Donna Talley set herself what seemed an almost unreachable goal: to rejuvenate her
family room in a fresh and youthful style
without buying new furniture while staying
within, or close to, a $1,000 budget.
By allocating money wisely and carefully
restricting choices for maximum impact,
she succeeded.
The room had several positive features,
including a vaulted ceiling, skylights,
an appealing fireplace mantel, and
large windows. On the other hand, the worn offwhite
plush carpeting, fringed dark-chintz
curtains, and heavy color scheme desperately
needed updating.
Donna's plan included getting rid of
worn and outdated furnishings, highlighting existing architectural details,
and lightening the room. She put together
this list of tasks for the project:
- Paint the walls.
- Replace the carpeting.
- Remove some of the dark furniture and
accessories and redecorate using items
from other rooms. (Donna cleverly calls
this in-house shopping.)
- Slipcover the sofa and armchair.
- Replace the curtains.
 Before its transformation, this
family room had worn carpeting, an assortment of mismatched, dark
furniture, and even darker draperies that hid large windows. The pale walls with dark accents weighed the room down.
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