I don’t know if y’all remember Leslie Simmons, my senior designer. I’ve done blog posts on her past townhouse and her amazing wedding to hubby Charles!!!! If you have time, you should definitely check those out.

Leslie and Charles have just purchased their first home, and she was anxious once again to put all that she has learned at Segreto into the renovation.

This was the home before! Walking in, there was a small entry that led into a massive room. This shot is from the back of the room looking towards the front door. The previous owner had used this as a formal living and dining space…

…..and had turned the dining room into a sitting area. Although the home was lovely as is, Little Leslie, as I call her, wanted a fresher French feel with a bit of contemporary mixed in.

This large room had 8-foot ceilings and a small skylight right in the middle. The first thing she did was to take out the skylight and paint the entire home. The trim was painted Sherwin-Williams Pearly White, and the walls, Sherwin-Williams Natural Choice.

Changing the color scheme from gold to a neutral, lighter palette made the cast stone fireplace stand out as yellow! By applying a light gray glaze over the surface, the tones blended better with the revamped room’s coloration.

Happy with the lighter feel, Leslie turned her attention to furnishings, but this room had her stumped on the scale and placement of the furniture! So she called Talbot Cooley Interiors to help her furnish it. This was fun for me because it was the firm that my daughter Kirby worked for!!! So I got some of the inside scoop before her final reveal!!!

Starting from the entrance, which she put together herself, Leslie purchased the console and mirror from Bering’s Hardware and accessorized it with two Aidan Gray lamps and artwork by Alicia from the Segreto Boutique & Gallery. She wanted a final reveal surprise, so with the exception of the lighting, the entire living room was installed in one day while she was away at work!!! How fun would that be!

She was so excited, she was brought to tears!!! It looks AMAZING!!!! Looking from the entrance back, two seating areas were devised with two light fixtures defining each space. The first, with these over-scaled swivel club chairs, is such a comfortable area for a smaller group!

The second, with plenty of seating, is a great place to cozy up in front of the fireplace! Using taller furniture actually lifted the ceilings and provided a more spacious feel to the room. Concerned about the chandeliers when they were first installed, she was so happy that she just trusted her design team, as she was thrilled with the finished product!

What a different feel!!  Before…..

…..and after!!!! She was delighted with all that Talbot Cooley Interiors did for the space and was so glad she hired them for that area. And now to tackle the rest of the home herself!

Her first purchase for the dining room was the chairs that we had used in our conference room! I had bought these years ago from Denny Register Antiques. He buys up entire homes’ furnishings and has some wonderful items which are extremely well priced! I purchased a lot from there when I helped my son Matthew with his place in Dallas! See his place here!

It was so fun for me to see how beautifully these chairs worked in her room!! Upholstering them in teal mohair gave her a pop of color that worked perfectly around the table she had custom-made. Leslie completed the room with a rug from London Grey Rugs, a chandelier and mirror from Kuhl-Linscomb, and an Aidan Gray console table from the Segreto Boutique. The walls and ceiling were plastered and polished in the same tone as the connecting rooms, adding a bit of glamour to the space. Many people ask if they can plaster just one room – the answer as shown here is YES!!!

Leslie was most concerned with revamping the kitchen space while remaining within her budget, which only allowed for paint! When consulting with clients, I often ask, “What do you like about the room and what bothers you?” She didn’t like the dark counters, the backsplash or the range hood. I told here we could solve all of that with paint and plaster!! So, how?

The first thing was to give all the cabinets a fresh coat of paint. Wanting a light kitchen, it was decided to use Sherwin-Williams Pearly White on the cabinets, walls and trim. By painting everything the same color, you are eliminating the elements which break up the room and giving a cleaner feel to the space. No longer having the contrast between he walls and trim, your eye now goes only to the backsplash… oh no!!!

No worries, the back-splash was painted as well!! To learn how, go to my post on painting tile here.

Now, for the hood! We plastered over it with a thicker plaster to cover the grout lines and give this surface a whole new look.

What a difference that made! To create an accent behind the stove,  a European countryside scene was painted under the hood!! The cabinets were also glazed to pull a bit of the colorations up from the floor and down from the counters, tying the counters, cabinets and floor together and softening the contrast between the three!

Is this the same kitchen?! By simplifying the elements, the kitchen has been given an updated feel with just the magic of paint and plaster. We even painted the carved wood wall hanging, which had hung in her past townhouse, to work with all her new colors!

Well, Leslie has done such a wonderful job, and I have had so much fun working with her and Charles on their first home!! Stay tuned for next week’s post where the rest of the home and its updated exterior will be revealed!!! Have a great week!