DC Design House Room Before

{My DC Design House Room, Before}

Yesterday was a long crazy day in the city (I'm pretty much a total suburban girl) and I have before photos to show you of our room!  My assistant, Meghan Short, has been invaluable.  (Meghan graduated last Spring with an interior design degree from JMU- go dukes!- and I'm very lucky to have her.  She's seriously talented and just "gets" it.)  To give you an idea of what our mornings are like when we head to the Design House...  Mine starts around 6:30 laying in bed pretending I don't really need to get up... oh wait, that's not what you wanted to know??   sorry :)  ....Meghan arrives at our house at 8 and helps me get the boys out the door to daycare by 8:30 or so... which has been a lifesaver.  (Any of you with kids know that getting out the door with 2 under 3 is no small task.)  From there we head straight into the city and arrive by 10.  

When we got there yesterday, there was an introductory meeting with the members of the Committee and all of the designers.  We got the rundown on the house, dos & don'ts, cans & can'ts etc.  It was fun seeing so many faces I'd only seen in photos!!  (And some familiar ones too!)  

Ok, and now what you really want to see... more of our room "before:"

{The right wall when you walk in}

It's approx 12x16.5 feet and I love its proportions.  It's currently wallpapered.  There are funky angled walls & a cozy bay window nook. I'm crazy about it!!

{The left wall.  We do have to work around the air conditioning unit in the window...  And it actually needs to be running during the Showhouse.}

Here's the view looking at the entry door.  The door on the right is a little closet:

We met with insanely talented artist John Matthew Moore who is creating something I can barely sleep over for our space, lighting designer Rick Singleton wose work I loooove, the BEST carpet guy around -Tolvin Griffin- who owns Carpet Customizer (he is cutting, binding & installing a Stark rug for us), and our new go-to builder- Mike Carr with CarrMichael Construction -who is doing the brunt of the work.  They are all generously donating their talents and this room would not be possible if it weren't for them.}

We are planning something for the bay window but need to work around the radiator.  Here's a pic Meghan snapped of Mike & I figuring out the best way to make it work:

And here's a pic Meghan snapped of what it {sadly} looks like when I'm working:

We typically spend much of the palette-planning stages on the floor in my office, so I was pretty at-home with the lack of a table in our empty room. 

And one last shot of the room "before:"

I absolutely love this house & wish I could move my family right on in.  It's a 1920s tudor with beautifully proportioned rooms - both dark & moody and sunny & light like ours- and a million little nooks & crannies.  It's the type of house you wish you could be a kid in & just run around exploring & playing hide-and-seek.   In the master bedroom closet, you can open up a wardrobe door and there is another set of doors that opens onto a balcony overlooking the massive formal living room.  I can just picture it filled with people at a glamorous party, Sound-of-Music-Style.

 

So long! Farewel! Auf wiedersehen, good night!

(yeah, I totally thought it was "Avida say goodnight" until I googled it.)

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

Check out DC Design House details here

Happikat by LL Textiles

{'Happikat' by Lauren Liess Textiles-- eeeek}

I definitely squeeled when I received our very first fabric strike-off in the mail today.  I'm sooooo excited and it's amazing to see the designs we've been working on for so long on a beautiful linen.  I can't wait to get my hot mitts on the others.  I named this overscaled ikat "Happikat" because it really is one of those fun, fearless fabrics that just makes me happy. (And -only half-kidding here- it helps me remember how to pronounce "ikat"  ;)    My good college friend & artist, who helped me create this design {with her magical skills}  is also named Kat!   rarrrr  {Kat Wright technically}

This design was basically a serious doodle for me.  As you might remember, I can't draw, so I just sort of let go and had fun with it.  I incorporated a little bit of a Grecian vase shape into it (which isn't in this section so you can't really see it) and just kind of added curls & little paisley shapes & dots where it felt like it needed it.  I knew I wanted a bold overscaled ikat with a linear feel and just sort of kept at it until I was happy with the way it all intertwined.  Kat then took the drawing I made and evened it out/ made it perfectly symmetrical and made it look as pretty as it was in my head.  (because mine was scaaaaaary in actuality)  It's been amazing to work with the artists on these designs because they are talented enough to create what you have in your head & are trying to communicate.  It's a totally different form of design thatn I do and I'm in complete awe.

