E Designs: Window Treatments

Last year after they purchased a new home in Murrells Inlet, SC my aunt and uncle asked me for some design advice for their master bedroom. They have a bay window that they were uncertain how to treat and wanted some help.

The Problem

After reading their "problem", I spent some time coming up with a window treatment solution for the window and then took the design to the next level so they could get a feel for what could be done with their space.

The Inspiration

I began the process, as I do with all of my designs, by finding photos for reference and inspiration.

The Mood Board

Next, I pulled fabric swatches, a color palette (this one was based on their existing palette in the room) and some accent pieces (tables, lamps, art, etc) and created a mood board to give them some ideas of items that could be added to the space to pull the room together.

Lastly, I created a mocked up photo of their space using some of the items and treatments to give them a visual reference of how the space could look with my ideas implemented.

The Solution

For E-Designs such as this, I provide not only what is shown above, but also a PDF with links to all the items that I have used and a full write up with suggestions for pulling the space together on your own.

My aunt and uncle put their project on hold for a while, but based on the feedback I received on my design for them, I got the feeling we'll be seeing some of my ideas come to life when they are ready to finish it up!

Louis Blue How I Love You!

It's been a while since I've had time to play in Polyvore, so I decided to take a few minutes today and put together a set inspired by an awesome Wisteria chair.

The chair is the Updated Louis Chair in Blue and my oh my am I in love! I want one for my office!

But alas, I don't have an extra $280 at the moment, so I'll just have to make up dream rooms for it to live in instead!

Happy Tuesday!

Making Changes

Lately I've got the decorating bug again and I've been re-doing rooms in our house by changing and mixing up accessories. I'd of course love all new everything, but having just paid for a wedding (!!!), that's not happening any time soon!

So, I got a cool new print on canvas for our living room from World Market and I love all of the colors and the eclectic design. It has the red-orange and olive green of our existing sofa and drapes, but also varying shades of blue, green, red and even teal (one of the colors that I've been wanting to introduce into our home for a long time!).

Momentary Canvas by World Market

I'm thinking I may frame it in a cool, rustic wood frame down the road, but for now it's hangin' naked above our sofa!

 

Next I'm starting to hunt for cool accent pillows to tie the sofa, drapes and new frames (stay tuned for a glimpse of these soon) all together.

Z Gallerie has a bunch that are totally gorgeous and along the lines of what I'm looking for. Here are a few of my faves:

I'll keep you posted as I get more done so you can see how everything comes together.

Beautiful Boudoir

Remember a few months ago when I announced that I was working on a bedroom/studio project with a photographer friend? Well, I finally have some photos to show of the project! Yep, we finished up a couple of weeks ago and Sherry did her first boudoir shoot in the space. 
The room turned out beautiful and so did the shoot!

Here's a closer look at the project:

Before

The bed is a bit large for this small room, but we worked it out in the end. The rust color frame didn't go with our black and white design, so we painted it black.

The space has two windows that bring in a lot of natural light, but the nook across from the bed was too small to really do anything functional with. There is also a doorway into the living room that we needed to address for privacy reasons especially during shoots.

Inspiration

Of the two mood boards that I did, this is the one that spoke to Sherry the most and so we used it as the design inspiration.

Design

We decided to install a textured wall using ceiling tiles and a custom bed canopy with drapes. We selected a pretty teal color that would be soothing for Sherry in her day to day, but also compliment many different colors of lingerie when she uses the room for shoots. As I mentioned above, we painted the bed frame black as well as reupholstered the headboard.

After

In the final design, we opted to turn the bed around and float it in front of the nook. This allowed for natural light to shine in through the side window and eliminated the other window being directly behind the bed. We blocked the doorway with a pretty black and white damask drape and hung one on the opposite window to balance out the room.

The canopy and drapes create a romantic feel in the room, ideal for boudoir photography.

We plan to install a lamp or chandelier behind the bed to provide lighting at night, but that will come in phase two.

We installed the textured wall behind the bed, but opted to paint it all black rather than black and white. The texture is subtle, but I love the contrast of the bold teal against the dark black.

We have a few other details that we'd like to add and later plan to create vignettes in other areas of the house for the shoots. This is the first e-design completed since I've started decorating again and I'm really happy with the way it turned out. It's been fun and challenging to consider how each part of the design would photograph and be used during a shoot. I'm looking forward to phase two when we can put together some of the other ideas that we've been working on and see the full project come to life!

If you'd like to see more of Sherry's work, you can check her out on her website at http://www.sherrymartinphotography.com. 

Happy almost New Year!

Practice What You Preach

I often tell people that you can find inspiration just about anywhere. In fact, a couple of months ago I did an entry about finding inspiration in photos of doors. This week I decided it was time to practice what I preach and show you just what I mean. I created a mood board for a dining room inspired by the color, texture and style of the door below.

The Inspiration

The Rustic Inspired Dining Room

Inspired by Color

One of the questions that I hear most often from people when it comes to design is, "I don't know how to pick colors." If there's one thing I can say about myself as a designer, it's that I'm not afraid of color. In fact, I LOVE color in design.

When I start a design, I like to find an inspiration piece pull from. This could be a piece of artwork, fabric, photograph or any other item that I'm drawn to that has a pleasing color palette. I recommend this technique to people a lot when they ask me to help them figure out where to start in choosing colors.

With that in mind, I happened to come across this super-cool website while surfing this new (well at least new to me) world of blogs called Polyvore. If you aren't familiar, it's an online tool that allows you to create mood/style/inspiration boards using items from the web. It's really easy to use and seriously addicting for someone like me who enjoys designing. (A new guilty pleasure!!!)

I found this pretty pin board on a cool DIY blog called Red in Oz.  It's homemade using fabric from Anna Maria Horner (another great resource for my files!).

Later, I came across the Sundra Blossom bedding at Anthropologie and that was it, let the designing begin! I've been glued to Polyvore creating a fun mood board for a girl's room for the last two nights!

I think it turned out pretty cool. How about you?

Check out a few of the products that brought the design together:

Breeze-Blown Bouquet Curtain

 
Whorled Trapunto Rug







Knightsbridge Armchair by John Lewis

Metro White Chest

Bungalow 5 Hourglass Side Table

Hoopla Teal Table Lamp

Carpenter Lamp

Langham Desk

Chelsea Swivel Chair

Room and Board Vintage Presstype

E-Designs

So, I have my first real project and I couldn't be more excited!  I have a wonderful, talented friend who is also a photographer and she and I have decided to collaborate to turn her home into a studio for her boudoir photography venture!  

This is a project that we will work on over the next couple of months, however to get our creative juices flowing and give us a starting place for inspiration, I created two mood boards for her.  

Check them out:

The first board has more of a monochromatic, black and white theme with simple, yet bold pops of color.  The furniture is all very feminine and sexy and I incorporated soft elements such as a fur rug, ruffled drapes and feathers to create a sense of whimsy.

The second board is a little bit more romantic and not quite as sexy as the black and white board.  I used the contrast of the light teal with the vibrant red to give the overall feeling a little bit of an edge that you would expect to see in a boudoir.

 

As I mentioned, I won't have the full project ready to share for a few months, but I will make updates as we go.  I am thrilled to be designing again and can't wait to see the outcome of this space!  

Happy Designing!