The Lettered Cottage

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Home Goods

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We love a collected look, and really enjoy decorating with both old and new home goods to create a fresh and inspired feel.

We started helping Kevin’s brother Kerry re-decorate his family’s living room a while back…

…and although it’s not finished yet, it does look a lot different than the “‘before” photo now.

Kerry started by painting the walls with Sherwin Williams “Aesthetic White”, then Kev and I helped them spruce up the ceiling:

After that, Kerry hired our friend Wade to install some new, prefinished, hardwood flooring…

…and then they swapped out their TV trunk with a new entertainment unit from Ikea.

After that, and thanks to a gift card from HomeGoods, we all got together to shop for some Southern Living-inspired accent decor in Birmingham.

The hunt was fun, and we found lots of things they could use in their living room.

(Fun fact: Our niece found a dime, and our nephew found out he could open the cap with his teeth- ha!)

Fast forward to this past Wednesday. Kev and I asked Kerry if it would be alright to swing by their place (while they were at school and work) to do a little “surprise by design” style decorating. (Remember that show? I used to love that one!)

Kerry said yes (yay!), so we loaded up our car with a bunch of old stuff, and headed over to their house to mix it together with their new stuff.

Remember that table redo I blogged about the other day?

That was one of the things we left for them to find:

We snuggled it right up against their sofa (which they’re replacing later on down the line), and topped it with their new HomeGoods lamp and twig-wrapped glass vase. Then we created more texture and character with some of the “old stuff” we brought from our house. A seagrass charger, a sand dollar, and the sailboat I made for our mantel a few months back. Everything came from a different place, (store-bought, handmade, found) but it all relates to each other either by color, texture or theme.

Underneath the table, we took advantage of the criss-cross braces by stacking the soda crate I made earlier this year on top of Kerry’s old Holton trumpet. We loved how it made the table look more “alive” and substantial, and helped to hide the lamp cord a little more.

After the side table was all decked out, we focused our attention one of their wingback chairs…

One of our favorite quick-fix design solutions is to liven up older furniture with “new friends”. Old chair- meet new tray table, throw pillow, table lamp, and ottoman. They all came from our HomeGoods excursion, but they look great with their new blue buddy. We’re going to cut down the legs of the table next week so that it sits a little lower than the arm of the chair. It felt a little high when we were looking at it at the store, but it was on clearance for a super great price, so we thought it was worth snatchin’ up- even if we we’d have to perform a little surgery later, ha!

As you can probably tell, Kerry and Robyn wanted to give the room a bit of a coastal vibe, and that spiky little sea urchin (from HomeGoods) was the perfect finishing touch on top of the tray table. There’s another wingback chair on the side of the fireplace, and we’re looking forward to introducing that one to some new friends next week, too!

Last, but not least, we spent a little time accessorizing the shelves in their entertainment unit:

We shopped the house and used a mixture of both old and new elements (from our house and HomeGoods) that related by either color, texture or theme.

(We picked up the vintage Go Team Go! popcorn cone at a flea market earlier this year and since both Kerry and Robyn work in education, we thought they should have it!)

In the photos below, the snail and suitcase were HomeGoods purchases, and the navy blue boxes and plant & plant pot came from Ikea. Everything else was scooped up from around their house or ours.

(Oops! I just noticed that I probably should have asked Kerry and Robyn if I could label their blue boxes for them that day. #NextTime)

And speaking of next time, we’re looking forward to getting in there and giving their fireplace a major makeover next week. That is, of course, if Dixie will allow us to temporarily relocate her wingback.

Wanna follow along with Kerry and Robyn’s redo from the beginning? Here are links to all of our previous posts!

Living Room – Pick My Presto: August 25, 2011

Hemnes Entertainment Unit: July 2, 2012

Popcorn Ceiling: To Plank Ceiling: June 1, 2012

Wood Ceiling: Installation: June 6, 2012

Wood Ceiling: Installation Complete: June 13, 2012

PS- the winner of the $100 True Value gift card is:

Congrats, Katy! I’ll be in touch with you soon!

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Comments

  2. Ter'e Crow Lindsay

    The room looks simply awesome! I love all that navy sprouting up!
    I especially love little Dixie’s face………it’s as if she is saying “what are you doing to my house? where’s my bed?”

    I think you need to find a really spiffy dogbed for her!!!!!! In navy, naturally.
    p.s. Does that wingback chair need some floor protectors under it? 🙂

  3. Ter'e Crow Lindsay

    Congrats to Katy!!!!!!! I’d have loved to have seen my name there —- but maybe I will get lucky next time.
    Heading home to Parrish, FL next week. Way to go! Moving during a hurricane! Kewl.

  7. Tracey

    You guys are fantastic! Love reading your blog and see how you mix old and new. If I win Lotto this weekend I’m flying you to NZ to help fix up my place!!

