Design Inspired - Emerald

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For my second design inspired challenge, I decided to do it on the color emerald.  Green isn't my favorite my color, although it used to be.  When I was in 7th grade, I painted my bedroom a nice shade of sage green.  I also had dark green bedding to go right along with it; I was already working the monochromatic look!  It's been a long time since I've been that fond of the color, in fact most of the time I just try to avoid it because it just isn't my thing much anymore.  That being said, I figured it was the perfect color to work with this time around.  Maybe next time I'll do something like pink or orange, also colors I'm not the fondest of.

Anyway, I'm getting off track here.  Actually, my inspiration for this challenge was the Emerald City from the Wizard of Oz.  I love that movie and my sisters and I watched it a lot growing up.

I haven't see the movie in at least a decade, but I remember two important things about the Emerald City.  1: it was very green, obviously, and 2: the way it was designed and the way the people dressed was weird, yet high class and elegant.  So that's what I wanted to focus on in this design board, just more elegant, less weird.

sources // pink chair / b+w pillow / gold side table / vase + flowers / coffee table / rug / sofa / floral pillows / gold studded pillow / chaise lounger / emerald pillow / gold curtains / gold art / floral art / mirror / chandelier / paint / paintable wallpaper

Since the Emerald City was my inspiration, I wanted the color emerald to be the main focus.  I wanted the room to feel elegant as well, so I brought in gold and velvet and even the marble on the coffee table added to that as well.  I was concerned that the room might feel cold or unapproachable, so I added some playful elements with the pink velvet chair and the Dalmatian spotted rug.  You know, I'm not an animal print fan at all, but I am really loving that Dalmatian print.  It's such a fun spin on polka dots.

Rather than just painting the walls solid green, I thought a nice touch would be to use the paintable wallpaper so that you get the emerald green but are also including a beautiful pattern and texture.

At first I was going to use a gold floor lamp like this or this, but then it occurred to me that if I want the room to feel elegant, a floor lamp wasn't the best idea and that I needed to do a chandelier instead.  I had a hard time deciding between the one pictured and this one.  I love them both and I think either would look great in this space, but when I put them in I decided that the Zanadoo was the winner.  It's more modern and fits my style better, so really in this case it was all about personal preference.  What I think made this the deal breaker was that it was different enough from the other gold elements.  The Leona Chandelier is fairly similar in design to the coffee table and I wanted each piece to not only fit into the room but to also stand out on their own.

So would you consider making a bold color like emerald the main design focus of your space?  I was genuinely surprised by how much I loved the way this turned out and I think I might do this again but for an office. 

Design Inspired - Peacock

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Have you ever watched HGTV's Design Star?  I've only recently watched season 5 because, hello, Emily Henderson won and she's my design icon.  Anyway, in the challenges, the designers are given something to use as their inspiration, but they're not supposed to use the actual thing in their space, although there are some challenges where that is part of the challenge and it just makes it even more difficult.  Anyway, as a way to challenge myself some more, I decided to start doing this for myself.  For my first one, I chose to use the peacock as my inspiration.

I love the vibrant colors, but it was challenging to come up with a space where they could commingle in harmony.  This was good for me though because I need it to be a challenge, otherwise I won't learn anything.  I normally gravitate towards large neutral pieces with small pops of color, but this time I wanted to change that up a little.

sources // wallpaper / sofa / gold pillow / blue pillow / credenza / lamp / rug / coffee table / side table / chair / mirror / ampersand art / love art / oyster art

Big and bold wallpaper like that Lear Gaukur from Anthropologie, while gorgeous, is not something I would normally use in a large space, but I think in this setting it would look beautiful on one wall as an accent or even all the walls.  Even though the birds aren't peacocks, I love that it still incorporates birds and bright colors.  The greens and blues in it fit in perfect with the peacock theme.

The Chester tufted sofa is from West Elm and I chose the performance velvet fabric in lagoon.  Absolutely gorgeous, I want one for my house, today please.

The Safavieh high back chairs aren't really my style, but I love the look of them in this scenario.  I think the high back is kind of reminiscent of a male peacock's beautiful and tall tail.

The surya rug reminds me of the shape of the individual tail feathers and I love the chartreuse so much.

There are lot of things in this room that individually aren't really my style, but I want this setup so bad now!  And this challenge was really fun, so I'm going to keep doing it, looking for inspiration in my everyday life as well as in other places.  Do you have any challenge ideas?  I'd love to hear them.

eDesign - Family Room Makeover and Kitchen Remodel

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I've been wanting to gain experience in edesign and my mom was happy to help me out by being my first "client."  Even though she and my dad aren't currently looking to do any home updates, they do want to eventually make some changes to their home.  I had her fill out my questionnaire and then I was able to get started.

Here's what she said she wanted for her home.

"We currently have tile and I want to change that to hardwood flooring.  We'd like to upgrade to a flat screen TV with a nice entertainment console instead of an entertainment center.  A new sofa and some chairs, maybe recliners, would be good, but we don't want a sectional.  I like the wall color and my wall decor, so those will stay.  I'd also like a nicer rug for the family room too.  For the kitchen, I want to refinish/repaint the cabinets, maybe a new back splash and counter top, and new bar stools."

