Client Reveal: DIY Nursery E-Design

Nurseries have to be one of my favorite spaces to design. Whether they are bright and bold, or neutral and soothing, I love creating a space for a sweet baby and their parents to enjoy.  Heck, I'm having a ball designing one for my little one now and can't wait to share it with you!

While I was away in South Africa, one of my good friends had a precious little girl and I was thrilled when she asked if I would help design her nursery! The nursery would include many DIY projects, fun girly fabrics, and pops of bright colors. We played with a few fabric combinations and colors but, in the end, narrowed it down to this pretty little design.

This room is all about the fabrics and DIY projects. The fun combination of floral and geometric with pops of bright color look great on baby girl's bedding that my friend made herself. She also created a cute bird mobile (similar to this one) as well all the art, seat cushions and curtains using some of the same fabrics. 

Creating a beautiful space doesn't alway have to be expensive. With a little direction and a lot of DIY-ing, my friend created a precious nursery that didn't break the bank! 

Looking for a little direction for a room in your home? I would love to help! Just take a look at my services and then shoot me an email to get started!  

Living Room Inspiration

Now that we have the star of the show, I have enjoyed playing around with a mood board for inspiration for the living room that works around our new chesterfield sofa.

These mood boards are just that - inspiration. Besides the sofa and a couple of kudo horns from here in South Africa, we don't own anything else shown on the board. So don't be surprised if the final result isn't an exact match.

You may have noticed that I am drawn towards decorating with blues, greens, and grays - and somehow a Michelle Armas painting seems to find it's way in to every mood board so far. Seriously, that woman is talented! I thought this painting was a great choice for color inspiration but, sadly, it looks like it is no longer available.

Half of the living room with be torn down in the midst of our renovation but we do plan to update the fireplace and built-ins with a few DIY projects. Our list includes:

To - Do:
Scrape popcorn ceilings
Install new hardwood flooring
Paint (or stain) brick fireplace (more on this later!)
Build wooden shelves for built-ins and remove glass front doors.
Repaint walls, ceiling, built-ins, trim and doors
Replace ceiling fan
Replace mantel
Bring in art, curtains, etc. 

I love the way this room is heading but I'm a little stumped on what to do with our tall brick fireplace. I'm getting my thoughts together and will be asking for your advice soon!

Master Bathroom Inspiration

Continuing on from the master bedroom inspiration, I wanted to share what we have in mind for the en suite master bath. Again, most of the changes are only cosmetic - our bathroom functions just fine, we just want it to look pretty!

We plan to DIY the majority of the bathroom upgrades including paint, framing the mirror and building the barn door.

To - Do:
Scrape popcorn ceilings
Close half wall between bedroom and bathroom and install barn door
Repaint walls, ceiling, trim and doors
Remove old lighting and replace
Frame out large mirror

We have our work cut out for us in the master bedroom and bath but we know once it's done, it will be a great getaway during the remainder of the renovation.What's your must have in a bathroom? Anything we are leaving out?

First Things First - Master Bedroom Inspiration

As we are planning the timeline of our big renovation, we have decided to start working first in our master bedroom and bath. Although it is not really a part of the renovation, there are a few cosmetic upgrades we would like to make before diving head first in to all the dirty work. Call us crazy, but we are going to try and live in the house through the dust and demolition. That means it is important to us to have a place to 'escape' that isn't completely torn apart. A little retreat from the craziness just outside the door!

Speaking of retreat, my color inspiration for the room came from this painting by Michelle Armas. It is peaceful but still has a few pops of color which I love. Even the name, Heaven, just begs you to come in and relax. I would love to bring in navy, green, gray, light blue, fresh and airy whites with a touch of gold throughout the room.

Of course, that would require new bedding, curtains, art, etc. I love the idea of starting fresh... my husband - not so much. "Didn't you just buy new bedding a couple of years ago?" Hopefully he'll come around!

The "Master Bedroom Master Plan" will get underway before we start moving all of our stuff back in to the house. To keep us on track, here is a list of projects we hope to scratch off.

