Amazing Before & Afters, Behind the Scenes from Boston Home Magazine’s Color Issue
As seen in Boston Home Magazine’s Bringing Color to a Blank Slate, what are the key things you can do to your new house, done by a developer, all fresh and clean, all white, to now make it into your home.
Create a Design Plan
Before you start painting or wallpapering each room, as these are the quickest ways to personalize and add warmth, make sure you have a design plan for furniture and fabrics. It all needs to gel together. We added wallpaper in the office, the laundry room, dining room and sunroom. We couldn’t proceed with the Farrow & Ball “Yukutori” wallpaper on the ceiling in the sunroom until the layout, fabrics and furniture were selected. Look at the immense change!
Sunroom Before
Sunroom After
Change Inexpensive Lighting & Hardware
Inexpensive lighting fixture and hardware choices were made on purpose, so that you can put in your own. A developer does this so that you’re not investing in parts of a property, or finishes, that you would want to change anyway. We changed the light fixtures in every room. Lighting is again, a great way to make a room more artistic, like how this LZF light did in the kitchen. Hardware is a quick and effective way to make each room feel different. We love Rocky Mountain Hardware and Emtek.
Kitchen Before
Kitchen After
Add Window Treatments
Don’t rush out and go to a shade store - these are great and useful, but very expensive and for the same price, or for a little bit more, we can think through each room and make window treatments special and personalized for each room. Windows take up a lot of space, why not add something that you really love and soften the space, like how these green drapes did to subtly remind our client of the golf course, with this Christopher Farr tape along the edge of a simple linen.
Main Bedroom Before
Main Bedroom After
Incorporate Vintage
Ensuring that not every piece in the remodel is new will help add personality, history, and comfort to a home. We love sourcing great finds on both Chairish and 1st Dibs, like the cabinet and dining table used in the dining room for this project. Make sure to combine old and new because your house might still feel like a new house and not a home without something old.
Dining Room Before
Dining Room After
Select Personal Art
Art is an essential tool for personalization and warmth. We commissioned watercolor paintings from a local artist who painted landscapes of nearby Larz Anderson park where the client’s kids grew up playing. The paintings play well with the graphic thistle fabric from Timorous Beasties.
Living Room Before
Living Room After
