Random Inspirations

I recently wrote how Jenny, of Evolution of Style, was inspired by my mirror frame project. This post prompted a few other people to share what they had been inspired to work on after seeing something on my blog. Here is one of the projects that put a big smile on my face...


After seeing the fabrics for the Master Bedroom Redesign, which includes Shadow Branch in Chili Pepper, Leigh of Nick and Leigh was inspired to have drapery panels made. She just sent these photos showing the gorgeous result.


The panels bring a great pop of beautiful color into the space and I love how the ivory in the print works perfectly with the other light elements in the room. As I said in my post about the "twin" mirror Jenny made, it makes my day when I see a project I've helped inspire. Thanks for sharing!


And then let me talk about how I've enjoyed living vicariously through clients recently. Their dream to purchased a beach house became a reality when they found a special home perched in the woods above the water.


My family has had the chance to spend a little time there, and I just have to say, the house is great but the location is magical. Situated on a wooded bluff, the house has wonderful views and access to miles of beach where you can walk forever before running into another person. Now that is a retreat.

We are doing a little decorating inside, furnishings and accessories to create a welcoming and cozy spot to spend some down time. When the job is complete I'll post photos, and will include shots of the wonderful environment that makes this place so special.

And...if you've been inspired to work on a project after reading a post or idea of mine, I would love to hear from you and feature them in a future post!

A Bonus Room For Many Functions

Where do I begin, in describing this room? Its design and functional requirements created several challenges! As far as bonus rooms go, it is a smaller space measuring approximately 12 x 18 feet, and is a room the family uses everyday for a variety of activities. Reading, TV viewing, piano practicing, guitar playing and get this, a guest room when there is an overflow of company. And, as is the case with many design projects, this one came with an existing item that had to remain in the room. Sometimes these elements are small or easy to work around. Not in this room. Here the large sectional running the length of one wall and nearly all of another needed to remain in the room. It is in perfect condition, of high quality, and it just didn't make sense to replace it. Oh, and the lighting. The clients requested the ceiling fixtures be replaced as quickly as possible!




Before. With the large sectional taking up space on two walls and the double door entry taking up the third, the only remaining area to place the piano and media console was on the fourth wall seen on the left.


Before. Removing the large armoire allowed a smaller media console, in a style complimenting the piano, to be brought in. While I always gravitate towards symmetry and centering key elements on a focal wall, doing this here was simply not possible. Instead the media console and piano are placed side by side, with as much distance as possible between them, given the limitations of the wall length. A ledge is placed above these two key pieces of furniture, creating a bridge between them, helping the layout feel right. Also, because the ledge is centered on the wall, a sense of balance is created. Then, the gorgeous grasscloth is the highlight of the design. Without it the final result would be far less successful. It adds texture and interest and is another element that helps tie together the furniture and accessories placed along this wall.





A rug from West Elm brings in color and pattern while adding interest by covering the basic carpet with something more dynamic. Don't be afraid of layering area rugs over carpet, I say! Also, can you believe we didn't have to repaint this room? Luckily, a wallpaper was found that coordinated perfectly with the color the client's had previously painted the room.

Before. The original armoire took over the room and prevented any spacing between the entertainment function of the room and the piano. This created a cramped line of furniture down the length of the wall.




Before. With kids growing up fast, the toys were no longer being used and could be taken out of the room. This freed up space to artfully place the owners guitars in the corner and shift the media console further down the wall to the left, providing a little breather between it and the piano.



A painting by the children's grandmother works beautifully hung adjacent to the wall covered with grasscloth. The colors and texture are just perfect here.


The tailored light fixtures are a stunning improvement from the builder grade "boob" lighting. What is up with that and the fact they are placed in nearly every spec home?! While the space is small, the ceiling lines and height are one of the best features of the room. Hanging drum pendant fixtures accents and takes advantage of this feature.



Before. As I stated, the sectional needed to remain in the room, despite the client's wish for a more tailored replacement...someday.



Before. Changing pillows, artwork and adding additional lighting helps update and add function to this area of the room.





The client loves to read and hoped a small table could be found to slide into the narrow space available between the end of the sectional and wall, with a lamp placed on it for more light in this corner. The option we found fits perfectly, and with three shelves it provides a place to store a few items. The glass lamp placed here and on the piano coordinate well with the ceiling fixtures, providing a sleek contrast to the earthy wallpaper.



So there you have it! The clients love this room and I am very excited to be helping them furnish a wonderful beach house they have just purchased. Even better, our kids are friends...so lucky us! We are all looking forward to combining some fun trips to the beach to play while fitting in a bit of design work.

Sneak Peek - A Client's Multi-Tasking Bonus Room

Thank you for a very successful Stella & Dot sample sale yesterday, in which virtually everything sold out by early morning! I had no idea this would be so popular, and will definitely host another one in the future.

As a result, instead of writing the post intended for today I was busy packaging jewelry to be shipped. But here is a preview of the post, which will be ready by tomorrow.

