Have you ever looked around your home and realized everything looked stale?  The same pictures that you hung when you moved in ten years earlier are still hanging on the wall. The furniture hasn’t ever moved rooms or even positions, for that matter.  Paint colors are from 1995 and rugs look tired and old. You don’t have the budget to completely redecorate your entire place, but you know something has to change. Well, today’s post is just for you! Carissa Pereira is going to give us her top 10 ways to give your home a mini-facelift, without breaking your budget.

BACKGROUND: Carissa Pereira grew up in Little Rock, Arkansas with a mother who had quite a flair for furniture and antiques. She graduated from SMU with a degree in Business Administration. Little did she know when she was 25 that she would be moving to Nashville to start her own furniture store. After much thought and prayer, with a neat business idea, and lots of encouragement from a faithful mentor in Dallas, she opened Carissa’s Armoires and Antiques in Hillsboro Village. It began with mostly armoires but grew into a full service store with lamps, upholstery and antiques.  The store was a unique twist of old and new with great price points and a warm welcome at the door.  After 13 years of business and birthing 4 children..it was time for baby number FOUR-Mommy out the Door!  One of Carissa’s favorite things over the years has been helping the Jr. League’s Designer Showhouses  and having a booth at the Antiques and Garden Show in Nashville.  Since closing the store, she has adopted a precious little girl from China and does part-time interior design “mini-facelifts” on many homes in the Nashville area.

 

10 Ways to Give Your Home a Mini-Facelift

1. Re-Hang your art and mirrors for a change! Take things that you love that have been either hidden upstairs or tucked away in a back area and move them to a more prominent space. Group small art together to make a larger impact, hang some porcelain plates with plate hangers, take some old shutters or hang an old door or something architectural above your mantle or sofa. Common mistake: hanging art or mirror too high and it does not relate to the piece of furniture below

 

2.Take off your old lampshades and give your lamps a new twist! Go to your favorite local lamp store and have them try a few new shades on your lamps/sconces-whether it was grandma’s hand-me-down or something you purchased 10 years ago. Try a textured linen, burlap, crisp white shade, or some interesting shapes (a drum shade is a must!) Hint: Find some objects in your house and turn them into a lamp-some old boots, a turkish jar, an old candlestick-most things can be turned into a neat new lamp for your home!

3. De-Clutter your bookcases! Take out those knick- knacks that are keeping you from  the main points of interest. Invest in some nice leather-bound books (go to used bookstores for these) for your bookcases, group similar objects together, remove things that  are too small or fake plants…your bookcases can make a statement-maybe add in  some glass, black and white photos, or architectural pieces.

4. Update your frames!  Take down your old frames that are gold or silver and tarnished and spiff them up with some updated frames. Many of us tend to hold onto our very dated frames for sentimental reasons. Instead, put them in a much less prominent area or let go of any old ratty frames that have lost their glass(or their ability to stand!) and enjoy the hunt for new ones! Hint: A few big nice frames are nicer than a table full of dinky old frames that clutter the surface. You may also frame some of your kids art in black frames from Michael’s and enjoy a fun new wall in your kitchen or laundry area or in a hallway-its easy and does not break the bank.

5. Mix your woods-Mix your styles-Break up sets if they Match! Make your rooms more interesting by breaking up sets up matching furniture. This may mean moving end tables from your guest room to another room, moving single chairs from a bedroom and tucking them into your den, or moving a headboard to an entirely new wall…enjoy the change and mixing textures, various woods…Hint:  Change up your pillows too! Swap out ones that have been on your bed and move them to a couch and vice versa…pillows are such an easy update! Get rid of dated, spotted, or torn pillows and you can find them so inexpensively now most places!

6. Proportion! Common mistake: Dinky side tables and small lamps next to big beds (King/Queen size). Try a 36” round on one side of a bed and maybe a chest on the other side (26-30 deep and 40 wide). Find lamps you love next to your bed-you will use them a lot!

7. Change out your dated fans with light-kits to a simple chandelier or an updated fan. Fans can be eye sores if you are not careful and many times they do not put out that much cool air. When hanging your new light fixtures-don’t hang them too high or they will get lost! Lower foyer and Great Room Chandeliers where you can enjoy seeing them! This may require getting additional chain. Hint: your chandelier over your dining room table should be about 26-32” above the table…

8. Find your keepsakes! Go into your attic, garage, buffet and find objects that you may have collected along the way that you have never used before. You could use that vase or silver tray you received as a gift. You may find some old baskets that look great on a bookshelf or make neat trash cans for your bathrooms. Many of the things that have become my soap trays or wastebaskets have been things that I have not expected. You may find an old chair that you can hang on a wall or something from one of your children’s rooms that would be sweet hanging in a bathroom. One project that I did last year for my personal home included old hankies, rattles, silver cups, bonnets, etc. and I put them in a plexi-shadow box. They are reminders to me of the past and they help me keep them all in one place (and I can give them away to each child when they get older).

9. Enjoy giving away things that you truly do not enjoy anymore or simply have run its course. Your trash is someone else’s treasure…You can try consignment shops, Craigslist, donate it to Goodwill, or take them to a friend’s garage sale, or a ministry such as ReNew. There are so many great places here locally that need used furniture. It helps you not feel as guilty parting with the piece when you know it will have a good new home. Furniture is replaceable, and there is tons of it out there!

10. Stand back and try to take in the small stuff.  Are the candles the right size on the sticks? Does this area need a rug? Could you freshen up the paint? Paint makes a huge impact for a great price. Try some new colors that you have not tried before. One of my best friends has turquoise dining room walls, and they are fabulous!

Thank you, Carissa. Your tips are helpful to us all!  We’ve got some work to do!  

For more information on contacting Carissa, see below:

 

Carissa Pereira

615-714-6161

carissampereira@gmail.com

(Images courtesy of: 1-amberinteriordesign.com; 2-phoebehoward.com; 3-JPDschoolofdesign.com; 4-houzz.com; 5-thelittledesignstall.wordpress.com; 6-tobifairley.com; 7-addicted2decorating.com; 8-english.siu.edu ; 9-habituallychic.com; 10-designinghome.blogspot.com; 11-glitterandgoatcheese.com; 12-luckettstoreblog.blogspot.com; 13-inspiredeventsbynicia.blogspot.com; 14-marthastewart.com; 15-traditionalhome.com; 16-kristinpeakeinteriors.com; 17-decorpad.com; 18-hgtv.com; 19-marthastewart.com; 20-houzz.com; 21-www.ywcanashville.com/Programs/Re-New/Origin_of_Re-New; 22-songofstyle.blogspot.com; 23-brightbazaar.blogspot.com; 24-calliegrayson.blogspot.com; 25-beachhousedecor.blogspot.com) 

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