I'm using the new fabric in the bedroom/ sitting room I'm designing for the DC Design House, so I'll be sure to keep you posted on our progress.  It'll be available in several colorways on linen.  (The background of this black & white print is a bit creamier than it's reading in the photos and we still have a few tweaks to make here & there.) 

I've got a busy day heading over to the Design House tomorrow to meet with the other designers & our contractors, so gingers crossed all is smooth!  For the past couple of weeks we've been working on securing donations from companies in the industry, shops, artisans & contractors, and I'm really amazed at everyone's generosity.  {Like I mentioned before, all proceeds from the DC Design House go to Children's Hospital.}   I can't wait to share everyone's info with you because so much of their stuff is to-die-for and you will looooove it like I do.

**update:  oops I almost forgot:  I'm hoping to have the fabrics ready to rock by April.  :)  ...working on  on pricing & on finalizing some of the designs.  {And just to fill you in/ warn you, high-quality linen textiles are not cheap, especially when they are not mass-produced.  I am working on getting the price down as low as I can to make the textiles as affordable as possible, but our fabrics will in no way be at the low-end of the spectrum both price & quality-wise.-  hope that made sense! ;)   

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

The natural element

When examining rooms that I really love (both in photos & in life) I've noticed there there almost always needs to be some natural elements in a room for me to really love it.  By natural elements, I mean wood (either stained or raw), textured materials such as natural woven shades, baskets or natural fiber rugs rugs, leathers, plants, etc.  and I've noticed that that same feeling can come across in certain textiles,  metals and paintings so often they serve that purpose.

A room that's full of bright, bold happy saturated color needs grounding elements in order for me to love it.   I've noticed that I tend to like rooms missing the brown element at first glance, but that as I study them, I often grow bored.  They feel a little one-dimensional and unsophisticated and a little bit like children's rooms:

{My little guy Christian's bedroom...  the woven shades add a little of that brown I'm talking about, but this also gives you the idea of what I mean about how a kids' scheme often feels}

Below, I love this room by Betsy Burnham.  The metal drum table, the inside of the fireplace, the lamp, and the bird figurines on the mantle, are these natural (brown as is often the case) touches I'm talking about.  They ground the room just enough and make it perfectly livable & comfortable. 

(image via Apartment Therapy...  ps- I'm doing a 4-chair arrangement with a client in her living room right now & I'm so excited about it.  loooove the cozy layout.}

In the room below by Gerrie Bremermann, it's the sisal rug & tapestry pillow on the left that provide this natural element.  They bring this elegant formal room down just a notch so that it's perfectly comfortable & a tad more approachable: 

{image via Cote de Texas}

It's partly my love for the outdoors and partly a need for texture and layers that has me craving natural elements somewhere in amost every room.  There's a lot of it in this room below (Lonny) with the exposed hardwood floors and A-mazing tapestry:

{Lonny}

I'm not saying that there aren't beautiful rooms without the natural element...  because there definitely are...  but for me personally to really fall in love with a room, I need it. 

{The armoire, floors: Southern Accents}

{The rug, painting, table and kitty stand: Domino}

{the shades, S.Gambrel}

{I can't remember where I found this...  the bed, tableand mirrors in reflection}

(Windsor Smith's living room in House Beautiful...  It's the rug, chest and other wooden elements throughout the room.  loooooove}

Adding the natural element is simple.  It can wake up a dead space like nothing else.  Add some natural woven shades to your windows or bring in a big gorgeous fern (which is always semi-temporary in my case because of my black thumb).  Add a natural fiber rug under your current rug for another layer of natural texture...  Switch out some artwork, swap pillows, add textured blankets in, baskets, etc. 

Anyway, the kids are up and I hear giggles from the nursery so I have to run.  Have a great day!!!

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

Yodelayheehoo!

