Garden Corner

{where plants go to die...  my house}

I love the fun little "garden corner" vignette that photographer Helen Norman & I did during our photo shoot.  We thought it would be fun to show how you can take a simple corner in your living room and turn it into a little plant haven.  The "ball" you see is actually a little pot of baby's tears turned in its side.  (you know how I love balls.)

Helen & her assistant, FJ Hughes, are amazing and I cannot thank them enough for the day.  I abosolutely loooooove plants & especially fresh green ones like ferns and the baby's tears & pearl somethings I found that we used this past week.  I am trying so desperately to keep them alive and would love any tips.  I've been misting daily.  Like a misting freak.  So this better do it.

Hope you're enjoying your weekend and have a beautiful one!!

If you'd like help creating a home you absolutely love, contact me about our design services.

*photo by Helen Norman

Garden Corner

{where plants go to die...  my house}

I love the fun little "garden corner" vignette that photographer Helen Norman & I did during our photo shoot.  We thought it would be fun to show how you can take a simple corner in your living room and turn it into a little plant haven.  The "ball" you see is actually a little pot of baby's tears turned in its side.  (you know how I love balls.)

Helen & her assistant, FJ Hughes, are amazing and I cannot thank them enough for the day.  I abosolutely loooooove plants & especially fresh green ones like ferns and the baby's tears & pearl somethings I found that we used this past week.  I am trying so desperately to keep them alive and would love any tips.  I've been misting daily.  Like a misting freak.  So this better do it.

Hope you're enjoying your weekend and have a beautiful one!!

If you'd like help creating a home you absolutely love, contact me about our design services.

*photo by Helen Norman

Client Before & After- Living Room

I have to say that I'm seriously blessed with amazing clients.  Helping someone design her/his home is a very personal process and there's a lot of trust associated with it.  I'm fortunate in that I get to work with such special people.  I don't know how it's happened, but somehow, all of my clients are warm and smart, and just so much fun to be around.  (I find myself thinking how some of them would click so well with each other and be instant friends, but they've never actually met in reality.  Maybe one day I'll have to have a big party.)   Exhibit A:

{This cute message was written on the chalkboard when I went to visit Sandy & Emma the other day}

One of mu clients, Sandy, makes her own homemade pastas & breads (focacia!!!)  and sells them at the Farmer's Market.  She sells out every week, and I've had some, and know why.  Below is Sandy wih her super-sweet daughter Emma on the left (who wrote the sign) in their gorgeous kitchen:

 

{Emma & Sandy in the kitchen where the magic happens...  Dave, her husband, wasn't there for the pic}

Had to include this close-up of the pasta:

{The orange is roasted red pepper & garlic-- oh my gosh it's so good, we literally just added olive oil and a teensy but of salt, & parmesan and it was amazing...  so easy!!}

When I arrived at Sandy & Dave's house the first time they were in the middle of having it painted, so my "before" shots are a little chaotic.  Here's the view from the living room into the dining room:

And here's the living room, which was being painted the softest blue:

The leather sofa and rug were hiding beneath the tarp:

..Along with two pretty yellow wing chairs:

As I was falling asleep one night, I had a minidream that we switched the leather sofa with the brown-green English arm sofa in the study and so here's the switch:

 

Sandy's style is very relaxed, soft, pretty, comfortable, subdued, natural, cheerful...  It has a little bit of a "garden" feel to it and she's attracted to botanicals and soft florals.  I wanted to lighten up the space and make it feel like 'her' by using things she's collected over the years along with some new pieces.  (I love "borrowing" from other rooms ;)  We're not completely finished- a little tweaking to be done here and there- and the photos aren't styled, but you'll get the idea. 

Anyway, here's the "before" again:

And here it is now:

We had Sandy's botanicals framed and used them as the focal point for the room.  Sandy loved my entryway and wanted a similar look.  I had a soft linen slipcover made (in one of my favorite fabrics ever which you might recognize) for her large ottoman (taken from the basement...  the leather one went in its place.) 

Sandy loves her burlap shade lamps and they (along with the seagrass and flowers) give it that natural feeling we needed.  I had pillows made in blues and greens.  Check out the rectangular pillow below.  I'm so crazy over that thing!! {I used a design by Jackie Von Tobel from her Design Directory of Bedding Book, which is my go-to source for pillow/bedding ideas.}  We're almost finished with the room with only a few minor final touches to go!! (including pillows for the yellow chairs, so I'll be sure to post when we're finished.)

