How to Decorate Series {day 9}: Decorating with Furniture by Perfectly Imperfect

If you are just joining our How to Decorate {for the DIY’er} Series, welcome!  Miss a post? You can find all the entries for our series listed conveniently on one page here.

Welcome to Day 9 of our How to Decorate Series!  One of the (many) things that excites me about this series is the opportunity to share some of my favorite blogs/bloggers with all of you!  Today Shaunna from Perfectly Imperfect is sharing with us How to Decorate So You Want to do a Happy Dance! (That’s the title I really wanted to post, but it was a tad long. :))

Shaunna is a furniture magician. Yes, that is her official title. See the hat and wand? That’s what she wears to make the magic happen!

Allow me to show you some of that magic in action! Here is her writing room before.  Hmmm, looks an awful lot like an unfinished attic to me.

POOF (that was a magic wand noise for those of you still needing that 2nd cup of coffee)! This is what the Furniture Magician was able to bring to life from that empty space.  Oh yes. I could definitely see myself writing in this room…or dreaming, or napping, or moving in and never leaving… Sigh. It’s gorgeous!

And here is a humble side table in it’s before state—a bright colored hue that just wasn’t quite working.

Shaunna gave it a magical makeover and here it is now! Adorable!

I highly recommend you visit Shaunna’s project gallery to see some more of her magic in action!  And for all of you chalk paint lovers (or wannabe lovers like me), Shaunna has an excellent post with tips and video tutorials here.

Okay Furniture Magician, we’re ready to learn how to surround ourselves with things that have us doing a happy dance! Teach us!

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Hey there, Home Stories A to Z! I’m absolutely honored that Beth asked me to join in her How to Decorate for the DIY’er series! I’m sort of an all-in kind of girl, so you’ll probably get a smorgasbord of my thoughts on decorating today.

Here’s the thing. Design for me is very much wrapped up in trusting myself…in trusting what works for my family.

When I do that, I seem to always end up with a beautiful, functional space…a place where my family and I are happy.

Above anything else we do in design and decorating, we should be about the business of creating meaningful spaces…placing objects of meaning all around us. That’s when our home truly becomes our haven.

For me, furniture is a huge part of design…of creating beauty in my home. It is, after all, the bones for our design, supporting the basic architecture and structure of each room.

I’m so happy to be a part of a group that is not afraid to transform anything…especially furniture!

I’m sort of obsessed with scouring for great furniture finds…at flea markets, yard sales, and antique malls. Want to know some of my process for using furniture to spur on your design style in your home?

#1-Treat painting furniture as if you were creating art….you are!

I believe so strongly in the art of painting furniture–I wrote a whole ebook on it, after all. Here’s where for me, the painting process gets tricky. Sit with your piece for a while. Where will it go? What mood do you want it to create? Classic, contemporary, elegant, casual, cottage?? The list is endless and so are the possibilities…so take your time. Wait for the aha moment when you know you’re about to create something magical.

#2-Use your pieces to evoke feeling and create the base for the rest of your design.

Neutrals like white, ochre, and gray tend to be blank canvases for your spaces and vignettes. Pops of color like turquoise, mustard yellow, and grass green will be statement pieces….eyes will be drawn to them. They will be the starring actors, in other words.

With that in mind, you only need to ask a simple question. What do I want people to see in this space? Do I want them to see the furniture or the decor? I personally want both. That’s why some rooms have statement pieces painted in turquoise and other rooms have pieces that recede into the design, like the white daybed you see in the first picture.

#3- (now that you have inspiration working for you) Choose techniques that work for you!

There’s a reason I could write a 200 page ebook on the subject…there are MANY ways to paint or restore your furniture. You can prime, spray prime, brush, roll, wax, poly, distress, use resist techniques (like rubbing candle wax in between paint layers)…you have as many options as you can dream up.

You can also create any finish you want…metallic, flat, rusty, high gloss, wood inspired, etc. The point is this: DON’T BE AFRAID TO TRY ANYTHING! I’m on a chalk paint craze (you can read more about it and see videos on my FAQ Post), and I never would have fallen in love with it if I hadn’t given it a try. Don’t be afraid to mess up, to try a product that makes you a little nervous.

You never know when you’ll come across one of your (future) go-to products or looks.

#4- Use your work for meaning…stage beauty that means something to you within your home.

Like many of you, I scour flea markets and antique malls for accessories, repurposing some and celebrating the vintage perfection in others. This is where I’ll say it again: Put things in your home that light up your face…they will lift your spirits at the most unexpected of times.

Your tastes will change, of course. And so will the seasons.

Most importantly, what inspires you will change. With those basic backdrops, or statement pieces of furniture, you’ll have a rotating gallery to showcase your collections and treasures.

That, my friends, leaves you in a constant happy-dance kind of mood, as you change diapers, cook supper, or clean the floors.

And if you can happy-dance while you change diapers, well, then you’ve gotten the point. It’s all about the home, less about the house. More about inspiration, less about the stuff.

“You can design and create, and build the most wonderful place in the world. But it takes people to make the dream a reality.” –Walt Disney

Okay, go on, get out there…go paint something! Send me some pictures, while you’re at it.

🙂

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Okay, let’s see if we have this.  Paint furniture as if it’s art, use that “art” as the inspiration for the rest of your room/vignette, use techniques that work, make it all meaningful! Thank you so much Shaunna!  If you’re lacking on the “techniques that work for you”, Shaunna has a fab ebook out that teaches you how to paint furniture like a pro! Click on the pic if you’re interested in learning about it.

Tonight the Tutes and Tips party will be up, and I have a fun giveaway for you from Artistic Letters that only lasts 24 hours! See you soon!

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