Dining Room Progress

So we have made a few changes to my client's dining room that I showed you not that long ago.  First off we had the room painted a soft cream color, it's called Seashell by Benjamin Moore.  I think the color is very relaxing and will let the furniture and art work speak for themselves. 

Here is the dining room before:

 

Here it is in progress: 

You can also see the two beautiful hostess chairs that I found at Village Antiques.  They are slipcovered in an off white linen with a small ticking stripe. 

My client fell in love with them instantly and thank goodness so did her husband!  I love the idea of the chairs being so feminine in a room that has a lot of masculine touches.  I will definitely have the slipcovers pressed before the final installation happens, just in case you were wondering.

My client has had a hard time finalizing the dining room table but I think we have found a winner.  I will be sure to post pics after everything has been installed.

Hope y'all are having a wonderful weekend!

Occasional Tables

So recently I was on the lookout for an occasional table to place between two beautiful grey velvet highback chairs for my client's living room. An occasional table is just a small table that is used to either place a drink, small vase of flowers, a lamp or maybe a book. These tables are typically around the height of the arm on the chair or a bit smaller and can be made out of wood, metal, natural fibers or stone, or can be made out of ceramic. Here are a few of my favorites to use:

This is the table I ended up ordering for my client's living room. It is from Urban Outfitters and a great price.

We also ordered this one that will go in the new addition that is being built onto their house right now.

For other great occasional table ideas check out the October issue of House Beautiful magazine. I had to laugh when I saw the great table from Urban Outfitters that I selected for my client was in the magazine. I have a feeling it might be on backorder now for a while.

Client's Breakfast Room Progress

I am currently working on multiple projects in this wonderful client's house. But I thought y'all would want a sneak peek into some of the progress so far in the breakfast area. I have replaced the old chair rail and paneling with new taller board and batten wainscoting and window and door casings. Wow, what a difference just that has made! The light has been replaced with a fabulous new lantern from here. The woven shades were installed on Friday but they forgot the valances for them so I don't have a picture of that yet. I'm crossing my fingers that the wallpaper selection will be narrowed down today so we can get that installed asap. Next comes the new furniture and curtains. I am planning to keep the existing kitchen table, but add new chairs as well as a new desk (my client likes to have a space to pay bills, etc). I will definitely post pics as soon as the space is complete. Here is the before:

And here is where we are so far:

What do you think? It's amazing how small changes can make such a big difference. FYI, if you like do-it-yourself projects check out pinterest for great instructions on how to install board and batten wainscoting like above.

Home Decorators New Line

I have unfortunately been laid up today with a slight stomach bug. Yuck! However, this gave me the chance to catch up on some office stuff and to check emails. While I was scanning through a lot of junk I came across an email from Home Decorators that caught my eye. The email was introducing Itsy Bitsy, their new baby and child furniture & decor line. Some of these pieces rival the popular baby & child line at Restoration Hardware, but have a better price point. Too bad I'm not working on any kids rooms or nurseries right now. I'll definitely have to remember this line when the next project comes up. Here are a few of my favorite pieces:

After browsing through their website there are definitely a lot of pieces that I could incorporate into my own kids rooms. I am crazy about that coral velvet chair! So what do you think of the new Itsy Bitsy line?

Calgon take me away......

Have you ever had one of those weeks when there is so much going on that your brain actually hurts just trying to keep everything straight?? Well, I am having one of those. My kids are just starting to get used to the early mornings and long days that school brings, and now this week brought the wonderful added stress of "after school activities." My daughter had gymnastics on Monday and my son had soccer on Tuesday and today. Don't get me wrong, obviously these things were added by us and loved by my kids. However, you throw in a school open house, homework, juggling client projects and oh yes, remembering that I now have a blog to write. Oh my goodness this momma is worn out! It hasn't helped that my sweet husband has been away on business working his tail off also. I will be so happy to have the extra set of hands around the house, not to mention his good looking face to look at! Ok, that is enough complaining from me, but boy did it feel good to just get it out there!! I'm sure so many of you can relate. Now for a glass of wine and that bubble bath I was talking about! Blessings!

America The Beautiful....

 

Like most of you, my heart aches to think about the tragedy that happened 12 years ago.  My mind has been on the families that lost their loved ones on Sept. 11, as well as the ones that have lost loved ones since defending our amazing country.  My heart bleeds red, white and blue and I couldn't be more proud to call myself an American.  I continue to pray for our country and especially for the brave men and women who continue to fight for our freedom.  God Bless America!




via pinterest

via pinterest

via pinterest

 

via pinterest

 

via pinterest


On a side note, my husband and brother are in the air right now traveling to a business meeting.  I think I will feel a lot better once I get the phone call that their feet are back on the ground.  I don't know about you but flying still makes me nervous.

