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!  

Breaking the Silence

Hello Somebody! I am working on getting back in to the swing of things after my "maternity leave" - and pregnancy leave for that matter. Our little boy arrived June 29th, just three days after we moved back in to our home, and we are head over heels in love with our newest addition.

When we left off I was sharing all the plans David and I had for our renovation.  The renovation is now complete and we are finishing up a few DIY projects on our to-do list. The problem is I feel like each detail of the room has to be perfect before I share it but I know that things will never be just perfect, or at least not for a while!

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I'll be back soon with a pre-renovation home tour and also a fun client reveal! See you soon!

Back Home with Big News

Hi Everyone! I wanted to (finally) check in and let you all know that David and I made it back home safely just a few days before Christmas. With the holidays and trying to somewhat move back in to our house, the days and weeks have flown by. We are now working out all the details of purchasing our home but that hasn't stopped us from already tackling a few DIY projects. I'll be back later with a few updates and tips from our adventures so far in ceiling scraping, painting, and ripping out old carpet.

But in other news.... David and I brought home a little someone extra home from South Africa!

That's right!! We have a little one on the way! We are so excited for this next big adventure! He or She will be here in just a short 5 1/2 months so we have a lot to do in order to finish the remodel and decorate a nursery!!

If you follow me on Instagram (alauraorr), you have already seen these videos but, just for fun, I thought I'd share our families' reactions to the news of our new addition.  At Christmas we gave the new grandparents, aunts and uncles, and great grandparents each a Curious George book along with a note that asked them to read the book to Baby Orr in July!

 

 

 

 

My Fireplace is in YOUR Hands!

I am completely stumped when it comes to what to do with our fireplace in our home remodel. The plan, regardless of color, is to paint (or stain) both the brick fireplace and the built-ins on either side. But my dilemma is what color?

The plan is for the walls and trim to be white throughout the kitchen, living and hallway. We will have light pine wood floors and also replace the existing mantel with a more modern, rustic slab mantel (similar to this).  For option 1, we could continue with the light and airy look with a white fireplace and white built-ins. But would the fireplace be enough of a focal point or would it simply fade away?

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For option 2, I thought about going with a bold, charcoal gray on the fireplace with white built-ins. I love the contrast but would it be a little too much?

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Do I switch that color scheme around and do a white fireplace with gray built-ins?

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Or maybe meet in the middle with a medium shade of gray with white built-ins?

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I realize asking for your opinion without providing you a photo of the fireplace wall makes this difficult. But I have searched and searched and this is the best I could find (from Christmas back before the blog!)

Friends, I need your help. As you can see, I have no idea which direction to go! My fireplace is in your hands - which option would you choose? Comment below with Option 1, Option 2, Option 3, or Option 4. Or if you have any other ideas, I'm all ears!! Thanks for your help!

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!