Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Monochrome


Monochromatic schemes are one of my favorite approaches! I love all design, colorful too, but time after time I find myself being drawn to monochromatic rooms. There is something that is ethereal and relaxing about them.
The project I am showing you today is one that I completed at the beginning of this year and is a study in monochrome. The client and I love it!
In the image below you can see how the space looked before. One of the restraints of this design was that we had to completely design around the house and paint colors as is because the homeowners were planning on moving. They wanted to spruce up their home with items that could be taken with them on their move. So, you will notice that the paint colors, light fixtures etc. had to remain the same.
The very first problem that we addressed was the scale of their furniture. The family room and kitchen are one in this home and have a 'great room' effect. While selecting their new pieces, it was important to keep this in mind and increase the scale to match the proportion of the space.

We decided on 2 matching sofas and reupholstering her existing chairs. We laid them out in an L shape but the beauty of these furniture choices is that she will be able to change the configuration if she tires of this one.

We selected light fabrics that have interesting textures and we let that be our focus instead of color. The lighter fabrics dramatically brighten the previously dull space.
Don't be afraid of light fabrics if you love them. Scotchgard!

To help define the spaces and minimized the 'great room' effect and make it more cozy, we put a refectory table behind the sofa holding two large ceramic pots and branches. This visually, and physically, defines the two spaces. I love the symmetry that we have created in this room as well.

One of the most important things that we added to the space were window treatments. In the 'before' picture below you can see how bland the windows were. The hard lines of the architecture needed softening. Plus, the lack of window treatments created a room darkening glare in the space from the strong backlight.

I had panels made to go well above the window to draw the eye up and take advantage of the wonderful ceiling heights in this room. Just look at what it does for those windows! They look almost twice their size, and dramatically brighter! The folds of fabric covering the sheetrock soften the wall.

The chairs in front of the window were the client's as well. We recovered them in a light graphic pattern that complements the floral pattern in the panels. Pairing a graphic with a floral creates a tension and provides a masculine-feminine balance.

We also kept the client's existing table, but we changed up her accessories and removed the dark, heavy lamp.

A cocktail table with a gorgeous, creamy marble top was added to our seating arrangement. We kept the accessories on the table light here as well.

We also added some light accessories to the dark, stained bookshelves to perk them up. These bursts of light and white throughout the space contribute to the overall brighter look.

In the image below you can see the fun bird fabric on the new barstools. My client loves birds and you'll see birds throughout her new space. Surround yourself with things that you love and make you happy!

We couldn't be happier with her new space! It's fresh, clean and bright.

I hope that everyone had a happy Thanksgiving. We hosted for the first time this year. My sweet family came all the way from Dallas to make it easier on us with our new lil bug. It was wonderful. Maybe I'll post some pics if I get around to it... :-)
I hope you're having a great week!

Monday, November 28, 2011

A Well Dressed Home Feature


I am so flattered to have Alice's nursery featured on A Well Dressed Home today! If you haven't seen the link in the 'blogs I love' tab on my sidebar before, check it out. It is a fabulous blog written by my sweet friend and former Texas Tech interior design classmate Emily Hewett. Emily is talented, has great taste and does lots of fun projects that you will just love. Be sure to check out her kitchen renovation, it is awesome!!! Also, don't miss her 'Frugal Finds' series. I love this series and get lots of ideas for budget friendly specifying. I hope you'll stop by her blog today and take a peek at Miss Alice's nursery feature :-)

Thursday, November 24, 2011

Thankful


I have a million things that I am thankful for, but this little smidgen is at the very tip top of my list!
I hope that everyone out there is having a lovely Thanksgiving and enjoying time with the people in your lives that you are thankful for.
Happy Thanksgiving!

Thursday, November 17, 2011

My Nursery Journal: Part VI

I finally had time to take pics of the nursery and get them up on here...granted it has taken forever, because a newborn doesn't really care about blogging and her patience reflects that. But, alas, here it is, her humble little abode.

If you missed them, check out Part I, II, III, IV & V. There is more info in the previous posts about the specifics of fabrics etc.
I love the not-typical-girly-non-themeyness of it ;-) Now, don't get me wrong, I love ultra girly rooms, but I figured that she might want all of that pink later and so I put a little bit of me into it for now while I could still get away with it ;-)
I was able to complete the collage since the last post. I added a photo from our insanely talented friend that did our maternity and newborn photos. I also added a small mirror that was my mothers, a beautiful baked cross that was a gift from a sweet client/friend, and my favorite part is a tiny phrase I molded out of copper wire. Hopefully it will inspire her to imagine her own little fairy tales :-)
The bedside deets...all of which will have to be move when the little Miss is toddling.
The view back towards the closet. Do you like my dark doors?
For the changing table, I opted for a chest of drawers. I found this piece at one of my cool import vendors for when this space was our guest room. It is heavy, like really heavy, like solid wood heavy!...which husband loved getting up the staircase (it wouldn't be one of my projects for him if it didn't involve a little bit of a headache :-/) I love the raised moorish detail on the drawer fronts and the awesome iron drop pulls. One advantage of going with a dresser instead of a typical changing table is that she will be able to use it as a dresser when she is no longer in diapies.
This was an old mirror that I had that had a cheesy folk paint pattern on it. I painted it to look old. I love the antique mirror glass!
The rocker-glider that I love love love! It is so comfy! I had it professionally scotchgarded FYI.
Now, for the very most important thing in the whole nursery...
Who cares about the room after seeing that, right?!!! She is just beyond precious! I'm loving my days at home with her as we get to know each other. God is so good!!!!
I hope you've enjoyed seeing her little space.
I promise I'll be back soon (prob not too soon :-/) with some fun design posts. Thanks to all of my sweet readers that keep checking in. Big hugs!!!