Chuck of Wallpaperpro

Several months back I began working with clients on their fairly small bonus room, a space that needed to serve several functions while housing a TV, large sectional and a musical instrument or two. One of the first changes to the space was to hang a gorgeous grasscloth wallpaper, seen below.


Here is a sneak peek. Look for more photos tomorrow and how the challenges were addressed with a tailored and beautiful result while providing all the requirements for this multi-tasking room.

You Can Have It All...But Rarely At The Same Time

I have been receiving quite a few emails and comments asking how I fit everything into a day, and sometimes I get the sense that a reader may be discouraged rather than inspired after reading a post on one of my projects. Oh no! I certainly don't want this to happen as the best part of writing this blog is hearing how it has affected someone in a positive way!

As a result, I thought I'd write this post in which I'll talk about the work I am currently doing, what a day is like and how I have learned to say no, a lot...

(A Remote Design Job)

1) Goodbye to remote design work

When readers began finding this blog the requests for remote design help started coming in. I took on quite a bit of remote work, adding to the list which already included local design work as well as the projects done in my own home, work that provides the bulk of the content for this blog. Then of course I am a mother and a wife, and live in a wonderfully social neighborhood. So yes, things were getting busy...too busy.

As a result I looked at everything putting requirements on my time and chose what to take off my plate. The first item cut was remote design work. This wasn't easy as I thoroughly enjoyed working with many wonderful people, and it meant walking away from projects I had discussed working on in the future with these clients. People were very disappointed and I felt bad. (You know who you are, thanks for still being my friends!!) It is still hard to say no to inquires, but it gets easier when I remind myself that if I accept this work I won't have time to go swimming with the kids or go out to dinner with my husband.

(Master Bedroom Retreat~A Full Service Design Project)

2) Goodbye to "partial" design work

I have also begun to have the opportunity to write for venues beyond this blog. This has been work that I have completely enjoyed, but as a result there has had to be more use of the word no. I again looked at how time was being spent and decided to no longer take on some types of local design work. Often I have accepted jobs which address only some of the issues in a space, such a paint, lighting, furniture layout, etc., but not the whole design of the space. I fully understand most people have a budget and would rather not pay me to oversee a project from start to finish. But I have finally concluded that when a client hires me to work on parts of a room, without the opportunity to address the entire space, the end result can be disappointing. When I am not involved throughout the entire process I can't ensure the final result. I now take on only full service design projects...which means I have a lot fewer clients these days. Which leads me to:

3) You can have it all, but not all at the same time

I know these decisions will have an affect on my career (and the bottom line), but Isabella and Max will not be young children for much longer, and there will soon be time for taking on more design work if that is what I decide to do. I truly believe in life you can have all you hope for with hard work and perseverance...but rarely all at the same time.


4) Coffee & Early Mornings (Print by MadeByGirl)

So, how do I fit the rest of it into a day? The key is the hour I wake up. It's hard but simple. I awake to brewing coffee at 5 o'clock. Yes, in the morning. Ugly, I know, but it works for me. These quiet early hours are the time I get nearly all my writing done.

5) Summer vs. Winter Schedules

My work life is clearly divided between summer and winter months. With school aged children I can get a lot of work done during the hours the kids are at school. In the summer months it is more challenging and I do scale back on work to make more time during the week to just hang out with them. Our summers find Isabella and Max up much later into the night, but then they sleep much later into the morning. As a result, waking up at five typically gives me three hours of uninterrupted work before the kids wake up and the chaos begins! It is amazing how much can get done in these hours. Winter is different, waking at five gives me about an hour to write and read blogs before they wake up. Then the "breakfast, dressing, lunch box, do you have your homework" routine begins to get them out the door to the bus stop on time. But afterwards I have over seven hours before picking them up, and that is a huge block of time to get a lot of work done!

6) Working From Home & Multi-Tasking

The beauty of working from home is that I lose no time commuting to and from work and I can easily throw in a load of laundry as I walk out to the garage to get a can of paint. Multi-tasking is my best friend. Multi-tasking is also my savior in the summer, as is organization. With a little planning, it takes nearly no time out of my day with the kids to stop by the paint store after picking up books at the library across the street. Home Depot sits on the way to grandma and grandpa's and again, it doesn't take a lot of time to stop in and pick up all the supplies needed for any projects that week. Same goes for all the other local resources used, I just plan a stop along the way to other activities.

And as for time to work on projects, in the summer it is definitely challenging! I take advantage of any time the kids are at camps, playing at friend's homes, at the grandparents or time when my husband has father/kid time!

7) Family

And of course, nothing would really get done if I didn't have the support and encouragement of my family and particularly my husband. He is my biggest fan and supporter, and truly does value that I have the opportunity to do work that I absolutely love. In fact, look at what he surprised me with yesterday morning as my blog approached having 1000 followers...thanks!



