CHAIRISH CHALLENGE

I don’t know about you but I love a good challenge!  Recently Chairish, a fabulous company that buys and sells vintage furniture, décor and accessories, approached me about participating in a blog challenge.  They sent me several items to select from and I get to create a design scheme for any room of my choice using these pieces.  Sounds more like fun than a challenge to me but I am up for it!

I decided to create a Dining Room that is shabby chic and glamorous with natural and rustic elements.  For the challenge pieces I selected a bronze and brass crystal chandelier, distressed wood dining table and white cane accent chairs.  You can see the detailed pictures below.

I knew I wanted something unexpected and eye catching in here.  Keeping with the shabby chic feel and adding in a touch of glam I decided to use wallpaper on the ceiling that has a robin’s egg blue background with a metallic gilded pattern.  How amazing is this?!?

Here is the design scheme I came up with for a shabby chic, rustic meets glam Dining Room!

For the remainder of the furniture I selected neutral “X” back chairs with a white linen cushion and a distressed blue buffet.  The buffet brings in the colors from the ceiling wallpaper and whimsical printed accent chairs that will be positioned on either side of it. 

To add a natural and rustic element to the space I used reclaimed wood flooring with a jute rug, small boxwood topiary on the table and woven seagrass baskets on the buffet shelves.

And even though they weren’t pieces from the challenge I could not resist the gold wall sconces and mosaic mirror from Chairish that are located above the buffet.  They add a modern and elegant feel to the room while also tying in the gold from the chandelier and metallic print on the ceiling wallpaper. 

The crystal decanters on the buffet are also from Chairish and they provide the perfect amount of sparkle and help incorporate the crystal chandelier to the space. 

To make the style slightly more casual I selected iron candle lanterns for the table centerpiece and white ceramic pitchers on the buffet.  And the pink peonies in the pitchers add a pop of color that the space needs!

Here it is all together one last time!  Thanks again to Chairish for letting me participate in this fun challenge!

Do you like how the Dining Room scheme turned out?  Will you be checking out Chairish to add some new elements to your decor?  Here is a link to their site so you can check out all of the great items they have to offer!

MURPHY FAMILY ROOM: BARE TO BEAUTIFUL

Last week I let you guys into the Murphy’s Breakfast Room where they share many meals together as a family.  Today we are going to see the Family Room...where the family gathers to relax, watch TV and just kick back and unwind. While it needed to exhibit a sense of style they do want to LIVE in this space…not just have a pretty room to look at!  And with 3 small children and a precious little dog this room needed to be casual and comfortable with surfaces that can hold up to their every day life without spending a million dollars.

Here are a few pictures of the room BEFORE when it was empty and bare.

It definitely needed some design and décor love!  Beginning with the large pieces of furniture they selected a light, neutral sectional, which contrasts well with their dark wood floors.  It is perfect for the entire family to cuddle up together and watch a movie!  Although the sofa is large and provides a lot of seating they wanted some comfortable chairs in the room as well so we went with some linen wingbacks.

Since this space is open to the Kitchen and Breakfast Room (see here) we decided on a color scheme of neutrals…gray, ivory and linen.  Shocking I know!  But we also added some accents and pops of navy and gold.  I love using navy as an accent color because it goes with everything.  When she wants to change things during any season it will work with it all.  White in the winter and coral in the summer!  I love the texture the gold, beaded pillows add to the space.  And the navy pillows are from StudioPillows…not only are the patterns fabulous but Karis was amazing to work with!

A striking, gold sunburst mirror brings attention to the cast stone fireplace.  The remaining fireplace décor is understated so the focus is kept on the fireplace and mirror.

Using an ottoman as the coffee table is the perfect solution for a family with small children.  Not only is it durable but also more comfortable for the Mr. to rest his feet on and is like a cushion when the little ones are just starting to walk!  We can leave it to this sweet baby girl to be the judge!

Along with the remaining accessories we added a plush gray and white patterned rug and custom draperies.  The rug adds dimension to the room and having the two-toned drapes help to balance the height of the ceiling.  And the charcoal band at the bottom of the drapes tie in the gray velvet accent pillows and tufted ottoman. 

