I’ve been able to work with some amazing sponsors here on Making it Lovely. Last year, I partnered with American Express and used their Membership Rewards points program to redo our bedroom. This summer, I was offered the chance to redo another space with 150,000 points, but I’ve been very fortunate lately, and I thought that you might like the opportunity instead. So I’m working with them to give it away!
(That’s enough to win that settee above and then some!)
You could redeem points for gift cards to stores like Pottery Barn, west elm, or Crate & Barrel (I love using my points that way, though I’ve been eying the camera equipment lately.) Or go for something fun like a Wii or a barbecue. There are a million things from which to choose.
Winning 150,000 American Express Membership Rewards points would go pretty far in redoing a room. Given a shopping spree like that, what would you get? I’ll tell you what you should get. Wait, that sounds like I should be shaking my fist at you. What I mean is that the winner will also receive a custom design plan from me with advice and suggestions for the makeover!
A little before & after inspiration…
Brandon and I did this backyard patio makeover on our own (manual labor and all), but every post about makeovers should include a little inspiration! The contest winner will receive a custom design plan like the one I created for our patio to help guide them (though you’d be free to use the points however you wish).
So, how do you enter?
American Express and I want to help you makeover your social space. It could be the living room where everyone hangs out and chats, your kitchen (everyone always ends up in the kitchen at parties, right?), or maybe a it’s a patio or back deck. Where do you spend time with family and friends? We want to help you spruce it up!
Leave a comment with the following to enter:
- Tell me what space you want to make over, and why. Be brief (a few sentences is fine). I’ll be including your words in the voting round if you’re a finalist!
- I need photo(s) and/or video of the space. This will also help determine the finalists, and your images are part of what people will be voting on, so make ’em good! You can host your photos and videos on free sites like flickr or YouTube, or you could post them to your blog if you have one. Please don’t post photos or video here — simply include a link to them in your comment.
- You can enter as many separate spaces as you’d like, but only one entry per person will be selected in the finals.
- Make sure you enter a valid email address when leaving your comment. It won’t be published publicly, but I’ll need it to contact you if you’re a finalist.
Entries will be accepted through Saturday, June 11, at 11:59 PM CST, and only US residents are eligible. I’ll select the top ten finalists and post them on Monday, the 13th. The winner of the 150,000 Membership Rewards points and custom design plan will then be chosen by readers of Making it Lovely! The runner-up will also receive a prize: a $100 gift card to The Home Depot. Good luck to all of you!
* June 12: Comments are now closed. The ten finalists will be announced Monday, June 13.
298 comments
OurSoundHome
Wow, what a fun and generous giveaway!
My husband and I purchased our first home this past fall. It’s in an amazing location on the water of the Puget Sound in the Pacific Northwest – we are truly blessed! That being said, we definitely purchased a “fixer-upper!” We’ve had a lot of fun, but it’s a lot of work, too. It was built in 1934, and no one lived in the home for the past 3 years (it was an older couple who owned the home, and they moved across the country to be closer to their kids). So, we’ve had a lot of general cleaning up in the yard to do – pulling out blackberry bushes and pruning the heck out of the roses and other shrubs. It’s starting to look more green and has a bit more life, but we really need some design ideas for our patio! I think it could be a really fun space, and we want to spend more time out there to enjoy our view this summer. Right now, all we’ve got is the concrete and a couple plastic adirondack chairs (love them, but real wood would be awesome). Anyway, take a peek!! Thanks!
http://www.youtube.com/user/OurSoundHome?feature=mhum
http://www.flickr.com/photos/63950188@N03/5823242918/
casacaudill
I’d love to get a chance to redeem the 150,000 American Express points to makeover our bedroom. Why? Because we’re in our mid-30s and we still have Ikea furniture and zip ties holding together a $30 sconce that broke six months ago. We’re successful professionals but from the looks of our bedroom you’d never know it. I’d love to be able to ditch the curtains of various lengths, get some real art for the walls, and find a headboard that says “we are adults” instead of “we are just out of college.” They say the master bedroom should be your sanctuary – for us it’s the place we crash and walk through on the way to the bathroom. Nothing more, nothing less.
Behold:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/beckycaudill/5555891683/in/photostream
http://www.flickr.com/photos/beckycaudill/5823152141/in/photostream
The saddest part about our very sad bedroom? The rest of our house is lovely.
Gillian
Ok- now the post is showing :) heehee- oh well we emailed you already earlier anyway with the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tx5vZpPDdDs
Gillian
Can’t seem to get my comment to show here- guess i’ll email you the link :) thanks!
Kathy
Hello Nicole
We just moved from 1920s bungalow in IL to a Mid-Century modern near Seattle. We could really use some help w/ our basement. The basement is a large family room that walks out to the backyard and has a great view of downtown Seattle. Right now it is just a mess http://www.flickr.com/photos/kathyz65/sets/72157626940663786/
Thanks
Kathy
Amber Wallace
After 8 years of marriage, 3 kids and many many small apartments we finally moved into our first house earlier this year. So thankful and happy! Moving from 650 square feet to 2200 is a big jump. Currently all our extra money is going to sprinklers and grass for our yard. Inside we have a large loft that everyone ends up. It needs to work for kids and adults. It’s also where our only tv is. We pretty much have two big pieces of furniture and…nothing! We have lots of company come and I want it to reach it’s full potential. I think it could be amazing and know it would be great in your hands. Thanks for the opportunity!
http://www.notedhome.blogspot.com
Nicole S.
My back yard is embarrassing. We bought a foreclosure/abandoned Chicago bungalow in October and have been working hard to make it lovely. The one mega-eyesore that remains is our back yard. We’re working towards improvement, but it would be great to get some suggestions from Nicole, as we are first time gardeners. Check out my latest blog post for the full story:
http://colellis.blogspot.com/2011/06/green-renovations.html
Allyson H
We purchased our first place (Phoenix condo) a month ago. After moving across the country a couple times we didn’t have any furniture, and so far our furniture has been from Craigslist or from the curb. We love our new place, but certainly have some challenges to overcome, such as: vertical blinds (which we can’t get rid of now unless we want to cook eggs on our floor), dated tile around our fireplace, and the general challenges of not having an older house with character, as we would like.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/frabjous_life/
mary
Our backyard needs help! Sadly, because it is so hideous, we’ve been too embarrassed to use it as a social space. We have an old concrete area that I would love to use as a patio, and it’s defitely in need of some landscaping. We’ve been overwhelmed by where or how to start… so it would be unbelievable if we had could finally host a party here. Thank you!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/m_in_stl/
Gigi
Flickr newbie here! I tried to put some type of order to the pictures.
I would love to makeover my deck. I’m currently in the process of redecorating my living room. I have always wanted to have a party and open the doors to the deck and just let the party flow out there. I’ve been living here for 4 years, and all I have so far is a grill and a lounger, whose cushion desperately needs to be replaced. You’ll see it’s missing in the pic. Would love to move the lounger under the deck and do something totally different on the deck.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/glammourgirl/sets/72157626940323356/
Good luck everyone! Nicole, I do not envy you in having to pic the finalists!
Sasha
Wow, Nicole! This is SO nice of you!
We bought our 1940’s house in August 2006. Five years later, we are still working on it. We’ve had major issues…rewiring the entire house, plumbing, re-joisting the roof and repairing termite damage…meaning what little money we have had has gone to this. Decor has taken a backseat to function. Although as you’ll see in our Kitchen, it’s still not functional. Having a stove would be completly awesome. Wining this would be such a blessing (for either room)!. Thanks again!
~ Sasha
http://www.flickr.com/photos/18689289@N06/sets/72157626815653743/
janet
I added pictures to my empty flickr account just for this! Yay Making it Lovely!
My son and I moved into our home two years ago. It has been chaotic adjusting to some major life changes, however now things are FINALLY settling down.
So, on to the home improvements. First room, the kitchen. The only thing I have done so far to this room is add new lighting and clean the mounds of dog hair left by the previous owner. Would love to paint, change out hardware, paint, replace countertops & horrible, horrible flooring, add new appliances (not black) & paint.
Thanks for the great contest. Here’s to good fortune! And here is the link to my NEWLY ADDED pictures on flickr.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/concretemouse/
Jolene
The social space I would love to transform is my living room. I just moved into a 1920’s apartment after moving back to st. Louis from Kentucky for 8.5 years. My furniture was mostly broken and cheap pieces left by roommates as they moved on. None of it was worth the expense of moving back and so now I have a dining chair and a card table in my living room and at the moment not much if a means to change that. I would love a space for relaxing and playing with my dog, or using as a guest room when the double French doors are closed. My camera didn’t survive the move sforguve the cell pgone photos.
http://m.flickr.com/#/photos/13309587@N00/5822717351/
Intisar
Ok, here is our other room we use if a tv isn’t needed. We haven’t done anything beside paint and redo the floors. I’m not set on the color and the couches are from the old house, and the curtain are pretty much place holders until we make more important design decisions.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/63972558@N06/5823261490/in/photostream (before)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/63972558@N06/5823276600/in/photostream/ (current)
Nicole
Hi Nicole!
