When we first married we bought a blue sofa and two blue wing chairs that coordinated with the sofa. Fourteen years and two babies later, the sofa looked pretty sad. I was so tired of the sofa and really it needed to be replaced. It was a cheap sofa, and it had been covered with spills. (I couldn’t find any photos of the old sofa, sorry!)
So I grabbed the arm covers from the chairs. I took them with me to the furniture store so I could a sofa that would go with the chairs that I planned to keep. As I walked around the store, I put that fabric next to the sofas in the store and realized how bad the chair fabric looked. I suddenly realized the arm covers were also stained. I was hoping no one saw how bad they looked. Not only did the fabric look worn and stained, I didn’t like the fabric any more.
It was then that I realized I was making a big mistake. Why am I trying to work with fabric that I just don’t like? Why am I trying to work with fabric that looks terrible? My kids had done a number on the chairs and the sofa. I was trying to save money and work with what I had.
I realized I was about to spend a good bit of money on a new sofa to match chair I no longer liked. This did not add up.
It was then that I realized I needed to replace the sofa and the two chairs, and sometimes you really do need to start over like that.
I bought a purple floral sofa (don’t judge!) The chairs I selected were purple and green plaid club chairs. It all looked better than it sounds. Now if you have a purple sofa and/or purple plaid chairs that you like, fantastic! I am in no way suggesting that is wrong. I’m just saying that’s not my style any more.
(Sadly there are no surviving photos of the purple sofa. Too bad. hee hee)
So my point is (unless you are on an extremely tight budget) before you buy any furniture for a room think about the direction and vision you have for the room long term. Does this new piece go with your current furniture or your vision? If the answer to both is yes, then you are quite lucky. If you are needing to replace some furniture but you want to go in a new direction, often you are just going to have a room that looks awkward for a bit when you are in transition. That’s what happened when I went from my red and gold room to my current neutral living room. We had some transition time that was not pretty. But had I felt stuck with the reds, I would still have a red living room and I would be very unhappy about it.
Here is the red and gold room.
Again some people have red furniture and that is totally fine. It’s just not my style right now. Here is the room with new slipcovers, but it still have gold walls.
I didn’t like the white slipcovers with the gold walls, but when you make a drastic change to a room,you are just going to have some awkward moments during the transition, not unlike going through puberty. I didn’t bother painting the walls, since I knew we were moving. The realtor said the color was okay, so I didn’t paint. About a year later, we moved into our new home with gray walls. I love the neutral look. There’s nothing wrong with red. I just wanted a new look.
The point is don’t just think about what you have now, but what you want to have. I slipcovered my sofa, ottoman and two chairs to convert them to neutrals. It took me awhile to do all of that. Then I had a red and gold rug that needed to be changed out. I never did repaint the gold walls, since we were moving, I waited over a year to get my gray walls in the new house, so my room looked a bit ‘off’ for a year.
So yes I had some awkward times there as I was transitioning. Think of it as your house being an adolescent. Think of the decorating adventure as a marathon, not a sprint. Have an overall plan for your home, and you can make progress even if it is bit by bit each year.
If you paid a lot for furniture and feel stuck with it, try my suggestions for selling your old furniture. You can find that post HERE.
Remember if you want these prints, you’ll need to order them soon. I am getting ready to place my order for them. CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFO.
And what a beautiful evolution your furniture pieces have taken on. Such a beautiful flow throughout your home.
Not to mention budget friendly when one designs around neutrals, it’s so easy to add accent pieces and thrifty bargin pieces and not worry if they will match.
Love your home, and your slips I remember you working on them. Such a drastic change.
Beautiful summer days ahead of you full of inspiration.
Xx
Dore
This is exactly what I’m transitioning from! Gold Walls, deep dark rich colored furniture! I’m so wanting to “lighten” up. I have a dark green couch which I’m ok with keeping, but can’t seem to find the right color for my walls. I have a lot of Cheri Blum pictures that I also love and want to keep. Have tried lightening up the camel colored walls to no avail. Have been successful with the drapes though, got some beautiful cream colored with script writing on them. Boy this is difficult. Back to the store tomorrow to get some MORE paint and try another color!
Glad to know someone else struggled with these changes – thanks for sharing!!
It’s tough to transition Linda. Hang in there!
I loved looking at both rooms. You did change your look. I still love the red and gold room though too! 🙂 Both rooms have soul and look very comfy.
Thanks Montanhappy!
Hi Anita
I just love your style & what you have done to make your house a truly beautifull home! My question is, did you make your own slip covers & if so, could you do a tutorial on how to make them please?
Cheers ????
I made them Tina, and yes I need to do that. It’s so much work, so I need to write the tutorial when I am actually making a slipcover.
This is right on time for me. Our home was built in 2005 and served as a model for the development. We purchased it fully furnished. I loved it at first, but now it’s starting to feel a little dated.
I want to move to a more neutral scheme but it’s almost overwhelming to start. Thanks for the encouragement this morning.
Anita-
I could just climb right into your neutral room. So elegant, so calm!!! Just beautiful!!!
Thank you Tess. I think the neutrals are soothing.