Design House Tween Room

So, my room at the Design House is now empty.  For those of you who were able to come and view the house, thank you so much for your support.  I am proud to have been a part of the event, happy to be able to support the Shelter for Help in Emergency and satisfied with how my room turned out.  I know I've been talking about it a lot and I hope you're not getting too tired of it all, but I have to share my room for those who have not yet seen it and I'll hopefully get around to posting some how-to's as promised as well.

When the designers toured the house, I was not overly impressed with this room:

So little, in fact, that I did not request to work in it.  Such a challenge -- a small room (not quite 12 x 15) with a door or window on every wall and a big radiator!  The red walls were dark, the table covered the balcony door and the drapes were heavy and floral.

When asked, I accepted the challenge; none of the designers had chosen this space!

 I decided to highlight the room's positive characteristics.  It has high ceilings, a beautiful window and an amazing balcony.

I chose to paint the walls a very neutral off-white shade, kept the trim a glossy bright white,and added crown moulding and a pop of color in turquoise to emphasize the ceiling.

My plan for the room looked like this:

I chose to place a daybed in front of the window and radiator and have a cover built for the radiator to serve as a sofa table of sorts.  Bolster cushions sit on the radiator cover and a window scarf dresses both the window and the bed.  Custom cabinetry ties the whole thing together and provides bedside tables for storage and a place for those huge lampshades.  The window becomes the focal point of the room.

Before:

Heavy drapes and a big radiator

 After:

The bed is made of two headboards constructed by U-Fab.  The duvet and bolsters are also from U-Fab.  Custom cabinetry by Maya Wood.  Fabulous fun oversized lampshades were recovered in coordinating fabric. 

 Before:

 After:

A custom floorcloth painted by Susan Brodie of Muses; Art for Living grounds the furniture arrangement.  Fun pouf ottomans provide extra seating or a place to rest your feet.  The cream drapes with fun circle trim draw your eyes to the balcony beyond.  Before, a table cut off both the view and the access.

What a spectacular feature of this room -- I couldn't leave it empty!

A gorgeous white Murano glass chandelier from Shades of Light really adds sparkle to the ceiling.  While this room now only accommodates one bed, I was able to add a refurbished decoupaged desk (tutorial to come later in the week) with a fabulous re-upholstered chair also done by U-Fab.

 

Here's a little vignette featuring a white lacquered dresser with a mirrored top from Shades of Light, a Snow White mirror and some fun accessories -- love the whippet from Patina, Anitques, etc.!

And, I can't leave out my daughter's one-of-a-kind painting to fill up the wall-- so proud!!

Best wishes to the Shelter for Help in Emergency.

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to showcase this fun idea!

Check out my Transformations Tab for more Before and Afters.

And, don't forget to

Contact me

with your design dilemmas!

Coastal Living Inland.....

Today's post is actually an addendum to the post that follows.  Waiting for custom furniture pieces can seem like forever, but we finally got the chair for the desk in for this makeover and I wanted to share what the rest of the room looks like finished.
Here's a refresher:

This home is brand-new with gorgeous tall ceilings and lots of natural light.  I worked with the homeowner to incorporate what she already owned from her previous home to make it work in the new one.  We added the chandelier and pediment that you've already seen, but we also introduced a bit of color and softness to the French doors with long linen panels in a spa blue. We placed a tall upholstered chair at the desk built by my client's father and displayed a painting by the homeowner above it.
Before:

Now:

 Finally finished!!

 And, in case you've forgotten, here's the rest of the room:


 Despite living in her brand-new home only six months, this homeowner was already talking about moving.  Convinced that she just needed to make it more her own, she and I came up with a plan to make the space more inviting and personal.  Using her love of Coastal Living and her beautiful artwork, the room was transformed from this:  

To this:

The large chandelier helps to bring the soaring ceilings to a more inviting height.  By separating the bookcases, adding a bench in between and an overscale weathered pediment above, the furniture pieces aren't dwarfed by the tall walls.

To make the space more personal, the homeowner's own artwork is featured throughout the room with a gallery for pictures and art up the steps.

Before, not much going on:

Now, a whole lot to see!

 

A beautiful striped cotton rug gives a nautical feel and blends with the slipcovered sofa.  A new oval mirrored and glass coffee table has a modern edge but is still comfortable and doesn't take up too much visual space.

We're still waiting on a desk chair --I'll post photos of that wall with the linen drapery soon!
Hopefully, the homeowner feels more at home now!

Looking for help making your house more home-y?

Contact me!

I'd love to help! 

Maybe your home will be a Monday Makeover Feature!

In a flash, it was gone

So, I missed my first Monday post since I started blogging this week.  My computer was dreadfully slow Monday am, so I put off writing until that evening.  And then it happened:

The storm took out my modem and my wireless router, power to part of my home and my cable.  A big thanks to my husband for working so hard to get things up and running again.  It's almost back to normal -- still no television or garage door opener (grrrrrr!), but I hope to get back in the swing of things soon.  Stay tuned!!