So excited about this contest! Thanks for giving us the opportunity.
The social space I would like to spruce up is our dining room. It’s the first room you see when you enter our home, and people naturally gravitate in there. We’ve been working to get the house ready to enjoy as newlyweds this coming September. We consider ourselves to be creative people but for some reason we’re just stuck on which direction we should take with this particular space, thus this room has looked like this since we’ve moved in.
http://www.projectmattandnicole.com/2011/06/social-space-makeover-contest.html
Thanks for considering us!
Erin R.
What an exciting opportunity. We bought our house 1 1/2 years ago and have spent a lot of time working on the inside. We love to entertain, but don’t have an especially large house. We do, however, have a large backyard and love to entertain outside and we live right across the street from an amazing botanical gardens which has a fantastic summer concert series, which makes for wonderful entertainment from some big names in music. We haven’t yet had the resources to create a wonderful space in our yard, but we do have the ability to do the work ourselves. We also have two young children and would like to make this a great space for them as well. We have a large blank canvas and would be thrilled to have the opportunity to create a space for some incredible outdoor entertaining.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/63947642@N02/?saved=1
erin godbey
Oh goodness, please pick me! I’m in desperate need of a backyard makeover, specifically a patio. We’re going to re-seed the lawn and put in a new fence, which leaves no room in the budget for any landscaping or a patio… I’d love to have a patio so much, it would be just perfect for entertaining and relaxing. And of course I’d love to see what you would recommend for outdoor furniture and decor! You can see a couple photos and a short video of the sad space here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/eringodbey/sets/72157626815526055/with/5823249066/
Thanks so much for the generous giveaway, so kind of you! (and Amex too!)
Nick Klaus
I’m respectfully submitting my space. I’m a recent college grad, and I just moved into my first apartment: a studio in Los Angeles. I have a maybe 250 square foot living space that needs to serve as a sleeping, eating and workspace. (though not necessarily all at the same time). My needs are pretty simple, but I don’t really have a lot to start with.
What I’m looking for is someplace that I can come back to after work and relax in. I’d like to be able to invite friends over and have them be able to sit down someplace. It doesn’t look like much now, but I don’t think it’ll take too much work to get it up and looking great.
Here’s the link to my entry into the Social Space Makeover Contest.
http://stopthe70s.blogspot.com/2011/06/where-im-at-lets-just-say-theres-lot-of.html
Mindy
There’s really only two words necessary to describe why I’d like a makeover for my Living Room: VERTICAL BLINDS!!! There are 71 of them in fact, with an additional 27 in the adjoining dining room. The only thing competing with the blinds is the number of shades of brown, beige and taupe! We’ve been here two years and I’d love the opportunity for help in creating a fun, comfortable space for my family and friends. I want people to walk in the door and think “wow, a happy family lives here.” Thanks!
link to pictures on Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mindykrone/5822655409/in/set-72157626940022170/
Audrey
Last year my best friend and her husband bought an old, brimming-with-potential foreclosure which required a full remodel. They’ve made beautiful progress, though often feel uninspired due to the sheer length of time they’ve been engulfed in the renovation process, both enjoying a sense of accomplishment, yet having to sacrifice many of the comforts of home we often take for granted.
We got to experience the renovations first-hand during a move across the state, when we were welcomed into their home to live until we could find place of our own. I’d like nothing more than to repay them with a makeover of their backyard space.
Becky and Nick love entertaining family and guests outside, though the state of the backyard hasn’t exactly provided the most welcoming of spaces for social gatherings (yet). I would love to break up the yard with simple landscaping, and an area for grilling and relaxing (a patio, perhaps?). Thanks for the opportunity!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/64019627@N08/
Intisar
We have been in our house almost two year (7/15), and little by little we are getting things to our liking. BUT our main room that we hang out in, could definitely use some help! It has paneling, half brick wall with a fireplace and about a foot of brick on the floor in front of it. We have painted the paneling for now, but I don’t think that is a permanent fix. Other then that we have stuck a sectional and a tv in there.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/63972558@N06/5822629209/in/photostream
http://www.flickr.com/photos/63972558@N06/5823193106/in/photostream/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/63972558@N06/5823193816/in/photostream/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/63972558@N06/5822642891/in/photostream
http://www.flickr.com/photos/63972558@N06/5823229068/in/photostream (excuse the mess, I have a 14 mth old.)
Shawna
My husband and I moved with our three kids ages 4, 2 and 2 months last month. We moved out of our first house that was completely redone and darling into a 1970 fixer upper. The single owner home has not had an update since it was built so we have our work cut out for us. I am thrilled to have a formal dining room for the first time and would love to make this space over into a special place for our family and for hosting our family and friends. The owner left the hutches and buffet and we simply moved our table and chairs in. Every time I walk into this room I am excited about the potential but not sure what direction to go for decor.
Flickr photos of dining room:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mastersofthehouse/sets/72157626939948252/
Shawna
My husband and I moved with our three kids ages 4, 2 and 2 months last month. We moved out of our first house that was completely redone and darling into a 1970 fixer upper. The single owner home has not had an update since it was built so we have our work cut out for us. I would love to makeover a space that our family can enjoy everyday. We moved our old furniture into this house and we are really feel the need for a change, as you can see we can’t even decide on a wall color. We spend the bulk of our time as a family and hosting friends in the living room so I have this room high on our priority list.
Flickr photos of living room:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mastersofthehouse/sets/72157626815398221/
Kathleen Scott
When I moved into my house four years ago, I had big plans for my family room. It was going to be entertainment central, consisting of great seating for guests and a flat screen to watch movies on.
Unfortunately, my room has yet to evolve into that wonderful hangout spot. I am grateful for the furniture and items that I have acquired over the past four years from the folks, but I am ready to move the transitional pieces out and replace them with some fun and comfy pieces.
Right now I have my parents’ old living room set, which I love because of nostalgic reasons;however, the couch is not a friend to anyone over five feet, which my guests and I surpass easily. Back in the day we rarely sat in the living room, so it wasn’t a biggie, but today I would love a sofa that supports my entire back, and doesn’t require me and my guests to scoot down and lean to the side in order to get comfortable. Right now, my dog Barney has the best seat in the house.
I would love for you to help make my family room a lovely place for me and my guests to watch movies, listen to music, socialize and read the “Making It Lovely” blog.
Social Space Makeover Contest:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kalisco/sets/72157626812549609/detail/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kalisco/sets/72157626812549609/show/
Natalie
Pick Me! Pick Me! My living room is a cross between someone attempting to be grown up and someone still going through their college years. The furniture is mismatched, the carpet is crying because of the wear and tear it has received from my two large pups, the couch is in tatters, and the rug is just blah. This room is screaming for a makeover. SCREAMING! Please choose me! We will take ANY advice you have to give…even if there is no money involved. :)
Thanks.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/10258401@N06/?savedsettings=5823123328#photo5823123328
Kim
I’m so excited for the opportunity! I absolutely LOVE your house and your ideas.
We bought our house a few years ago. It was a such a dive….kind of still is….but, we’ve come a long way and we see it as a diamond in the ruff.
Our kitchen:
We would love to open up the space to the main living area. My favorite feature in the house is the surround brick fireplace and the vaulted wood beam ceiling. Also, the kitchen needs a serious makeover. Everything needs to go. Not only is it outdated, but it’s a sad sight. The cabinets are in terrible condition, they don’t close properly. And, we could utilize the space much better if we opened it up to the other side of the wall (and to the lviing area). Please refer to the pics.
Out Master Bath:
It isn’t so master. The shower is tiny, and has serious leaking problems. The floors need to be ripped up (the tiles are chipped) and the vanity needs to be tossed. Its a small space and it needs some love!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/63962011@N07/
Thank you for your consideration! We love our house and would love to see it in it’s full glory! We need help. Badly;)
Cheers,
Kim
bridget b.
http://photobucket.com/MIL_Social_Space_Makeover
Nicole,
I would LOVE to make over my backyard. We’ve lived here 6 years and we never go back there because it’s such a mess. There’s an ancient playplace back there that has become the hangout center for the neighborhood cats along with a collection of old satellite dishes and odds and ends. We’ve also been babysitting an unassembled patio set for a relative for about a year.
Now that we have a 14 month old, we’d love to make the space safer for her. The concrete part is also pretty small, so we’d like it a little bit bigger to be more inviting for family get togethers.
I envision cobble stone pavers and a pergola covering. I’d like a multi-functional patio set where we could eat dinner outside or just sit and relax with a book.
My daughter is a total water baby, so I would like a wading pool and toy sprinkler set. We’d also like an updated clubhouse/playplace combination where our daughter and future kids could hang out. I would add a cute little fenced in area around the bottom of the playplace to create her own mini “front yard”.
Nice landscaping would round out the backyard.
Thanks for such a great contest!
