LIVING ROOM/FOYER BEFORE AND AFTER

Well, well, well, summer seems to have come and almost gone.  

 While I was an absentee blogger, I did mange to squeeze in some design work.

I started a fun project back in the winter, 

and wrapped it up just in time for a big Memorial Day weekend party. 

The project entailed designing a casual living room for a young family.

This was a repeat client.  I shared the plans for their foyer here. 

When I photographed the finished living room, 

I was finally able to take some "after" photos of the foyer space too.

After a few minor revisions, our design plan looked like this......

This is what the room looked like when before we got started.....

And this is the finished product..... 

Another before shot...

And after...

This corner needed just a few minor updates.

An accordion sconce and some framed photos of local attractions.

The room lacked overhead lighting.

So we added matching lamps and a console to another corner of the room.

A floor lamp in the opposite corner of the room helps provide a little extra light.

One more look at the room before.

Quite a transformation, right!

This was the plan for the foyer and upstairs landing area.

It previously looked like this....

And now......

 They just recently had the banister painted black.  I love it!

We added a modern light to the foyer. 

My clients already had some amazing photos from their travels.  

We had a few enlarged and hung them on the wall in the stairway landing. 

We added some framed family photos to the upstairs landing. 

The wall color is BM Revere Pewter.  One of my all time favorites. 

 School starts next week.  I love summer and I love my kids, but I also love me some peace and quiet.  

I can't quite seem to gather my thoughts amongst all the chaos of three kids being home all summer. 

Starting next week, my thoughts shall be gathered. 

Which may translate into more blog posts. 

SUMMER E-DESIGN SPECIAL

We have two days left in the school year.   I am looking forward to a laid back and fun summer.  

We have done quite a bit of traveling this year, so we will most likely be sticking close to home this summer.  With not much on the schedule, I am planning to continue working through the summer.  However, with three kids at home, my flexibility is pretty limited.  

I love working on e-designs and it offers me the flexibility of working from home 

and setting my own hours.  

I am offering a summer e-design special rate.  I will still be doing a limited about of local consultations.  If you are interested in booking an appointment,  you can contact me here.

Here are a few examples of my e-design work. 

SUMMER E-DESIGN RATES

Living Room/Dining Room/Kitchen/Bedroom/Office/Playroom:  $200

Bathroom/Foyer:  $150

E-design includes the following:

Suggested room layout (if necessary)

Suggested furniture, paint colors, lighting, window treatments, wall art and accessories

All sources for items and any special notes needed to complete the design will be included

50% deposit will be due upon booking the e-design.

The remaining 50% will be due upon delivery of the e-design.

Rates are good for all e-designs booked through the end of August, 2015. 

If you are interested in purchasing an e-design, please contact me here.

I will hopefully be back later this week to post some "after" pictures of a project I recently completed.
I love a good before and after post, don't you?

Have a great week!

ADDING LIFE TO A LIVELY HOME

Back in the Spring, the sweetest woman, Anne, contacted me about making some changes in the home she shares with her husband and six kids. You read that correctly, six kids. 

They had two biological children and they ended up adopting four more children from China. 

They are one amazing family!

 You can read more about their story here, here and here.

Since they added so much "life" to their family, they really wanted to add some life to their home. 

My main objective was to add some much needed color to the family room and foyer.

Here was our plan..... 

We started here......

And now.......

The drapes were custom made and really bring "life" to the family room.

The bookcase from Ballard added storage and display space to the kitchen area. 

This is how the foyer looked before....

And now, after adding cherished family photos and the thin console that was in the kitchen 

(now painted BM Hale Navy).

We also added the rug to bring even more color into the foyer. 

The dining room gets a ton of use in this house.  The kids use it as their homework station.

We made a few simple changes in here.

This is where we started......

Walls were painted BM Hale Navy.

We added some original art from China, a gorgeous card catalog/buffet and some simple lamps.

Why oh why do builders insist on putting thermostats right smack dab in the middle of a wall?

Baffling!

We added some square frames with oversize linen mats to help disguise the thermostat. 

Pictures from their travels to China will fill the frames. 

I purchased these gorgeous drapes from an estate sale.  The worked perfectly in this space.

I was in a hurry on the final install day 

and I wasn't able to take as many photos as I would have liked. 

I plan on stopping by soon to take a few more.  I will share them soon.

Now that we are well into our back to school routine, I am busy again working.

It seems like people always want to take on decorating projects right before the holidays. 

I know it's only August, but my upholsterer/seamstress is already booked out to mid-October.  

If you are interested in working together to create a unique and inviting space in your home, 

feel free to contact me here. 

A huge thanks to Anne (and her amazing family) 

for allowing me to help create a space that truly reflects their personalities.

DINING ROOM & OFFICE DESIGN

I recently completed designs for a dining room and office. 

The couple live in a beautiful home just a few years old. 

Their decor and paint colors are fairly neutral.  They were looking to liven things up a bit.

They had their eyes on a beautiful dining table and buffet. 

Other than that, they were open to ideas.

Here are my ideas...... 

For this design, I started with the rug. 

I love a good traditional rug that will last forever. 

