Before /After

I recently had the privilege of working with a really great couple who have a vacation home on one of our city's great streets near the lake. They spend very little time in Chicago-a few weeks in the summer-yet when they are here they love it. And why not? They are in a great location in a great city at the greatest time of the year...remember how nice summer is in the city? (sigh!).....but anyway...

Initially they were looking to replace the living room sofas and possibly the window treatments. The Mrs. dearly loved the window treatment fabric and was not going to easily part with it. However, despite the fact that it was a lovely Clarence House fabric, it was over 25 yrs old and was showing it's age. We began the fabric search thinking to replace the beloved fabric with, if not the identical fabric, then a close relative.

Showroom after showroom failed to produce an acceptable facsimile of the original Clarence House fabric and it was with a great leap of faith that my client decided that if she couldn't have the original, she would go with something entirely different. For my part I was hoping that she would cross that line as I really feel strongly that if you're replacing, why not REPLACE!!? Change the look, the feel and the mood of the room. Don't be scared now.....I know, when you're comfortable with something it's hard to picture anything different, but OH! it's so fun to get that whole new look while still keeping some treasured pieces.

As you can see from the photos, the drapery is new in both fabric and style, as is the layout of the room and we added not only new sofas but also 2 new chairs and an ottoman. We've also added quite a sizable mirror, but they did keep some pretty impressive pieces that they love-the grand mirrored coffee table and Stickley grandfather clock to mention a couple.

So when you are inclined to think you'd like a change but are afraid that involves changing everything and spending a great deal of money, remember you can keep most everything if you are willing to make one MAJOR change that will affect the entire look of your room.