A Living Room Fakeover

Where is that rug from?

I’m a chronic furniture mover! Every few weeks my partner will come home and be like, “wait, wasn’t the blue chair in that corner?” and “why didn’t you wait to come home so I could help you move the couch?” Finally, for my birthday one year he got me a mini collapsible furniture dolly, haha!

I’ve been doing this for many years. Love the name, “fakeover”. Most of my things are thrifted or found and I continually rearrange. It’s a hobby and my favorite thing to do. I’m “older” now lol & I’ll continue fakeovers as long as I’m able. Btw, I get lots of compliments on my 450sq. ft. space!

I’ve been a rearranger since I was single digits. I still love a fakeover/micro rearrange/futz, in part because I love fresh starts (new year, birthday, first day of school, etc.) and because I crave order but am not always so great at maintaining it. My mom would rearrange often as I was growing up, I think in part because we were making do with the things we had and they didn’t *quite* work for the space, or she’d acquire something new and realize the entire space needed adjusting. I’d move things around in my own room (usually when it really only needed tidying), moving things before cleaning and the excitement of a new setup would get me pumped to clean up (except there were always a couple paper bags of “I’ll deal with this later” stuff).

I am currently about a month away from moving to a new house a couple states away and have already packed my trays and mementos. It has me so over my current home and eager to get unpacked at the new one so I can move things a dozen times as we’re getting settled in. I’m also really excited to unpack a pear print I bought myself to remind me of Catherine Newman’s wonderful home tour!!

Reading comments about readers rearranging with/for their children or parents has me hoping that my 6 month old will enjoy fakeovers as much as I do. Lucky for me I think it’s in her genes. :)

Our dog is a blind, deaf senior sweetheart. So we cannot move anything, ever. But I do switch out pillows, throws on the sofa and chairs, as well as the linens for dining and in the kitchen. I try to keep fresh flowers on a few surfaces that Molly won’t bump and I choose seasonal colours, textures. She always notices them, so we hold the container down to her so she can get a good sniff. Her tail never stops wagging for this.

I need to do real makeover, not just fakeover! We’ve been living in our house for 6 years but have had three little ones in those six years and were told we were moving right at start of pandemic (surprise! after a year of thinking that, we were told no, we’re not). I’m SO excited to find permanent spot for our artwork (a lot with sentimental value from my grandparents) and our furniture, and even permanent functions for our rooms (living room is officially now toy room). In the meantime, I’ve been swapping around our artwork constantly trying to figure out the best design!

Love this! Growing up, we were always renters. Because we couldn’t ever make big changes to our home, my mom was always up to rearrange or repurpose furniture or art to completely change the feel of a space. When I get the Instagram-induced urge to completely redo my place now, I’m reminded to slow down and try just one little adjustment. A different poster here or a swapped out throw pillow there can make a world of difference.

My heart ask, where did you find that coffee table? Thanks

Once we move into a space, we set up the furniture and never move it – my husband doesn’t like change. So I resort to little things like changing out linens based on the season (it’s a big deal when I bring out the Christmas dish towels), rearranging the stuff on my desk, put down more rugs for the winter season. So yeah, the small things can make a big difference. I learned this from my mom, who has a stash of decor pillows for her sofa – changing up the cushions makes a huge difference in the feel of the room.

We do this all the time too! It helps that we are both artists, so we often put new artwork on the wall, to live with it for a while to see if it passes the longevity test :0)

I like deep cleaning and moving things around-I just did my kids rooms and our bedroom. I’ve been madly attacking (cleaning) the house with fervor. I’m not sure what it is, it reminds me of nesting like right before you have your baby.

But after I move things, they have to stay there. I am a really great homemaker, and I’ve made our home really comfy and fun and it feels really satisfying knowing I’ve got things exactly where they need to live.

Oh, absolutely yes! I call it shopping the house. The best activity on a rainy or snowy Sunday when you’re stuck inside.

What timing! I’ve been going through my kid’s book and toy shelves with him slowly over the past few weeks, and today as we did the living room one I started to mull over how to rearrange things in the dining room area….. I think I’ll tackle it once he starts school!

Many years ago (the 90’s), there was a show on (HGTV?) that had two women that did this for their clients. I loved that show! I like to move our furniture around every so often too.

Move your furniture around you will be shocked what it does

All the frames on my wall have anywhere between 2-5 pieces of art/photographs stacked inside. I love buying prints and supporting artists but I only have so much wall space. Prints generally come in the same standard sizes so I just open the frame and put something new in front when I feel like a change. The rest of the art is just stored behind the mat or whatever is in front.

Some of my favorite artists/places to find art:
@noahkalina for dramatic photos
@pratt2516 for the most charming animal paintings
@ryanputnam for illustrations (he recently started doing ceramics, and I love them)

and I’m always on everythingbutthehouse.com looking for cheap auction pieces.

My Dad called it Nesting when I tried to explain what I was doing once upon a Saturday long ago. Loved him dearly and still miss him. ❤️

Am I the only one curious about what looks like a dog bed? Is there a dog?

These aren’t photos from a “recent” change — there’s snow on those bald trees!

I’m going to steal that term–“fakeover.” It describes my seasonal rearranging of furniture, art, objects, etc. to make my spaces feel refreshed. My partner hates it and my 3.5 year old cried because she disliked the recent change to the living room layout, but it’s very cathartic for me and helps me cultivate contentment with and enjoyment of my home.

I love doing small decor alterations like this. Such a quick and easy way to refresh a space!

My husband does fieldwork every fall and is gone for two to four months, for 15 years.
Every year on the evening of his departure, I rearrange the furniture.
Instead of crying, or feeling left behind, I reclaim the space as my own – a ritual that has come to symbolize prioritizing myself while he is gone, setting my intentions as I find the perfect spot for the side table (our house is small, so really, there are only two or three perfect spots).
He is leaving in a few weeks. I’ve starting looking at the living room with a critical eye, mentally plotting out this year’s configuration. I can’t wait.

I do makeovers for my design clients..fakeover name is cute but inaccurate. Nothing fake about refreshing spaces with accessories! Love it

My grandmother was from the south of France and lived in perpetual fear of a draft and catching a chill. She had fully different furniture arrangements and curtains depending on whether it was winter or summer. In winter the seating was placed further from the windows (and definitely not in front of the radiators) and the thick curtains came out. Summer meant sheer curtains and window side placements. Honestly, it worked. I long for the ability to do this, but with a traditional Victorian terrace house in London, which is lovely but not huge, most rooms really only have one layout that works. But this is an excellent idea, just switch things around!!!

Love the artwork and it’s placement and I also LOVE your windows but wouldn’t feel comfortable with everybody seeing into my living-room. Do you have blinds?