Holiday gift guide! If you're in DC...

...Check out the Washington Post today!  There's a special issue of FW Magazine ("Fashion Washington") included inside where I and 3 other local bloggers share our holiday gift ideas.  Here's the cover:

 

 

The told us to give our best "Christmas morning" expressions... 

(Apparently, Santa leaves me shockingly good presents under the tree.)

 

I met Grant Harris (who's next to me on the cover) the day of our shoot & he is honestly the best dressed  guy I've ever met in "real life."  Grant writes Image Granted, a menswear blog & runs a menswear consulting firm.  I can't wait to have him meet my husband & work his magic.  (I actually love how Dave dresses but I know Grant will make it even better = good-and-not-a-surprise-for-him- Christmas gift ;) ;)   

 

Also inside are gift guides by Jenna Golden of Eat More Drink More and Elizabeth Fassbender of So Much to Smile About, and Grant & me.  I was selected to pick out the children's gifts.  (Which is really funny to me, because as most of you know, I'm more into kids toys that look good if left on the floor rather than toys that kids are really into;) ;)  But seriously.... no, I'm serious.

 

I'll be sure to share more about my kids' gift ideas sometime after Thanksgiving... I found some ones that I think most kids would looove (and of course, more importantly ;) ;)  .. that you won't mind seeing strewn about your house.)

 

  The article was written by Holley Simmons & I have to say (being extremely uncomfortable in my post-baby-not-fitting-into-my-clothes-yet-body) the team at the Washingto Post was amazing--the editors, photographer, stylist & hair & make-up team- in making me feel okay.  It's a pretty large magazine and might look like an ad (my grandfather was throwing it away today when he looked down & saw my face) but definitely check it out if you get the chance!!



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

Progress at Our Place & luxe magazine

We're ALMOST able to move downstairs at our house!!! I CANNOT wait!!!

 

Here's where we started:

 

The beams were sanded down, we added insulation & drywall to the ceiling, the floors are in and we took out the tiny windows & added two large ones farther apart so there will be more wall space between them...

The old fireplace and paneling....

....are gone.  A new fireplace is going in between the windows next week:

 

...And our sofa arrived!! wahooooooooooooo

 

This is my "little louie" enjoying it:

 

{poor Luke has a nickname from his big brother that's stuck!! hahahaa}

 

Our kitchen will be going in behind the sofa so we'll just have one big open room for living & eating.  (what we do best ;)

 

I pulled in some more furniture in so we can enjoy the room.  It's so open & airy!! (and empty!!)

...But I'm really happy just to have somewhere to sit down there.  The white sofa is in an indoor-outdoor linen.  I tested the sample with greesy tomato sauce... I smeared it all over the sample to make sure it would wash off.  It did.  We'll see how it fares at our place.  A wet sponge is supposed to do the trick.

 

And... we went to the luxe magazine (DC) launch party last night...

 

 

The first issue is beautiful and I'm so excited to have a new design magazine in DC!!  The quality of the magazine /paper itself is amazing too... reminds me of those thick glossy Veranda covers.  Photographer Greg Powers is coming over to our house Monday to take some pictures of me in my new "studio" (i.e. very messy office ;)  for the "stylemaker" section in the next issue of luxe.  We met him last night & he really sweet so it shoud be fun.  (I feel pretty awkward when I'm having my photo taken alone so nice people make it much better ;)

 

Here's a quick pic of Dave & I heading out to the party:

 

{ignore the scary eyes}

 

Have a great day!!

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

Clients' Family Room & Dining Room; "Before" & 2 years "after"

A couple of years ago, I met Aimee & Dave and wrote about their design plans & project here.  With life being so busy for me (& them! :) I never ended up taking pictures of their finished space.  It's always been one of my favorites because they were willing to take some BIG design risks!!!  We finally got together & I snapped a few quick pics to share.  We started working together when the home was still under construction & looked like this:

  Now, a couple years later & lived in and loved, it looks like this:  

    The orange floral sofa was thought about - long & hard- by all of us.  It was a really bold move by Aimee & she is still totally loving it so I am so glad she took the risk!!!  Walking into the room with this sofa in it made me smile instantly.  It's soooo much fun and just so pretty in person.    You might remember the design plans & the VERY rough skectches I made, helping Aimee & Dave visualize what their space would feel like:  

 

This is how the actual space looks now:

 

 

They've kept the center of the plan fairly open for the kids to spread out & play on the floor.  We still have plans to swap out the sunburst mirror with an Audobon print and move it to the bedroom.

 

Here's a close-up of the super-comfy velvet chairs with a peek into the dining nook in the kitchen:

 

 

I didn't get a good pic of the 19th Century barley twist table with original needlepoint insets that I'd found for them but here's an old photo I took of it before it went in.  THIS THING IS INCREDIBLE:

 

 

It sits between the two velvet chairs.

 

 

I love the lamp by Haeger Potteries atop the media cabinet:

 

 

  And then here's the kitchen dining nook when it was under construction: (hey! looks like how we're living at our place right now!! ;) ;)  

  And here it is now, truly being used:    

  The custom parsons dining table is by The Lorimer Workshop in Rhose Island.  (They're amazing.)  I loooooove the kids artwork collection simply taped to the wall!!  (You may have noticed a few other artwork walls in the other shots too ;)  They can add the collections whenever they want.    And finally, here's one last pic of the family room with Aimee & Dave in it.  (They are STILL the cutest!! :)  

  I'm so thankful to have such wonderful clients like them who have let me into their homes & lives!!  

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

A Client's Home Office Before & After

Since having Luke (our 5 month old) and unexpectedly selling our house & moving to a new one a couple of months ago, I've felt like time has truly been passing at the speed of light.  It's been a whirlwind.  I don't think life ever really slows down but I think it might calm a little once our house is through construction.     Since being in such a busy phase, I haven't had the chance to take many photos of finished projects to share...

 

Before Luke was born, I began working with a client who occasionally works from home and wanted to have her office redesigned.  The project was installed when I was around 9 months pregnant & when I was able to visit afterwards, I had my brand new baby with me so there wasn't time to take pictures.  I received the sweetest thank you card in the mail from her last week that she'd made from photos of the office & I just had to share! 

 

Here's what the loft office looked like when we started:

 

 

My client has very defined tastes and she's a minimalist.  I think she's also the neatest person I've EVER known.  (I'm seriously envious of how perfectly she keeps her home/ office.)  She likes her spaces to feel clean & open & airy & natural and loves a warm modern feeling.  We decided to reuphoster a pair of her existing chairs & to change out pretty much everything else. 

 

Here's what it looks like now:

 

We used a glass table between her reupholstered chairs so that the view from the new daybed to the living room below would be unimpeded.  To make the daybed exactly as my client wanted it, she & her (SUPER-handy!!) husband actually cut down the legs of the daybed for a lower/less traditonal vibe and painted the feet.  We used some of my fern star linen for throw pillows on it. 

We used a lot of glass & metal throughout the space but the live edge desk is one of my favorite pieces in the room.  We had it made by the Lorimer Workshop. It's a live edge top on metal legs.  I love it juxtaposed against the white leather & chrome chair.

I'm off for an installation (so be sure to check out instagram where I'll be posting photos of the project) but hope you enjoyed & thank you so much to my client for sending me the photos!!




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