  8. Lauren

    Wowza, cannot get over the ceilings. And of course love the table re-do. I wish we had flea markets with cool stuff near us….sigh.

  10. Nici~ Posed Perfection

    I love this makeover. The beachy feel is just perfect in here. So many pretty accessories, and y’all know just how to arrange them. Beautiful! I am your newest follower. Have a great weekend!
    Blessings,
    Nici

  13. Courtney Walsh

    You know what I love about this? There are things that they’re doing “down the line.” Working within a budget in our new house is SO frustrating just because I want it done NOW…so seeing this and knowing you do one piece at a time is really inspiring…and I LOVE their entertainment center! That’s one I have dog-eared for our trip to Ikea! 🙂

    Love how you guys pull it all together. Wanna “surprise design” me? hahaha

  14. Suzanne

    I wish you’d come to Austin so we could shop at Home Goods! In the decorating department I’m OK with the basic setup but fail miserably when it comes to adding the extra touches to the room. Some people just have a gift. Sadly, I am not one of them.

  15. Inge @ Simply Fabulous Chic

    I just LOVE how you always refurnish with simple, yet elegant and cheap decorations! Such great ideas you have! For now I’m on a tight budget too but I’ve already figured out a cool store where I can find things for a cheap price…
    You guys inspire me to start painting old and new cheap things (I even scored some cute frames the other day for less than a euro!)!! So I have to thank you guys for that!

    I just wish you could surprise design my living room as well. Any tips for toys that are always lingering around in my living room?? 😉

  16. SJ

    Looks great, but I’d love to see the whole room too. How about an “after” reveal?

    • Layla

      Of course! I should’ve mentioned that we’d be blogging about the whole room when we’re done, too! 😀

  17. Andrea

    I love all the special touches you’ve added to the room. I think it’s so important to mix some ‘old’ in with the new. It gives it character and interest. I’ve gotta say, though, that my favorite design element would be cutie patootie Dixie.

    • Layla

      It’s a lightened version of Sherwin Williams “Sea Salt”. You can read more about it by clicking on the ceiling related links at the end of our post if you’re interested! 🙂

  20. Becky Neville

    I love how the little table looks at their place! And the darling little sailboat has found a new home…precious! Can’t wait to see what else you do with the room.

  21. Heather @At The Picket Fence

    Fabulous Layla and Kevin! I love how you took the traditional blue wingback and freshened it up. I think it really shows people how they can take furniture they own and update it and bring it more current without running off to buy new stuff every time the trends change. Fabulous job…as always! 🙂

    Heather

  22. Kate

    What a gorgeous room! Your finishing touches are just perfection. I especially fell in love with the sailboat! You don’t have a tutorial on how you made that, do you? I was trying to figure out how I would attach the sails! It would make a great wedding memory for my nephew, who was just married on Cape Cod! Thank you for all the enjoyment I get from following your blog!

  23. Christie

    You gave your new little table to your family! What a sweet gift! The room looks amazing. I’m sure they’re loving it.

  27. Alison

    I love it all. What amazing talent you and Kevin have! One thing… have you done any research on the height that tray table should be next to that chair? I think it’s correct. But, I know nothing, just my experience.

    • Layla

      Thank you! I’m not sure about the correct height, but like I mentioned in our post, we’re going to cut that guy down a few inches next week! 🙂

  28. Jenni

    I have a lot of friends and family who need a “old” love injected into their fairly new, basic spaces. I wish they would let me come in and move things about while they are out! I really love the table re-do and, as always, the photographs really show it all off!

  29. erica

    i love home goods, my other fave store is world market u should look online, i love their curtains

  31. Susan

    You guys are the best! I just love that you’re sharing the decorating love with family….especially an ‘educating’ couple! I shop (stalk) that HomeGoods store as it is near my job in education (Go Team!) Sad I missed your road trip to my hometown 🙂

  32. Meaningful Nest

    The room looks very put-together, and I love how you mixed the old and the new. That is my favorite way to decorate and style a room too. They are lucky that they got your expertise! Their house looks beautiful.

  33. Fairfield House

    Layla,
    I have no doubt Kerry and Robyn loved the results of the makeover as much as we do! I’m sure while they are relaxing in this room and their eyes can read all the love in your details. (The seagrass charger looks familiar!)
    Your Friend,
    Deborah

  37. Shirley

    I love that little grey table. It’s gorgeous. Okay, well, the entire page was gorgeous, but that table is beautiful!

    Shirley

    • Layla

      Thanks, Mandie! We’re working on the fireplace today and look forward to writing a blog post about the final reveal when we’re done! 🙂

  40. Rachel

    Dear Layla: My husband wants you to come shopping in our basement. He promises you a true love fest, lol! He’s dying to get it cleaned out! I love my treasures, but he’s right!

  41. Lindsey

    love love love the room so far! I can’t see a whole lot of the rug…but where is it from? I am looking for a neutral colored rug for my living room.