Client's Living Room Before & After

A couple of years ago around Christmastime, I was contacted by a husband looking to give his wife a design consultation for Christmas.  He bought her a gift certificate & surprised her with it.  We met a month or two later & had a two hour consultation in their home.   I've always thought this was one of the sweetest things ever & thought about the clients from time to time.  She & I had sort stayed in "cyber" touch, and I was thrilled when they contacted me this Fall to redo the living room in their new home.   I would describe their style as very cozy, warm & a bit English.  (Which makes sense as the husband actually is English!)They started with a white box: popcorn ceilings and wall to wall white carpet. They were SO ready to get the house feeling like them and were thrilled to ditch their existing pieces for new ones that reflected their taste.

Here's the room before:

(That's Bailey on the floor :)

And here it is now:

A natural woven rug & shades are on their way but I think the change is already incredible.  CarrMichael Construction ditched the popcorn ceilings and replaced the carpet with hardwood.  The walls were painted  in Benjamin Moore's "gentle cream" to warm up the room.  We kept their existing Victorian wing chair (which is SO similar to my Madhatter chair!!) in its original fabric and added a super-comfortable English arm sofa, storage ottoman for toys & puzzles for their little cutie pie, and skirted wing chair.  My client found everything for the walls at flea markets, antique shops & thrift stores.  (Go Emily!! :)

Here's the other side of the room where there was an awkward opening to the stairs that prevented them from having a balanced seating area and the cozy feeling they were after:

And here it is now, all closed up:

I love the little rush seat bench between the windows:

Here's a close-up of Emily's 'found' artwork above the sofa:

{Sofa pillow fabric: Ralph Lauren floral, Michael Smith's Indian Flower & a discontinued olive green paisley}

I think my favorite little spot is this skirted wing chair with the "goddess" floor lamp:

And finally, here's one more shot of the whole room:

Anyway, I'm off for the day but hope you enjoyed!!  We have another one tomorrrow so I'll be sure to post pics when I can.

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

Also, I just wanted to add, that due to time contraints & our project schedule, we are only able to take on full-service projects like this one (vs. design consultations like the one I mentioned at the beginning of this post).  I'm looking into the possibility of adding staff & making design consultations available again in the future, but for now, it's full projects only.  I will be sure to let you know if / when this changes!! :) 

Website Recommendations

A new website for Marianne Strong Interiors is on the short list* of things to do and I would love to hear any companies you would recommend using.  

*Yes, this has been on my to-do list for 3+ years but this is going to be the year!

Image Via Belle of the Ball

Monday Inspiration

Oh the clock I have wanted FOREVER, one day I will have one of you.....and a bust too for good measure.

Also a long timer on my one day list, some Audubon prints.

Images Splenderosa, Cottage and Vine, Tom Sheerer, unknown, Pinterest

Quiet Time

Via

Remember Our Old Bathroom Sink?

We moved into our 70s fixer upper 2 and a half years ago and had to make a few quick & easy fixes...  One of them entailed painting our boys' GREEEEEN bathroom sink white with a porcelain painting kit about 2 years ago.  It's also the guest bath on our main level so everyone sees it.

Before:

After:

{To read about that process 2 years ago, click here}

 It worked okay for about a year or so but then it started peeling.  (And we lived with it peeling for a bit too long- sorry guests!!)  

I would still recommend the product we used for temporary fixes...  It honestly made things better without much effort or money spent, but it's not a permanent solution, as you can see here:

I've been a little embarrassed everytime guests use the bathroom & have been meaning to replace it for a while now.  A couple of months ago we bought the Ann Sink from Ikea which I love.  I still didn't really want to spend much in the kids' bathroom & I went for another rather quick fix with this baby:

I bought a beautiful chrome fixture from somewhere else with standard specs to go with it but when we tried to install it, of course it didn't fit Ikea's specs on the sink.  SO...  back to Ikea we went (a month of so later I might add) to get the fixture they'd made for the sink, which I wasn't very happy about.

...BUT...

..I actually think it looks great!  I don't mind it as much as I thought I would (or really at all to be honest) and I am so excited about this thing!!!  (Is it sad that that's all it takes for me??) My husband's been a little busy with work/ home lastely so we actually had it installed by our contractors.

No more water splashes on the wall behind the sink and NO MORE GREEN!!! wahoooo    There's even a little ledge for soap and a little pretty something.

Next up:  Adding a #3 towel rod in there for the little one on the way!!  (see reflection in mirror ;)

I'm off for the day but have a beautiful weekend!!

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

And thank you to the guys at CarrMichael Construction for the great work!!

Working...Bath and Bed

 Sorry for being MIA this week, we have been busy.  The week started with a trip to Memphis to check in on a very cool project and a very dear client.  That will be such a fun job to share with y'all but we are not ready for pictures yet. In the mean time though I can show you the master shower which is amazing. While the tile looks so good in person, it is the shower hardware that had me green with envy.    Steam shower every night? Yes please.

Lots of gorgeous items have been delivered to various clients these past few weeks so I thought I would share one.  Remember this nursery that I loved so much?

It was home to one of my favorite lights, a custom globe we had made just for that precious baby....and now 3 (or is it 4?) years and a new house later he is a precious little boy.....with a new custom headboard fit for a king.

 And the light made the move as well.

As we go along I am going to try to be better about taking shots along the way and sharing.  Hope you are having a great week.

9 Years ago today...

I was a college junior at JMU.

{Yeah National VB Champs!}

9 years ago today ...  a bouquet of thistle & roses was delivered to my apartment door with a note from the cute boy I liked in my Creative Writing Class.

{Image from seaofblossoms.blogspot.com}

9 years ago today..  The cute boy took me out on a "Surprise" Valentine's Day date to see Shakespeare's Twelfth Night.

{image via wikipedia}

9 years ago today...  The cute boy cooked me one of the worst steaks of my life & smoked out his kitchen:

9 years ago today...  my husband asked me to be his girlfriend. 

{The very dirty & wet garage where beer pong typically ensued}

And for the past 9 years, we've grown up together.

He's my best friend in the whole world & I love the family & the life we've made together.   

Happy Valentine's Day to you & yours. 

.



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