Janet
Hi Nicole, My entry into the contest is a deck. Since my husband and I bought our house two years ago we have kept busy. We’ve done a lot of work on the inside of the house, but so far the only progress we’ve made in the backyard is pulling up weeds and trees. We have a beautiful deck with great entertaining potential. However the deck is empty. We need some real outdoor furniture and some design help to make it great.
Thank you so much for considering my entry.
Janet
https://picasaweb.google.com/literarykitty/SocialSpaceMakeoverEntry?authkey=Gv1sRgCPTOzLzn8-_K_wE#5617103679250125298
Jill
This is perfect timing because my husband and I are going to work on our large screened porch this summer, and we could really use some advice and those reward points. It is a great space for relaxing and entertaining, and it’s one of the reasons we bought this house, but it really needs some help. We have this wonderful old glider that I had reupholstered in May and some other furniture that can stay or go. I’ve seen a rug online that I love, but it’s out of our price range unless we get some help, and I have other ideas for making this the cozy, cheerful space that it should be.
Thank you for hosting this great contest!!
http://vimeo.com/24975256
Virginia
Hi Nicole, what an awesome opportunity; thank you! We would love to make over our family/craft/mancave/guest room. This is the bottom floor of our narrow townhouse and the first room you see upon walking through the front door. It’s the space that holds our hobbies (crafting for me and restoring old arcade cabinets for my hubby), our instruments (piano for me and guitar for the hubs!) and also entertainment items like video games. I’ll shamefacedly admit that despite the chaos, we’ve actually housed guests in this room on a futon on the floor, since our two bedrooms are occupied by us and our baby daughter. I would love for the space to be “zoned” a little bit better (the arcade collection may move elsewhere, with the exception of Donkey Kong) and be able to function as a more cohesive and welcoming-looking family room with a sofa bed for the occasional guest, and also be outfitted with wall shelving to house our huge collection of books (currently living in boxes in the garage).
Link to photos with descriptions in the captions:
https://picasaweb.google.com/virginia.yi/ProjectSocialSpace?authkey=Gv1sRgCP_Jl4CwkrbLEQ&feat=directlink
Vanessa
Hi Nicole. I’m adding my cement pond to the mix. Please consider our backyard pool for one of your amazing makeovers! Thank you -Vanessa
http://www.amidoingokay.com/2011/06/pimp-my-pool.html
JessK
Thanks for a great contest, Nicole! I would love to make over our family room. I had big plans when we moved in 3 years ago, but then the real estate market crashed, leaving our condo across the country unsold and eating up most of our extra cash. What little we’ve had has gone to rooms for the 2 children we’ve added to our family in that time. We could really benefit from your expertise! The space is a good size and gets lots of light, but it is extremely boring and the furniture from our tiny condo does not really work–and we can’t all fit on it any more! Please help! :)
Pictures on my blog:
http://jesskern.blogspot.com/2011/06/i-need-makeover.html
Kerry Axley
We need help is an understatement. Our back yard and patio is embarrassing, sad, pathetic and in dying need of some attention. We’ve been using it more now that we have a toddler who wants to play outside for hours on end. If only I didn’t worry about losing her in the weeds or getting hurt on all the structural hazards or blinding her from the lack of aesthetics and crummy design choices I’ve made. Wait I don’t think there is anything in our yard that can be considered a design choice. Please help, that’s all I can say.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kerryberry76/with/5822282679/
Heidi
How kind of you to offer up your points to a winning reader! I know the winner will be excited to have your advice, as well!
My husband and I have been working hard to lose weight – I started at 366 pounds, and he started at 220 pounds. So far, we have lost 100 pounds together (55 for me, 45 for him) by being more active and cooking lots of fresh, healthy food in our kitchen. We’ve even been hosting dinner parties with the goal of showing people how delicious and filling a meal under 600 calories can be.
Unfortunately, our kitchen is tiny and not very well-equipped. I know that some small fixes (like cupboard paint and countertops) and some new supplies (like some good pots and pans) would really help us on our weight loss journey. It would also help us continue share our healthy recipes and lifestyle choices with our party guests and my blog readers.
(And if you’d like to see more about our journey, I’ve been blogging our experience at http://heidi-finishing-the-hat.blogspot.com/)
Thank you for the opportunity to enter!
Heidi
D’oh! Sorry, the previous one didn’t work.
https://picasaweb.google.com/102730264447965221242/Jun112011?authkey=Gv1sRgCM2M_rDNzKzlpQE#5617118703201364866
Heidi
Here is a photo of our tiny kitchen space!
https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/webUpload?uname=102730264447965221242&aid=5617118411214940705
Nissa
HELP!! Why us? Because our Living Room has SO much potential! It’s a big room with 12 foot ceilings, large windows that let in a ton of light, a brick fireplace … but it’s been two years since we’ve built this house and it is still builder-grade b-o-r-i-n-g. We’ve done the best we can with what we have (leftover couches, tables and lamps from our college days) but we just haven’t had the money to do the room the way it should be done. Please help us, we are so ready to be out with the old and in with the new!
http://bit.ly/iLIwhy
http://bit.ly/j7H4ML
Thank you!
Stephanie Chefas
Hi Nicole!
I’m super excited to learn of this generous makeover giveaway and to hopefully benefit from your decorating expertise!
About a year ago, my boyfriend and I moved into our first apartment in the Los Angeles area. We moved in together with virtually nothing and slowly began acquiring household items as the months went on. The idea was to focus on guest areas first (living room, kitchen, bathroom) so our friends and family would feel welcomed and then concentrate on our bedroom last. Much to our disappointment, I lost my job about six months ago before we could really start to tackle the bedroom.
Though we were able to purchase a dresser from IKEA and a neutral rug from a local vender, much of the room is a collection of mismatched furniture and odds & ends given to us by the landlord. The room just never received any creative attention and has become our least comfortable and unwelcoming room in the apartment. In fact, I’ve never extended an apartment guest tour to the bedroom because of its depressing ambiance. We would love for this room to become the warm and cozy sanctuary we’ve always envisioned it being.
Thanks for considering our bedroom! Any advice or suggestions for “making it lovely” would be a dream come true!
Thanks again,
Stephanie
http://stephaniechefas.blogspot.com/
Stephanie Chefas
Hi Nicole!
I’m super excited to learn of this generous makeover giveaway and to hopefully benefit from your decorating expertise!
About a year ago, my boyfriend and I moved into our first apartment in the Los Angeles area. We moved in together with virtually nothing and slowly began acquiring household items as the months went on. The idea was to focus on guest areas first (living room, kitchen, bathroom) so our friends and family would feel welcomed and then concentrate on our bedroom last. Much to our disappointment, I lost my job about six months ago before we could really start to tackle the bedroom.
Though we were able to purchase a dresser from IKEA and a neutral rug from a local vender, much of the room is a collection of mismatched furniture and odds & ends given to us by the landlord. The room just never received any creative attention and has become our least comfortable and unwelcoming room in the apartment. In fact, I’ve never extended an apartment guest tour to the bedroom because of its depressing ambiance. We would love for this room to become the warm and cozy sanctuary we’ve always envisioned it being.
Thanks for considering our bedroom! Any advice or suggestions for “making it lovely” would be a dream come true!
http://stephaniechefas.blogspot.com/
Sarah Carnes
Please help us make over our tiny ’70’s kitchen. It was built in a house designed for entertaining but the kitchen is cramped and hard to use and while it’s ’70’s stylish, it’s horribly dated. The appliances are all vintage 1971 with the exception of the dish washer. Can you help us please?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tinyparachute/
Frances Robson
We are a family of 6. We moved into this house 4 years ago. The photos I am sending you are of the room above the garage that is shared by two of my daughters (ages 14 and 16). This room is very large and is also regularly used to entertain guests. We would love to do this over in a style that would be good for such multi-purposes.
http://robsonclan.net/picturesofourroom/
Thank you,
Frances Robson
Jessica
This is an awesome giveaway! We moved into our first house a year ago, and we’re in love with everything…except for the kitchen. We enjoy entertaining and having dinner parties, but everyone always ends up in our kitchen, standing around awkwardly. The room is a good size, but it’s pretty much a blank slate (there’s even an entire blank wall), and we’re stuck on how to update it without doing a full-scale renovation. We haven’t even painted yet because we don’t know where to begin!
You can find photos of our kitchen here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/63941888@N03/
Thanks for considering us!
-Jessica
Grace
Nine months ago when we purchased our new home, we were so excited by the great room downstairs. We were newly a family of 4 and had just moved from a 2 bedroom, 1.5 bath. We had big plans for the space — play room, media area, entertainment, office, all in one. Fast forward to today and the room has become more of a catch all for stuff then a gathering place for people. We have a lot of the major pieces, but it lacks personality and the right layout to function properly. It is L shaped and I think well suited for a multi-purpose room, but more of a challenge then I imagined. We are looking for some inspiration to bring it from BLAH to WOW!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/28081263@N06/5822172667/in/set-72157626814479153
And since that room is not so inviting, we mostly gather here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/28081263@N06/sets/72157626814202981/
But this again, lacks personality. No paint, very little on the walls, temporary chairs that don’t match our sofa. We would love some advice on where to go from here!
