Last Summer, IKEA Canada held their “Any Space and be Beautiful” contest. People sent in photos of their boring, unlovely, or just plain icky spaces, and could get people to vote for them. The votes didn’t mean anything, though (sad!) as the winner was picked by random draw. The winner was announced back in September, but now some “after” photos have been released!
Congratulations to Tess of Calgary, Alberta!!
Here are the before photos:
Photos by IKEA / AnySpaceCanBeBeautiful.ca / Tess
In all honesty, it’s really not that bad. Not as bad as some of the other entries for sure, but it’s kind of a bland mishmash with nothing to really tie the room together. I think I recognize that clock on the wall as being from IKEA already, though! 
After $15,000 to spend at IKEA and a makeover by Karen Sealy of CityTV’s CityLine Designers and Sealy Design Inc., here are the lovely after shots:
Photos by IKEA / AnySpaceCanBeBeautiful.ca / Tess
The room now looks much more put together, with a cohesive colour scheme and lots of nice greenery.
I really love the simplicity of the TV stand, which looks like it provides lots of storage for DVDs, tuners/players, and any gaming systems this family has. The shelf above it ads more sleek storage space, and a great way to display some new, peaceful art.
I’m not overly fond of the panelled walls, but maybe that’s just me. Those little blue glasses all across the back wall look really neat and add more pops of colour, but all I can think of is that they’d be a pain to dust.
What do you think of the makeover? Would you change anything if it was your place?
What would you do with $15,000 to spend at IKEA?
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Wow . . . I just had to comment on this. I love IKEA, but this room was done terribly. There is WAY too much crap in it. This is the opposite of simplicity. Can you even move? And I agree that the paneled walls look awful. CityLine Designers should be embarrassed.
Definitely agree with Ben – this after room looks awful. There is way too much stuff jammed in, and the desk/chair behind the couch is unnecessary. I think I like the old room better, the panels on the walls are hideous.
Since the photos were for a contest and the interior designer had to follow the demands of their customer and what he/she needed in their home, it is hard to evaluate their work on a proper manner.
We don’t know if the blue glasses were removed right after the photo was taken in order to avoid the day-to-day dusting and cleaning… the space seems small… just points of consideration.
I am not an interior designer or linked to the firm at all, but I moved several times in my life and I wish I had some designer help everytime I created a new home. It is not easy
I don’t like the pillows in the after pics too many of them. But I like the new layout I guess and I really like the new TV!