SMALL COTTAGE KITCHEN MAKEOVER - BEFORE & AFTER

Was on HGTV Canada's site and found this cute cottage kitchen makeover by designer Sarah Richardson.  In this transformation, Richardson took a small dark outdated cottage kitchen...and turned into a bright light cheerful space.

See this cool transformation below:

BEFORE - This galley style kitchen was dingy and cramped with old cabinets, tile and counters. (below)

AFTER - A new white kitchen, with crystal pendant lights over a newly created bar pass though.  Brass accents, stainless steel appliances and a sparkling mosaic tile backsplash finish off the look! (below)

Love the white counters (TE and I had a "discussion" over white vs. black counters the other day...no debates on world issues...just countertops) and all of the brass accents.  Very nice end result!

Happy Tuesday!

xo
Coco

P.S.  Here is one more from our new COCOCOZY Embroidered Pillow Collection.  Our Burgundy Wellesley pillow!

COCOCOZY Wellesley Embroidered pillow in burgundy - 20"x20" (above)

P.P.S. FOLLOW ME on COCOCOZY INSTAGRAM - Follow me on COCOCOZY Instagram to find out which pillow I would match with the one above. Also, follow me there to see the latest...including a fab house I drive by every day in Beverly Hills, and the guy in my life who needs a hair cut and there is even a shot of me (kind of)!  I update Instagram frequently with personal pictures and more!

GWYNETH PALTROW'S GUEST APARTMENT - BEFORE & AFTER

Cute window seat at Gwyneth Paltrow's new guest apartment at her Los Angeles mansion (above)

Last week, best of friend AT who lives in London sent me a link to actress Gwyneth Paltrow's style site Goop.  On Goop, there was a makeover of a guest apartment.  AT was sending me the link suggesting that I should do more makeovers on my blog.

Well, the minute I clicked on the link...I recognized the room...I had been in the room 2.5 years ago...one night at a glittery party...the opening night of a showcase home presented by Veranda magazine.

The room is in a gorgeous multimillion dollar home right in Brentwood.  I had attended a party there with my friend JD which resulted in a several blog posts with pictures I took.  See here for my House of Windsor photos and stories.

Anyhoo, about a year after I was at the party, actress Gwyneth Paltrow and her uber rock star husband Chris Martin bought it.

So the room was originally designed by Martyn Lawrence Bullard...it was a mod bachelor apartment above the garage...with black leather furniture, a bold fabric covering the walls...very retro.

Here is how Gwyneth and team made over the room into a cute guest apartment...in today's BEFORE & AFTER!

Coldplay rock star Chris Martin & his wife Gwyneth Paltrow at last night's Golden Globe Awards (above)

Gwyneth Paltrow & Chris Martin's $10 million dollar estate off of Mandeville Canyon in Los Angeles. (above)

BEFORE (below)

BEFORE - For the show house, the apartment was decorated with a very retro vibe with black and green furniture choices that made the room heavy...walls also featured lots of art layered on top of the bold wallcovering...making the space a bit busy. (above)

DURING (below)

DURING - While trying to plan out a new space, all vestiges of the show house decor except for the bold wallpaper were removed.

AFTER (below)

AFTER - The once dark feeling space is transformed into a lovely bright guest apartment with a white bed, sitting area, desk and kitchenette. (above)

What do you think of this room makeover?  Do you have any photos of rooms you have transformed in your house...if so, please email pictures to me and maybe I'll show off your before and after.  My email is cococozy@cococozy.com!

A big huge thank you to AT for sharing the Goop story with me!  AT has fabulous ideas...always!

Happy Monday!

xo
Coco

P.S.  Nice weekend...TE took me out to dinner at Mr. Chow's on Saturday night.  We had a great time.  Sis DS was supposed to come but she had a cold.  Hope you feel better sis DS!

P.P.S.  TE had to work on Sunday...so as a good girlfriend...I watched his 49ers win against North Carolina. I spent the entire game texting him.  Oh I did leave to go get a tea at Starbucks and missed some of the key plays.  TE was texting but I was talking to a neighbor after getting my tea so I missed a chunk.  When I got back home, he started asking me via text which play I thought was better etc...I faked it for awhile but then had to fess up that as a good girlfriend, I had to have tea and chat with my neighbor during an important football play off game!  Do not feel sorry for TE...he watched most of the game himself... he had his team set up a huge t.v. with the game on it at the place where he was working...so he didn't miss much either!

P.P.P.S.  Best of friend AM and I are trying to figure out ways to drop holiday pounds with the least amount of pain and effort...we talked several times this weekend scheming...she at least is doing Soul Cycle 4 times a week...hmmmm....need to get on this!