Jill Browning
Hi Nicole!
Thank you so much for this opportunity! You can view pictures of my home on my blog: http://jillbrowning.com/blog/2011/06/11/contest-submission/
Thanks,
Jill
Lynn
I am so excited about this opportunity! thank you so much for spreading the lovely!!
My boyfriend and I bought our 1938 Spanish bungalow in a shoddy suburb of San Francisco 2 years ago. We share our home with our dog, Bacon, and cat, Kirby. Our house has so many amazing features that I love. But as i know i don’t have to tell you, its age bring many aspects of home ownership that i loathe.
I would love to make over the livingroom. It is the room you walk into from the front door, and it is the room we spend nearly all our free time in. Its amazing triangle shaped window, and lovely sconces on every wall make it both breathtaking and a nightmare to try and decorate around. I would love the opportunity to get your ideas and have some extra cash to buy amazing pieces to compliment the room’s unique features and style.
thanks so much!!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dazzlynn/sets/72157626814037681/
Erin H
Hello Nicole-thank you for this awesome opportunity.
We purchased our 1925 duplex (first time homeowners and landlords!) in May of 2010. In the past year most of our funds went to the rental side to get it ready for our first tenants-central heating, updated electricity, new front door and window.
Upon moving into our side, we pulled up all the carpet (sans bedroom) and lived on the original, damaged hardwood floors for two months, and finally in July we put in laminate flooring which did wonders for our living room, hallway and office.
I am hoping to be considered for either our kitchen (wildest dreams), bathroom (second wildest dream), or bedroom-probably the most worthy candidate. Like most blank canvases, our home has much potential, it’s just a balancing act of funds and time.
I love our charming home (even though my voice sounds incredibly bored in the video-so not bored!) and would like to keep its vintage feel as we continue to make changes in the coming years.
Here is an intro to our home:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qw8pnJ0mELY
Secondly, a complete house tour:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lzb4Ulp_Tec
Thank you again!
Michelle Chilton
As a daily reader, I’d just like to say I absolutely love your posts and thank you so much for hosting such a wonderful contest. As much as I would appreciate this for myself I am entering this for my amazing mother, Barbara. She is a very courageous woman who has encountered many battles in life and has ALWAYS put everyone else before herself. If given the opportunity I’d like to use this as a means of ‘paying her back’ on behalf of all the lives she’s helped and inspired, including mine. Every piece of furniture and/or décor you see in the pictures is over 20 years old and as much as I’ve loved growing up on that pineapple covered couch and loveseat I think it’s safe to say it’s time for them to go! PLEASE help me help my mom!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/63957807@N02/
Marcia
What an amazing contest! Thank you for being so generous!
I’ve recently redone almost my entire house, but there is one space that hasn’t seen any love. The house is very narrow (like most houses in Philly), and the first floor is a combination living/dining room, so I’d like to have another place where everyone can go. I’m hoping to re-do the basement, and since I bookmarked practically every page of your basement remodel, I could really use your help!
The house was my grandparents’ (and where my dad grew up), and the basement used to be where he and his friends hung out. However, after some flooding and 40 years of neglect, it’s pretty much a disaster. The broken linoleum was pulled up, displacing hundreds of creatures that had never before seen the light of day, but there’s so much more to go. There’s a bathroom and space for a future laundry room, but right now it’s just a mess.
Take a look: http://goo.gl/eYueW
And thanks again!
Catherine
People immediately gravitate toward our Sunroom. It could be the perfect place for late night cocktails, reading during a thunderstorm, or laughter filled meals minus the mosquitos! Unfortunately, the flooring was removed after water damage, leaving us with plywood chunks on a bare deck floor…and a sad, solitary old nursery glider as the only seating. I would love to see it at its full potential!
Thank you so much for this opportunity – – so generous!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/catherinemarissa/5822305522/in/photostream/
Jill
yay for this contest!
we bought our house last summer. not needing a formal living room, we decided to make it our music/craft room, a shared space for the husband and i. right now, it’s pretty much his room. everything about the room feels temporary to me. it’s just a lost space that we don’t use together or with guests. i fear it will become a giant storage unit for guitars and thrift store bric-a-brac.
seating, lighting, clutter organization/storage would be welcome additions when we host crafternoons and jamborees or when it’s just the two of us spending time together. it has the potential to be a really special room. and as the gateway to the front porch…we might actually enjoy more fresh air.
check out my pictures. i must warn you — the room is blue, very very blue.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jillyjilljilly/sets/72157626808111859/
thanks,
jill
Katie
It has been so fun reading others’ posts on what space they would redo and thinking of which one I would vote for. I consider ourselves skilled DIYers and this year’s budget was spent finishing a beautiful space for our new baby boy. We turned this office: https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/AzY_kaOFE_sXT4meTvHFgA?feat=directlink
Into this nursery (everything from the floors and French doors to the draperies, furniture, bedding, and decorations we did for $1300 by doing all the work ourselves): https://picasaweb.google.com/singleleafphoto/FinishedNursery?authkey=Gv1sRgCKSF6sa9xubdPw&feat=directlink
But nurseries aren’t all that great for entertaining. And a social space which needs some love and attention is our backyard. We would love to have a space that would work well for entertaining and what we currently have doesn’t really scream “come on in”. In fact, it reminds me of the pit in the TV show “Parks & Recreation”. We have begun some of the work already – we rebuilt the rotting fence so it would actually contain our dogs, and we removed the pond liner so it wouldn’t be a mosquito haven this summer – but this was all we were going to be able to get done this year. I think a nice patio with furniture, a grill, and possibly reseeding the yard and doing a bit of landscaping would make it a functional social space, but we aren’t really sure where to start or how to rework it. As always, we’re willing to do the “get your hands dirty and make your back sore” labor it takes to stretch every penny out of the funds as possible. You can see what we have to work with here: https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/Q302bb_g1EcNqZ0272tXdAC8RRAqs1rzJ-Oz4dfY0S4?feat=directlink
Katie
And here are some more shots of the yard I meant to include: https://picasaweb.google.com/singleleafphoto/BackyardPics?authkey=Gv1sRgCN7kt5v2_cet0AE&feat=directlink
Ashlea Walter
Oh my, what an opportunity to turn our under-construction-for-two-years-but-who’s-counting KITCHEN into a space I happily can share with friends and family. We started working on it before our first little birdie was born, then of course, family life happily got in the way. But then I think we just got used to the chaos. Now with baby #2 on its way, I’m fearing that another two + years will go by. Yikes, please help!
The kicker was when I realized Wren’s play kitchen that I just finished for her 2nd birthday was truly the nicest part of our entire kitchen. Case in point – the real oven still lives in the basement after we took it out to put in the floors. Aaaahh, the irony of being a Mama.
Here are some pics of the space. Pick me, pick me!
http://flic.kr/s/aHsjuUTeNV
Jaimie
I would love to makeover our backyard.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/14616672@N00/5821624993/in/set-72157626937897176/
There’s really nothing worth looking at back there, and I’d love to make it into a nice space to have the neighbors over and sit outside having a drink. The patio furniture is hand-me-down from my MIL, and it’s not bad by any means, but it’s rather boring. I’d like something with more personality to it.
In my dream patio we’d rip out the cement and replace it with flagstone maybe, as well as removing the roof (which was added after the house was built and blocks most of the natural light to the living room) and replace it with a wooden pergola to filter light without totally blocking it altogether. A firepit would be nice too I think.
There is next to no landscaping and I’d like to do something but I have no idea what. We live in a drought zone and I hate watering the yard to keep the grass alive – it’s expensive and wasteful. I don’t like the limestone around the base of the two trees – our house is red brick in the front and the limestone just doesn’t make sense. Not to mention whoever patched the stones around the little tree used a dark grout and it looks poorly done. I’d like to repave them with something that matches the house and looks nicer, or maybe not repave it at all. I’m pretty sure I want some daffodils in place of that monkey grass.
I want to redo the fencing around our garden. It’s pretty sad looking, and could use something sturdier than the flimsy wire fencing with chicken wire attached. Probably making it into a raised bed garden.
Over by the side of the house you can see a piece of lattice wood. There are also several giant rocks that came out of the garden at the base of it to keep the dogs from digging back there. It’s where the AC unit and the garbage can are, and it needs a proper fence.
Oh and the number one thing I really want to do is paint the exterior of the house (and the shed) a medium brown with a touch of grey, or maybe a sage green, with cream trim.
Megan
Our front porch is a great place to eat dinner with friends, hang out after the kids are asleep, or just sit and watch the world go by. Unfortunately, it also has almost no furniture, a lot of peeling paint, and an ugly front door.
We’d love help making it into the beautiful space we know it could be – private enough for a cup of coffee on the glider, public enough for neighbors to stop by and chat any time.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/badgerbouse/sets/72157626937920728/
Making it Lovely
FINALIST!
(Congratulations, Megan!)