To - Do:
Scrape popcorn ceilings
Remove old carpeting and replace with new flooring
Close half wall between bedroom and bathroom and install barn door
Repaint walls, ceiling, trim and doors
Replace ceiling fan
New bedding (here's hoping!)
Bring in art, curtains, etc. 

These things won't happen overnight but we're hoping to at least knock out a few shortly after getting home! We may be asking Santa to help with painting... or even some new bedding : ) ! Do you have any tips for scraping ceilings or painting like the pros? We'll take any tips we can get!

Mood Board Monday- Bohemian Bedroom

It's Mood Board Monday!! I absolutely love this link party! I get so excited when the announcement for a new party comes out and can't wait to get my mind going on a new room design!! For this party, we had three hand-stamped fabric combinations to choose from to design the room around.

 

The inspiration fabrics that I chose to work with were the Algiers Lotus and Jajam Brinjal. I usually don't decorate, wear, or typically drawn to anything pink so I thought this would push me a little outside of my box.

I wanted to design a room for that twenty-something girly-girl who just made it big- has her dream job in the big city, cute dog, and the perfect new apartment! She likes to keep things light and airy but loves to mix colors and patterns for an eclectic and collected vibe. This is the design for her new Bohemian Bedroom!

• The room started all around the Algiers Lotus and Jajam Brinjal fabrics which we made into large throw pillows for the bed. From there we added a collection of other pillows made from these fabrics: Avan- hot pink, Arches Print- orange scallop print, and the Geometric Crochet Citron- yellow floral print.
• The rectangle Gather & Glean Pillow  is a great hand-stitched pillow to mix in with all the pillows.     
• The Rivulets Quilt added the perfect feminine touch with its ruffles and a great white backdrop for all the fun, bright pillows.
• For a little color towards the end of the bed, we tossed on the Golden Rod Sunset Throw.
• Laundry baskets don't always have to be an eye-sore! The Yellow Graphic Lidded Basket is just the right size laundry basket for a single girl and looks great sitting anywhere in the room.
• For the artwork, I found an abstract piece from my favorite artist- Michelle Armas's Miller.  This piece pulls all the colors from around the room. 
• The wall color is Benjamin Moore's "Lido Green".
• I am absolutely in love with this Antique Brass Starburst Chandelier! It is such a great pop of drama hanging from the ceiling! 
• On one side of the bed we have the Robert Abbey Jayne Table Lamp. It has a sleek contemporary design that works great with all the texture throughout the room. 
• What girly-girl wouldn't want to get ready in front of this Angelique Mirror every morning.
• For her vanity table, we chose the Source Console. I love the curvy legs and the storage it has to hide away all the make-up and brushes. 
• The orange ghost chair is a fun place to sit in the mornings and doesn't take up too much visual space.
• On the other side of the bed, we put a Roberty Abbey Delta Schiaparelli Pink lamp for more accent lighting. 
• To add storage for some clothes, we are doubling the Jacqui Four Drawer Chest as a night stand and dresser. 

It was fun to push myself with this girly color scheme and frilly touches! Have a look at all the other mood boards and see how their fabric choice created a totally different room! I am on the road traveling today but I hope to get a chance to look at all the other great rooms soon!!

{Mood Board Monday} Seating that Speaks to You

Today I am back linking up with my second Mood Board Monday party with Sarah at Pewter+Sage. The  blog party is all about seeing how different people are inspired differently by the same thing. The challenge was to choose from one of three gorgeous chairs and design a room around the chair of your choosing!

I have had an home office space in my mind lately. My husband loves to travel and would love to visit Africa again soon. I thought it would be fun to design a "Safari Country Club" home office for my husband around the "Cecilia Chair" from Horchow.

Horchow

This chair has a tribal-feeling print that worked great my Safari Country Club Home Office.

