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

The Beginning

Today marks the first day of my new design blog.  When I was navigating through the whole setup process, I realized that I actually started to create this blog back in 2010.  What???  You can't rush these things I tell you.  Well, here we are 3 years later and I'm finally ready.  I hope you will be patient with me as I learn about this whole new world of technology, and enjoy my many adventures in the interior design industry.

Ready......Set......Go!