Lisa
Hi Nicole-
You rock! Thanks for a chance to win a makeover. Our Seattle 1932 tudor has a fabulous master bedroom that deserves far better styling than we have provided. Right now, as you can see in the video, all it’s sporting is sad hand-me-downs (plus one cool bookcase and antique bedframe). A little American Express magic + your incredible creative touch could turn it fabulous in a weekend. I have no doubt. Thanks again for the opportunity and also for the inspiration. Visiting your blog is always a sweet daily treat.
Lisa
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVLk2IlhWSw
Jessica Nordskog
Our recently purchased home has a room that was added off the back. It’s a square room with wood paneling and brown carpeting – ugh!
We refer to it as the “rumpus room” because it’s currently where all of our baby toys are. We would love to turn it into more of a rumpus room for adults with just a hint of “baby.” More of a place to hang out with friends with coffee or cocktails while the kids crawl on the floor.
Help us, please!!!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/18275151@N00/sets/72157626811478113/with/5821330748/
Jaclyn Levy
I created a short story along with photos using Facebook to submit our so-so master bedroom in consideration of this awesome opportunity and contest. I hope you enjoy it!
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10100928353533954.3320050.8306427&l=ad297eb1ba
Hi! Welcome to our home. I’m Jaclyn and this is my handsome husband Kevin. We moved to Illinois in 2008 and were fortunate enough to buy a Frank Lloyd Wright inspired home. We will be celebrating our five year wedding anniversary this Summer! In honor of our upcoming anniversary, we would like to make over our master bedroom into a restful, romantic retreat, but are truly lost as how to unlock the room’s potential to make that happen. Currently it is a hodgepodge collection of furniture from a headboard and night stands my husband built, to an Ikea dresser, to the dresser we found while dumpster diving. It would be a wonderful 5 year anniversary gift to have the opportunity to work with Nicole and American Express to make over our master bedroom into something lovely. Thank you for considering us!
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10100928353533954.3320050.8306427&l=ad297eb1ba
Charity D'Amato
Ahoy Matey! Put on your sea legs you are invited to hop aboard and put your magical design sense to work on the S. S. Amelia, a 1971 21” Airstream Land Yacht.
I’ve wanted a “silver bullet” since I’ve been in 4th grade, I dreamt of adventures, entertaining and camping out in style…my goal was to buy one by the time I was 40. Well, last year I turned 35 and decided there was no better time to get started than now. I went to my trusty Craigs List, shopped around a bit and decided on “Miss Amelia” my new friend.
Let’s just say I’ve bit off a bit more than I had to chew, if you know what I mean.
Come to find out, this little aluminum camper needed more than paint, cute curtains and adorable prints from Etsy. I started the project by needing to replace the entire undercarriage steel cross beams, we’re talking major welding work. Currently she is completely gutted and now is the fun part of putting her back together.
I love your traditional-with-a-twist style and I know you could chart and navigate the perfect interior space for an open road design adventure. I have been reading your blog for years and would be honored to have your help with this project. Fingers crossed!
Below is a small blog I posted a few pics for your review, but feel free to poke around and explore, she truly is a labor of love.
http://ameliatheairstream.blogspot.com/2011/06/making-amelia-lovely.html
Making it Lovely
FINALIST!
(Congratulations, Charity!)
Ann
This room—the sunroom, fireplace room, or “in there”—has an identity crisis. It’s a walk-through to the back of the house. Has great windows into the backyard, an out-of-proportion fireplace, and doorway to the back porch. It’s narrow, with unlovely painted paneling and funky trim on the bookshelves. Floors need refinishing. Too-big couch seems placed to watch the traffic walk by the fireplace, rather than for conversation. Not too social! Knock out the wall to the kitchen? Could smart furniture help this room feel less accidental? We need some clever eyes to help us see the possibility “in there”…please help us make it lovely!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/navybeansoup/sets/72157626937373146/with/5821849082/
Longer story: my husband will renovate the 50’s ranch we bought. The daydream: a hip redo with energy efficient perks and hospitable, vibrant living space that feels like us. The reality: unglamorous tasks like grounding outlets (R.I.P., electric coffee maker), insulating the attic, removing AstroTurf from porches/entrances (baked on through the decades), and pulling barrels (yep) of poison ivy out of the once-well-tended wilderness of a backyard get priority and funding over the fun and pretty. The twist: We had a baby! It feels more important than ever for our home to feel livable and lovely. Thanks for considering us!
Julie
Hi Nicole! How generous of you to host this giveaway! And also, you look stunning in that dress. (Will flattery get me anywhere? ;)
I, too, try to make it lovely for my friends and family, but alas…this year, I have fallen short. Like – freakishly short. Incredible Shrinking Woman…short. I’d FLIP OUT if I could makeover my back yard/patio so I could host my girlfriends, make a nice space for my husband to enjoy his (occasional) cigar, and my daughter’s playdates. The yard/deck are teeny tiny, but we live in Austin – so outdoor space can be enjoyed for the majority of the year.
I even JUST NOW (56 minutes ago!) finished a garage sale in order to scrounge up some cash for the project, but I made enough to paint the deck, maybe? I am dreaming of ground cover (grass? something sturdier against the Texas heat?), some perennials, some more decking, and patio furniture/lighting.
I so wish I had started tackling this early Spring, but my 19-month old started daycare, and as such, has been sick ever since. Well – surgery Monday for the ol’ tubes in the ears bit for my little one, and hopefully she’ll then feel good enough to enjoy her yard. Now, we have to make it for her. When we moved from NYC, a big reason was to raise our child with some outdoor space…
My blog hosts a number of rad chicks who are the Ultimish…not quite the ultimate mother/wife/girlfriend/daughter, etc., but close enough. I want to be the ultimish homemaker. Yard maker?
Sigh. But unless, I find an old lamp with a genie in it, we may have to put it off even longer.
Be my genie, Nicole. Be my genie.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/99234276@N00/
-Julie
Heather Banks
Help! We’ve been remodeling the inside of our home for the past 2 1/2 years but have totally neglected the outside of our home – including our front patio that has a lot of potential but is just barren and boring! When we had our daughter Zoey 10 months ago we really stopped all work on our home and now that she is getting close to walking we want to spend more time outside with her and entertaining friends and family but have no place suitable to do so (our backyard is even worse than this, with a death trap back porch!)Would LOVE to be considered for this awesome contest, here is our entry and photos:
http://heatherandmike.wordpress.com/
Thanks!
Heather Banks
Making it Lovely
FINALIST!
(Congratulations, Heather!)
Alicia O
We would love to makeover our yard! We have lived here since 2007 and we rarely ever use it because we have no shade. We have a neighbor that lives behind us that we desperately need some privacy from. We would love to be able to take our 2 little boys and dog outside to play more and we would also love to be able to have our family and friends over for gatherings. It would be awesome if you could make a more welcoming space a reality!!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/54479905@N08/5821836408/in/set-72157626937196602/
cate s. h.
Hi Nicole,
Great contest! My handy husband is building a screened-in porch on our 1960s ranch. I cannot WAIT for it’s completion, but we’re on a super tight budget, as we’ve just welcomed our new baby girl Elsie. I refinished and reupholstered four chairs for the porch, but other than that, we have nothing. I have dreams of a great long dining table, a hanging daybed for afternoon naps, a bar cart of some sort, and some fab accessories. I’d love a plan from your creative mind!
Thanks for the opportunity!
cate s. h.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cateandfrank/sets/72157626937148738/
Michele
Thanks so much for hosting this contest. I’d like to make over our new sun room and deck. The room connects to our kitchen and will be bright (lots of windows) and cozy. We look forward to using this as a space to hang out with friends and family. We’ll have lots of seating in the room (probably a bench, couch, wide ottoman, and a breakfast/coffee bar facing the backyard), as well as a lot of storage for my 18-month-old son’s toys. We’ll also have seating outside on the deck. You can view recent pictures here: http://mingshan2.blogspot.com/2011/06/big-house-project-part-10.html and the whole project here: http://mingshan2.blogspot.com/search/label/home_improvement
I’ve been blogging for many years and would be honored to partner with American Express on this project.
Michele
I forgot to mention that we are really struggling with the look of the space so would really benefit from the custom design plan too! Thanks for considering us.
Deanna M
Hi Nicole,
Thank you for the wonderful contest!
The social space I chose is our backyard patio. It’s a lovely space that has, over time, turned into an uninviting, hodge podge of stuff. My dream has always been to have a cozy, inviting space. We have lovely saltillo tiles, French doors, a nice patio cover, and trees.
Three things that would stay would be our granite and copper fire pit and the Adirondack chair(s). My husband made the chairs and there is only one in the photos because the second one isn’t finished yet. I would not be opposed to painting or re-staining them. And the grill. Which we use a lot.
We live in central Phoenix, Ariz., which means we can be outside using this space most of the year. We’re just moving into the hot season, but even when it’s hot, we use the grill several times per week. Misters would be a perfect addition to keep the area cooler during the summer.
