Published: April 24, 2013, By Abbe Fenimore

Starting From Scratch {Before & After}

I thought it would be fun to share the BEFORE & AFTER on the Thrift Studio vignette that I designed for Dwell With Dignity. The is the second time that I have worked with Dwell to design a vignette for Thrift Studio. I’m not going to lie, it was quite the challenge and I was really forced to design the space quickly and with quite a few unique situations that I don’t usually come across with my design projects.

We were required to use 50% of the pieces in our vignette from the Dwell warehouse.  Most of the pieces in the warehouse were in decent condition, but most needed complete overhauls. That is where the kindness of the Dallas design community really kicks in to help pull it all together. Today, I want to say THANK YOU to all of the vendors that stepped up to help me pull this vignette together for Dwell.  I promise to mention them ALL in the AFTER portion of the post.

 

 

THE SPACE BEFORE: I started with a blank space. Since the Thrift Studio pop up shop has always been held in an empty showroom space in the Dallas Design District, it makes it easy to do anything needed to pull it all together.  This space was about 30′ wide and about 15′ deep. I had two awkward niches.

 

 

 

 

THE FURNITURE BEFORE: The Furniture I used was a bit of a mess. The fabric was ripped, faded and screaming for a major overhaul. The had great bones and  I was fortunate that they were not a lost cause. I knew I was going to go with a grey, lavender and navy color palette and had my fabrics waiting to be unrolled and upholstered on these pieces.

 

 

 

 

 

DURING….I was beyond excited when Innovations donated a TON of this Metalessence Mulberry Wallcovering I about fell over! We used the wallcovering on the inside walls of each niche, it kept them from looking so blah and created the chic background we were after.

 

 

 

 

 

AFTER THE FURNITURE: Now that the walls were painted and wallpapered, it was time to start brining in all of the updated upholstery pieces, case goods and lighting!!!

JC’s Upholstery donated the upholstery work on the sofa and gorgeous wingback chairs. Local Dallas artist Megan Adams donated her Joker Ikat fabric for the wingbacks….I’m so obsessed with those chairs! We used a fabulous navy chenille for the sofa.  Again & Again rocked the donated upholstery job on the small barrel back chairs! We used an ivory  textural linen from Dwell’s warehouse and the navy chenille as a contracting cording….LOVE!!

 

 

 

 

 

THE SPACE AFTER: I loved the way the vignette came together! So chic and full of interesting pieces. I could not have done this without the fabulous vendors that helped me support Dwell With Dignity!!!  Here is the list of vendors, I have tried to link to each of the pieces or something similar.

 

 

 

 

Ikat Art Prints    Acrylic Silk Art Pieces

 

 

 

Timothy Oulton Glass Rod Chandelier  |  MGBW Mirrored Consoles |  The Rug Company Jali Dhuri Rug

 Wilson Studded Mirror |  Rutlidge Horn Sculptures | Tufted Ottoman

 

 

 

Reece White Lacquer Desk  | Violet Hide Lamp  | Acrylic Side Chair