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. 

Client Project: A Green Dining Room

I don't have a before photo of this dining room.  (What's wrong with me?  You'd think I'd never blogged before! ;)  The only pieces in the room when I started the project were the old trestle table & chairs which I love.  My clients, Debbi & Mike, have 3 children- 2 at home a one at college.  They eat their nightly meals in the dining room and also use it for projects, homework, entertaining, etc.  They're an extremely outdoorsy & fit family and love camping, biking and hiking.  Their 70s house has large windows with beautiful views of the surrounding trees and if I didn't already call my house the "treehouse" I'd call this one the "treehouse."  Since they're so passionate about nature & the outdoors, I designed a room that feels textural, natural and filled it with with layers of greens and wood-tones.  

{Walls are painted in Behr's "Lion"}

I love the wax pillar candle chandelier & sconces.  They're simple and strong yet beautiful.

The curtains are an olive-colored paisley linen and we went with green tortoiseshell shades for a classic natural feel.  And, unlike me, Debbi can keep plants alive and I think they're perfect in here.

The oil painting was ours but now it's found the perfect home.  (It wasn't easy for me to part with, but it makes me so happy to see it here ;)  We chose Restoration Hardware's Printmaker's Sideboard and its massive size is perfect for dining room storage.  (Since Debbi & Mike also use their dining room to pay bills, some of the drawers are reserved for paperwork too.)

I set the table for a "summer dinner" and used glassware from Anthropologie.  (How gorgeous are the amber wine glasses???!)  I layed a massive squash leaf down for a fun take on a tablerunner.

Here's another view of the table:

I love the brass of the samovar (the huge tea pot) against the painting.  (I borrowed it from my grandparents because I thought it would look beautiful in here and now I think I need to find one for Debbi ;)

The dining room is a relaxed & subdued backdrop for whatever type of occasion is needed.  I think it looks just as beautiful when the table's bare.  (I'm going to want to keep coming back again to do more table settings.  (Knock knock! "It's me again to play dress up with your table!") 

Thank you so much to Debbi & Mike for trusting me & the design even when the wax candles nudged you a bit outside of your comfort zone ;) ;)   You're amazing and I can't thank you enough.

I hope you enjoyed & I'll be posting living room photos next week!  Have an awesome 4th of July!!!

The Fun-Shed

We've pretty much finished our shed/playhouse project and we are having so much fun hanging out in it!  To check out all of the inspiration sheds, check out this post here.  When we bought the house (about a year ago) this shed (below) was on the property sitting on a concrete slab.  It leaked and a some sort of animal family lived in it:

Dave and his dad knocked it down and replaced it with 6' x 8' Hartland shed from Lowe's:

We haven't painted the outside of the shed yet to match out house but if you'll remember, we haven't even painted our actual house fully yet, so those pics will come this summer.  (Can  you tell interiors come first with me? ;) ;) 

We wanted to create a fun place for us and the kids to hang out.  It's part playhouse- part relaxing place for us to hide from the bugs...  I wanted it to be pretty enough for me to enjoy being in, but still appeal to little boys.  (Will I ever have a girl??!! ;)   Anyway, here's what it looked like inside before:

And here it is now:

We strung up our globe (a 23rd birthday gift to Dave from me) between the rafters and I love looking at it when we're laying down on the bench. 

For a little nod to our own kitchen, we decided we'd do white shelves above a black counter.  We don't really have any kitchen-y toys yet so we're using pretty fruit juice cans and an old olive oil contrainer.  I love their vintage-feel. 

We've displayed things we've collected over the years along with the things Christian finds on walks.  It seems sticks are one of his favorite. I've "let go" of what happens on these shelves (meaning I totally helped get everything up there but he whatever happens, happens)  and it's really refreshing to have a space out of my control.   He says he needs to put them up here so Ashby (our dog) won't get them:

 I think it'll be fun to use actual leftover food containers (like empty mini cereal containers) to add "food" over time.   I also thought it would be fun for Christian to play "bartender" when we have parties/ bbqs. (ok- yes, I know how bad that sounds but I'm not talking only alcoholic drinks here :)  We'll put the different drinks we have to offer up on the shelves - ie coke, bottled water, orange soda,  etc- for people to see their options and then they can tell the kids what they want so they can fish it out of the coolers for them. 

Christian has been "cooking" a lot and also sampling the honeysuckle that grows just outside:

{honeysuckle leftovers on chair}

The beautiful old adirondak chair was given to me by my friend Rebecca of Acanthus and Acorn and Christian just loves it! 

{I adore the crackly old vintage kitty on the floor}

The bass that hangs is the first bass I ever "caught."  I was 4 years old and my dad had it mounted.  It reminds of of the fishing trips I used to take with my dad when I was little - playing Barbie's and caring more about the surrounding waterlilies rather than the fish.  It has been moving from house to house with me with no place to go, and finally, it's found a home.  (ps- I'm not sure I've even caught a bass since...  my dad's an awesome bass fisherman and has even been on those fishing shows...  this apple falls far from the tree.)  The botanical prints are different plants (and weeds!) we have around our yard.  Christian & I picked them and photocopied them with the printer.  I labeled them and added some personal stories/ thoughts on any that have special meaning.  To see the how-to details, click here. 

My "spot" is the bench Dave built.  We used a cheapie outdoor chaise lounge cushion for the seat wrapped in an old natural-colored ikea curtain.  (very washable and we have multiples!)  The dog pillow (we've had for years) looks exactly like our dog Ashby and I propped an old water-damaged flea market painting on the ledge.  We painted the floors black and added a grapic outdoor rug.  The old wire basket under the bench given to me by a friend is great for coralling suncreen, baby wipes and other necessaries:

Do you spy the "real" tenant in the playhouse?  Just under the painting... "Spidey" earns his keep by eating mosquitoes.  This playhouse is not for the squeamish!

Justin enjoys the bench too but not as much as the plates...

Do you remember those old fisher price tea seats?  My mom had saved mine:

Here's a photo Christian wanted me to take of the "oatmeal" he made for me:

{yum!}

Christian has a great time playing in here...

...But I think Dave & I might  actually like the playhouse more than him.  We love seeing him have so much fun and being so excited, so in that sense, it's just as much of a gift to ourselves as to the kids.  It's funny how that works.

Anyway, hope you're having a great week & enjoyed the tour!!

xoxo,

lauren

Rug: "Matrix" rug from overstock.com

No VOC Paint: (a favorite) "Beach Pearl" by FreshAir Choice @ Home Depot

Globe: Rand McNally