Photos: Goop; Veranda

COLLECTIBLE STYLE IN A ONE BEDROOM NYC APARTMENT - BEFORE & AFTER

Should start off by saying Happy Halloween. Was walking to get my morning tea and ran into someone dressed as a headless horseman...hmmm...Happy Halloween?

Anyhooo...Love this cute 1250 square foot, one bedroom, one bath, West Village apartment in New York City. It was transformed into a beautiful tropical feeling space filled with personal collected items by French socialite Rebecca de Ravenel. Rebecca's New York City apartment is featured on Vogue magazine's website.

Rebecca moved into the space and transformed it with vintage finds from antique and flea markets, treasures from her family, and pieces from her travels.  Beautiful textiles from Raul Textiles and Quadrille in vibrant blues and whites.

Before, she did her magic, the apartment was a nice but regular garden space in desperate need of a face lift.  Heres is the before and after!

LIVING ROOM BEFORE (below)

Before -Before Rebecca redecorated, the living room decor lacked life and personality. (above)

LIVING ROOM AFTER (below)

After - Living room is transformed with the a sitting area in blue and white. (above)

DINING ROOM BEFORE (below)

Before - The dining room area blends into the background even though it is on a raised platform (above)

DINING ROOM AFTER (below)

After - a modern Saarinen tulip table in white is surrounded by rattan chairs with a woven buffet cabinet on the side...the palm tree in the background defines the space and gives it an island vibe (above)

BEDROOM BEFORE (below)

Before - The bedroom is basically bland with white walls. (above)

BEDROOM AFTER (below)

After - With the walls covered in a cute Quadrille blue and white paisley and the canopy bed, the bedroom now makes a stylish statement (above)

What do you think of this New York City before and after redecorate? Like or dislike?

Happy Thusday! Happy Halloween!

xo
Coco

P.S. COCOCOZY PRESS ALERT - Forgot to let you know that our COCOCOZY Loop Rug in Pink made the pages of Luxe Magazine in the Octoher 2013 issue! Was so excited to see our rug on the same page as some very prestigious brands! Also a little surreal as well!  Best of friend AM is a huge fan of all things pink.  She chose this color pink for the COCOCOZY collection...AM should be proud that her pink colorway pick made the pages of a glossy magazine!

COCOCOZY Loop Rug featured in the October issue of Luxe Magazine (above)

CHINOISERIE CHIC BEDROOM MAKEOVER - BEFORE & AFTER

After - A gold Chinoiserie screen adds elan to the bedroom decor (above)

Found this bedroom on Style by Emily Henderson blog in a story about a home makeover.  But there were no before pictures of the room.  After a little digging around on the interweb (my name for the web or internet or the webnet or whatever), I found the before photo on Hommemaker blog.  Tah dah!  The research here was easy just a few clicks but I found it.  Waiting for the applause...waiting...all I hear is silence...hmmmm...

As an aside, I feel like I am totally an internet sleuth.  I can find practically anything on the internet that I need.  The other day I was on the phone with my guy TE and he was talking about some people he knew and I happened to be on my computer so I Googled them and found out lots of backstory.  Within seconds of TE mentioning their names, I was telling him all about them.  TE, a guy's guy definitely, was shocked and amazed and I think slightly disturbed -  as if I had pulled a rabbit out of a hat and then pulled a baby Koala out of the hat too or something.  He couldn't comprehend that I even had this information..."What are you saying?  How do you know this?  Where did you find this out?" were his questions.  There was nothing bad I was telling him.  I just did one search and all of the information appeared.  I just knew things like where the people were born, where they lived now, if desired, I could even have found out how much they bought their last house for.  To this day, TE still thinks I am some sort of wizard because I found out this information. Wizard in a neutral way...not good and not bad...but a bizarre information wizard.  Note: Lesson learned, do not tell boyfriend of almost a year that you are an internet super sleuth, he may always look at you as if you are a bizarre information wizard.  Hmmm...

Oh yes...back to this room.  I love the after.  I guess it was styled by Emily H. and Orlando S. (it's his room).  It seems Orlando had some of the basics to start...good wall color (a gray blue of some kind) and a nice rug. So Emily and Orlando, I guess styled the room by bringing in the gold from the rug. They added touches like brass wall lamps, new white bedding with a wonderful rich yellow accent pillow, new nightstands with brass pull and finally the piece de resistance, the gold Chinoiserie painted screen above the bed as wall art!  LOVE!

Before - the room was in good shape but lacked just a bit of zing. (above)

After - White bedding with brown trim and new accessories in brass and gold, warm up the bedroom. (above)

Very nice indeed.

