LA-based interior and furniture designer Jason Martin recently launched an e-decorating service called DIY+, for those "who want help with a design project but wish to complete the project on their own and in their own time." If you're willing to make the purchases on your own and put your new furnishings in place, with just a few emails and phone calls, you can essentially get the look of a full-service redesign. 
I was intrigued by the concept and decided to check out Martin's work, and stumbled upon quite a few drastic makeovers. This Highland living room was one of my favorite makeovers. The purple sofas (with red pillows — eek!), to begin with, were an eyesore, and poorly arranged. Really, it just looks jumbled (see curtains), dreary, and there's no cohesive design scheme. To see how Martin changed that, read more.
Martin's redesign is simply comfortable, literally and visually. He chose a neutral palette with a few pops of color to give the room a relaxed vibe — as living rooms should be. From the tripod floor lamp to the straight-armed, curved-bottom sofa, each furnishing has a great form. One sofa and two chairs versus two sofas opens up the space immediately, relieving the cramped feeling. And having the seats face each other magically creates a more social atmosphere. A low coffee table and floor pillows make the room even more comfortable, and offer spare seating. He also replaced the rigid, lonesome dining chair in the corner with two comfortable arm chairs and a small table by the window, creating an additional seating area altogether. I love it! It's not overly decorated, but it has a wonderful flow and it's cozy. What do you think?
Source
Halston
Club des Crﾎateurs de Beautﾎ
BDL by Ben de Lisi
Love this! That fireplace and stair railing are really nice! I love what they did with the area rug made from carpet tiles!
1is that the same room. what happened to the window to the left of the fireplace?
2The window is still there, if you look at the first "after" picture you can see it. The prints are hung under the window.
3Yeah I noticed that too lickety split. I think it's just glare, though, because otherwise the lampshade wouldn't have such a crazy bright reflection on it.
4Jason Martin is one of my favorite designers, he also has some great pictures on the designing sponge.
5I like the "after," too. However, for my personal taste, it's overly accessorized. Generally, I prefer my interiors to be more pure and minimal.
6Wow, it's gorgeous! The puppy really polishes it off well
7it's really really nice.
8this is a great size room and with fab features such as the fire place and window in situ already, all it needed was a little tlc.
great work x
It's gorgeous, I love that fireplace.
9Excellent use of the time-tested sophisticated loft-style palette. Great transfer of linearity of fireplace to the floor in the striped carpet tiles. The choice of the curvilinear coffee table justaposed to the linearity of the carpet and then repeated in the orange pillows really finishes it off. Good job.
10Oops... typo on my comment above. That's "juxtaposed." I'm a newbie and not sure how to edit posts, but I love this site!
11Not my style but great "after" just the same.
12I love the transformation from the colors to the placement of the furniture. Great Makeover!
13I think it's a step in the right direction, but overall too stark. I like the warmth that was in the first photo-- and all the black and white lines in the second photo make me crazy. I would have incorporated more color, less clashy shapes, imho.
14I think it is an unfair comparison. One pic was taken dead of night and the other is noon. OF COURSE it seems so bright and open it's Day!
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