When I blogged about keeping the brass fixtures in our house last month, I got several comments from readers who mentioned they appreciated that I was working with what was already here instead of replacing everything. For starters, the brass has grown on me—especially as I’ve started to decorate around it. Also, it’s just not feasible with our budget to go around taking out and tearing down everything that isn’t exactly “me.”
I started thinking that there are a lot of us in that situation. Most of us aren’t living in houses we’ve built specific to our tastes and needs. We’re living in real homes, decorating around other people’s design choices or a builder’s ideas. Or, maybe we’re living with hand-me-down furniture or a set of couches that we invested a lot of money in before we discovered design blogs and our tastes completely changed . . . While small changes and updates are feasible, most of us aren’t working with the budgets or DIY skill sets that it takes to completely redo, remodel or even reupholster.
So, this month, I have several posts planned that center around “working with what you have.” I’ll be sharing easy ideas and design tricks that will hopefully help you learn to fall in love (or at least live with) those little things about your home that are driving you up the wall.
Here’s a quick example of how I tackled the problem of small windows with no moldings in our last home:
We used tall curtain panels to disguise the sides of the windows, making them appear taller. (I think we hung ours almost 12” above the actual window in the room above, but in our living room—where the ceilings weren’t as high—we went all the way to the molding.)
We also layered bamboo shades underneath. Mounting them above—instead of inside—the window also disguised the actual height of the windows. (More on my favorite shades and the ones we used in the last house here.)
What things are you currently trying to “work with” in your home?
In your former home if you had sliding glass doors instead of the single door what would you have done? I’m wondering because of the different height levels of the door and windows. Would you keep all the rods the same height or vary them to their size?
I love your current home as well as your former home.
Hi Naz, If I were doing same treatment on the doors as the windows, I would keep all of the rods the same height to give them consistency.
Our long and narrow living room has become a thorn in my side. It’s difficult to arrange furniture, but we’re making it work!
I have the brass door knobs/hinges in my house too, and I kinda like them now.. :) We have so many projects on the list that getting new furniture is way down the list. Our family room couch/loveseat was bought from a friend several years ago, before my husband and I were even married. I don’t like them, but right now just have to live with them. Oh. and the very ugly recliner that is over 20 years old! I’m working with them for now. Can’t wait to see your future posts about this. I’m sure I’ll be using your ideas!
That looks awesome – thanks so much for sharing. I love your style.
We have a fireplace that’s bumped out about two feet from the wall – it’s sort of in between the kitchen and this weird room in the back of our long, skinny house. I have absolutely no idea how to work with it, so right now it stands as a shelf for us to throw all of our crap on when we come in the back door. Sigh. What an eyesore!
I love this. Living in a rental gives new meaning to ‘working with what you have’. I’m looking forward to your posts!
I love that you’re tackling this. I have a black leather sofa that was a hand-me-down from my husband’s aunt and uncle. It’s not my style at all, but it’s in great condition, it has a queen pull-out bed, and it’s probably quite expensive. I can’t justify replacing it right now simply because it’s not really me, but now I’m trying to decorate around this heavy black thing!
Love this Emily. As we are now renters in London I am definitely working with what I have – no painting (hang lots of art), ugly tile floor (rugs!) etc.
I actually think there is something sort of fun about making what you have work. Even if I had a ton more money, would I really want to spend it all on the house (and not give or save for college or retirement)?? At the end of the day, it’s just a house.
I am really trying to work with our garage entry – which we use 99% of the time. It dumps you in between the end of a narrow hall and the family room. It is really difficult for us to all come in the house at the same time. Sounds weird, but trust me – it’s a design flaw.
how is your bathroom wallpaper removal going?!
It’s going. About 3/4 of the way there. The steamer is working great. It’s just finding the time to do it!
Story of my life! Working with what I have. Great post, Emily.
I agree that many of us are in this predicament. I’m looking forward to your posts on this subject!!
I have my hideous green plaid sofas slip covered ;) and I still have my lovely cream colored refrigerator in my remodeled white kitchen with mostly new stainless steel appliances. =P Just waiting on that thing to kick the bucket. ;)
I have a client that is putting brass fixtures in by choice. Love working with what you have and adding a throw back to the past at the same time!
hooper patterson
Great topic, Emily – I’m looking forward to these posts!
– Lora
This is such a great post Emily! As a designer, I always have a vision for what I want and unfortunately it’s not always in the budget. I am forced to work with what I have all the time. It usually ends up looking cute but I still have in my head what it would look like if I could do what I REALLY wanted!