The vintage floral tray on the ottoman was one I bought a few years ago, and when Sandy needed "the perfect" tray for the ottoman for drinks, books, etc., I immediately thought of it.  As much as I love it (yes, I know, I shouldn't "love" objects, but I do get attached ;)  I love it even more at Sandy's.  It was meant for the room and seeing these pictures makes me so happy.  (tickled, really! haha.. I'm in a silly mood)  Anyway, we're still working on artwork in the adjoining dining room, so I'm going to wait to show pics but I have to share a little peek of the curtains we had made:

I used the reverse of a fabric to get this sunny yellow color and had it banded in white linen for some added casual detail.   

Here's one last picture and I should also mention that Sandy found the end tables at Lucketts- one of my favorite local shops!!

I hope you enjoyed and thanks so much to Sandy, Dave & Emma!!

ps- If you're in the Northern Virginia/ DC area and are looking for some insanely good pasta, visit Sandy at the Farmer's Market.  Info here  She sells out every time so be sure to get there early!!

Also, I just joined TWITTER (I know how behind I am!!) so click HERE to follow :)

Client Before & After- Living Room

I have to say that I'm seriously blessed with amazing clients.  Helping someone design her/his home is a very personal process and there's a lot of trust associated with it.  I'm fortunate in that I get to work with such special people.  I don't know how it's happened, but somehow, all of my clients are warm and smart, and just so much fun to be around.  (I find myself thinking how some of them would click so well with each other and be instant friends, but they've never actually met in reality.  Maybe one day I'll have to have a big party.)   Exhibit A:

{This cute message was written on the chalkboard when I went to visit Sandy & Emma the other day}

One of mu clients, Sandy, makes her own homemade pastas & breads (focacia!!!)  and sells them at the Farmer's Market.  She sells out every week, and I've had some, and know why.  Below is Sandy wih her super-sweet daughter Emma on the left (who wrote the sign) in their gorgeous kitchen:

 

{Emma & Sandy in the kitchen where the magic happens...  Dave, her husband, wasn't there for the pic}

Had to include this close-up of the pasta:

{The orange is roasted red pepper & garlic-- oh my gosh it's so good, we literally just added olive oil and a teensy but of salt, & parmesan and it was amazing...  so easy!!}

When I arrived at Sandy & Dave's house the first time they were in the middle of having it painted, so my "before" shots are a little chaotic.  Here's the view from the living room into the dining room:

And here's the living room, which was being painted the softest blue:

The leather sofa and rug were hiding beneath the tarp:

..Along with two pretty yellow wing chairs:

As I was falling asleep one night, I had a minidream that we switched the leather sofa with the brown-green English arm sofa in the study and so here's the switch:

 

Sandy's style is very relaxed, soft, pretty, comfortable, subdued, natural, cheerful...  It has a little bit of a "garden" feel to it and she's attracted to botanicals and soft florals.  I wanted to lighten up the space and make it feel like 'her' by using things she's collected over the years along with some new pieces.  (I love "borrowing" from other rooms ;)  We're not completely finished- a little tweaking to be done here and there- and the photos aren't styled, but you'll get the idea. 

Anyway, here's the "before" again:

And here it is now:

We had Sandy's botanicals framed and used them as the focal point for the room.  Sandy loved my entryway and wanted a similar look.  I had a soft linen slipcover made (in one of my favorite fabrics ever which you might recognize) for her large ottoman (taken from the basement...  the leather one went in its place.) 

Sandy loves her burlap shade lamps and they (along with the seagrass and flowers) give it that natural feeling we needed.  I had pillows made in blues and greens.  Check out the rectangular pillow below.  I'm so crazy over that thing!! {I used a design by Jackie Von Tobel from her Design Directory of Bedding Book, which is my go-to source for pillow/bedding ideas.}  We're almost finished with the room with only a few minor final touches to go!! (including pillows for the yellow chairs, so I'll be sure to post when we're finished.)

The vintage floral tray on the ottoman was one I bought a few years ago, and when Sandy needed "the perfect" tray for the ottoman for drinks, books, etc., I immediately thought of it.  As much as I love it (yes, I know, I shouldn't "love" objects, but I do get attached ;)  I love it even more at Sandy's.  It was meant for the room and seeing these pictures makes me so happy.  (tickled, really! haha.. I'm in a silly mood)  Anyway, we're still working on artwork in the adjoining dining room, so I'm going to wait to show pics but I have to share a little peek of the curtains we had made:

I used the reverse of a fabric to get this sunny yellow color and had it banded in white linen for some added casual detail.   

Here's one last picture and I should also mention that Sandy found the end tables at Lucketts- one of my favorite local shops!!

