A Guest Bath - The Plan

Since we moved into our home almost two years ago now, we've painted every bedroom but the master and every bathroom but one.  One of the bathrooms that recently get painted was our main guest bath.  It is one of the baths right off of our living room but also is a part of the guest suite area we have at the back of our house.  Needless to say, it gets a lot of use.

When we first moved in, this is how it looked:

No, it's not horrible, but it's not my style either so I knew immediately some things would be changing.  Here was my initial to do list:

1. Replace shower curtain
2. Update dinky hardware
3. Add rug
4. Add baskets and towels in empty vanity cubbies
5. Paint walls
6. Replace mirror

A Before and After of number 2 on the list.

Here's a shot with the updated hardware, baskets and rug.

Numbers 1-5 are complete and surprisingly almost in that exact order, but number 6 has been a problem.  I knew I wanted to replace that mirror since the day I stepped into that bathroom, and here I am two years later still looking for the perfect one (in my budget).  

Here's a shot of the room prior to painting.  

The room looks much better with the mirror gone doesn't it?  I've since painted the space Benjamin Moore's Windsbreath.  I love the color and did sample it on the walls (next to the white beadboard), but I'm not pleased with the final look.  It makes the tan builder tile look even more blah so I'm afraid I'm going to have to repaint (haven't told the husband) in something with a little more gray in it, maybe Edgecomb Gray.  I want to keep it light because the only natural light in the space is from three small transom windows on the door leading out to the pool area (to the left in this picture).    

Until the repainting gets done, I have my sights on finally getting a new mirror.  I decided I wanted a round one to break up all of the squared lines in the room and found one in the perfect size (we need something large for the longer vanity length) and perfect finish from Pottery Barn.  It is more than I'd like to spend, but I'm so tired of searching, I don't even care at this point. 

I think it will dress up the space a bit and finally rid the room of the brown wars (granite, mirror, floor tile, shower tile, etc.) Here it is with all of the other elements in the room.  

Such an improvement!  I can't wait to finally finish this space!...then it's on the to the next thing...the house of a designer is never finished!

Sunroom Makeover

This is the current state of our sunroom.

Recently we had some water damage occur in the space due to some undetected wood rot and unusual high rain fall. When we purchased our place, the previous owners had installed ugly commercial grade carpet in the sunroom. I always hated it and wanted to tear it out but had other areas of the house that took priority. Since the water damage, we now have the perfect opportunity to improve the look of the space.

Originally, we had planned to remove the carpet and stain the concrete floor. However, once we removed the carpet we discovered layers of glue from various floors installed over the years. It was decided that tile would be the best option.

I'm so indecisive when it comes to my own house. I keep bringing more tile samples to chose from. Here are two we are currently deciding between.

I like the contrast of the slate color next to our wood floors. Here is a close up of the tile on the right. As you can see it has some brown swirled in it. We would use the larger 21x21 tiles.

Then I came across this one which I think maybe the one but need to pick up the sample to make sure it looks good in the sunroom's lighting.

The walls will be painted a warm shade of white. Underneath the window I plan to put this daybed I own, which will be reupholstered in an off white outdoor fabric for durability.

This is what I am thinking so far.

If you follow us on Instagram than you have seen the beautiful Batik pillows that I recently received. I plan to pair them with black and white striped pillows. Add a jute rug and replace the sliding glass doors with French doors. The room can get pretty warm so ceiling fans are a must. The existing ugly fans will be replaced with the pretty black one on the moodboard. It is hard to tell from the moodboard but the blades on the fan are woven. I didn't show you the other side of the sunroom, as it is even scarier looking right now. It houses my little art studio. Pics to come later. I will keep you updated as we progress. In the end I may choose a totally different tile.

Which tile do you like the best?

monday craft hack

In my last post, I explained how my latest road find was going to help transform our guest room. But if you notice, that room is lacking in accessories....with the grand exception of my bug prints. I don't know what it is about those bugs. I just love 'em! 

I still have a lot of things from other dwellings (I've moved a lot in the past 6 years) that I haven't found a space for, and when we were moving the old bed out and the new bed into the guest room, I uncovered these babies:

Ikea faithfuls may recognize them as this guy:

This is the original pine version of the Malma. I'm not sure if they're still sold in just plain pine anymore. But they sure made for a great and inexpensive little craft project.