I hope this has answered many of your questions! And if any of the work I do tempts you to be intimidated or discouraged, please remember I was probably working on it at five in the morning...

House Tour

As promised in the recent post, Isabella & Max Design Work - Sneak Peek, here is the house tour of a client I recently worked with!

While my work on this home focused on the family room, my first encounter with Kim was when she was looking for inspiration to transform her kitchen and found my blog. With no more than a few random conversations about the design issues in the rooms adjacent to the family room, Kim moved forward with great success and transformed these spaces with a beautifully unique style.


As you'll see in the smaller "before" pictures, the house was washed in golden yellow tones when Kim and her husband purchased the home. One goal of the project was to lighten the spaces and bring in a more sophisticated color scheme. First task, paint all the major areas of the home with SW Amazing Gray.


Then, working with the existing cabinetry, the kitchen was successfully updated and given a big dose of chic. How was this accomplished? The space was opened up to the adjacent nook and family room by removing a column, along with the raised backsplash running along the half wall.

Doing this allowed the countertop to be extended into the nook area at countertop height, creating a breakfast bar. This required replacing the existing countertop and a lighter granite was selected with tones that pick up the tones of the painted cabinetry as well as the new wall color. The tumbled backsplash was also replaced with my favorite Lanka Metro beveled subway tiles, adding timeless character while also lightening the room. New lighting and accessories complete the beautiful picture. Compare the "before" and "after" photos below.





Again, viewing the "before" pictures below you can see how the entire space is affected by the golden wall color, countertops and tile. Changing these surfaces helped to completely transform the space...so never doubt the power of color!



The counter stools, found at CNS Stores, reinforce the new color palette, as does the sunburst mirror found on craigslist.


The Clifton sectional is from Mitchell Gold and the pillows are made from Citrine Imperial Trellis fabric by Kelly Wearstler.


In the above "before" picture you can see how the wide columns feel very heavy in the space, and the furniture layout is crowded, leaving a limited path to move from room to room.


The single narrow column faced with classic millwork is a great improvement. And note the wainscoting. Kim's husband installed this trim in the nook and along the breakfast bar. Its design relates beautifully to the kitchen cabinetry, adding wonderful character while visually joining the kitchen and nook.


Kim has lined the top of the wainscoting with her children's artwork. I am a big fan of decorating with kids creations...and look how they are framed. Wonderful!


The beautifully weathered table is made from reclaimed barn floor wood, with a painted black base.


And I adore these cushions with their oversized trim.


Here is the "before" family room with its fireplace wall, the issue that caused Kim to seek out my help.


We balanced this wall by keeping the fireplace painted the same tone as the kitchen cabinetry while the built-in was reconfigured and then painted the same color as the walls, Amazing Gray. This helps the built-in recede slightly, see below image, allowing the fireplace to become the focal point. The stunning vintage painting of a stork also helps bring the eye to the center of this wall.



The furniture layout was also reworked with the goal of bringing in more seating and improving traffic flow.



As I mentioned in my previous post on this space, it is a room that showcases a successful mix of "High" and "Low".


The rug and mantel urns are from HomeGoods, the pair of deer in the built-in were found at Goodwill and sit next to Jonathan Alder pottery. Many pieces were repurposed, while the splurge item are the Imperial Trellis drapes in Citrine.


The husband's favorite well worn leather chair...


and a simply fabulous mirror.


Next, the dining room at the front of the house. Again, note how the golden yellow walls and ceiling are the dominant feature of the space.



By simply painting the walls a warm chocolate brown and the ceiling white the space is beautifully transformed.


Kim tells me she is trying to get the courage to paint these chairs. I'd say with all the big changes she has made already, what is stopping her from painting a few chairs?!? I'll paint them for her if she doesn't. She feels they match the room too well and I agree. Another color would allow the beautiful table, made from beams taken from an old train station, to stand out and become more of a feature of the room.


Here she had no fear. The shelves are backed with a light blue wrapping paper, picking up on a hint of blue in the rug, which belonged to her husband's father. More "High" and "Low" in this space as well. The drapes are made from fabric found at JoAnn Fabrics for under $10 a yard, the cachepot is from Target and the vases are from West Elm.


The final room in the tour is a mud room, and while this space is still in progress...I would take it in a heartbeat! Look at all this storage and space, a dream...really.


Additional plans include hanging a large cork board over the countertop, with more shelving to hold Kim's ever growing collection of home decor magazines and a chalkboard magnetic wall. Yes, a home is never really done!



I hope you have enjoyed the tour of this beautiful home. Kim has a great eye for detail and a talent for finding special pieces, as well as the ability to see a project through to its completion. After we worked together she told me what an inspiration I had been and how I had helped her to stop doubting her own abilities. So much so that Kim has started taking on clients of her own! But that shouldn't be a surprise after viewing her home.

To learn how you can work with Kim, or to simply tell her how much you love her home, write her at: kbiggsdesign@gmail.com