{My dad in Italy, 1964}

I can't help thinking of Spring these days.  February's definitely the longest month of the year in my book. 
I'm so ready to be outside and to feel the sun!!  And to pick flowers, be barefoot and sing in the mountains and feed goats and really big bulls!!

(Little Golden Book's Heidi image via flickr}

hahaha  ok I'm totally functioning on too little sleep, but really I neeed some nice weather right about now.

And that's all the complaining I'm going to do about Winter.  Promise. 

ps-  I'm a pretty good yodeler.  Really.

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

Portfolios

One of the biggest tools an interior designer has in attracting new clients is his or her porfolio.  From Day 1, I've made it my goal to flush mine out as best I can.  My very first portfolio started out with photos of only one project and I had glossy 8x10s printed out at a photo store and put them in a pretty ring folder.  It wasn't much to look at it but it did help me get some new clients.  Each time I had a new project to add, I'd comb through the portfolio, removing older projects and inserting new ones. 

 Nowadays, there are so many great tools & programs available for creating cool photo books & portfolios that I decided to break out of the printed 8x10s.  When submitting for the DC Design House, I was required to produce a portfolio of my work and so I made a new one on blurb.com  (photo above of my portfolio.)  I put my logo on the front cover and filled it with photos of recent projects:

I was really happy with how it came out.  The one thing I did notice was that there was a little bit of a strange yellow tinge to some of the photos and it made some of my greens a bit off.  Also, I didn't upload high-res images (which I should have) and many of them came out a little blurry, so, next time I'll be sure to do high-res images. 

I included a "press" section and also a section at the end showing some of my current in-progress projects with notes. 

For my family photo books I use snapfish.com, but it doesn't have the flexibility blurb.com has.  I loved being able to make a pretty dust jacket for the book too.

Most of the time, it's my online portfolio that attracts new non-referral clients.  Having a web presence has been my company's biggest asset.  If you don't have a website, there are even sites out there that you can use to showcase your work.  I recently went to a talk by Michael Boodro, Editor-in-Chief of Elle Decor- about Elle Decor's new online Designer Registry.  which can do just that.  It's a listing of designer portfolios that prospective clients can browse through by location to find a designer whose work they like.  I've done a designer registry with them but desperately need to update it. 

I know many of you have successful design businesses & I'd love to hear how you do your portfolio!



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

Dream Home at La Dolce Vita

Today I'm guest blogging over at Paloma's La Dolce Vita about my dream home.  I've shared photos & magazine pages that I've saved for years and my ideas about what our dream house would be like. 

I used to dwell on it so much (when we lived in our small townhome and then in my parents' basement) that it honestly made my heart ache.  I literally yearned for my dream house.  (Living in a parent's basement and trying to save up for a house can do that to you.)  ... But I don't think of it as much these days. 
...I  do have to admit that taking a little stroll through my dream house file (errr binder.. it's kind of thick :) got my mind wandering there again.  But this time, it's a bit more fondly and with a little more patience.  Not very much aching at all ;) ;) 

{Design by Pheobe Howard...  this dining room could be in my dream home!!!}

But back to Paloma!  She's the editor-in-chief of the newest online magazine, High Gloss Magazine!  It came out yesterday and you will love it.  I'm so excited for Paloma & the High Gloss team and know it will be a huge success!!  I cannot believe the awesome things that this world of blogging has led to.  Check out the first issue here 

To read my "dream home" post at La Dolce Vita, click here.



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

New Small Business Magazine Launching...

A new online magazine is launching:  piccola Mag!  ...And it's all about small creative businesses and branding.  The premier issue is set to be released in May!

The editors are a team small business owners: Emily Thomson (my graphic designer! of emmarie designs) Heather (of Viva la Violette), and Lisa Bacon (of moxie pear) who each have a background in small business design. They're excited to launch an online publication showcasing the work that goes into successful branding.

They'll be featuring me & my businesses in the first issue & I'll be sure to keep you posted!

For now, you can get updated via twitter and facebook and you can sign up for their newsletter!

TWITTER

FACEBOOK

NEWSLETTER

Good luck ladies & can't wait to read it!!!





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