What do you think of this bedroom makeover? Would you have added anything else?

Happy Thursday!

xo
Coco

P.S. Am heading to NYC for a few days next week and I still haven't bought my ticket! Oy va voy! I will be seeing best of friend AM, her sweet hubby JE and their darling kids. I can't wait.

P.P.S. Throwing a baby shower this weekend for dear sweet friends AG and TG. A co-ed couples shower. We have 5 co-hosts and over 50 people coming. I am in charge of food (made it easy on myself though (am not Wonder Woman)...with so many people, I just called a caterer and am having them handle...simple fix). Should be fun. I'll take pictures. We are throwing it at TG's sister JH's lovely Hancock Park home. It should be fun. I need to get a gift for the baby. Arghhh...what do I get...it is hard to shop for babies...EVERYTHING is cute. Help! Oh TE is coming with...I've warned him that guys will have to participate in the shower games. He's down for the challenge.

P.P.P.S. Mom and sis DS are in Paris. They keep sending me gorgeous photos of lovely meals, beautiful art, enchanting scenes from the streets of Paris. Am happy for them...wish I could be there...next year!!!

PANEL PERFECT DIY LIVING ROOM - BEFORE & AFTER

Discovered an interiors blog this weekend called Chris Loves Julia.  When looking at my blog traffic statistics, I noticed that a few people were clicking to my blog from theirs.  So I had to check out it out.

Turns out the blog is about a couple who does DIY projects on their home.  Hats off to anyone who can take on do-it-yourself home improvement projects and see them all the way through!

One of the projects this couple took on was transforming their living room.  The after is this dark paneled living room above.  It seems, the couple (Chris & Julia) got some inspiration from this photo I had posted below awhile back on dark rooms!

The couple wanted to make a dramatic statement in their then lavender living room...they bought the supplies and then did it themselves...see the transformation below.

INSPIRATION - Inspiration photo from this COCOCOZY post on dark rooms (above)

BEFORE - Chris & Juia's living room - neutral with a graphic rug and a lavender or purple feature wall (above)

DURING - The couple took it upon themselves to create their own high design paneled wall...it started with painting the wall  a matte finish charcoal gray then framing out paneling with wood boards. (above)

AFTER - The white sofa now pops against the dramatic dark wood paneled wall! (above)

What do you think about this wall before and after?  Do you like the end result?  I do.  I think it is fantastic!

The project took them two days and cost $117!  Nice work Chris & Julia.

To see more on their project, click here.

Happy Monday!

xo
Coco

DEN DO OVER - THIS OR THAT

Neutral casual den (above)

Which version of this den do you like best.  Same room...two totally different looks.

The version of this room above is very neutral - white drapes, an off white solid rug, a leather mid century modern leather sofa and modern built ins and desk against the wall.

Below, the room's decor is punched up quite a bit with bold striped drapes, a vibrant blue rug, shiny brass accessories and more.

Which version of this room do you like best?

Bold den with an attitude (above)

Neutral/chic vs. Bold/attitude...which do you prefer?

Can you guess which version of this den is the later version? The do over so to speak?

Happy Thursday!

xo

Coco

P.S. COCOCOZY Pillow Giveaway - Head over to Interior Collective to read my guest post and find out how you can enter to possibly win a COCOCOZY Pillow!

Photos: House & Home

$29 MILLION DOLLAR HAMPTONS ESTATE - TO STAGE OR NOT TO STAGE - SEE THIS HOUSE (AGAIN)

Okay.  What do you do if you have a massive brand new empty $35 million dollar Hamptons estate listed on the market with no nibbles?  Let's see...what would I do...?  Hmmm...?  Thinking...?  Hmmm...?  A first world "problem" - I know.  A non-dilemma dilemma that must be figured out!

The answer to the first question is two fold...lower the price and stage the house with furniture and then see what happens.

That's exactly what was decided for this 12,000 square foot mansion with 7 bedrooms and 7 baths sitting right on Georgica Pond in the Hamptons.  The home is listed by Sotheby's.

About two years ago, I did a post here on COCOCOZY featuring this exact home when it was empty and was listed at $35 million dollars.

Now the home is cautiously filled with an edited selection of furniture and the price has been lowered to $29,999,995.

