As you may have heard, West Elm held a design event in each of its stores on Saturday.  So bright and early Saturday morning, I dragged my sister over to West Elm for a morning filled with gorgeous home furnishings and tasty little muffins from Williams-Sonoma (the parent company of West Elm).  What a great start to the day!

I wasn’t quite sure what to expect – for some reason I thought the presentation would include a debut of the fall line.  That didn’t happen, but I was pleased to find that West Elm has taken note of the crazy economy and chose to demonstrate cool and easy ways to revamp your home decor for under $500 – who couldn’t use tips like that?  

The design consultants focused on whipping up quick and affordable switcheroos for the living room, bedroom and dining room.  Here’s a quick recap:

1.  Living Room.  Redecorating a living room can get pretty darn expensive really quickly.  While we’ve all been told to keep the big pieces neutral and update with accessories, seeing the West Elm sample living room transform from a spring look to a fall look really drove home that point.

The living room kept these major pieces constant throughout both looks – the contemporary sectional upholstered in a neutral cream color, the console table and matching white lamps, the gorgeous mirrored side table, the square espresso coffee table, and the vignette on the coffee table with the white lacquered tray and potted succulent.  The only items that received the ol’ switcheroo were the rug, curtains, pillow covers, and a single item in the coffee table vignette (and the throw was also added).  

My camera trigger finger wasn’t moving quite quickly enough to catch the “before” spring shot, so I’ll just describe it for you – the rusty-orange curtains were a crisp white, the rug was chocolate and blue with an abstract circle pattern (here), and the pillow covers had pops of sassy blue.  Not a bad switcheroo for under $500, right?  I’m especially impressed that the budget transformation included switching out the rug – those suckers can get expensive!

2.  Bedroom.  The design consultants really focused on giving the bedroom the feeling of a boutique hotel.  The transformation began with just a basic bed – white organic cotton sheets and pillows.  Pretty boring.

With the addition of a classic, pin-tuck duvet and two Euro shams, the bed was on its way.  Including a barely-blue blanket at the end of the bed and a matching woven pillow amped up the wow factor of this bed in a snap.  I’m a huge fan of the simple aesthetic of the pin-tuck duvet – it’s so versatile that it can fit into virtually any design scheme, from modern to traditional to cottage to adult to teen.  Love it!

The design consultants tried to convince us that the pillows don’t have to be lined up in a traditional fashion, and demonstrated this combo look:

I, for one, am not sold.  What do you think?  Is it the next big thing or is it too weird to have in your own home?

3.  Dining Room.  My husband and I are the kind of people that usually eat dinner on the couch – we’re heathens, I know.  Maybe that will change someday, but I’m not holding my breath.  I was inspired, however, by the four different place settings that West Elm debuted on Saturday – maybe we’ve been missing out by not setting the table for every meal.  

The consultant recommended buying 1 entire set of matching dishes in white, and then purchasing smaller 4-person sets of other dishes that strike your fancy.  I thought this was a great idea, which would allow you to mix and match and create endless different looks without investing tons of money.

Each of the four place settings below were designed for a different occasion – a typical evening meal at home, an outdoor dinner, a festive lunch, and a low-key summer brunch.

Which one is your favorite?  Mine is the “lunch” place setting with the square dishes, silver dipping bowl and punchy orange napkin.  I love the angles of the dishes and the contrast between the vibrant napkin and the crisp, white dishes.  I also think simply folding the napkin under a smaller plate is much less fussy and formal than a bona fide napkin ring.  Love it!

I’m also digging the centerpiece that you can see in the last photo – an arrangement of three hurricanes in varying sizes is versatile enough to grace your dining room table year-round.  Add some shells in the summer, tiny ornaments in the winter, sea glass, river rocks, brown rice or dried beans, floral moss, sand . . . you can use just about anything to dress those puppies up or down in a hurry.

So what’s your favorite thing from the West Elm design event?  I’m stuck on the easy living room switcheroo, the pin-tuck duvet and the lunch-time place setting . . . 

Don’t forget that today is the last day to leave a comment on any post for a chance to win a ton of awesome products from Gorilla Glue in the IGTBH Gnarly Giveaway!!!  More details about the Gnarly Giveaway can be found here.