Client Reveal: Fresh, Updated Family Room

I LOVED designing this main level!!!  I really liked what my client asked for and it was so much fun for me going to work in the market and putting this room together!  The color scheme is turquoise, white, green, grey and black, with the tan walls and furniture.  First thing was first, I suggested painting a grayish blue accent wall.  The color is perfect for the space and cools down the warm walls and carpet, and just gives a fresh take on the room, completely changing the entire feel.  We didn't stop there!  We pretty much did a complete overhaul on the entire room.  The only pieces we kept were the sofas and entertainment stand.  We both looove the result.  I wish I was moving in! 

This gallery wall makes such a great statement as you first come in the front door.  The colors blend perfectly and set the stage for the rest of the main level.  

This cute side table was a ksl.com find and I refinished it  so that she could keep her children's books organized and displayed cute.   She loves it, the kids love it... exactly what I was hoping for!

Pillows, pillows, pillows!
I am a fan of not matching pillows but finding complimentary pillows to spice up a space.  Love this mix!

The gray/blue accent wall is such a dramatic statement!  The floor to ceiling white curtains make the ceiling feel so much taller, such an important thing to remember when designing a space.

My clients like watching TV, but didn't want it to be the focal point, so I framed this gorgeous colored distressed temple picture to be the focal point of the accent wall.  It brings all of the colors together and is such a lovely picture.  My client is so pleased with it.

Thank you Mr. & Mrs. C for such a  fun project!!!

Here are some before pictures...

Client Reveal: Traditional Foyer

 Loving this beautiful remodeled foyer!  The new banister, carpet, light fixture and custom framed, original art work make such a great first impression to this home.  My client has such a beautiful, timeless taste.  It has been a pleasure working with her in decorating her home.

Client Reveal: Formal Living Room

It was such a pleasure designing this beautiful living room.  All of the original moldings and mantel in this Tudor home were stained a very outdated oak.  My clients, Mr. and Mrs. C.,  wanted a fresh and inviting first impression in their home. Re carpeting and painting out the moldings a crisp white and pairing it with a very muted sage green wall color creates a very soothing color palette.  Finding the accent furniture and original custom framed art work was such a fun challenge!  I love how everything has blended together, the warm beautiful wood pieces, the black piano, black pops and gold accents with the greens give my clients just the traditional look and feel they were after.  Glad to know they are pleased and will love their formal living room for years to come. 

Don't forget the... Ceiling!

 When working on a design for a home it is easy to forget to look up and realize the ceiling is such a perfect place to put subtle design elements that will add SO MUCH more to your space!  This is a bead board ceiling recently put in one of my clients home.  Though it is all still painted white, the same color as the rest of the ceiling, this entry way is given such an elegant touch.  The simple lines of the bead board, the crown molding, the ceiling medallion and the contrasting crystal chandelier adds such a wow factor to this entry way!  An otherwise ordinary entry way was easily given this fabulous touch!

 The options are almost limitless for design styles to incorporate into a ceiling in your home.

Here are a few of my favorites!

 Coffered Ceiling

I mostly see this done with white on white.  I love the contrasting dark gray against the white beams.  Gorgeous, sophisticated and adds an updated feel tho this very traditional style.

 Ceiling Beams...

 This is probably my favorite.  It is a traditional, warming style, but the clean lines in the beams and the contrasting colors of the white paint and dark stain give such an updated, clean modern feel... the best of both worlds!

 Painted ceiling

I love this technique!  I love adding just a subtle color to my design to just give that added pop of color.  Keep in mind that using a soft pale color is best seeing as a dark one will make the space feel smaller.

Wood Paneled ceiling

Keep in mind this technique works best in a home with stone flooring.  Otherwise it will give off a cabin feel.

Client Reveal: Lovely Piano Room

I had the fun opportunity to stage this beautiful piano room.  Mrs. C's handy Dad made these gorgeous custom bookcases.  There is a bead board accent on the back of the shelves in a glaze finish.  That little bit of pizaz does so much for the otherwise ordinary bookcase, making them extraordinary!
She mainly needed my expertise on organizing the bookcases in an eye pleasing fashion.  I suggested the subtle turquoise accent in the room making a fresh approach to a very formal red black and white.
Staging the bookcase was so much fun for me.  My client may have thought I was a tid bit OCD when I was stacking the books by size, hard back or paper back and colors.  There is a method to my madness.  I like grouping the books mainly by color.  By doing so it makes a larger statement of whatever color of book it may be giving the shelves a more solid pleasing look.  There are subtle little things to do like that when staging shelves with books especially.
I have to say it was so rewarding finishing this staging and seeing these beautiful books displayed so thoughtfully.  This family adores the written word, and what a fantastic room to dedicate to such a wonderful passion they all share.