Unstaged - Empty living room in Hamptons estate with parquet floors and oak paneled walls. (above)

Staged - Living room now features two sets of furniture in front of each fireplace. (above)

Unstaged -  Large empty living room needs something to warm it up! (above)

Staged - Open kitchen area, breakfast nook and sitting area feature understated white furniture. (above)

Unstaged - The empty chef's kitchen with dark stained wood floors. (above)

Staged - Master bedroom features a modern upholstered bed, some lamps and nightstand. (above)

Unstaged - The wood paneling and the windows play center stage in an empty master suite. (above)

Aerial view of the exterior of this waterfront Hamptons estate. (above)

I liked this house way back when it was a blank slate - empty...no furniture...allowed me to dream.  In my view, the staging here doesn't really add or detract.  It serves a practical purpose of showing buyers what the house looks like furnished.  Let's see what happens now!

What do you think of this mansion before and after of sorts?  Do you like the home better staged with furniture or as an empty blank slate?  Do tell in the comments below!

Happy Monday!

xo
Coco

P.S.  Am back from Atlanta.  Was fun catching up with everyone. Will share market roundup soon.  Please check me out at @COCOCOZY on  COCOCOZY Twitter or COCOCOZY Instagram - I shared a few pictures from market and a video too!

BEFORE & AFTER: A VIRGINIA FAMILY ROOM REDO!

I love a decor before and after.

I like the idea of transforming a space...taking something old, re-purposing it and making it into something new.  Simple concept and it works for me every time.

So lucky me that I got an email last week from Christine K. from Virginia interior design firm JWS Interiors.  Christine was sharing the pictures of a family room in 5500 square foot Northern Virginia that had been redecorated for a family of 4 and their dog.

When the family wanted a fresh modern update to their old den, they called in interior designer Jennifer Wagner Schmidt from JWS to do the job.

Jennifer immediately said good bye to the mustard yellow paint on the walls and changed it out for a neutral gray.  The exposed brick fireplace had also been painted yellow but in the redo the fireplace is put into relief by being painted a bright pure white.  The old traditional furniture was exchanged out for pieces with cleaner more contemporary lines and a striped rug was added in to ground the space making it a pleasant spot to hang out in.

A picture tells a thousand words...so I'll let you take a look at today's BEFORE & AFTER!

Before (above)

After! (above)

What do you think of this before and after?  What change do you think works the most?  Please do tell!

I like the new gray color scheme and the transformation to the fireplace the best...a simple coat of paint makes all of the difference.

Happy Tuesday!

xo
Coco

BEFORE & AFTER: A D.C. TOWNHOUSE TRANSFORMATION!

Before and after views of the living room in aWashington D.C. townhouse that was recently totally remodeled and redesigned! (above)

Here's a never before seen BEFORE & AFTER look at a home featured in the May issue of House Beautiful magazine!

The "after" was created by Los Angeles designer Hillary Thomas of Hillary Thomas Designs, New York designer Jeff Lincoln and architectural firm Franck & Lohsen Architects in a bi coastal collaboration on a multi million dollar 1960's townhouse in Washington D.C.

House Beautiful did a lovely story on the completed project after the designers took to it.  But, here on COCOCOZY, for the first time, you can see what the home looked like before it was remodeled, re-designed and re-imagined by the design and architecture team.

The newly envisioned home now features design touches that makes each room stand out - including golden wallpaper, painted ceilings, Murano glass pendant lights, colorful tile and so much more.

It has been ages and ages since I've done a post showing pre-remodel vs. post. So today, I'm happy to bring you this BEFORE & AFTER!

DINING ROOM

KITCHEN

SOLARIUM

MASTER BEDROOM

Thank you to Hillary Thomas Designs partner and Co-Founder Clara Hendon for sending me the before photos.  So appreciate it...thank you for thinking of COCOCOZY!

Readers, what do you think of this Before & After transformation?  What is your favorite new element? Do tell!

Happy Wednesday!

xo
Coco

P.S. COCOCOZY GIVEAWAY REMINDER - So far over 200 of you have entered and if you haven't there's still time. You still have a few hours to go to enter the COCOCOZY Giveaway - see yesterday's blog post for details. Remember to enter by noon PST/3pm EST today!  Am giving away a cute luxe COCOCOZY throws to two lucky readers!  So don't miss out on a try!  Will announce winners on Friday!

P.P.S.  Design Non Sequitur - Was chatting with my neighbor JH when I got from home from work last night.  Someone drove by us and JH waved and yelled "Hi Beverly".  I said, "Who's that?".  Our tiny street is a dead end and there are just a few dozen houses on our street so I wanted to know who was driving down our little trail.  JH said, "Don't you know?  That's Beverly.  Beverly Hill.  She's lived on the street forever."  Apparently I have a neighbor named Beverly Hill!  Couldn't Google her because only thing that came up was information on the city Beverly Hills.  Then JH went onto say, "I used to know a woman named Holly Wood too.".  Hmmm...


Photos: House Beautiful; Home Visit