Updating your living room

September 26th, 2012

I went to the Marilyn Denis Show last spring, Michael Penny was on and he showed us simple ways to update your living room

What are the differences? well let’s start with the coffee table… Spray painting an old piece of furniture is a very easy way to update your look with low cost. If you are low on funds check out your local reuse centre, local online classified ads (my favourite is Kijiji) or you can drive around on the days there is a big item pickup. Just before I moved out I found a old bookcase at the side of the road. I painted it red and 5 years later I still have it sitting here in my office.

Next step is adding pillows and changing the fabrics. This is one of the first things I noticed with Sarah Richardson – she brings in different fabrics to recover furniture, make a new pillow case or new drapes. When picking fabrics for pillows I like to pick fun geometric prints and some with some dots or stripes thrown in there – Don’t be afraid to mix fabrics.

I did this for my living room and sunroom. I went to the famous Ottawa street in Hamilton but I didn’t see anything I liked. So I drove to Designer Fabrics in Toronto, this is a regular source for fabrics on SR’s shows. I bought all of my fabrics for the sunroom here with the help of my mom:) Everyone that works there is very helpful. I also enjoy looking online at Tonic Living

Make sure to shop for home accessories, you don’t have to spend much but you can find a few pieces that add personality to the room. I love West Elm for this.

The last step Michael used to update your living room is updating the lighting. If new lamps isn’t in your budget, paint them!