Before & After: Gail’s Living Room

My friend Gail has a big, beautiful, empty home, so she called me in to decorate.

I was determined to go as far as possible with her budget, so I literally hit every thrift store in town I know (Reason #271 I love Austin: plenty of thrift stores), and kept a close eye on Craigslist.

The result: a bright, inviting, airy living space for $150.

My design plan for the living room was born when I found this pair of giant green and yellow tweed pillows at the Salvation Army for $2.50/ea! I knew they’d make great sitting pillows on the hearth (when there’s no roaring fire). From there, I gathered different tones of green as I found them, with white accents.

Gail had a great leather sofa, three end tables, and a coffee table as my building blocks for the room. The biggest missing pieces were lamps (white: Goodwill, $4; silver: Craigslist, $10) and more seating (banana leaf chairs: Craigslist, $40).

On top of my committed bargain-hunting, I saved money with a couple DIY projects. The lamp shades were white, and I had some green paint in the garage that applied with a small roller. The candlesticks on the mantel were gold when I found them at the Salvation Army (for $6), and I just primed and spray painted them. Also on the mantel, I knew I wanted some fun, graphic art. But the closest I found to what I was looking for was an ottoman at Target. Can’t put an ottoman on the mantel. So I used the fabric as inspiration to paint a canvas. J’adore!

Now for the full disclosure. Remember I said I painted the lamp shades? The green paint in my garage was house paint. I was so proud after the first coat, until I turned the lamps on. The shades looked pukingly splotchy. It took about 5 coats to fix, and now the light pretty much doesn’t penetrate the shade at all. Lesson learned: don’t use house paint on lampshades. But they sure are pretty during the day! And, yes, Gail knows this story. She’s been a very gracious client.)