There are all kinds of clever hacks for this little mirror. This one may be my favorite (even though it's in another language, it's still easy to follow):

Clever, right?! 

I tried sanding mine down and then uncovered a layer of lime green, recalling to mind just how long I've had them: they were once green in my bedroom at college, and then I painted them orange sometime after that. And sometime between then and now, they got packed up and forgotten.

So I decided to resurrect them for the guest room. But I didn't want to use them as mirrors. I want them to display artwork. Tiny little artworks. And since I've been really been having a hard time lately with the loss of all my oil paints and watercolors (I donated them shortly after having my daughter, assuming I'd never use them again), I thought I'd dig up what I could and create a little something for these 4x4 mirrors-turned-frames.

I knew I wanted three things: dark, light, and vintage/botanical-ish.

Well. Here's how they turned out.

Disclaimer: I really don't claim to be any photographer. I apologize for the poor quality. I do what I can!

And here's what I did:

1. Painted the frames white with just one coat. I planned on doing two, but I liked how it looked after just one.

2. The edges where already gold, but I hit them up again just to give them a freshness. I did the same to the inside edges around the mirror.

3. Found some old charcoal colored craft paper and cut it down to 4x4 pieces.

4. Decided to do 3 different kinds of leaves: fig, pecan, and live oak. Googled images, sketched them out with pencil.

5. Went over the sketches with a $1 gold marker I found in the Target dollar section.

6. Popped those babies in and secured them with some double-sided tape. 

DUNZO.

My husband has been working a lot lately. And therefore I've been watching a lot of Parks and Rec. Hats off to Tom Haverford for giving mankind the word "Dunzo."

Super easy. I could have done it in a couple hours if I had worked on it in one sitting. 

Here's a shot of the 'tails (thanks again to Tom for that word):

Pretty good, right?

I can't wait to get them up on the wall!

Do you have any of these puppies laying around your house from an old Ikea trip? What have you done with them? 

Until next time!

Client Project Before and After-Styling Bookshelves

Last month Dana and I headed up to Homewood, AL, to do an in-home style consultation for one of our sweet clients.  Our client had already received one of our E-Designs for her living room and was well on her way to putting all of the pieces together.  But one thing in the room kept stumping her--the bookshelves.  

She had not one, but three built-in bookcases in her living room--I know, we're all a little jealous.  She also had a great assortment of accessories, collectables and frames to help fill them.  The problem came when figuring out where to place everything.  

Styling bookshelves is definitely an art.  Even the most keen eye will move pieces around several times before stepping back and looking to see if it is just the way they want it.  This was something the homeowner had done several times but had yet to figure out the puzzle.  She needed our help, and we were thrilled to give it.

She did a great job with two of the built-ins but wasn't fully satisfied with the outcome...and she didn't even know where to begin on the third one--the deepest one of the them all.

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We honestly have to say that she did a really great job.  Two of the bookshelves were almost "complete," but they still had a few little problem areas.  A few of the shelves were still empty or didn't showcase the pieces like she wanted, there was little red (a color that needed to be added to balance out the rest of the room) and all of the remaining accessories weren't right for the third, incomplete shelves.

We began by tackling the most difficult bookcase first, the deep one next to the fireplace.  Once we got things looking good in there, we knew we would be golden with the other two.  We spread out the red accessories among all of the shelves so that one side of the room wasn't weighted in turquoise and showcased her prized possessions were they could all be seen.  A couple of hours (and a lot of chatting--we seriously have the best clients) later, we were done.  Here are a few before and after shots (please excuse the lighting--it was dark by the time we finished).

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Bookcase one with the deepest shelves. 

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Bookcase two.  The fish floats are a favorite of the clients so we moved them to eye level on the deep shelf for everyone to see. 

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Case three.  

What do you think?  Just a little rearranging can go a long way, huh?  We loved the final outcome and so did our client.  After leaving she sent us a text saying "I can't stop looking at them.  Thank you!  Thank you!"  I'd say that was a success!  We love what we do--especially when doing our job makes you love your home even more.  Contact us today and let us know how we can help you---no project is too big or too small!

In closing, I have to say that last bookcase is my favorite.  Which one is your favorite--1, 2 or 3?  

