Strictly decoration, no renovation 

AFTER

Photo Marrie-Lyne Quirion/via Apartment Therapy

BEFORE After spending 18 years in the same home, I decided it was time for me to move on and create a new home. It took me quite a while to find a rental that I could decorate without having to renovate. At first site this apartment did not seem to have much to offer, but I soon realized that it had great windows and a fantastic very long balcony, already there were two things that were on my must have list. There was also a 12 inch deep  alcove at one end of the apartment where the dining area was originally set up. I really needed a space for a long bookshelf and this alcove was ideal, my book shelves would be 13 inches deep, but I could cheat easily as decoration is always a bit of an illusion.

AFTER

Photo Marrie-Lyne Quirion/via Apartment TherapyThis is the left side of the living room when you look at it  facing the window. I already had solar shades as window treatment, but I found it looked a bit cold and bare so I added some very simple lined white cotton canvas drapes with a  white cotton 6 inches fringe that I found in a second hand store. Basically the drapes  are just there to bring warmth and texture to the window, they really have no utility, but I find drapes quite important in a room with lots of windows, unless you have a spectacular view.

The colour of the walls are Cloud white CC40 Benjamin Moore.

BEFORE
These are Billy bookshelves from Ikea, they were the perfect size for this alcove. I bought some moldings from Home Depot, these moldings would create an effect of built in bookshelves, a lot less pricey than having them built to measure.

AFTER

Photo Marrie-Lyne Quirion/via Apartment Therapy
This room used to be the dining room, fortunately I could install a strip of light from Home Depot, the shades are crystal glass and I painted the metal base gold, which harmonized better with my traditional furniture and decor.

Now you can see how different my Ikea bookshelves look with these Home Depot mouldings. There was a couple of inches left on top of the shelves so I could lay some books horizontally  Most of my furniture comes from my family, the desk was in my mother’s office, the blue and white plates are antique Talavera porcelain from Spain, the rug is a hand made Aubusson from Indiport Montreal. The yellow sofa bed is from Cameo Montreal, the silver bouillotte lamp is from La Maison Française in Los Angeles. The Chinese duck egg pot planter table I got in China town a long time ago for $30.00, it has a dragon pattern and my Chinese zodiac sign is Dragon, so I immediately wanted to acquire it and turned it into a side table. The blue paper mache Lion on top of the shelves is a Gemma Taccogna an Italian American artist who opened a boutique in Mexico and eventually became very famous for her paper mache art and  some of her work was bought by The Tate gallery in London and other Museums. I was lucky I bought it in 1968 for $60.00.

I believe decorative objects are important in the decoration of houses.

Chinese Duck egg pot planter, The Chinese used this planter to transport and store duck eggs, apparently the eggs could keep for hundreds of years, these eggs are a Chinese delicacy.

This is the Artist Gemma Taccogna  with her paper mache art.

BEFORE This is Valerie installing the mouldings on the Ikea bookshelves. We also secured the bookshelves to the wall.

AFTER

Photo Marrie-Lyne Quirion/via Apartment TherapyI think that my Mom’s desk was probably a vanity originally, but it is also perfect as a desk.

BEFOREThis area was used as a den. it is now my dining room, but there was no electrical outlet on the ceiling, 

BEFORE

This apartment already had ogee mouldings all around the rooms, these mouldings brought an architectural element to my home as my decoration is quite traditional.

In order to electrify the ceiling, Suzanne my electrician had to fish a wire right in the moulding (ogee) near the ceiling, then Valerie installed a moulding right across the room to hide the wire. 

AFTER

Photo Marrie-Lyne Quirion/via Apartment TherapyIf you look up above the mirror, you will see the ceiling moulding that hides the electrical wire.

I used the hotel banquet table as my dining room table and covered it with a blue silk throw. the dishes are Japanese Satsuma ware that my parents bought in Japan in 1966, 

AFTER

Photo Marrie-Lyne Quirion/via Apartment TherapyI designed this white chicken wire armoire, painted it with a coat of pale blue and then with white latex diluted in a bit of water to give it a distressed look, as a protection I used a latex varnished  and I lined it with a white and blue striped fabric for a  contrast.

AFTER

Photo Marrie-Lyne Quirion/via Apartment Therapy

The decogirlmontreal portrait is by Charles Pachter a Canadian artist who once painted Queen Elizabeth on a moose, except she did not pose for this painting.

Queen E. on a Canadian moose.

The colour of the walls are: Cloud white CC40 Benjamin Moore.

The antique sideboard in the living room is from: La Maison Française in Los Angeles

The antique silver bouillotte lamp is from: La Maison Française in Los Angeles

The yellow sofa bed is from: Cameo Montreal

The Aubusson hand made rug is from: Indiport in Montreal

The bookshelves are Billy from: Ikea

Mouldings on Ikea bookshelves are from: Home Depot

The French blue bergères fabric is Alcantara from: CM Textile Montreal

Dining table throw is from: Kravet

The silver candlesticks on top of the white armoire are from: Birks

Stay tuned my lovelies, tomorrow I will show you my bedroom, office, bathroom and hallway of my BEFORE AND AFTER No renovation only decoration.

The post Moving into a rental apartment without renovating appeared first on Decogirl Montreal.