I’ve never been able to pull together any kind of cohesive design for this space and it would make me so happy to make it more friendly and inviting (camoflaging the camper would be nice too!).
Here’s a link to my photos:
https://picasaweb.google.com/deannamullican/BackyardPatio?authkey=Gv1sRgCITInIL-u47A4gE&feat=directlink
Thank you!
Lisa
What a fun contest!
We bought our house in Hoffman Estates, IL in 2007 and have gutted and remodeled nearly the entire inside. Meanwhile, the outside has been neglected and is looking rather sad (as is our bank account). I would love to makeover our deck to make it an inviting space for our whole family, including our one year old daughter, Erin. It has so much potential.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lucht731/sets/72157626812325241/
Summer
My husband and I live in a cute little one bedroom apartment in Chicago with our two cats. Unfortunately living in such an old building means our main living/social space is one big open room with an awkward floor plan and not a lot of space to put our friends and family when they visit – and we love to have people over.
Since we rent, it seems so difficult to find ways to make the space our own. I’d love some design guidance because right now the space just feels so cluttered and like we still live in a college dorm.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/63945523@N06/sets/72157626936655940/
Jessica Nordskog
We had a baby in January and moved in March. Our new house has an L-shaped living space. We have 3 problem areas:
1. There’s a massive “dead spot” in the middle of the dining and living room (the corner of the “L”)
2. The fireplace, mirror and built-ins need a major upgrade.
3. The curtains are from the original owners. They’re functional but ugly!
We’re excited to someday entertain in our new space and we want to be proud of what we’ve done to it!
Help!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/18275151@N00/sets/72157626909406592/
katie
oh good grief, do we ever need this!
we’re in the end process of remodeling our family/dining room/loft(which used to be the garage). it’s as bare as they come right now…and we seem to be at a little bit of a standstill. we’ve been doing the work ourselves and doing projects as we can afford. the american express points would be just the boost we need to put the finishing touches on the space. and although it’s been a beautiful process of living in a constant state of dust and candle-lit dinners at the kitchen island, i think we’re ready to wrap it all up with a big shiny bow.
thanks a million!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/9022773@N04/sets/72157626810889991/
Christine
Our apartment has one “social room”: a combined living room, dining area and kitchen. Since my husband and I (plus our sweet dog, Phoebe) spend quite a bit of time and host friends and family in this small space, it would be great to transform it into a space better suited for entertaining. I love reading about interior design, but don’t know where to start to make choices that work together. Right now the furniture is mainly a mix of hand-me-downs and Craigslist finds that are all different styles and when guests come over, we end up pulling dining chairs up to the couch area to have enough seating. We plan to stay here for several more years, so we are also thinking ahead about how to make this space work well for kids. Nicole’s sense of style plus the American Express points would help to make this space more cohesive, add some color and fun, and make it a lovely place for spending time with family and friends! :)
Thanks for offering this generous contest!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/63911554@N04/sets/72157626802405863/
Aimee A
Oh, and even though it isn’t a social space so much (not in the habit of inviting friends into our bedroom), I am positively itching to actually do something with our ugly ugly bedroom. Here is the photographic sadness:
http://secretnowhere.blogspot.com/2011/06/sadness-that-is-our-bedroom.html
There is just no decorating done at all in there. It’s stark and depressing and insomnia-contributing. Blerg.
Aimee A
Oh, man, what perfect timing. We are in the midst of a giant purge of stuff (1/5 gone so far, my goal is 1/3 of everything), and I am so focused on how much I hate our furniture. All that we have is either hand-me-down, Ikea, Target, or thrifted. I am so so sick of mis-matching finishes and styles and sizes, but I can’t really do anything about it as we have a budget of zero dollars. (hello, virtual unemployment!)
It is just sad to spend time in our living room. It’s actually so cramped and our sofas are so uncomfortable that it has been three months since we last had guests. Quite depressing and lonely.
My dream makeover would be to scrap everything but our coffee table, bookshelf, and artwork, and just start from the ground up. We need storage that fits in the room and doesn’t overwhelm it. We need a desk that fits both laptops and is easy to work from. The whole room just feels cluttered and is not relaxing in the least.
Here are photos, and a more in-depth analysis/wishlist:
http://secretnowhere.blogspot.com/2011/06/oh-boy-here-we-go.html
This is such a great thing you get to do! Thanks for the opportunity as well. :)
Capitol Jams
My husband and I live in a 1 bedroom condo with our nearly 15-month-old daughter. I love our apartment for many reasons, not least of all for it’s open floor plan where we do most of our living. It has a lot of great style with the maple floors, exposed beams and the exposed fir (original firewall) that makes it look a little bit like a ski lodge meets loft. I love some of the personal and handmade touches: the knitted pipe cozy to the left of the window and the fabric book slings on the radiator covers come to mind.
There are many parts of this room that we’ve never addressed, and it feels like we just keep putting off projects for time and financial reasons, or more likely because I have trouble to committing to decisions. We don’t get much natural light with the big window and being on the ground floor of our building, and we’ve never known how to bring in more lighting into this space. The toys are a little out of control, and while we love the mid century furniture, the red chair in particular desperately needs to be replaced or needs to have fresh upholstery. While most of our home is pretty child-proofed, the shelves under the window are a slight nightmare – stacked and unkempt books and forgotten items, as well as a HUGE stereo that doesn’t function as it is designed (we listen to the radio or our iPods all the time, so it works for us in that way). Besides a couple of sad looking bolsters I made for the couch, we don’t have any pillows and really need some help with accessories that would work in this space.
You can see pictures here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/64008518@N08/
While we love the Japanese poster that hangs on the wall for personal reasons, it will find a new home as we’ll be moving this piece there soon: http://www.kuroszahedi.com/the-garden-of-hope.html. The new art is also very meaningful for us for many reasons; we were part of its creation, adore the image and love the fact that it was created from trash picked up in our neighborhood.
Thanks for this opportunity, Nicole!
Making it Lovely
FINALIST!
(Congratulations!)
anu
our backyard is so tiny that it’s nonfunctional, which is so sad for our active 2-year-old. we’d love to paint the royal blue garage a less garish color, move the fence out to the part of the unused driveway to triple our running around space, and add more plants and furniture.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/anupama/sets/72157626933641998/
anu
oh, please, we are in need of your wisdom and the amex points! our house is lovely but a bit strange because it used to be a duplex. to make it more functional, we are hoping to have a multipurpose living/dining room. but it’s not a huge space, and we have just had a lot of trouble seeing the vision through. we have a cozy wing chair that works at the drop leave dining tables (closed when not in use), but are in desperate need of other seating that is comfy but can also work at the dining table. and storage. the room is functioning as a playroom for our 2-year-old, not a flexible, social space for dining and hanging out. help!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/anupama/sets/72157626933940360/
Heather Van Wynen
My husband and I rent a 650 square foot stone cottage, which was originally built as a small mountain library in 1920. We have lived here for almost two years and plan to live here several more, but I have done very little decorating due to limited resources. All of the furniture pictured was given to us secondhand, except the mid-century dining chairs, which I purchased at a thrift store and refinished by hand.
We are expecting our first baby in three months. I would love the opportunity to make the home we are bringing our baby into a more aesthetically beautiful and cozy space.
The living room (which includes are dining space) is our social space. This is definitely the room I would love to see transformed.
Thank you, Nicole!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/59834048@N02/sets/72157626809029611/
Grace
Hello!
We recently moved and a major selling point for us was the backyard:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/28081263@N06/sets/72157626808942485/
With a 3 year old daughter and a 10 month old son, we wanted a place where our family could hang out and gather and this yard seemed perfect. Well, as wonderful as it is, it’s not the welcoming place I had hoped it would be and I don’t know where to begin to make it an inviting, restful space for family and fun. I think it has a ton of potential, but I don’t know where to begin.
Kate
We bought a little 1920’s Portland bungalow just about five years ago. It was, and still is, quite the fixer-upper. Because our house is so cozy (code for small), we really wanted to make the backyard livable space.
We started out essentially a big dirt lot and have put each plant and paver stone in ourselves. It’s taken quite a bit of time, but progress is progress right? :)
Fast forward 5 years and one 5 month old baby later, we’re stalled out. We’ve lacked time, motivation and money. We have our patio, but it’s just not lovely.
We’ve got a great start – a sturdy paver patio, some teak Adirondack chairs, etc. but that’s it. I’d love to see this become the outdoor living room I know it can be.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tuomimonster
Jayna
Hi Nicole! I’d like to enter my back patio into the contest. I wrote all about it on my blog: http://behindthestudio.com/?p=99
Making it Lovely
FINALIST!
(Congratulations, Jayna!)