Design Inspiration - Darius Rucker's home

Who knew Hootie’s house was so beautiful?! Former front man Darius Rucker, of Hootie and the Blowfish, recently had his family’s home featured on Domaine.

Located in Charleston, the Rucker's home encompasses a relaxed, ethnic chic vibe, which I love!

Gorgeous rug!

Their Interior designer, Angie Hranowsky, used a color palette of soft neutrals punctuated with shades of coral and fuschia. Just right up my ally!  The walls were kept white to showcase all of their beautiful art and furniture.  For a more interesting look, Hranowsky used a mix of both vintage and contemporary pieces.

Another great rug!

Pure perfection!

All Images VIa

My favorite rooms are the master, the girls' bedroom, and the back porch. Which ones are yours?

my best road find yet!

On a busy Saturday last weekend we were headed to a birthday party and were already late. Little did I know we were about to be even later, because here we were driving down the road (quickly, I might add, since it was a country highway), when all of a sudden...

"JENNY LIND! JENNY LIND!" I exclaimed, interrupting whatever my husband was talking about. Luckily he didn't lose control of the car, and, since he knows me well, instantly knew he needed to turn the car around. These eyes don't pass over a design treasure!

Out at the end of a long driveway, propped up on a telephone pole with a spray-painted cardboard sign reading "for sale" was this:

A spindle wood, Jenny Lind style bed, with frame. $50. In great condition and obviously an antique. After looking it over, I handed the man $50 (thanks to our loosely followed Dave Ramsey envelope method for budgeting, we actually had cash) and we loaded it in the car. A very good reason to be late to a birthday party, I should say!

So then, we had to figure out what to do with the bed. My first thought was to incorporate it into our toddler's transformation from nursery to toddler room, especially since she already has Jenny Lind furniture, but I want to be able to use the two antique twin beds we already have. The bed frame, as it turns out, is a full bed, so that would be a little much for her. 

So I turn to my guest room. It has a queen bed, but the full bed can easily made to fit a queen mattress with a little handy work from my husband. 

This is what it looks like now. 

I've had the set since I was a teenager. It's held up nicely through the years, but you can definitely tell it was picked out by a teenager (and a little dated). Even still, this is probably my favorite room in the whole house. It has a huge front, south-facing window that gets great light. I got the duvet cover as a wedding gift and I absolutely love it. It's so cheerful. And because this room generally stays untouched by our toddler, it's always clean ;) 

So it makes me happy to give this room a little bit of attending to. 

{I know you're probably thinking, Cool, cool, butttt, are you ever going to actually finish a room in your house? And the answer is, probably not. Welcome to the life of a designer!}

This is along the lines of what I have planned for this room:

1. Convertible Wire Pendant from Urban Outfitters // 2. Insect Prints (I bought a while back) // 3. Assembly Home Cone Table Lamp // 4. Bird Duvet Cover (originally from Pottery Barn) // 5. Eva Colored Glass Lamp from Pottery Barn // 6. Magical Thinking PomPom Curtains // 7. Tiger Oak Antique Dresser // 8. Dash and Albert Samode Rug

The paint in the room is the taupe that covers the whole house. I probably won't change it anytime soon. It works in the room and it has the potential to turn into another kid's room down the road.

The Desk at the bottom left is a roll-top oak desk that we got for free (!) from a friend. I haven't decided what to do with it, if anything. Probably just replace the hardware. The stain looks really great under my bug prints that I so adore. The rocker is a family heirloom that I have already in the room. It's called a nursing chair--it's small and armless (for before our comfy gliders came along to nurse babies in). The mirror I got at TJMaxx several years ago, and the Tiger Oak dresser is just an inspiration photo. I'd like something like that, or a bench of some kind. I may even move my daughter's Jenny Lind changing table in there and convert it into a storage piece. 

We almost had it put together for you to see in the room, but the frame is too short for a queen mattress, so the hubs has to do some more adjusting. He widened it, but we never guessed the length would be an issue!

I'm not usually a finder of good deals like this bed. I can spot treasures like a hawk, but usually people know what they have, and we never have the money to compensate them for their knowledge of classic furniture. So I'm still very excited about this one! Stay tuned for the slow transformation of this bright little guest room of mine.