I hope you enjoyed and thanks so much to Sandy, Dave & Emma!!

ps- If you're in the Northern Virginia/ DC area and are looking for some insanely good pasta, visit Sandy at the Farmer's Market.  Info here  She sells out every time so be sure to get there early!!

Also, I just joined TWITTER (I know how behind I am!!) so click HERE to follow :)

Project: Family Hang-Out

 My clients, the Hart family wanted a living room that they could really live in.  Like I mentioned in my previous post on their dining room, they're an active family who love being outside, hiking, camping and spending time together so we really wanted an outdoors-in natural, fresh feel in here.  They're also musically-inclined and wanted a place where the damily could practice playing.  Although they do entertain, the initial function of their living room was to be a place where they can hang out, pay bills, do homework, play instruments and relax. 

Here's what the space looked like before.  It was a totally empty blank slate (how fun?!): 

 

And here's it is now:

When I initially surveyed the house, I noticed they didn't have many family photos and suggested doing a family photo wall in the living room because they wanted an extremely personal family-focused feel in here.  The problem was that they didn't have many family photos to create the wall.  

...So, this past Fall, I met with the family for a family "photo shoot" and I took a ton of pictures of them in the backyard.   We had so much fun "playing" in the leaves and even Whimsy, the family dog, got her close-ups. 

{The Harts}

They came out really well and I created this photo collage of all of the photos surrounding a natural "twiggy" sconce:

Mike & Debbi pay their bills  and the kids also do on homework here at the worktable:

{I love their family-passed-down-clock !!}

We chose a pen shell cocktail table: (This was the first element I chose for the space and used it as a springboard for the rest of the design)

And repeated the natural shells again in the capiz shell pendant over the work table:

I found this cool old lion painting in their garage.  I think he's prefect for the space and it was the last thing to go up.

I tossed this cool needlepoint throw of mine over the back of the loveseat for some added interest: 

 {It's a very tone-on-tone textural design in keeping with the family's natural, relaxed style}

The kids & I picked some pretty polar leaves from the trees outside the house and I had them enlarged on 3 and a half feet high canvases for the walls.  I thought it was a really personal way to "bring the outside in" since they love their house because of its wooded location. 

Here's a view of the second poplar leaf canvas:

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the before & after and thank you again to the Harts for trusting me to design your home!  It was so much fun!!

Hope you had a great 4th of July weekend and if you missed the first part of this project (the dining room), check out the previous post here. 

Project: Family Hang-Out

 My clients, the Hart family wanted a living room that they could really live in.  Like I mentioned in my previous post on their dining room, they're an active family who love being outside, hiking, camping and spending time together so we really wanted an outdoors-in natural, fresh feel in here.  They're also musically-inclined and wanted a place where the damily could practice playing.  Although they do entertain, the initial function of their living room was to be a place where they can hang out, pay bills, do homework, play instruments and relax. 

Here's what the space looked like before.  It was a totally empty blank slate (how fun?!): 

 

And here's it is now:

When I initially surveyed the house, I noticed they didn't have many family photos and suggested doing a family photo wall in the living room because they wanted an extremely personal family-focused feel in here.  The problem was that they didn't have many family photos to create the wall.  

...So, this past Fall, I met with the family for a family "photo shoot" and I took a ton of pictures of them in the backyard.   We had so much fun "playing" in the leaves and even Whimsy, the family dog, got her close-ups. 

{The Harts}

They came out really well and I created this photo collage of all of the photos surrounding a natural "twiggy" sconce:

Mike & Debbi pay their bills  and the kids also do on homework here at the worktable:

{I love their family-passed-down-clock !!}

We chose a pen shell cocktail table: (This was the first element I chose for the space and used it as a springboard for the rest of the design)

And repeated the natural shells again in the capiz shell pendant over the work table:

I found this cool old lion painting in their garage.  I think he's prefect for the space and it was the last thing to go up.

I tossed this cool needlepoint throw of mine over the back of the loveseat for some added interest: 

 {It's a very tone-on-tone textural design in keeping with the family's natural, relaxed style}

The kids & I picked some pretty polar leaves from the trees outside the house and I had them enlarged on 3 and a half feet high canvases for the walls.  I thought it was a really personal way to "bring the outside in" since they love their house because of its wooded location. 

Here's a view of the second poplar leaf canvas:

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the before & after and thank you again to the Harts for trusting me to design your home!  It was so much fun!!

Hope you had a great 4th of July weekend and if you missed the first part of this project (the dining room), check out the previous post here.