What I’m Reading Now :: Mad Honey
Before/After :: Sprucing up a Living Room with Lots of BLUE!
One of our favorite projects of 2022! These homeowners have a deep love of blue, and the challenge was how to add punches of the color without overwhelming this living room. We used a new rug and a few accessories and pieces of art to add in touches of orange and coral, which helps to balance the blue, as they are opposites on the color wheel!
Isn’t this little orange side table a fun pop of color?
The beautiful Waves wallpaper by Thibaut was used simply in the back of the bookcases and really makes an impact here.
We played with scale and pattern in this room, with the larger floral at the windows and the smaller-scale print on the chairs.
We all fell in love with this beautiful floral and used it to create a pair of curtain panels in tandem with the white sheer layer, giving our homeowners lots of options for controlling the light in this room. It’s a double traverse rod, so it allows both layers to open and close independently. Fancy! (We also love the silvery sheen of the new hardware!). Custom window treatments really DO make all the difference in the world.
The new oval coffee table helps to round out the seating area, creating function by keeping it easy to reach your coffee or glass of wine. We love the pair of swivel chairs too!
Here’s a few “BEFORE” pics of the same space!
Before/After :: Adding Color and Embellishment to a Child’s Bedroom
This was a fun challenge :: inject color and personality into our client’s daughter’s bedroom, using her existing bedding as a “jumping-off” point …. plus we intended to add a desk, oodles of storage, and an unexpected mirror. Oh, and fairy lights!
First things first. The closet doors were swapped out for an easier-to-manage pair of curtains, trimmed with a string of adorable felt pop-pom balls. We completely transformed the interior with a custom system from the Container Store, and now it’s brimming with storage that makes sense.
We took the opportunity to add the same pop-pom trim to the existing lilac curtains in the room. Simple!
The homeowner chose the perfect shade of light teal to replace the boring beige, and we moved some pieces of furniture around to create space for a new desk and chair, topped with a custom-sized, fabric covered pinboard. It’s a perfect place to curate an ever-changing gallery for this young artist!
A slim bookcase near the entryway helps to keep her special collections organized, with lots of room for favorite books too.
What I’m Reading Now :: Nora Goes Off Script
I really liked this new book, the author’s first for adults. It’s sweet, but sassy, and you are rooting for the heroine from the first chapter. Her circumstance seems relatable, and her kids add their adorable personalities and wry observations to the mix. I don’t want to give away the plot, but I really enjoyed this one.
A Fabulous Trip To The Mediterranean
I was lucky enough to be able to travel to Europe a few months ago. I went to visit my daughter, who was studying abroad in Antibes, France. Antibes is a resort town between Cannes and Nice on the French Riviera. I was reminiscing about my travels and thought I would shares some highlights with you! Below are some of my favorite spots.
Design Lessons and Inspiration from a Gorgeous Hotel Lobby
I recently joined dear friends for our college reunion in Syracuse, NY ::: and I stopped in my tracks the moment we entered the hotel lobby, a Marriott property formerly called The Hotel Syracuse. Holy wow. It is palatial, yet feels intimate. It’s a study in lighting, ceiling details, tile inlay, furniture placement, with beautiful art details, accessories, and plants.
The designers created cozy spaces within the larger setting, by placing sofas back to back, with table lamps on console tables, and rugs offering a visual “boundary” for each space.
Before/After :: A Primary Bathroom that’s Reminiscent of a Hotel!
Our clients are so pleased with the way their primary suite bathroom turned out, and for good reason. This one was a complete gut job, but the entire bathroom’s footprint remained the same. The only major change was that the tub area was expanded to fill in as the new walk-in shower area ::: more space for the shower. We love the soothing tones that bring to mind a stay at your favorite spa or hotel. Such a beautiful bathroom!
The shower area is highlighted with a wave pattern accent tile in the niche, and a specific space to prop your foot to make shaving easier.
Here’s a “before” pic so you can truly appreciate the transformation!
What I’m Reading :: Counterfeit
This is a sneakily fun book, told from each of the perspectives of the two main characters, set against a backdrop of friendship, motherhood, careers, marriage, and the rest of life’s messy challenges. A great ride!
Before/After :: A Bathroom, Transformed
On our last blog post, we highlighted the adjoining bedroom and its amazing wall of built-ins. Hint :: go back and read it! Here you see the full bathroom reveal ::: the results of lots of deliberate and personal choices by the homeowners. It’s fun to see what happens when you really put a lot of thought into how you use a space.
Here, we see the bathroom in its original space.