They were open to mixing up the chairs.  

I also provided two lighting options.

I think the red lanterns would be perfect in this space.

Here are my ideas for the office.....

They sent me several different room layout options 

and wanted me to help them decide which one would work best.  

I settled on the one I thought would give them the best working space and optimal TV viewing.

They already had a desk/hutch and they wanted to add more desk space.

I suggested softening the windows with drapes.

I also recommended adding some colorful local maps and personal travel photographs. 

A nice upholstered swivel chair would be perfect for this space too.

This project is on hold for now, while they take their time making decisions.

I really enjoyed working on these designs and wanted to share them.

Other than squeezing in a little work, I have been in full summer mode; 

staying up late, sleeping in, spending time at the pool, soaking it all in.

I hate to think this way, but my oldest child only has six more summers 

until she graduates from high school.  Yikes!  

I don't want to look back on this time and wish I had been more present.

So forgive me if my posts are few and far between.

I hope you're having an amazing summer!

Thanks for stopping by.

A COZY FAMILY ROOM DESIGN

I have been working on a family room design for a repeat client. 

I helped her make a few changes to her dining room last year 

We also tackled the foyer at that time.  She originally wanted to work on the living room too, 

but we decided to hold off until we could do a complete makeover.  

I talked about her smart design decision here.

When she contacted me recently, it was to finally work on the living room.

When I went to meet with her, she mentioned she would also like to make a few

changes in the family room (the room where they spend most of their time).

We got a little side tracked again and decided to go for more than a few changes in the family room.

Once again, the living room got put on the back burner.

Don't worry, we will get to it.

But for now, this family room makeover is going to be something!

Here's our plan........

This lovely couple spent some time out West before they had children.

They have a couple pieces of art they collected and we plan to incorporate those into the room,

along with a few other items with a southwestern vibe.

The room is not huge.  

We decided a sectional was the best way to get the maximum amount of seating.

Resurfacing the brick fireplace with stone was not part of the initial "make a few changes" plan.

It took a little convincing, but fortunately, 

they were open to the idea and moved forward with it right away.

The walls were painted with BM Revere Pewter.  

I would love to see the built ins on either side of the fireplace painted in BM Creekside Green.

Still keeping my fingers crossed that they go for it.

  

The carpet has been replaced, the fireplace resurfaced, the walls painted and the sectional delivered.

It's finally time for the fun part. 

I am currently on the hunt for some unique accessories to fill up the built-ins. 

Hoping to wrap up this project next week.

I know it has been a while since I shared any "after" photos of my projects.

It is definitely at the top of my to do list.

I read somewhere last week that May is the new December.

With all the sporting events and school activities, I believe it. 

I try hard not to complain about being busy.  

Years from now, when it is nice and quiet around here, I'll miss those busy days 

of shuffling kids around town, cheering them on at their games, 

and spending countless hours helping them with school projects. 

For now, I am going to soak it all in and enjoy the blessings.

MASTER BEDROOM DESIGN

A good friend of mine recently bought a new house. 

She asked for some help choosing paint colors and bedding.

I visited her new home earlier this week.   

The painters were there stripping wallpaper 

and they were chomping at the bit to get started on painting. 

We were under the gun to choose paint colors. 

We picked BM Nocturnal Gray for the master suite. 

There is a sitting area just off the master that has lovely blue/gray/khaki grasscloth that will be staying. 

This color works well with the existing grasscloth.

After we chose a color, I went home and put together a design for the master bedroom.

She had already purchased a similar headboard, mirrored nightstands and pine dresser.

She also already has a similar leopard chair. 

Based on those pieces, this is what I came up with.....

She wanted something elegant, but a little funky.

That describes her pretty well too!

The pillows to the left can be added to the sitting area to help the two rooms flow.

The duvet cover will go at the end of the bed, with a simple cream blanket covering the bed.

The pillows help add some more color to the bed. 

I am loving the touches of black in this room.  It really ramp up the elegance. 

I am looking forward to seeing this house become a home for my friend and her family.

It sits on eleven acres of land and has gorgeous views from the back. 

I can't wait to show you more. 

MASTER BEDROOM MAKEOVER PROGRESS

As promised, I have some progress photos for you today from a project I started earlier this year.  

Technically, they are more like sneak peeks rather than full fledge after photos.

We still have a few minor things to finish up before I can officially take "after" photos.

Enough rambling, here you go.....

There's quite the story behind this table. 

It definitely deserves its own post. 

I found this chair on Craigslist.  

 It was in perfect condition, already upholstered in this gorgeous fabric.

There was the small issue of the seller being located two hours away from me, in Columbus, OH.

Since I didn't quite know when I would make it up that way, I let it go.

Weeks later, the seller emailed me and said her husband was coming to Cincinnati the next day 

and wanted to know if I still wanted the chair.

Clearly this chair was meant to belong to my client!

Just a few more details to finish up and then we will be moving on to other rooms in the house.

We have a May, 2014 deadline.  Their son is graduating from High School.

Gotta love a deadline!

It's a rainy gloomy day here and I'm feeling a little under the weather.

Seems like the perfect day to crawl back into bed.