Here are pictures of the Murphy’s new Family Room!

What do you think?  Bare to beautiful?!?  I know I love the transformation and hope they do as well!

Next up in a few weeks for the Murphy’s…an updated Master Bedroom, Master Bath and Entry!

MURPHY BREAKFAST ROOM

Several months ago the Murphy's contacted me and let me know they were buying a new house and wanted me to help them design some spaces.  I have known them several years now so of course I happily obliged!  We started with the Family Room and Breakfast Room and today I am going to share the Breakfast Room design with you.

I assisted Beth with shopping for the larger pieces of furniture and then styled everything once it was all delivered.  I’m happy to say this is a growing family…they have two beautiful daughters and a sweet little boy on the way!  That being said, this is a place where the family gathers in the mornings and evenings for meals so the furniture needed to seat five and also be able to take the wear and tear of three little ones!

Here is the room before we started and before they moved in.  It is definitely an empty, blank slate.  But that is all about to change!  PS - sorry about the dark phone pics!

We selected a round pedestal table where the size worked well with five chairs surrounding it and was also a mid-tone distressed wood.  It will be very easy to clean, will coordinate with everything and will also hold up to the stress it is bound to receive from homework to food fights!  I pray the latter doesn’t happen too often for them!

The linen chairs help to soften the space and although they may not seem too practical they will hold up well since they are neither too dark or too light.  And they are also very budget friendly!  I love the shape of them and the large nail heads!

A jute rug is the perfect option for this space since there will be a lot of food ending up on the floor!  The durability of it will be very beneficial and the natural element brings in a new texture to the space.

Now for the final touches…my favorite part!  The draperies are a textured fabric in a combination of cream, charcoal gray and linen and tie in the dark gray barstools located at the island and the linen table chairs.  The classic white dishes and neutral linens help to make the space feel more sophisticated and the natural elements of the centerpiece help make it more every day casual.

Hopefully they have been enjoying many family meals in their newly updated Breakfast Room!  Next week I will show you the Murphy’s Family Room!

DINING ROOM: FROM DRAB TO FAB

What are your thoughts on formal Dining Rooms…love them or leave them?  Many people are finding a different use for these rooms or are eliminating them all together.  My personal opinion…I love them!

It’s not that it gets used very often but we did not have one in our last house and I wish that we had.  I love changing the décor in them and although we are not elegant people, having one makes me feel like one day we will throw fancy dinner parties!  #yeahright #agirlcandreamright

Also, I knew this would be one of MY spaces in the house.  Not that my other half really cares too much about design but I generally give him options and get his approval on major decisions.  But in here…I got free reign!!

Let’s start from the beginning.  Here is the before…the Dining Room when we first bought the house.

Where do I begin with all that is wrong in here?  First, the flesh colored paint below the chair rail and on the ceiling is just plain disgusting.  Then there is the chandelier.  Not only is it a metallic peach finish with peach and cream swirled glass shades but it is entirely too small for the space.  And last but MOST certainly not least is the maroon striped and damask print wallpaper.  Don’t be jealous this isn’t on your Dining Room walls!!!  One thing was for sure, it all HAD to go and fast!

Compared to the rest of our home I wanted this room to be more dramatic and glamorous!  The color tones needed to be graphite, white, gold and polished chrome mixed with mirrors and some natural elements.

The wallpaper was removed and we used Sherwin Williams Gauntlet Gray for the paint on the walls and kept all of the ceilings and trim a nice, crisp white.  When it comes to lighting I am obsessed with the look of two chandeliers over a dining table.  So the awful peach chandelier was replaced with two champagne gold lantern light fixtures.

The table was a gift from my in-laws that we had in our last house but the chairs that went with it were brown leather parsons chairs.  They didn’t exactly go with the new décor so they were replaced them with these linen upholstered chairs.  They are such a classic piece of furniture and will go with everything!