 

My New Blog Design....

I am so excited to have my blog back up and running.  The fabulous Carolyn Valentin of Carolyn V. Designs helped me to design my blog.  We still have a few tweaks to work out but I am so excited that it is finally done.  I hope you will be patient with me while I still get used to this blogging world.

Blessings!!

Coming Soon: My new blog

I'm so excited about my new blog design.  The fabulous Carolyn of Carolyn V. Design, has done a fantastic job and I'm super pumped about having the new blog launch soon.  Keep checking back in to see the unveiling!!

My Client's Dining Room

I'm headed to my new client's house today to present her dining room plan to her.  I'm excited about this project and hope she loves everything.  I'll keep you posted on how it goes.  Here is a shot of the room as it is now.  A blank slate, what every designer loves!!

This home was a spec home and when they bought it they thought they would be there temporarily.  After 5 years they have decided to stay so now it's time to update some things and finally complete the dining room.  Do you see the "doors" on the left, well they are not functioning and kind of causing some issues.  We discussed adding hardware to make them look like they are real doors which would help I think.  The tricky part is the large molding they installed at the top of the door instead of framing out the transom window above.  I'm really wanting to add some fabric, probably panels to soften the room so we will see how I fix this situation.

Sorry for the dark picture!  Do you see what I'm talking about.  I don't know if you can tell from this dark picture but the transom window is actually a dark metal window and the faux french doors are all white.  I've thought about painting the doors dark to make it look like they were supposed to go together.  What do you think?

Blessings,
Tammy

(All images were taken by me!)

Inspirational Quote

via Pinterest

I'm back from a fantastic vacation with my family and trying to get my mind wrapped around all of the things I have to do for my clients.  AAGGHH!  Is it bad that I am counting down the days until school starts?  This will be the first year that both of my kids will be in school full-time!  This is very bittersweet since that means my kids are growing up but it also means that I get to finally devote more time to my design business.  I have some great projects in the works and I'm excited about having my work finally photographed so I actually have a portfolio.  I pray that I can live by the above quote and remember that the Lord has great things planned for us!

Blessings,

Tammy

It's 5 o'clock somewhere....

Does the sound of crashing waves and the smell of salt in the air put you at peace?  It does me!  I'm off spending some quality time with these three for the next few days.  I can't believe tomorrow is already August, which means that baby girl in the picture is finally starting kindergarten.  Oh, be still my heart!

Feeling Blessed,
Tammy

Quote is via Pinterest.  Family shot taken by me!

The Brick House

My best friend just recently moved about an hour away from me and is building a new home that will be closer to her husband's company.  As sad as I am to not have her right around the corner from me, it has been exciting to help her pick the different elements that come along with building a custom home.   One of the most recent decisions she had to make was picking the brick for the exterior.  Man, I never realized there were so many choices of brick.  After driving through neighborhoods and looking at inspiration pictures she realized she liked a lighter, chalky brick.

I was also a fan of it and thought it was a great choice for her home.  She selected a tumbled brick that offered a more old world European charm and sent it off to her builder as her choice.  Well, a few days later she got the quote and it was going to be thousands over her budget for that type of brick.  So, back to the drawing board she went.  After speaking to the contractor who was working on her house they came up with using a standard tumbled red brick but added a messy mortar finish.  This is what it looks like so far:

I think it looks fantastic!  This was a great solution for her budget and it really has given her the look she was after.  There are different techniques such as whitewash, limewash and sacking treatment just to name a few that can give you the look of the chalky brick without paying the big bucks of having it manufactured.

 What do you think of these treatments and have you ever used them before?

Blessings,

Tammy

All house images were via Houzz.  Brick picture is via Jennifer Moore.

Client Foyer

Today I am meeting with my fabulous client and carpenter to go over the plans for her foyer.  I plan on updating the current wainscoting, changing the current wallpaper, as well as the floor and light fixture.  My client is as sweet as they come and has really been open about changing things in her home.  She wants a comfortable, casual, pet friendly space that has a "Potterybarn" look (her words) but still reflects their traditional taste.  Here are some of my inspiration pictures (all images via Houzz):

 
I snapped these pictures of the foyer so you would see the space I am working on before the changes are made.  Excuse the random stuff in the picture but we were having some painting done in the family room at the time. 

I'll post the "after" pictures as soon as the work is complete.  Also, stay tuned to see the transformations of some of the other spaces in the house.

Blessings!
Tammy