This is a great concept that will be relevant to lots of people. I’m a renter, as are many of my friends. Not only is it out of our budget to change everything, but it’s often against the rules of the lease!
Yes! I’m excited to hear from you about working with what you have. This applies to renters (like me), as well as people who own and have more freedom to customize their homes. Thanks for doing this series!
Thank you!!! Especially when you’re renting, you don’t have many options!
I love this post and this idea. So true – we are often making what we have work. And your statement about the couches and then discovering design blogs made me laugh out loud. Your blog is just so fun to read – thank you!!!
Thanks for the reference to the shades that you used. I was looking for a 96″ one for our picture window in the living room and that’s a great inexpensive option! Two questions for you: what is the navy paint color you used in your previous home’s living room? And do you feel the shades from HD provide enough privacy at night – our picture window faces our neighbor’s backyard.
Sorry – should’ve looked before I asked about the paint! I see you listed that it’s “Stunning” by Ben Moore :)
This is a great topic to blog about!!! I love reading ideas on how to reuse, refresh, fall back in like with what I already have!!
Great post! I can’t wait to read the upcoming posts too. Actually, those of us who live in customized homes that we designed and built deal with the same dilemma as our tastes change. Our home was built in 1987 and the world has changed quite a bit in the past 25 years!
Love this post! I am working with a paint color all over most of the house that I would not have picked. Right now it’s not at the top of the list to have it repainted. I would do it myself but it involves a 2 story entry and family room so it’s just not feasible. Ugh! Trying to make it work though.
I think this is a great idea for a series! I think all of us can relate to having things in our homes that drive us crazy, but that can’t be changed (for whatever reason). Looking at your last family room, I would have never guessed you had issues with the windows. It is great to see how great style can make something less than perfect look fabulous! Excited to hear your tips!
I’m recently divorced, have 3 teenage kids. I was able to get a good deal on a foreclosed house. But, sometimes it seems I’m trying to decorate $25 at a time. I’ve never enjoyed painting much, I’m more of a fiber arts kind of gal, but I’m learning that paint really is about the cheapest way to transform about anything. I’m looking forward to your posts. Right now, I’m learning to live with vinyl flooring in the bathrooms, and some engineered hardwoods that have faded in the sun, and some really ugly light fixtures.
Great idea for a series of posts. Thank you!
I love what you’ve done in your current and past homes, working with what you have. I just posted about this same subject on my blog on Friday…we have some not so lovely built-in artwork above our sink that I am not replacing anytime soon so I hung a large basket over it and it’s working out perfect so far!
Thanks for some great ideas!
Hallelujah! Thank goodness for this post and posts on this topic to come. With so many blogs, magazines and websites showing us beautiful pictures, it’s easy to caught up in dwelling on what we don’t have and then to go to extreme lengths to fix it. But so many of those are not real homes and so many of us can’t or don’t want to change everything we have. As much as I would love a gorgeous laundry room with a view to the backyard, that will never be a reality in my 1938 cottage. So I worked with what I had and made a few small improvements to our laundry room that help it function a little better. I posted about it here: http://www.theimpatientgardener.com/2013/01/a-little-lipstick-on-laundry-pig.html
Thank you! I am currently in the process of selling and buying a new home and I feel as though most of the design choices are made for me by the previous owner. Sure I can make some changes but on a real budget most of the stuff is going to take a while to do.
Looking forward to the posts to follow!!! Excellent idea btw!
I feel like almost everyone can relate to this! Right now I’m working with our landscaping. I would have loved to start from scratch, but looks like I’m just going to have to cozy it up with some pretty flowers.
I think you’re absolutely right, Emily … most of us are just in the situation that we have to work with what we have! I so appreciate your willingness to walk us through that very thing. It’s real life! :-)
Oh mY Gosh…”working with what you Have” should be the name of my blog! Or maybe “What you don’t have!” But seriously what I do have is imagination…and I actually just imagined an old school desk into our Kitchen Island!!!
I find a great amount of satisfaction in making it work! Thanks for your post! xo
Good for you Emily. I think this will be a breath of fresh air to hear people talk about the “real” home they live in as opposed to taking shots of the perfectly staged home that only looks that way for 5 minutes. Way to keep it real!!
I’m very excited to read these posts!! After all, that is what Real Interiors is all about (beautiful space for real life) because how many people can really afford to gut everything or build their dream home from scratch. And sometimes those “difficult” areas can be disguised or even worked in so you can use that budget on other areas that end up making a bigger impact…or to pay for your kids skating lessons ;) lol
My portfolio page is just about all working with what you have rooms :D
http://realinteriorsk.blogspot.com/p/portfolio.html Feel free to check it out!