Brett Alderman
If we were selected for this makeover, I would choose our backyard. We would love to use the space for entertaining and throwing a big birthday party for our daughters at the end of the summer.
http://bombardmentsociety.wordpress.com/2011/06/10/makingitlovely-social-space-makeover-entry/
Rachel Preisser
Hi Nicole! I absolutely adore your blog. Thanks so much for hosting this amazing giveaway. I would like to enter our deck. It was one of my favorite things about our house when we first moved in a year ago because it has SO much potential. Unfortunately after a year of home improvement projects inside the house, my bank account and creativity have been depleted. I envision a comfortable and inviting outdoor living room and dining space where our family and friends can relax and create great memories. Please help me make our lackluster deck a lovely oasis!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/63916517@N05/
Ellen
This is really fabulous!
I’ve posted a bit more about why we’d love to have our den made over at my blog here: http://www.kellyandellen.org/house/2011/06/our-den/ (including a video which can also be found here: http://www.vimeo.com/24947669) but in a few sentences, here’s why we’d love to win this makeover:
We’ve got a whole huge 1916 fixer upper to renovate, and not a lot of money with which to do so.
We bought our house in part because of how well it’s suited to having guests over – we love to throw a good party and do so regularly! Being open and hospitable to friends, guests, and sometimes even strangers is important to how we want to live our lives.
Our den is our main gathering area – it seems like whenever we have people over, they end up congregating there. It’s also where we hang out as a family, eating, watching movies or random YouTube videos, playing video games, etc.
It’s got some interesting architectural details, in that it was an addition to the original house and was built off the old outside back porch.
Thanks for the opportunity, Nicole!
Laura Gaskill
The space I would love to have some financial & design help with is our living/dining room…which also has to serve as entryway, office, and baby play area. I was off to a good start, painting and scouring Craigslist like a madwoman while pregnant last year, and I managed to create a nice neutral (i.e., pretty much all white) backdrop…and then the baby came, and it is still a…backdrop. I spend tons of time in this space with my baby Bixby, and I would love it to be as warm and vibrant as my little family!
Here are photos I took last year for my blog, nothing has changed aside from the glass cabinet doors being removed for child proofing purposes…and, oh, a bit more mess :) http://www.lolalina.com/2010/03/02/living-dining-room-progress/
Jillian
Thank you for offering this! I would be so happy to have some help with our old house, which we’re moving back into. Let me explain. My husband and I bought a side-by-side duplex with another couple we’re friends with about five years ago. We lived in our half for two years with roommates to help pay the mortgage, but then I got pregnant and we moved to a small apartment so we could raise Gus without roommates around! We’ve been renting our side of the house out, but my husband has just finished going to school to be an art teacher, so now we will start having two incomes again, and we’re SO ready to have some SPACE again! … We just don’t know what to do with it. :-) I’m entering the living room, the dining room and the backyard separately because I would over the moon with help for any of them.
This is the backyard, or our half of the backyard. The deck doesn’t belong to us because it’s on the other side, but the brick patio and the grassy(ish) area with the stones leading out to the fence is all ours to make beautiful! We have a cool old red fireplace that we’d love to showcase for S’mores nights with friends, and my husband just got a projector for graduation that we’d like to use to show movies on the fence!
https://picasaweb.google.com/104185795304971633960/MakingItLovelySocialSpaceMakeoverBackyard?authkey=Gv1sRgCMrzlqu5xpfG8QE
Jillian
Thank you for offering this! I would be so happy to have some help with our old house, which we’re moving back into. Let me explain. My husband and I bought a side-by-side duplex with another couple we’re friends with about five years ago. We lived in our half for two years with roommates to help pay the mortgage, but then I got pregnant and we moved to a small apartment so we could raise Gus without roommates around! We’ve been renting our side of the house out, but my husband has just finished going to school to be an art teacher, so now we will start having two incomes again, and we’re SO ready to have some SPACE again! … We just don’t know what to do with it. :-) I’m entering the living room, the dining room and the backyard separately because I would over the moon with help for any of them.
This one is the dining room, which I would like to paint a different color… but what?! Also, the furniture belongs to the tenants, so we’ll be starting from scratch! I’m as bad at design as I am at taking pictures, so you can see how badly I need your assistance. :-)
https://picasaweb.google.com/104185795304971633960/MakingItLovelySocialSpaceMakeoverDiningRoom?authkey=Gv1sRgCKu18vGf-Jn3Kw
Jillian
Thank you for offering this! I would be so happy to have some help with our old house, which we’re moving back into. Let me explain. My husband and I bought a side-by-side duplex with another couple we’re friends with about five years ago. We lived in our half for two years with roommates to help pay the mortgage, but then I got pregnant and we moved to a small apartment so we could raise Gus without roommates around! We’ve been renting our side of the house out, but my husband has just finished going to school to be an art teacher, so now we will start having two incomes again, and we’re SO ready to have some SPACE again! … We just don’t know what to do with it. :-) I’m entering the living room, the dining room and the backyard separately because I would over the moon with help for any of them.
This one is the living room and it has wonky walls with windows and radiators and almost no space to put anything! The furniture you see is the tenants’ so we’ll be starting from scratch!
https://picasaweb.google.com/104185795304971633960/MakingItLovelySocialSpaceMakeover?authkey=Gv1sRgCPmAj6bZ4ID–QE
Katie C.
Oh, our screened porch is so bad, but could be so great. It just needs a talented mind and a little $$$. It has a great floor pattern, an awesome ceiling and is surrounded by lots of evergreens full of chirping birds. I want a comfortable, stylish place my husband and I can share happy hour while the kids play. The porch shares our family room’s only window so when we aren’t outside, I’d love to look out to a beautiful space. Help me please.
http://www.flickr.com//photos/63980673@N08/sets/72157626807089499/show/
April Mastropietro
Hi there! I really love your blog and I’ve followed it for almost a year. I love your design style and would really appreciate your help with our new living room. My husband and I are moving into our first house in two weeks and our living room is a blank slate. We want to start from scratch and create a lovely and homey room for visiting with friends, watching tv, and playing with our 1 year-old daughter Leona Belle. So I will keep my fingers crossed!
Here’s a link to our room:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/26946184@N05/5819909640/in/set-72157626808270153/
Thanks so much!
April
Christian
What a great contest!
I blogged about it today and posted pictures of my living room…
http://theboystraut.blogspot.com/2011/06/livingroom-contest.html
Our living room needs a serious makeover! I think we struggle with alot of the same issues most style savy new parents do – keeping our home stylish without letting the toys take over. Well, the toys have taken over!!
Whitney
WOW! I love your blog, and your sense of style would be greatly appreciated to help add some SOMETHING to my living room.
My husband and I have lived in our Chicago condo for three years and are slowly but surely replacing old hand-me-downs and beat-up thrift store finds with nice, new items (like the couch and tv stand). But somewhere along the way, it just got boring. Everything matches, (a little too well) and it just feels bland.
We often have friends and family over for dinner (despite having no table- we usually stand around the bar) and when we all watch a movie those little chairs in the living room just don’t cut it…
help!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/63951501@N06/5819033447/in/photostream/
jane davila
What an awesome contest! Thank you for your generosity!!
Our family moved into a circa 1880’s Victorian style stucco house in our quaint little, quintessential New England town. The house has beautiful lines, gorgeous 9-foot ceilings, and to-die-for wide moldings, but it’s been a little neglected. We’ve been working like mad on the inside since we moved in last December (it’s amazing what fresh paint and lots of scrubbing can do!)
All of the neighbors’ houses are immaculate with perfect lawns, gardens and front porches. A stroll down the sidewalk along our street shows one charming, welcoming front porch after another — and then there’s ours… *needle screech*
While exterior painting and plaster repair is on the agenda for this summer, the porch is a little lacking in places to sit and enjoy. We have one sad chair and ottoman from Ikea that has seen better days (I thought about a coat of paint and a bright pillow but haven’t gotten to it), but I’d love a cute bistro set to sit and sip lemonade and a settee or lounge chair for reading or listening to the outdoor concerts at the nearby park. A colorful outdoor area rug might be fun too! Our style is ethnic modern (picture Kilim rugs, white accessories, African sculpture, mid-century Finnish pottery and lots of clean lines).
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jdavila/sets/72157626931742414/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jdavila/5819416616/in/set-72157626931742414
I even did up a quick floor plan. The porch has wider areas at the far end and the near end, so maybe 2 seating areas?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jdavila/5819416836/in/set-72157626931742414
Steph at Modern Parents Messy Kids
We have a 2 1/2 year old and a 11 month old and our house has a small eat in kitchen with an open living space but no dining room. Next to this is a room with sliding doors to the backyard and a fireplace which we’ve been using as a space for the kids to play and learn to crawl and walk. But now our youngest is starting to walk and we’re ready to use the room, at least some of the time, to finally be able to have friends over and entertain.
What I would really love is some kind of hybrid space that has room to play, toy storage, (maybe even our creativity center) and adult seating that can also be used to have dinner with friends occasionally. I just don’t have the creativity or skill to pull it off!
https://picasaweb.google.com/103185293378547997788/MakingItLovely02?authkey=Gv1sRgCJCIoL3g1qm4nQE&feat=directlink
LizzieBeth
Oh my goodness, Nicole you are like an angel sent from heaven right now! ;)
One of the things that really sold us on our house was the size of our backyard. However, everytime we looked at it, there was snow on the ground so we did not realize how bad a shape it was in. There are so many holes in from the previous owners dog that walking back there is almost dangerous to your ankles! The holes have also become breeding grounds for mosquitos, and there is an area marked with a patch of dead grass that apparently used to be a driveway leading to a non-exhisting garage.
