Evolution of our Living Room {Giveaway}

Contest closed.  Congratulations to comment #16 – LE. 
LE – look for an email from Heather at Stylish Solutions.

We bought our house on the internet.
What can I say? Walt and I – we like to live on the edge.
However, having not seen the house in person before getting the keys, there were a few surprises, like the “I’m in jail” spindles by the front door.

Living Room 2008

We’ve slowly made some changes over the years, but still have plenty of things to keep us from getting bored work on.

Here’s where we were last week:

Big improvement, right? But still, there are issues.
For one, the room is so dark. And though I love the red color, the sheen looked to me like, well, um… there’s no polite way to say this: the shiny red wall reminded me of hooker boots.

What’s a girl to do?
Get a designer to tell her how to fix all her issues, that’s what.
So I did.
And she did.
And now she’s going to do it for one of you.

I’m so glad I found Heather from Stylish Solutions. She’s is like that one friend you have that comes over and tells you all the things you can do to make your space look better.
Only Heather actually knows what she’s talking about.
For only $10 at her Etsy shop, Heather will give you some simple ideas on how to rid of the ugly.

Do you have a room that bothers you?
Wish you could get the advice of a professional interior decorator but don’t need a full in-home consultation?
You can!
With a virtual Room Review, you get straightforward advice with a list of 4-5 quick & easy changes you can make right now.
How does it work?
1. Order a Room Review from Stylish Solutions.
2. Take up to 4 pictures of your room (one from each corner is best) and email them to Heather.
3. Check your inbox within 48 hours for your Room Review. You’ll get a short list of easy-to-implement tips and suggestions – what to move, rearrange, add or take away to make your room look its best.
You’re on your way to a room you love in a few simple steps!

Description from Stylish Solutions’s etsy shop

I sent in my pictures along with a short list of complaints. I got my review back the next day and it was filled with simple things I could do to improve my space.
A couple of the suggestions were things I had already thought of. Like, paint the window trim to match the rest of the room. I know. Talk to Walt about that (please). I’m actually waiting for him to replace the trim. When he has time…
However, most of her suggestions were ones I hadn’t thought of. For example – my room tends to feel dark. She suggested that the sheen on my red might actually be a good thing, since it reflects light. I may even want to consider repainting the ceiling with a bit of a sheen.
Huh. Who knew?
Obviously not me, since it was shiny when we moved in and I painted over it.
Heather also said that another way to reflect light is to place a large mirror opposite the window.
I have a large mirror! Yay!
I made Newt help me move it over the couch. There may have been some mock swear words flying around as we wrestled in to place and struggled to level it.
It’s also possible that one or two real swear words were being screamed inside my head.
Once the mirror was up, I felt like getting crafty so I made a wreath and some family silhouettes. (Tutorial coming next week.)
What do you think?

The room really does feel brighter (and not just because the photo was taken on a sunnier day).
Even better? Now I don’t notice the too-shininess of the red.
I didn’t have to repaint to lose my hooker-boots!
Do you have a room in need of some design savvy?
Of course you do.

Four chances to win a virtual room review (be sure to leave a separate comment for each entry):

1. Comment on this post and tell me what you’d like to change in your house.
2. Like Stylish Solutions on Facebook and leave me a comment letting me know.
3. Follow Heather on Twitter and leave me a comment letting me know.
4. Follow Heather’s blog and leave me a comment letting me know.

Winner will be chosen at random next Tuesday, around noon (PST). 

Disclosure: In return for this review, I received one free virtual room review (value $10). All text and opinions are my own, because who else would want them?