Out with the old, in with the new!
It's safe to say that Teresa Giudice is embarking on a new chapter in her life. Not only has The Real Housewives of New Jersey star split from husband Joe Giudice, but she also sadly lost her father, Giacinto Gorga, earlier this year.
Thus, as interior designer Jimmy DeLaurentis detailed, Teresa needed help bringing in much-needed light into her home. In an exclusive chat with E! News, Jimmy shared the inspiration for Teresa's home makeover, as well as which pieces got the boot.
"She was like my house needs a lot of work, it's dark, it's filled with old Italian stuff, Joe is gone," Jimmy told E! "She was just like, I need to feel lighter in this house. It's a huge house, everything was doom and gloom and dark, and she had memories of a lot of stuff and she just wanted to brighten it up."
Per Jimmy, "the furniture needed updating," so he recommended "really sexy furniture" to match her body-building physique.
He added, "She took me through the house room by room, and she said, you see this, this needs to go, and it's a monster house. She wanted a whole new feel. And I said the first thing you got to do is lighten up all these walls, and the windows had these big heavy drapes. She called a painter that day and the painters were there, and I walked the painters through the house that very same day."
In addition to lightening up the walls and drapes, Jimmy said they "got rid of a lot," which made room for his own chic furniture.
"All my furniture is there," he continued. "I have the two huge sofas and the two huge ottomans in the great room, and then we have some additional furniture in the foyer."
Through Jimmy, who has also worked with Bravo stars Dolores Catania, Jennifer Aydin and Lisa Vanderpump, Teresa has been able to freshen up her foyer, great room and dining room.
Although Jimmy noted that the work has been "put on hold," he'll tackle Teresa's bedroom in the near future.
"We started that a little bit, but it's on pause. We'll start it back up again when this is all over," Jimmy said in regard to the coronavirus pandemic. "We'll go back in the house when we can and put in my custom furniture, and I picked chandeliers, cocktail tables, rugs, artwork, these huge lamps I want to put all over the place and we're going to incorporate a grand piano. We have beds, but no one is allowed in the house right now. But Teresa is always like, when is my furniture coming?"
As for the bed she shared with Joe? It's gone.
"She has a new bed. She went to one store, one shop and bought all of this furniture 18 or 19 years ago and she was like, I have got to get rid of that," Jimmy relayed. "She is in a whole different place now than she was then. She is doing amazing, working her ass off."
For a taste of Teresa's redesign, scroll through the exclusive before and after images below!
Originally, Teresa's massive entryway featured Italian-inspired furniture, including giant vases and dark chairs.
Another angle of the foyer before it received a redesign!
Jimmy lightened up the space by adding crisp, white chairs and by removing older pieces.
Prior to the makeover, Teresa's great room featured dark brown furniture and drapes.
"All my furniture is custom designed, but Teresa's were extra custom because we needed large scale, that room is huge. Her ceilings are like 25 feet tall. We needed couches that were 10 feet long, normal size is about 7 to 8 feet long," Jimmy stated to E! "They're curved and really sexy. We have two next to each other, and then two large ottomans. And it's all cream, cream velvet. I chose that color because I just wanted light, because the house is that dark."
We'll be excited to see the full makeover when it's completed!
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