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. 

FAMILY ROOM CHANGES

  I mentioned last week in this post, that I did a little rug rearranging around here. 

Let me introduce you to the newest addition to the family room.....

Oh, and I forgot to mention that I had the family room 

(+ the kitchen, dining room and foyer) repainted.  

The family room is now BM Seashell.  

I was craving a more neutral feel.

I switched out the colorful drapes for something a little more simple. 

I just cut a drop cloth in half, hemmed them with hem tape and clipped them up with rings. 

They work fine for now.

I'm itching to add some more navy to the room.  I have my eye on a few pillows from etsy.

I love the rich, vibrant colors in this rug.  It looks red and a tad purple in these photos, 

but it is definitely more of a burnt orange and navy.

I removed the skirted slipcover from the ottoman. 

The cream fabric that was underneath won't be safe for long.  

I'll have to come up with Plan "B" soon. 

I'd love to add an old wooden trunk as a coffee table, but the kids (and Willee) 

love using the ottoman as extra seating.

I added a bit more green back into the room also.  Every room needs a little green.

The new 9x12 size works much better than the previous 8x10 West Elm rug that was in here. 

This rug screams cozy to me.  While I'm definitely not looking forward to winter, 

I can't way to get a fire going and curl up on the couch with a good book. 

I got the rug from nycrugs on ebay.  This was my first time buying from this seller.  

The rug was a fair price and shipped quickly.

It was listed as new with tags.  I noticed a small stain on it once we unwrapped and unrolled it.  

I emailed the seller right away and sent a pictures.

It wasn't a big enough deal to pack it up and send it back. 

They ended up crediting me $100.

The other ebay seller I have bought from several times is newyorkruggallery.

I know buying a large rug, sight unseen, is not for everyone.

But so far, I have been very pleased with all my on-line rug purchases.

UPDATE:  I can see comments that are posted on my blog, but they are not coming to my email.  
I have tried everything I can to troubleshoot the problem and have gotten nowhere.  
I normally like to respond to comments via email, but for now, I will just reply to the comments. 
Sorry!  I promise I haven't been ignoring you if you commented. 

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.

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. 

NEW YEAR, NEW COLOR

Now that I am back on the blogging wagon, I thought I would share my latest makeover.

I bought a couple gallons of paint the last time Sherwin Williams had a paint sale. 

I didn't have them tinted at the time I bought them.

Last Friday I got a little wild hair.  

I took one of the gallons of paint to Sherwin Williams 

and had them mix up the Benjamin Moore color "Hale Navy".  

 I came home and got busy giving our powder room a new look.

The new look.........

I love the moody, dark color.

I have been itching to paint a room a dark color. 

This happened to be the perfect room. 

It gets plenty of natural light and it's tiny.

Have I mentioned I hate to paint? 

I switched out the mirror for a larger one. 

I gave this one a quick coat of white spray paint. 

It used to be stained dark brown.

I added a few accessories I found by shopping my house. 

I flipped the light that was already in here upside down and added the deep orange shades, 

which I already had.

It's not a permanent fix, but it works for now.

I added the wood frames with oversized mat, which I also already had.  

I am still deciding what to put in them.

This is what the powder room used to look like.  

I am still a fan of this Olive Leaf stencil, but I was ready for a change.

It was a pretty easy and inexpensive makeover.  

Especially since I already had everything on hand, even the paint.

I will be on the hunt for a new light fixture and something special to add to the frames. 

We are stuck inside today and the kids are home from school due to the snow and cold. 

I am starting to get a bit of cabin fever.

I might have to break out the paint brush again today.

Stay warm folks!