Inviting Entry

Today's Makeover Monday features a relatively small space, but a very important one; the entry.

The furnishings in this entry were not the right scale for the space and although the homeowner had made a respectable effort, the space lacked character.

Now, the scale of the mirror is better and the sconces add interest, both with light and shape.  Found seashells from the client's collection in a bamboo bowl and decorative sticks in a coordinating vase give the entry a personal touch and create a feel for the rest of the house.  A Dash and Albert Rug warms the floor.

I'd LOVE to add some seagrass wallpaper or a coral paint in the alcove!

Need to add some pizazz to your entry?

I'd love to help!

Contact me!

Spectacular Sponsors -- My Muse

Okay, I promise this is the last of my emotional posts -- back to the more superficial embellishing next week, I promise!!

I can't leave out my inspiration for my room design and my life, my little girl daughter.  As bittersweet as it is to watch her grow, I am continually amazed and enlightened by this person.  She is wildly talented, heart-warmingly empathetic, highly opinionated and I love all of her more than I ever thought was possible!  I hope she learns that she can accomplish anything she wishes, but that it takes hard work and sacrifice to be able to do what you love.

I commissioned Eliza to create an art piece for the room.  She came up with a great idea and had a lot of fun doing it, even though the weather didn't cooperate for us to do it outside (hence the highly organized basement background!).  Thank you, Eliza, for giving up precious outside play time to help at the Design House and for sharing your 8-year old perspective for my design.  Someday we'll change those pink walls in your room!

Come and check out our work at the 

Charlottesville Design House

May 7-22

1687 Mint Springs Road
Crozet, VA

Spectacular Sponsors -- My Awesome Friends!!

WARNING:  More sappiness ahead!!  I cannot highlight supporters of my Design House efforts without giving credit to the wonderful friends and neighbors who have helped me with my crazy projects!!

I moved into my current neighborhood almost 3 years ago from a remote area outside of Charlottesville mostly for my daughter.  I had no idea how much my own life would be enhanced by this move!  As touched as I was the first time a neighborhood child rang our doorbell to see if  Eliza could come out and play, I am equally blessed with the amazing people around me every day.

For my window treatments, I really wanted to add trim to the fabric that was so generously donated by U-Fab and I had difficulty finding a vendor who was willing to donate any (that stuff gets expensive!!).  So, I came across this idea of using cut fabric to make the trim.  Problem was, the trim required cutting many many circles to create.  Enter my fabulous friends to the rescue!  In a relatively short time, Anita Gupta, Mercer Reeves, Amy Wielar, Lisa Woolfork, Mindy Goodall, Melissa Henriksen, Camilla Tolton, Farnaz Gazoni and Saskia Santen-Arts had a large ice bucket full of circles!!  It was so great to be able to chat and cut together and it made the project so much fun!

But that's not all.........those millions of circles needed to be sewn.  "It's easy!"  Lisa Woolfork exclaimed and zipped through them on her fabulous machine.  "See?!"(3 hours later).  I can't believe how fortunate I am to have these women to support me!  It is so amazing to be surrounded by such talented women who support and uplift each other.  Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!




A little sneak peek at the finished product:

So cute!

I also have to give a big thank you to Rachel Thielman, who sewed the adorable pouf ottomans in my room.  Rachel, your willingness to donate your time and talent to this project is inspirational to me.  I am so grateful for your efforts and hope we can work together again soon!  Rachel is so generous - she offered to sew pillows with the leftover fabric -- how amazing!!

Come support women in our community and tour an amazing home in the 2011 Charlottesville Design House 1687 Mint Springs Road

May 7-22

See you there!

Spectacular Sponsors -- Open Letter to my Husband

As the countdown begins for the 2011 Design House, I am now able to focus beyond my room decor and think again about the reason behind all of this effort.  I have been highlighting the amazing people and businesses who have helped me to make my vision come to fruition and I want to take a minute and thank my biggest supporter of all.  The Shelter for Help in Emergency assists mostly women and their children escape abuse from men in their lives.  I am so fortunate that the man in my life is the exact opposite.


Bryan Smith, I am so grateful for your constant support and acceptance of me not only with this Design House project, but in all aspects of our life.  You have endured hours of my nervous jabbering about vendors and fabric, driven long trips in torrential rains to get a chandelier, worked tirelessly at getting screws into plaster, overlooked a dining room full of bedroom furniture and accessories, and many nights of frozen, last minute meals.  And that's just the beginning.  I cannot thank you enough for knowing me, understanding me and accepting me for who I am.  There is nothing like being able to come home and talk with my best friend about my day.  I appreciate your innate ability to know when to let me rant, when to crack a joke or when to enlighten me on my melodramatic tendencies. Thank you for being you and letting me be me.

I love you.

Your $20 donation to view the fabulous 2011 Charlottesville Design House goes to support women who have endured domestic violence.  Check out the website for the Shelter for Help in Emergency for more information about this important service.