For this board, I set out to create a space that felt masculine with the world-traveler feel using rustic elements and lots of texture. I chose a deep,blackened navy for the wall color and lightened the space with a natural jute rug layered with a white cowhide rug. I also envisioned floor to ceiling, clean lined built-ins painted a white color to help lighten the moody blue on the remaining walls. A fun play on African wildlife with a modern Rhino head and a collection of vintage globes finish off the "Safari Country Club" home office.

• The star of the room is the pair of Cecilia Chairs sitting in front of the desk. This allows for the occasional client meeting or a comfy place for the wife to drop in and say hello.
• The windows would be covered in Coronado White Sand, Bali Grass Blinds like these used by Caitlin Creer. This light colored and textured window treatment adds privacy but still allows light to flow in while remaining masculine.
• The artwork- Seaweed by Michelle Armas- ties together all the colors of the room in a modern abstract piece.
• Z-Gallerie's Rhino Head will pop off the dark walls and make the African statement needed for this safari themed room. 
• The Metal Accordion Side Table gives the client a place to set their drink and will sit between the two chairs.
• A collection of vintage globes are always fun to see and could be lined up or staggered throughout the built-ins which would be painted Benjamin Moore's Stone White. 
• The wall color is also a Benjamin Moore color- Marine Blue.
• The Hendrix Desk from Crate & Barrel has a handmade, rustic quality that gives that masculine, laid-back African vibe to the office.
• The Barrel Back Desk Chair by Edward Wormley is a show stopper (and wallet buster). The olive green leather and dark walnut combine for a masculine desk chair that even this wife would love to have!! 
• To lighten up the space, I have layered this Chunky Wool and Natural Jute rug from Pottery Barn and the Serendipity Devour Cowhide White Rug from RugsUSA.
• The Beaded Basket Lantern in Gray and Aged Silver from Shades of Light adds the perfect amount of masculine glamor to the space. 

Overall, I feel like this is a space that both my husband and I would both enjoy!  Make sure you hop over to Sarah's blog and check out the other mood boards. They are all gorgeous!

{Mood Board Monday} Etsy Artwork

I am so excited to participate in my first Mood Board Monday link party with Sarah at Pewter+Sage.  I haven't created a mood board since college (and I am still a little new to making it on the computer) but I had a lot of fun creating this room for a pretend client with no budget!!

Sarah's challenge is to create a room around one of three unique pieces of art from creative Etsy artists. I choose to work with Carl Christensen's photo "Romance of Fall".

via

Isn't it beautiful?! I chose this piece of art because of the rustic feel with the trees and the beautiful colors of the autumn leaves.

For this board, I set out to create a rustic yet beautiful space with a modern color scheme. My color scheme was pulled directly from the photo- the yellow of the leaves, the gray of the sidewalk and the white wooden fence.  I also incorporated many rustic elements to bring the "nature" in.

• The art work, "Romance of Fall" is the star of this room. Everything is centered around this one piece.
• The dark charcoal gray paint, Benjamin Moore's Amherst Gray, makes the room feel cozy and modern.
• The Paloma Dining Table from Crate & Barrel is a simple and beautiful dining table with wood tones that warm up the room.
• The Slip Buttercream Side Chairs, also from Crate & Barrel, are on either end and tolix-like chairs fill the length of the table. The modern side chairs help to lighten up the space and  these 1934 Dining Chairs from Sundance feel somewhat like a chair in a farm house which I imagine is right on the other side of the fence in the photograph. 
• The "Birds Nest Chandelier" (Antique Bronze 5-light Pendant Chandelier from Overstock) is a modern take on a dining room chandelier. 
• A yellow bois print rug brings a pop of color into this rustic room.
• Light, airy curtains balance out the bolder, darker, colors, texture and fabrics.
• A cute little birdy on the Chickadee Yellow Dinner Plates from Crate & Barrel add a bit of whimsy to the table and tie in nicely with the Amber Luster Glassware from Pier 1. 
• and adding some fun Billy Button flowers in mason jars for a centerpiece on the table finishes off the room! 

I'm still learning when it comes to mood boards but I enjoyed putting this one together! Make sure you hop over to Sarah's blog and check out the other mood boards. They are all gorgeous! 

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