedestal bowl [$5] with fresh green apples, a pair of brass candle sticks [painted white $5] and pair of white glass lamps [$15 for the pair] with Ikea white shades [shortly to be trimmed with ribbon]. The frosted glass hurricane was from Peir 1 [5yrs ago] and I stacked books with the jackets flipped to white. These are all set on another thrifted piece - my $30 vintage buffett [found & refinished back in 2006]. The chain link wall piece was a mirror. Since the mirror broke in shipping, I flipped it to the back side and wrote on it in chalk. The mirror was originally purchased for a client. Thankfully, because the mirror was damaged, the company sent a replacement - so this piece was FREE. Also free: I added a branch in the white glass vase [from BigLots in '06 at $8] wrapped with some existing white blossom sprays I already had. For Easter, I'm adding hanging eggs. The small white trellis chachki is a Victoria Hagan piece I had picked up on clearance [for only $6] at Target back in '07.
The simple fresh green apples were not only an inspiration for a shot of color, but relate to the entry vignettes adjacent dining space - refreshed for Spring! Mixing a balance of thrifted finds with some existing or old pieces can create a new look on the cheap. For more ideas from a simple shift to shopping thrift, stop by and visit me at my blog: http://nyclq-focalpoint.blogspot.com
, Dining Rooms Design](http://picklemedia1.scrippsnetworks.com/pickle_media1/media/HGTV/110323/Photo_Video_50853876676291234948822_smallthumb_hor.jpg?6)
![Fireside Dining, No fireplace? No problem! A romantic setting of a table for two can still be created by getting creative with your TV as a backdrop - and the TV unit displayed as a mantel. Comcast has screen savers for FREE and Amazon sells Fireplace DVD's to turn your black box into hot spot!
I swapped the two white ottomans for my two $5 thrifted chairs [previously on either side of the TV unit], added a 36" round folding table layered in coordinating colors for our space [white sheet with a paisley cream printed window panel as an overlay], utilized some gold pieces [previously used on the Thanksgiving table] as well as a centerpiece [another free branch in a vase - displayed in another room] - and couldn't forget the candles - including one I found at Target that actually crackles like a fire ... enJOY!
EZ romance - done in less than a day and at $0 from reusing & relocating items I already had., Holidays Design](http://picklemedia1.scrippsnetworks.com/pickle_media1/media/HGTV/101227/Photo_Video_65781872344194499224950_smallthumb_hor.jpg?6)
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