Suprise evamp of elderly mums living room

10 years ago

I cant give you a before, its too awful!
Our darling 83yr old mum has a 12" x 12" living room, that had definitely seen better days. Because she had originally down sized it was very full, which made cleaning difficult. and using it very awkward. Originally mum had chosen pale cream for everything, walls, furniture and carpet in the hope it would make the room feel bigger. unfortunately, as it aged, it looked bland , cold and depressing. Mum often complained that she was out of love with the room, but couldn't face the upheaval of decorators in the flat and couldn't decide what colour to have. So when she was invited to stay with friends for a week, my sister and I seized the opportunity to give her the spacious, fresh and pretty room she has been longing for.
We've always had a good idea of her favourite things, she has very eclectic taste, old and new, and a habit of "rescuing" items that have seen better days. This is a tricky scheme to put together, but we knew she had taken a fancy to Laura Ashley Duck Egg Lori curtains, and she has always adored sheepskin rugs, they're all over the place, and well used by her little dog.
We had to use the furniture she already had, including a giant leather arm chair, and old battered footstool!
We also knew that we had to make the room feel familiar, convenient comfortable, and keep all the little things that she needs close to hand and easy to use, this does not make for a show home room design, but its right for living comfortably.
So we took 5 days to complete what you see in the photo, we removed lots of furniture including a large cabinet, and old sofa. We painted the walls , shelving and other cabinets in Dulux Gentle Gold matt and satin, (which is a really pretty grown up colour, almost has a rose gold feel to it, but would work with Coral colours, gorgeous) and sea Urchin 4 to the back wall. This turned out to be a mistake, and came up much too strong and deep, so we added some white and gentle gold to it which worked much better, phew! We replaced her old broken electric fire for a modern one, but kept her pine fire surround. We bought duck egg lori curtains and added the same wallpaper to the fireplace wall. We deep cleaned everything, including the carpet, we hired a Rug Doctor for £25 from Homebase, which did the job fairly well. We found the light shade on ebay, discontinued from Home base or B&Q Capiz Shell white 4 tier, and paid £20. Its lovely, and makes a subtle tinkling noise in the breeze. Being lightweight it hangs on a single pendant easily, just like changing an ordinary shade, easy!
We bought new sheepskins and recovered her dining chairs in a Laura Ashley duck egg stripe remnant.
Mum has lots of lovely crystal and glass, we added ikea light strips to the shelving, 4 strips to one plug socket for £20, to showcase them. It has been interesting to mix gold and silver together, we had to, but the effect seems to work just fine.
We can only pray that she loves it!