She described her design style as traditional, so she likes things that are more ornate, classic, and elegant.  Colors she likes are warm tones (reds, oranges, golds and browns) and neutrals and whites, but the colors she wanted left out are pastels.  And she said that the furniture stores she likes to shop at are Haverty's and Broyhill.  With all of that information, I got to work.

This was a really good experience for me because my mom's style is very different from my own, so doing this forced me outside of my design comfort zone and made me think in terms of what she would like instead of what I like.


Here is what their home currently looks like.

The style is very traditional and very much on trend for when the house was built in 2005, but it's very dark and a little dated, so a refresh would be great for this space.  So here's what I came up with using the information she gave me.

sources // sofa / rug / media console // recliners // side table // ottoman

For the family room, I went with a softer color pallet to give the room a more relaxed feel.  I mixed modern and traditional items together to help keep the room a little more clean and simple while still maintaining the more classic look that my mom loves so much.

sources // bar stool // faucet 1 / faucet 2 / sink / black blue paint / pigeon paint / counter top / hardwood floor / fabric / subway tile / roman shades

I did the same thing in the kitchen, mixing modern and traditional.  Subway tile is very classic and clean, but I love the brass faucets and how they make the space feel much more modern and on trend.  Installing a white sink also helps to brighten up the space and, in my opinion, white porcelain always looks cleaner than a metal sink.  Replacing the valances with roman shades also updates the look and feel of the room and mounting the shades above the windows makes them appear taller, as you can see with how the valances currently hang.  The counter tops are currently granite, which is so durable and beautiful, but their granite is really dark, so I thought a white quarts would look really great, especially with the paint colors we've chosen for the cabinets.  Quarts is great because it gives the appearance of marble with the same durability as granite.  My mom wants to update the dark green tile flooring they have to hardwood flooring; they have tile in their entryway, the main hallway, and in their kitchen.  I love wide plank hardwood because of its rustic look and feel and I especially love woods with lots of grain and knots in them.  The Jasper prefinished oak is gorgeous and would look great in their home, plus it's $2.59 per square foot, so a really great price as well, especially for hardwood floors.

I really wish that my parents could do this to their home now because it would be amazing to be able to see this all come together in reality, but unfortunately this is a project that will have to wait.

Currently, I'm looking to offer design services in exchange for experience.  If you're interested in working with me (for free!), then you can fill out my questionnaire form here and I'll be get in contact with you so we can begin the process.  So what do you think about my parents' space?  What changes would you make?

Joss & Main Design Mom Sale

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Gabrielle Blair, from Design Mom, shared a tour of their living room today and it's perfectly open, airy, and full of natural light and textures.  It's gorgeous!  And Joss and Main curated a sale based on that room that goes for the next week.  I love the items they have and I thought it would be fun to put together a living room design board based on items they have in their sale.

I really love that Picasso art print and the Bulgaria sofa is absolutely gorgeous!  I would love to have this room design in our home, you know, when we have a home one day.  Ahh to dream.  Anyway, I hope you like it!

sources // mirror // art // tree // floor lamp // rug // coffee table // side table // bird pillow // Elise sofa // Bulgaria sofa

Design Experience

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Something I've been wanting to do for awhile now is e-design work from home.  It would enable me to still be home with my kids while doing something I love and earning a little extra income for our family at the same time.  Win, win, win.  The only problem is that the only experience I have is for and with myself.  I love design mood boards and I love to make them (I know, I'm a nerd), but I rarely share them and I've only ever made them for me and a couple times for my sister.  So really, I doubt that anyone would want to hire me to do it.

Enter: Fiverr.  Fiverr is a site where people offer services starting at $5 and I decided that this could be a great place for me to advertise e-designs and gain experience so that one day I could do it on my own through this site.  You can see my gig here.  For $5 I will create a design board for you, complete with shopping list, for one room.  A steal, right!?  Usually e-designs cost hundreds, if not more and for good reason.  It takes time to create a great looking room, plus you're doing it without actually having seen the space in person, which can be challenging.  I figured this would be a great way to gain experience without it having to be totally free but the clients really won't be losing out on much.  If you're serious about getting outside help for your interior design project, but are a little apprehensive about the cost, then this could work great for you.  At best, you love my work and I gain a positive experience.  At worst, you hate it, but you're only out $5 and I gain an experience that I can totally learn from.  I'm also offering a one time edit per order, so it's not like you would have to take it or leave it on the first shot. 

So here's how the whole process will work.  After payment is received, I'll send you a questionnaire form that you fill out and email back to me along with measurements of the rooms dimensions, a few photos so I can see wall placement, any moldings or details, etc, and if you have a Pinterest account where you've pinned inspiration photos, a link to that, or some inspiration photos, if you have any, of what you would like the room to look or feel like.  Then I'll take all of the information I've gathered and come up with a room design within your budget (that you'll tell me on the questionnaire) along with a shopping list of where you can get everything pictured.  I would also love to do some remodel designs as well, like this bathroom pictured below (which I totally want now!).

So what do you think?  Would you take a chance and help me gain some experience?  I'd love to work with you!

*all images are my own design boards*