Color Changes Everything

Be Daring with Color!

A room can feel very safe and predictable in mono-chromatic tones.  Why not punch in some fun purple, chartreuse or fuscia as an accent?  This can be accomplished by painting an accent wall, adding pillows, a rug, a lovely vase or wall art.

If you are concerned that you will tire of the accent color.  It is best to follow the following three tips for bold colors.

1.  Make your upholstered pieces of furniture (sofa, chairs, chaise lounge a solid neutral fabric). Think of the upholstery as a nice black dress, and the punch of color as the jewelry. Bold colors, like jewelry are best used sparingly, to create the most drama.  Less is more.

2.  Balance bold colors with relief for the eye, such as white, calming blues, or beige as seen in the above picture.  The white will provide the perfect visual balance to the bold colors. Any of the decor can be the lighter color... the walls can be white or cream, or the lamp shades, upholstery, or area rug to fit this need.

3. Place a few pieces around the room with the accent bold color in order to lead the eye around the room.  This is very pleasing to the eye, and will draw you into the space. In the above room this wall is the pop of bold color introduced in the space.  Though the color red is a very loud color, the art work of the calming landscape relaxes the bright accent wall, making the room more inviting and comfortable.  The rest of this room only has a few accent pieces of red.  This one wall arrangement is the focal point and the wow factor in this family room.

The main key to remember, a light hand with bold color.  Go for it, and see how good you feel when you enter the room.

*A fun fact:

Red Color Meanings and Associations:

Warm, stimulate, assertive, exciting, strength, vitality, physical power, flatters skin color, advances, opulence, power, arouses, hot, passionate, rich, celebratory, luck, love, romance, courage, fire, vigorous, luxury, bold, brave, aids digrestion, increases strength. impulsive, extreme, athletic.

Client Reveal: Paint, Pillows and a bit of Decor...

 I had another consult with a client of mine.  I had done a "room re-design" over a year ago.  She was ready to paint and add some design elements to polish her family room.  She did the "One Hour Fix", I basically gave a one hour consult of things she could finish on her own.  A great option for those who don't want to spend a lot on a room.

 The paint color we chose was Lowe's Oyster Shell.  Its a really warm "greige" color.  It is a cooler beige with a hint of gray to it.  It is a was a perfect color to add to this room.  We put up cream linen curtains with black details, which are a perfect shade against the walls.

  The pillows chosen are mixed up of nuetrals with pops of red, paired perfectly with their olive courteroy sectional.  The fun sunburst mirrors add a perfect amount of light to the focal wall, adding the right amount of pop with out being overwhelming to look at since its on the tv wall.  A new entertainment stand was purchased that is the perfect scale and size for the recessed wall.  We also didn't paint inside of the recessed area to add a little bit of interest.  Had we painted inside it would have felt a lot darker.  Its a nice contrast.  

My client found a new fish tank in a nice black color.  It was a lot cleaner look than the oak one that they had.  And moving it into the corner serves as a pretty detail and also light in that darker area.         
Mrs. G also needed an area for her desk and computer.  So it was angled in the corner and fits perfectly in the unused area of the family room.  

I really love this room.  It is so calm and inviting, I know I'd want to plop down on that comfy sofa and watch a movie!  Thankyou Mrs. G for allowing me to come decorate another room of your beautiful home!

 This is the before picture when I did the room re-design.  I had taken pieces she already had to make the room more eye pleasing and functional. But as you can see by the above picture, its nice to spend a little bit of money on paint and decor perfect for this space.  It is polished and finished now, and I know my client loves her new family room!

DIY Art Project

I've noticed sometimes that its hard to find the exact item you want in a design.  I had been on the hunt to find a perfect modern print to go in a room with reds, aqua's, yellows and greens.  I knew I needed to find a piece with all those colors as the "inspiration" piece for the room.  Well, I found an almost perfect painting...  The dimensions weren't quite right and instead of aqua, the blues were much more of a royal blue color.  So... I decided I'd take the canvas apart and would repaint over the existing canvas colors with paint that would make the perfect color palette.  My little girl and I had a fun afternoon of finger painting the little dots on this canvas.  The colors were now perfection.  I decided to go to my local home depot and picked out molding and had them cut it to the desired dimensions I needed for a custom frame look.  I used Masonite board as the backing and glued the canvas to the board and then used my handy staple gun to put the picture to the recently painted frame.  I chose a metallic gun metal charcoal color.  The picture is now a perfect color and scale to the room, and is the statement piece that is now a one of a kind piece.  Do it yourself projects are actually a lot of fun and will give you a satisfied feeling every time you look at the finished project.