When we made settlement in April our plan was to attack that backyard this summer. However, in May we discovered I was 5 months pregnant and our money and time have clearly been diverted elsewhere. It is really a shame because I would love to have a lovely backyard for our son to play in next spring and summer.
Also… Monday is my 30th birthday, so it would be an amazing present to be selected as one of the finalists. I’m just sayin’ ;-)
https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/Nrn9r80mlyz4-xAEgU45g7Y2aGr-l40mP7hT2huWOpI?feat=directlink
https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/1ZPWKWZobwP-IgCrfsDha7Y2aGr-l40mP7hT2huWOpI?feat=directlink
https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/sQZTY9h3ySsMSztsE-g5GrY2aGr-l40mP7hT2huWOpI?feat=directlink
Laura Payne
Please Help Make our Garden Lovely!!
http://pleasemakeitlovely.blogspot.com/
I am GREEN with envy over your recent garden posts. We bought our house roughly 3 years ago, rehabbed the entire interior, had a baby, published two books, having another baby, and somehow along the way never got around to improving our outdoor space. Not for lack of trying! I drove two hours out to an organic farm in Illinois to get sustainably raised native plants, all of which seemed to be engulfed by whatever weeds were already growing rampantly in our front and back yards. I bought a little firepit and some nice chairs, but it is depressing to sit in a barren brick wasteland, no matter how cheery the fire! And I also bought raised beds for a garden, but between my two-year old going a little bonkers with the seed packs and a complete lack of sun, I couldn’t tell you what is actually growing in there.
We do a lot of entertaining, but it is always confined to the indoors, as there is no good setup outside for more than two people to sit and marvel the dirt patch. We would love to have your help (and your points!) making over our outdoor space (with or without egg chair!) and would make excellent use of this space with our friends and family for years to come!
Amy S.
This entry comes from my daughter, Maggie, who asked me to type for her since she is only 9 months old.
Dear Ms. Nicole:
PLEASE help my mommy and daddy makeover our spare room into my playroom!! Right now, there is no purpose to this room and we never use it. It just collects stacks of my old clothes and my mommy’s books. When my mommy and daddy’s friends bring MY little friends over, we all have to squeeze into my living room with my toys. My mommy and daddy are wondering why I am not crawling. It’s because I don’t really need to to play in my living room! If I had a nice big playroom, I could have a place for all of my toys and have space to crawl around and entertain my little friends.
Please PLEASE help me get a playroom!! (I bet Eleanor and August would provide some consultation if you are on the fence about picking me.)
Here are some pictures of the spare room:
https://picasaweb.google.com/capecodmakeover/Bedroom2#
This is my mommy’s blog, which used to be all about home makeovers but now is just a hosting site for pictures of me: http://www.capecodmakeover.blogspot.com
Thank you!
Jessica
What a wonderful contest! Thanks so much for offering the opportunity!
I’d love to win this as we could really use a space for entertaining. We have a tiny house (800 sq feet) so we really don’t have a good spot for entertaining. I’d love to make over our patio so we could have an “outdoor” entertaining spot. Granted, living in Chicago we won’t be able to use it all year, but for the few months that we could, it’d be awesome. As you can see in the photos, we really need some help & inspiration. Thank you very much for even considering us!
Jessica
http://www.flickr.com/photos/9670541@N07/sets/72157626806339859/
Kimmy LaMee
Oh man – my new hubby and I would love all the help we can get with design!! We have two spaces that we’re just kinda stuck with… The first is our kitchen space. It’s super small and the wallpaper is in one word, HIDEOUS! The second space is our outdoor space. I envision a quiet place to relax after a long day of work but right now it’s just grass and two brand new adorandak chairs that his dad made for us for our birthdays, which are coming up soon. Woohoo!! We’ve planted a small garden and a few flowers but we can’t seem to figure out an overall plan for our backyard space. We’d love to add a fence on the side and decorate and plant but we just can’t seem to come up with a plan that we like.. HELP!! We’re also newlyweds (6 months tomorrow!) so we’re having to do little projects as we can afford to so this would be amazing!!
Thanks for such a GREAT contest!!
Kimmy
Here are our pics…
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kimmyb/sets/72157626930872910/
Don’t laugh!!
Marisa
Despite never having won a single thing on a blog, I so want to win this.
I’d use the points and design plan on our kitchen. We moved in three years ago and this was the first project on my list, but other more urgent projects keep bumping it, plus we’re not *quite* sure of our design plan.
It’s a galley kitchen with fake wood laminate counters, good quality (but ugly) cabinets with plywood doors, a stove from the 60’s, and a mini-fridge. Yes, a mini-fridge because a normal-sized refrigerator won’t fit in the cabinets. (But we have a plan. We think.) Think of the opportunity!
We’re happy DIY’ers and could use some guidance to make sure all the details work out in the end, but just imagine: DIY’d concrete counters and cabinet doors all painted and happy, new flooring, better lighting. With the AmEx points, we could get the details right, not just good enough. Then it could be social because we wouldn’t always be kicking people out of the kitchen out of embarrassment.
Here’s a pic: http://parentheticalme.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/589569.9.jpg
And for additional photos, here’s my Flickr feed (I’ll upload a handful this evening): http://www.flickr.com/photos/39773783@N05/sets/72157626806151647
Liz
Okay- I need some decorating help, stat! We’ve lived in our house for a year, but job changes and a new baby have stalled our remodeling. We’ve replaced almost all the floors in our 3-story with a gorgeous bamboo- all except the stairs, that is. Right now, our playroom/loft is a construction storage nightmare.
https://picasaweb.google.com/100127155204024821926/Photos?authkey=Gv1sRgCOSyo7Svlfr-Dg#5616649606761416226
I’d love a place for me to sew/do office-y sorts of things while my 2 year old and 3 month old play. My dream would be to have a reading corner with a comfy place for us to snuggle with a bedtime story next to a giant bookcase (IKEA Expedit, maybe?). I’m thinking that would go great where the twin mattresses are currently squatting.
https://picasaweb.google.com/100127155204024821926/Photos?authkey=Gv1sRgCOSyo7Svlfr-Dg#5616649492795000130
We love mid-century design, contemporary stuff, and I have a soft spot for anything handmade. Both of our girls have names that are variations on the color red, so it would be fun to see some punchy red elements.
The ultimate plan is to paint the walls a whitish-grey color, but that all depends on if we can muster the energy to paint our VERY open floor plan. It might be builder off-white for a while. Oh! And I’d love to see a snazzy pendant or ceiling fan instead of the overhead boob light currently in place…
Thanks so much for the opportunity to enter- I’m hoping that winning will give us the motivation to finally finish the stairs and make our playroom a beautiful, liveable space.
kate so
Help, our screened in porch desperately needs a makeover! Two years ago we purchased a 1959 open floor plan ranch. There are many reasons why we fell in love with the house, the screened in porch being right up there at the top. However, when you look at our pictures you will see we have done a lot with the inside but haven’t touched the porch. And now that we have a little one our need for a larger dining area for entertaining is a must. Inside we fit 4 comfortably and 6 if we have to. On the porch we have enough room for a comfortable hang out area and dining for 8. We are willing to put the sweat into making it the space of our dreams. We just need to funds to do so.
Check out our sad little porch here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nelsonandlorraine/sets/72157626805787215/
Thanks so much!
kate
Stacy W.
I’m a long time reader and absolutely love your style! I’ve always been more on the modern side, but I find myself gravitating towards more quirky-traditional pieces lately. I would love to fix up our small kitchen/dining area. We built this house 3 years ago on a budget, so it’s all boring-basic-builder style. I’ve painted it, but that’s all! We have a hand-me-down dining set that works, but it’s BORING. Our light fixture is so blah, I would love something striking. I’d also like to paint the cabinets, but I don’t know whether to go black or white, and that would determine what else we accent with in the room. I’d love for it to be a FUN room that we enjoy sharing with our friends. Some help would be nice, thanks for the giveaway!
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a68/rccalyn/Snapbucket/fbf7b0da-orig.jpg
Alysia
I’m so excited about this give away – the timing is perfect!
My husband and I moved into our first house 3 years ago. The house has not had a deck or access to the back yard – until now. This weekend we are finally building a deck with a pergola. I’m looking forward to getting outside, enjoying our backyard, and hosting lots of parties in our new space. However, before we can do all that, we still need outdoor furniture, an outdoor rug (I have two babies 4 months & 22 months) and maybe a grill. I’d love to fix it up and start using it right away. Thanks Nicole for your consideration!
Here’s the pics of our backyard before the deck: http://www.flickr.com/photos/45549867@N06/sets/72157626930348470/
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