Cozy Den Makeover What I Did Wrong-

I had been planning a mini den makeover for a while and I purchased a few things over time . I had some great anchor pieces already- desk, barrister book cases, leather tufted bench. My cozy den makeover budget was small at $400. I had a rudimentary design on some note paper of what I imagined the new floor-plan would be. Imagine my surprise when Marty, a lovely person and one of the partners at Dezignable.com , requested a review of their online interior design website the first of August. It was truly serendipitous. A quick trip to her online service found me very interested. What follows is the process before and after and what I did wrong.

The Process-
• Create a Pinterest board with things I would like for a cozy den office.
• Create a Drop box account (I already had one) and invite Dezignable to join in the Cozy Den Makeover folder.
• Establish budget
• Provide a drawing of the den and include the size of the room, sizes of furniture, location of doors windows, etc.
• Notes on what you are willing to give up for the makeover and what to keep.
• Upload your information to drop box.

BEFORE

Already purchased

What happens next-
My Cozy Den Makeover project is established at the Dezignable website. Designers interested in my little project each provide their version of the makeover based on the information provided. Sounds easy enough, right? I received an email from Marty on August 21st that three designers had reviewed my information and they created design boards for me to select from. Please keep in mind my $400 budget.

Cassidy Sanderson image

Emily Wilson image

Cassidy’s was very nice, but it did not meet my small budget. Emily’s was lovely and very detailed. But didn’t work well with the items I had already purchased.

I selected Designer: Sarah Durnez she connected with me the most. She recognized this mini makeover as more of a styling project. After adding Sarah to my drop box file she had a few questions. – “ I provided answers quickly and on Monday the 24th I reviewed the new floor plan from Sarah. Hubby and I thought this particular floor plan felt a little like a waiting room and not very “cozy” and the size of the chairs would make the distance between the back of the desk chair and the front of the wall chairs about 10 inches.

Sarah’s images

On September 5th Sarah created a new floor plan and provided a shopping list.

Image Sarah

This is where I went wrong- I just ordered what was on the list and waited for it to arrive. Who does that? I still can’t believe I did it. I never really looked at the sizes, lengths, etc. I just bought what was on the list. I blame my new medications for oatmeal brain.

After a little while the boxes started to arrive. The benches were very poor quality, but you get what you pay for, right? I love the color and they were less than $100 each. I arranged the benches but there was no room for the new table. I am using the new table in our hallway and I am using our small table from our hallway in the den. The leather tufted bench is now in our tv room. The rug had to be placed off center because of the vent. After hanging the curtains we had to move the curtain rod up because the curtains are about 8 inches to long. Izzy’s couch didn’t fit anywhere at all 🙁 I will move his couch into my art room and try and get a smaller one for the den. He loves to lay on his couch when I am working on the computer.

Here’s the clock I mentioned at the hop yesterday

In the end I used both my floor plan and Sarah’s and I am quite pleased with how it looks now. The word cozy has been used several times by visitors. If you have the opportunity to work with a professional interior designer I recommend it. Just remember to always check that the items on the shopping list are sized to fit correctly. You can read a bit more of my review HERE