My Design High aka Paint Color Plan

OhMyGoodness.  What a fabulous paint color consult appointment I had with Sunny Goode.  Is there such thing as a design high?  If so, I am completely buzzed.

I really soul-searched before our meeting and I asked her to help me with paint colors on the neutral yet warm side of the spectrum.  As I poured over images of my favorite rooms and spaces, I realized that I am drawn to rooms with bold color and “punch” used in the art, fabrics, and accessories, with the paint used in a supporting role.    Plus, that approach complements my ADD short attention span and tendency to constantly move and shift furniture, pieces of art, mirrors, pillows and accessories.

Sunny was wonderfully sweet, creative, funny, professional and full of amazing ideas.  I am still digesting all of our conversations and her inspiring suggestions, but here is some of our plan so far:

Entry hall, staircase and upstairs hallway: Farrow & Ball Blackened

For the family room: Farrow & Ball Borrowed Light

with Farrow & Ball Mouse’s Back behind the built-ins

For the dining room: Farrow & Ball Elephant’s Breath (pretty paint, weird name!)

For the master bedroom: Benjamin Moore Fanfare

For Clare’s room: Benjamin Moore Hint of Pink (1/2 strength)

For Julia’s room: Benjamin Moore Silver Satin with white stenciled polka dots

So, what do you think?  We are going to get started upstairs, probably with Clare’s room first.  I am so excited to try a stencil in Julia’s room.  Seriously, I am on a giddy design high!

{All images can be sourced here}

Confessions of a Design Blogger

Bless me readers, for I have cheated, I have called in for reinforcements….

For Christmas, I asked for and received a PAINT CONSULTATION!

{Love the polka dots for Julia’s nursery by Sophie Burke Design via Desire to Inspire}

I am both thrilled and slightly embarrassed.  Thrilled that I will get an expert’s opinion on each space in our new house and its function, while also focusing on the flow of the whole house and how each color and room relates to each other.

{Thinking about Benjamin Moore Revere Pewter for the entry hall, staircase and upstairs hall}

And, slightly embarrassed that I needed and wanted a second opinion!  For better or for worse (and I have really only had one true paint disaster, and let’s be honest, peach is a color best left to nature), I have always picked my own paint colors.  Because this house feels more like a “forever house” than any of our previous homes, I thought I may give some extra planning and consideration to the overall color scheme.

{Love Benjamin Moore’s Proposal for Clare’s room via Young House Love}

I have had a few people independently mention and highly endorse, the Richmond-based and nationally renowned, Sunny Goode.  Once I heard her name, I realized that I actually have blogged about her products (stencils) and never really knew much about her.

{Thinking about painting the brick hearth in our den white, but keeping the wood mantle a natural wood color; image via Pinterest}

So, she comes to the new house and all of it’s disorganized and disastrous glory on Monday morning.  I am like the world’s most intense helicopter mom on parent-teacher conference day.  I have copious notes on each room and my ideas.  Sunny is going to be sending SOS smoke signals and waving the white flag after two minutes!  

{Beautiful color for our bedroom via Pinterest}

I will keep you posted — she has been beyond sweet and flexible in our correspondence.  I  can’t wait to learn from her and work together on a great paint plan.  Stay tuned!  Happy weekend!

Design Crush: Suellen Gregory

I love running across amazing Richmond-based interior designers.  I stumbled upon Suellen Gregory on Pinterest and was giddy to find that she is based a few miles down the road.  I really like her traditional, timeless aesthetic mixed with a few impactful and unexpected modern details.

Isn’t she wonderfully talented?  All of the pictures are from her website — go check out her entire portfolio for some serious inspiration!

P.S. Are you on Pinterest?  Come find me there!

Lessons from Pinterest – Master Bedroom

In reviewing my Pinterest bedroom board for inspiration for our new master bedroom, a clear design formula slapped me across the face emerged:

Cloud-like wall color +
Neutral window panels with woven shades +
White bed linens +
Gourd lamps +
Art or mirror above the bed +
Symmetry +
Mix of finishes and textures
 

Some of these images, I even pinned multiple times.  Wow, am I really that predictable?!  I obviously have my marching orders.  Stay tuned!