Thank you for this post! We just moved into a 1980’s house one year ago and we’ve slowly been renovating and making it over. I feel like I’m designing around a ton of stuff I’d like to change. Probably the thing I’m working around the most is our master bathroom. It will be a couple years before we can tear it out and start again.
I’m currently trying to work with carpeting when I’d really rather have hardwood floors like in our previous home. However, the carpet is rather new so it doesn’t make sense to remove it just yet. (We know we have hardwood under some of the carpeting but don’t know about what’s under all of it…yet.) Thankfully it’s a very easy-to-work-with neutral carpeting.
Loved your post! Seems all real world homes have “wish I could change” things about them. In my work, I’ve talked to plenty of customers who have built new custom-designed homes and find after moving in their furniture, etc. that there are still “wish I could have/would have” things. It’s all a trade off sometimes :-)
Hey Emily! I love your blog and read it faithfully. We did a similar post on our blog and called it putting lipstick on a pig :)
Catherine @ Decoryouadore.com
Sometimes I feel like I’m working around every. single. thing. And I’d like to just start all over… maybe if I ever win the lottery! Looking forward to more of your inspiration, Emily!
xo Heidi
Sometimes I feel like I’m working around every. single. thing. And I’d like to just start all over… maybe if I ever win the lottery! Looking forward to more of your inspiration, Emily!
xo Heidi
Sometimes I feel like I’m working around every. single. thing. And I’d like to just start all over… maybe if I ever win the lottery! Looking forward to more of your inspiration, Emily!
xo Heidi
We are renters so working with what we have is a must. We can paint the walls but we can’t go knocking out, rearranging, or doing any major projects.
Working with what you already have is a great way to put a person’s creativity to a test. Some of my best decorating ideas throughout the years, have come from ‘making do’! Looking forward to the upcoming February posts!
I think it is difficult to work with windows that are completely different sizes! We have a bedroom with one small vertical window and one longer horizontal window. I cannot figure out what to do with them!
Hi Emily! We did the same thing as you with the brass hardware…we kept it, but spray painted it oil rubbed bronze. We did purchase new hinges and strike plates (we thought they would scratch too easily if we painted those and that was easier on the budget than all new knobs). It really has held up well. I think we used under three cans of spray paint for 15 doors (including entry door hardware…that would be so expensive to replace). So you figure less than $20 to update them. :)
Oh hell….I am working with my crappy Mitchell Gold sofa that is 10 years old…..not bad but it is a sleeper and so not comfortable! I am determined to get a new one even if I have to go without any new shoes in the spring :)
Always, always working around something. We have bought a new built home and unfortunately purchased it just after the kitchen was installed. It is not exactly what I want but I can’t justify ripping out a brand new kitchen. I think the fun in decorating comes from figuring out what to do with a space to make it your own. Doing a space with unlimited funds is easy, making something beautiful with less is so much more rewarding it’s like solving a puzzle.
Hi Emily,
I want to thank you for this post. I love how honest and real it is. I love blogs and pinterest, but don’t love how much it makes me want to change everything in my house or even move to another one. Thank you for reminding me that everyone has things they would love to change about their house.
SO excited about this new series!
I have a question about bamboo blinds. I adore the look and would love some for the bedroom. Do you know an affordable option that offers privacy (not necessaily blackout…jsut don’t want to flash the neighbors?) Thanks!
work life balance
I like your blog! Thank you for sharing it and great work that you have. Actually, I’m currently searching new design to my old house.
My husband is a pastor so most of our life in the ministry has been spent living in parsonages. While this is a blessing to those of us in the ministry there are many things in the home that aren’t your style or even completely up to date like we would have things if the home was ours. We have learned to work around those things and do small projects that are big impact without making a big impact on our budget. So I say to you, kuddos for working around those things in your home also! I love reading your blog and get a lot of great ideas. Some other design blogs I read aren’t as open to working around those things and I can find that a bit annoying and well just not very practicle for every day ministers wives gals like myself.
Emily, I love this post! It’s so easy to get caught up in lamenting that your house doesn’t have this or that or why, why, why did you buy that sofa that you now hate…I have been obsessing about my own windows because they don’t have moldings and I think they look cheap. Your solution is perfect and your old house was beautiful! Oh, and in a magazine :)
Thanks so much for your honestly because it’s definitely harder when we see gorgeous houses on blogs and they “appear” perfect.
