What I've Learned After 500 Home Makeovers

Filed under: Your Home, Projects, Furniture

When designer Martin Amado walks into a tired room, he knows exactly what it needs. Here, he shares some of his best home makeover photos and what he's learned along the way.

Every time I go into a home for a design consultation, I'm anxious to see the possibilities waiting inside. In a majority of cases, the room suffers from what I call an "identity crisis" because the homeowners don't know how to reflect their style in their home décor. There is usually a mismatch of furniture, paint colors that clash and a layout that doesn't showcase the room's potential.

That's when I think: It's time to work my magic.

After completing nearly 500 home makeovers for clients (my company, The Wow Factor!, focuses on one day makeovers), I've seen first hand that most homeowners don't believe their home can look good without spending lots of money. They're often shocked when I say that they already own many of the elements necessary to transform their room.

What they lack is vision. Many people know what they like, but it's hard for them to pull it together into one cohesive design.

I begin the same way with every client: Break down the decorating process into three steps -- paint, figure out the furniture and add accessories. It helps to focus on each individual component and see how it relates to the other.



Home Makeover Lesson #1: Dress Your Room Like You'd Dress Yourself
A perfect example is this master bedroom makeover (above). Here, the room suffered from a lack of paint and accessories. Even though it had nice furniture, the bedding was distracting, and the white walls were stark. The homeowner wanted a serene and cozy bedroom, so I started by painting the room a soft ivory. I kept the color scheme monochromatic, but I didn't want it to feel boring, so I gave the room depth by working in different shades of beige and adding textures.

For those afraid of committing to color, a neutral earth tone like gray, tan or cream always makes a space feel warmer, and it is often better than leaving the walls white. We already had the furniture, so we focused on adding accessories. The right lamps, pillows, curtains and artwork helped transform this bland bedroom into a hotel suite-like retreat.

Decorating a room is like deciding what to wear. You choose what colors to put on, what textures work best together and then layer yourself with jewelry or accessories. It's the same when it comes to home decorating -- you're literally "dressing a room." Remember: You can certainly wear a cocktail dress with tennis shoes and a cowboy hat if you want to, but most would agree the outfit would not match and look disconnected, right? Now, be honest, does your home décor suffer from the same identity crisis?



Home Makeover Lesson #2: Save Your Cash, Use What You Have
Check out the dining room above. It was extremely dated when I first saw it. To update it, I gave some of the old pieces in the room a new look. I took the glass doors off of the china hutch so the shelves would be open, which gives the piece a more contemporary feel. Rather than the matchy-match dining chairs, I picked a few seagrass Parsons chairs at Pier 1 Imports to break up all of the wood finishes in the room.

I also rearranged the furniture. It's obvious but oftentimes a room can get a fresh feel just from changing up what's in it. In this room, I moved the hutch to the opposite side of the room; suddenly, it was the focal point and helped distribute the visual weight of the furniture. After adding a new chandelier and wall sconces as well as an area rug and window treatments, the room was finished, and it cost less than $1000 to makeover.

Still, you can makeover a room for much less. If you're looking to do a one-day makeover, focus on one room at a time, and shop at affordable home stores. I'm often asked: "Where do you shop?" or "Where did you find that piece?" Usually it's Target, Pier 1 Imports, HomeGoods and Marshalls. I affectionately refer to these stores as my "office," since I'm always there shopping for projects during the week.

Home Makeover Lesson #3: Skip the Furniture Set
Many of us can get so overwhelmed shopping for furniture that we're sometimes drawn to matching room sets (think: Sofa, love seat, two end tables and a coffee table for one low price!). I don't blame you -- it certainly makes shopping easier. But these sets often come with pieces that won't fit your space, and you'll end up cramming them all in. There's the clutter!

My advice is that you mix pieces from different collections to create a more unique style. Keep in mind that a living room setting doesn't have to include the traditional sofa, love seat and chair. You can create a grouping all your own by using a sofa and two accent chairs, or a sofa, chair and ottoman. The options are endless, so come up with an original combination that works for your space.

It's best if you buy less at the beginning and add pieces over time. Don't make the mistake of buying too much since the additional money can be spent elsewhere, like those ever-important decorative accessories. Remember: The finishing details are the jewelry of the room!




Home Makeover Lesson #4: Size Matters
Before I got my hands on the living room above, the furniture wasn't all bad -- it was just all too much. Maybe those pieces could have worked together in a larger room, but certainly not in this one. Notice how in the "after" I actually put more furniture into the room. But it looks much more spacious, due to the scale of the new items.

In fact, those natural woven chairs aren't actually new -- the were previously crowding up the family room. So I brought them in the living room, where they were a perfect fit. And while the scale of the beautiful exotic armoire was right for the room, it was wrong for the specific spot they put it in. By moving it from the corner and placing it on the biggest wall, it became the focal point of the room.

One of the biggest mistakes homeowners make is buying furniture that is the wrong scale for the home. Instead of enhancing the space, the furniture actually makes the room feel cluttered. (This is a mistake that can be easily avoided if you take measurements before you buy anything!)

I always recommend that you create an outline of each piece on the floor using painter's tape to help you visualize the layout of the room.

Home Makeover Lesson #5: Start With One Piece
Find one inspiration piece to build the room around. Use it as a reference to pick the paint color for the walls, decorative pillows and artwork. In general, a color scheme works well when you introduce three colors in a space through the wall color, furniture and accessories.

Home Makeover Lesson #6: Accents are Key
Use accent walls and area rugs to bring color into a room and texture onto the floor. This is important if you have tile, wood floors or even wall-to-wall carpet because it helps you define the spaces -- especially in an open floor plan.

Home Makeover Lesson #7: Beware of Leather Overload
Don't go leather crazy when picking furniture. Combine leather with upholstered pieces to add contrast and softness in a room.

Home Makeover Lesson #8: Kid Friendly Can Mean Style Friendly
Don't compromise your sense of style because you have small children. You can still create a living room space that's functional by using upholstered ottomans as coffee tables, round end tables to avoid sharp corners, and storage baskets to hide the toys as drawers in your entertainment center.

Home Makeover Lesson #9: Make Your Furniture Multitask
Make your spaces multi-functional. In a guest bedroom, replace a standard mattress with a daybed or sleeper sofa and turn the space into a multi-purpose room that can be used year-round as a study, for arts & crafts or home office.

What are your favorite ways to makeover a room? Are there any that Martin missed? Let us know on our Facebook page!

For more makeover inspiration, don't miss:

- Minute Makeover: Faking Built-Ins
- Sexy and Tasteful Bedroom Makeover
- 6 Inspiring Bedroom Makeovers
And we love DIY Life's story on a fireplace surround makeover too.

 

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