Now for the wall décor.  One wall has a framed family photo with a mirrored sconce on either side that I spray-painted.  The back wall was a challenge as it is so large and I knew to fill the space I would need something large, which generally means it’s going to be expensive.  And I didn’t have much in the budget for that.  So I decided a DIY project was in order!  I ordered some 36x48 blank canvases and painted them.  And I love how they turned out!  Simple and understated but the metallic gold paint adds a touch of glam to tie into the room.

Here is the Dining Room at this point.  I was satisfied with it but not over the moon excited about it.

So, over the last couple of months I have been working on completing it.  I added draperies and a rug.  What a difference some softness and texture makes.  Speaking of draperies…I am in L-O-V-E with these!  I knew I wanted a print in here but because of the height, if I had done the entire panel in a print it would have been overwhelming.  So I opted to break it up and do a solid fabric at the top of the panel and a band of the printed fabric at the bottom.  Cheetah print is a pattern I am really into these days and this one happened to be in the perfect colors!

The small little corner of the room was all that was left.  This is where I hung the updated mirror from Oliver’s nursery.  And below that is the bar cart.  You can see my previous post about bar carts here.  I chose to style it traditionally and I think the detail and color really adds some pop to this otherwise plain and boring corner.

So what do you think…before?

Or after?

Do you think our Dining Room went from drab to fab?

COFFEE TABLE REFRESH

What a crazy last couple of weeks it has been!  I have finished up a lot of my projects around the house and have a lot to share with you.  As I have said before no space is ever 100% complete but these are finished enough to make me excited about them!

The first project I am going to share with you is the patio coffee table update.   Ideally, I would have replaced it (along with a lot of our outdoor furniture) but that is not really in our budget at the moment.  I am all about making things over on a budget so I knew a little paint and elbow grease could make a huge improvement!  It started out as a dark brown stained slat table.

It looked great for a little while but after the Texas sun had a couple of years with it the table looked very faded and worn.  And unfortunately, not in that great, worn vintage way!  Can you see my sad face behind my words?!?

We have a lot of darker pieces on the patio so I knew I did not want to re-stain it a similar color.  So I opted to paint it off-white, slightly distress it, and put a light brown glaze over it.

The first stage was to wipe it down and get it primed.

After the primer was dry I painted the table.  It took 3 coats to completely cover it.  Then came the distressing part.  To do this I took sandpaper to the corners and edges after the paint had dried.  I had never done this before so I was a little nervous about how it would go but it wasn’t too painful at all.  It is true that you really can’t screw it up!  Here is an up close picture because it is not super noticeable from far away.

Time to glaze!  I put a generous amount on the entire table. 

Because I wanted a subtler look I only let the glaze set for about five minutes before wiping it off.  Had I left it on longer it would have ended up darker but I was going for a little more of a contrast with the other furniture we have out there.

And here it is set up after it was all dry! 

I am so happy I decided to give it a makeover instead of buying a new one.  I love how it turned out!

REPURPOSED MIRROR

Projects, projects, projects!  The rain has finally stopped in Texas so I have been busy finishing up some things to bring a few spaces in our house to completion.  Let’s get real…with changing trends and a being an interior design lover no room will ever REALLY be finished!

In our Dining Room, I needed something to hang on the wall above the bar cart.  So into my Décor/Guest Bedroom closet I went to shop!  I found a mirror that I bought several years ago for Oliver’s nursery.  This picture is not the exact mirror but similar to what it looked like in it's original state.

The bronze didn’t go with the look I wanted in his nursery so I painted it white and hung it above the glider in his room.

Well, it is getting another makeover and will be a gilded mirror at the end of it all!

So I taped off the mirror, set up shop on the patio and got to spray painting.  It really did not take me long at all...maybe 20 minutes.  The prep work, clean up and especially the drying time always seem to take the longest! 

Here it is hanging on the wall! 

As much as I love buying new things for the house, I also love recycling items that I already own so they seem new again.  So this project was a definite success for me!  I will have the bar cart set up and accessorized very soon so you can see it all together!