Making Music

In addition to tackling the dining room nook, I also helped Aaron and Heather out with their music room (sorry folks, the living room is gonna have to wait until my next trip).  Their music room is the first room to the right of the front door.  In most homes, this would be the office or den, but in this musical household, all of the kids take turns practicing violins, cellos and the piano here for thirty minutes a day. While the lessons learned and rehearsed here are definitely the most important part of the room, having the decor a little more inspiring couldn't hurt either, right? 

When I first showed up, the room wasn't horrible.  It wasn't even bad. No room in their house is.  But I couldn't help but feel the beige walls and beige carpet and beige chair weren't doing any favors for the gorgeous built-ins.  

With a minimal budget (we only bought paint and curtains) and a scavenger hunt around the house, we were able to transform the music room into something a little more fresh and contemporary:

The first thing we did was paint the walls a warm gray (Sherwin Williams Analytical Gray) so there would be a nice contrast between the leather couch I discovered hanging out in the corner of Aaron and Heather's bedroom (and completely fell in love with!) and the walls.  

Adding 2 large pieces of art over the couch really helped fill up the wall space and the thick, black frames tied in seamlessly with the piano on the opposite side of the room.

That used to look like this:

And now looks like this:

Simple tweaks, people.  Little things.  Changing the wall color made this room feel special.  Adding 10 foot sheer curtains (we got 13 yards of the fabric at JoAnns for around $50) added an elegant and soft touch that almost goes unnoticed until you look at the before again. The large plant also discovered unappreciated in the corner of the house just screams, "I belong in the same picture, err room as the piano!"

Another tiny tweak was replacing the dark, floral decorations hanging out in the top part of the built-ins with a basket on each side that we found around the house and spray-painted a creamy white.
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And the pillows.  Of course, the pillows lined up on the window seat really finished off the room and added more pops of color.

The finished room really fits in with the rest of Aaron and Heather's no-fuss home.  Part of me wanted to add an area rug, a floor lamp, a throw draped on the couch, accessories galore (okay, a white throw on the couch is still on my mind)--but their home is practical.  Gorgeous and practical. Utilizing things that they already had around the home in a new, fresh way is a great lesson in remixing to revamp.  

Before:

After:

The dining room and music room were all we got to in my 2.5 day stay, and now it is time to get back to bidness 'round our home.  Like finishing up the studio and family room and sharing our next project...and letting life just settle down for a minute.    

P.S.  Turns out, tomorrow is the last day to vote for our Exterior Melodrama (not today like I thought).  So head over there and vote today and tomorrow and comment on Tuesday's post each time you vote for a chance to win a custom mood board.