Oh, and Karen above me…you can buy lined bamboo blinds that are probably expensive, but I’m thinking of lining my own by laying it out flat and attaching fabric to the back maybe with a spray adhesive…? I bet you can find a tutorial somewhere.
Michele and Karen–I’m in the process of putting liner on the back of a couple of shades now. Will take pictures along the way and share on the blog soon.
I love your idea for the windows. We have some real 80s looking sofas. They were hand me downs and we dont have the funds to replace them right now – I’m using some strategically placed pillows and throws to disguise their lumps and bumps!
I think some of my best designs come from working with or working around what I already have it makes you be more creative. I love your black doors and I actually think they look better with the brass hardware!
We just purchased a 3 bed/2 batch brick ranch with all brass hardware. Seeing your updates using your shiny brass has given me a ton of inspiration.
I love the essence of your post and working with what we have – not just in our home but also in our closet! Our kitchen had dark cabinets which we painted white and changed the hardware for almost nothing and our family room had dark wood paneling which we also painted (now looks like wainscotting!). Our old but good sofa needed re-upolstering but we found a great slipcover from Ikea that fit it to a T. And in my closet, I’m trying to update old Yves St Laurent jackets handed down by my mother by pairing them with slim cords and great jewelry. It’s always about trying to make something old looks new in our home! Thanks for sharing your great ideas!
Yes, I am one of those people who invested money in matching sets of things before I fell head first into design blogs. Now I try to work with what I have! Fabulous post Emily, not only do we live in real homes but we have realistic budgets (aka -non-existant)
In the latest issue of Better Homes and Gardens I read a little blurb that said yellow metals are coming back. I have a house full of brass as our house is a Colonial WIlliamsburg reproduction and I have always liked it even though it was not in style all of the 20 years we have lived here.
Thank you so much for this post and for this idea! One of the reasons I don’t get as creative as I would like with my house is because even though DIYing is cheaper it can still cost a lot if you are living on a very strict budget and for me making a mistake usually means spending more money to fix it. I would love your ideas on working with what you have because I have a lot I would LOVE to change but can’t right now….like some orangy oak cabinets that drive me crazy!
I look forward to the series, Emily. Working with what we have is sensible and green. And, I’ve read that brass is coming back as a trend. Not the shiny brass, but a more aged look.
We have brass door hardware, too. When we get to that part of our tiny townhouse update, I’m considering aging it with this:
http://www.houseofantiquehardware.com/brass-patina-finish?GCID=S14464x015&KEYWORD=%2Bbrass%20%2Baging&partner=gpc&gclid=COOoxP2CoLUCFQfhQgodNH0A8A
I like the idea of toning down the shine and the description says it’s reversible with polishing. Have you or any of your readers used it? Curious minds wanna know!
Very much looking forward to this!
Love this post and looking forward to the others! We just purchased a new house (not new new, new to us) and while I want to rip out everything and spruce it all up it just isn’t in the budget so I’m going to have to work with what I have for awhile since we’re not all that handy or DIY
Love what you did! I never liked brass, but somehow you made it look good.
We have beautiful cabinets in our home, but the stain was an orange-y nightmare. All of the beautiful workmanship in the fireplace surround, built in bookcases and every single cabinet was difficult to see due to the ugly stain color. Year by year, we’ve painted most of it out to a white. It looks so much better. We had originally planned on sanding and staining everything a dark ebony. Due to a few surgeries (hubby) and a lack of staining skillZ on my part, painting!!
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oak…. everywhere! Floor to ceiling in the living room and EVERY cabinet in the house. It’s that not-so-wonderful yellowish orange. I’ve managed to get the living room livable but could really use some advice for how to play down these cabinets until a remodel is in the budget.
I have brass knobs in my kitchen, bathrooms and doors. Wish I would have went with nickel/silver, but 13 years ago when we built our home, brass was in and I liked it much more then. Thought about spray painting my knobs with a good quality spray paint, but not sure how well that would work. Replacing hardware is pricey for sure. Have you ever spraypainted hardware?
I’ve never spray painted any door knobs, but I’m sure it can be done. I’m happier every day with our brass fixtures and hardware, though. Everything comes around again, I suppose :)
Yes, the trends come back around for sure! Silver and stainless always seem to be in style. I guess it really comes down to what you like. I went from a brass kitchen sink faucet sink to a brushed silver one and really like the idea of matching it with my knobs. I have seen some that look pretty good painted. This link shows some that were brass and then painted silver if you are ever interested in painting yours. :)
http://beautyandbedlam.com/spray-painting-cabinet-knobs/