{All images from Pinterest}

{mini} Buy This, Not That!

Anyone remember these posts?  I have been coveting this duvet from Serena & Lily for some time and just saw a great knock-off for more than $120 less….

LOVE THIS?

{Catalina Duvet Cover, Serena & Lily, $230 for F/Q}

BUY THIS!

{Tangled Up in Blue Duvet Cover, Land of Nod, $109 for F/Q}

P.S. Have you seen all the awesomeness at Land of Nod lately?  I love that most of it is easily translatable to adult living but at kid prices….

{Eden Table Lamp}

{Wish My Lucky Four Leaf Mirror}

{Confetti Duvet Cover and Sheet Set}

{The Vines Have it Storage}

 

Nursery Inspiration

So, we found out that we are having A GIRL! 

Even before we found out the gender of the baby, I have been envisioning a mint green nursery.  Now, I am thinking mint green and white horizontal stripes with hot pink accents.  Here is my inspiration image:

Substitute hot pink for the red, and promptly remove the wall decal!

Here are some other inspiration images of nurseries, stripes and the color palette — I can’t wait to get my husband painting that room!

What do you think?  I am still not sold on the stripes and considering wainscoting on the lower half of the wall with mint green up above.  Hmmm.  Lots to do.  Stay tuned! 

{Photo credits: 1. Baby Lifestyles, 2. DecorPad, 3. Color Zen Blog, 4.  Survivin’ on Sweet Tea and Love, 5. DecorPad, 6. Sketch42, 7. Pinterest, 8. Pinterest, 9. theLennoxx}

The Reveal: Project Big Girl Room

Project Big Girl Room is finally complete (only 10 months later)!  My goal was to transform my 3 year old’s nursery into a “big girl room” that she can she can grow into with minor modifications along the way.  I wanted the room to have a peaceful, tranquil vibe, and an age-appropriate playfulness, while staying away from matchy-matchy themes and overly girly motifs.   

Sooo, drum roll and Ta-Dah:

 

And, I am still pondering the closet-turned-secret room for the closet on the right.

I am thrilled with the way it turned out! 

What I learned from this project:

1. I stuck to the Nate Berkus four color rule, which narrowed down my choices and made my decisions so much easier (lavender, mint green, hot pink and white).
2. I splurged on the items that made the biggest impact (bed skirt, flower pillow, books on the dresser) and saved on the smaller details (rocking chair pillow, tissue box cover, sheets for the bed).
3.  Although it took me 10 months to complete, the long process was part of what made it a success because I organically let the room come together and breathe after each change and addition.

Here is some sourcing information for the new items in the room, but if you want sources on anything not listed, leave a comment and I will gladly email you:

Duvet Cover & Shams: Paris Toile, Pottery Barn Kids (similar)
Bed Skirt: Elizabeth Tulle Bed Skirt, Pottery Barn Kids
Monogrammed Pillows: Rattle & Roll, Richmond, Virgina
Headboard: Blanc de Blanc Headboard, Target
Bedside Clock: Target (not online)
Bedside Tissue Box Cover: headtotoe2009, Etsy
Pink Bichon Print: Mod Dog in Target frame
Pink Paris Metro Print: shellsherree, Etsy in Target frame
Other 2 prints are pages from Madeline book in Target frames
Curtains: Land of Nod (similar)
Butterfly Garland: Garden on the Square, Savannah, Georgia
Pillow in Rocking Chair: diypillows, Etsy
Green Ikat Mini-Bowl on Bookcase: Anthropologie (similar)
Typography Print: The Love Shop, Etsy in Target frame
Pink Lampshades and Lucite Lamps: De-Lite Bases and Border Dots Tapered Shade, PB Teen
Horse Book Ends: Home Goods, Richmond, Virginia
Books on Dresser: Penguin Books, Anthropologie
Flower Pillow: Serena & Lily Bloom Pillow, Layla Grace

Easy Breezy

{via Vintage Room Style}

{via DesignSponge}

{via Apartment Therapy}

{via Bohemian Vintage}

{via Young House Love}

{via Your Home Only Better}

{via Roseland Greene}

I am insatiably obsessed with vintage fans these days.  Can you tell?

I just bought a vintage/retro style fan for my bedroom.  Pics coming!

My Design Resolutions

Happy New Year!  The start of 2011 feels liberating.  2010 was a great year, but it feels good to leave its baggage and the holiday stress behind me and
start fresh. 

I have been making a personal plan for the upcoming year and along with that, have been introspectfully examining my design goals and aspirations. 
Here we go:

1. Get rid of everything that I don’t love without guilt, including gifts or family hand-me-downs.  This will always be a work-in-progress for me and I have closets full of gifts and hand-me-downs that I “don’t hate” but they never leave the closets.  Time to purge.
2. Step out of my comfort zone and do not feel constrained by traditions and expectations.  Expectations and thoughts about re-sale value often water down and paralyze my design decisions, and the status quo remains longer than it should.
3. Eradicate the mini-blind from all windows in the entire house!  You may want to avert your eyes….YIKES.
4. Strike the right balance of investing in high-quality pieces while mixing with affordable, low-end accessories.  My favorite style combines classics and antiques with affordable basics.  I don’t want a house full of just antiques or full of just low-end “junk”, and with Target so close by, I tend towards the latter.
5. Finally recover these chairs that flank our sideboard in the dining room. They were hand-me-downs that came with a furnished home purchased by my mother, and I like their shape, but the fabric is HIDEOUS!
   
6. Finish my 3 ongoing projects!

I am nearing completion on Project Big Girl Room.  I need to style the dresser (now that the changing table is gone — woo hoo!), order some throw pillows, finish the wall art and maybe work on the closet-turned-secret room.

Upon a mention to my husband about wanting to re-do our downstairs bathroom, the next thing I knew, he had demo’d the whole thing.  Tile floors, vanity, mirror, toilet, light fixture – the whole sha-bang.  We are working on a yellow/gray/white bathroom update.  Here’s the current state — yikes again! (also, the yellow is much prettier in person and really not neon.  I had to use a headlamp to take this picture because the light fixture was gone!)

I have also kick-started the New Year by ordering the West Elm Zigzag Rug for my front hallway that I posted about here and here.  I will also likely order a new console and some fun accessories to spruce up the entryway to our house.  I want to get rid of the yellow curtain at the end of the hallway that currenlty serves as the door to our laundry room (we had to take off the door to fit our front-load washer/dryer when we moved in).   Here’s the before:

I would also love to hear more from my readers this year!  I know you are out there because I see you on my stat counter everyday. 
Please feel free to comment, ask questions and say hi! 
I love hearing from you!

 

Brown and White and Zigzag All Over

Hi there.  I am emerging from my Christmas-induced panic attack that has defined the last two weeks.  We finally got the tree up yesterday, I finished my Christmas cards this morning, I have done my first round of baking, and my shopping is, well, getting there.  Whew!

As a treat for surviving the Christmas holidays, I have my eye on this “oldie but goodie” Zigzag Rug from West Elm in the ivory/espresso/flax colorway:

It’s been all over the blogosphere and back for a while now, and  I know I am late to this party, but I can’t stop thinking about how DIVINE it would look as a runner in our front hallway.  And at only $119, I can easily justify my NEED for a new runner, right?

With this rug, it’s hard to go wrong.  Want proof?  Eye candy awaits you, my friends.

{Palmer Weiss via Odi Et Amo}

Notice its pairing with the lucite trunk.  {via Four Walls and a Roof}

{via Decor Pad}

Note the lucite trunk again.  They are BFFs.  {via Decor Pad}

Do you spy the lucite cocktail table?  {via Decor Pad}

{via Jen Ramos at Made By Girl}

The rooms pictured below aren’t actually the West Elm gem (and most likely have the way more expensive Madeline Weinrib version), but the awesomeness is the same.

{By Jonathan Adler for Liz Lange via Sketch 42}

Dude, if it’s good enough for Jonthan Adler, it’s good enough for me!  {Jonathan Adler’s NYC dining room via Cococozy}

I like the vertical orientation here.  That suzani bench is bananas too.  {via Things We Heart}

{via Decor Pad}

Are you convinced? 

P.S. I couldn’t leave its BFF behind.  I could pair my zigzag rug with this cute lucite Peekaboo Console from CB2: