Client sunroom reveal

I've been working in this clients sunroom for a little while now and we are just about ready for reveal. She still has a few more accessories to go. But it's looking good so far!

She's from New Orleans so the typical Florida room, or depending on your area, sunroom looks was not her thing. She has 10 year old twin boys, a teenage daughter, and a husband that drips coffee (everywhere according to her), and two puppies. White was out of the question!!

I'm a huge fan of little pops of black, especially with kids! It's so much more stress free. We used a few of her existing pieces in order to stick within the budget and found some good knock off pieces as well. We are still waiting on the cherry bamboo blinds to come in for the bay window. As well as on the look out for the perfect bistro table. We mixed in some more French quarter accents in the kitchen and configured an awkward space in the kitchen to accommodate a more comfortable eat-in breakfast area with room for 6 total chairs.

                                    

 

Accent chairs in red, white and blue

Happy Memorial Day! Hopefully you all are enjoying beautiful weather and kicking off the first unofficial day of summer. Here are my picks of a few accent chairs in patriotic colors, with pink being my choice in the red family. I'm not huge fan of red, but no one says you can't glam it up with fuchsia instead of fire engine red!

All of these are from www.highfashionhome.com

Turn your home into Home Goods

When moving into a new home or (in my case having hardwoods restained) having work done, clear out all your accessories even some furniture and shop away! Sometimes you get so used to seeing the same thing on the wall but don't realize just moving it to a different location in the house can make Big impact.

Line everything up just like Home Goods and reshop your stuff. Then figure out was goes on Craigslist or into the next yard sale!

Flowers...Faux or For Real....

A friend mine asked me about fake flowers. She does have quite a few around the house but feels like she doesn't have a green thumb at all. While many people out there have faux flowers in general I give it a thumbs down ....with a few exceptions! The reason is mostly because arrangements that are usually the most realistic are super expensive and so compact that they will be full of dust in no time!

Please DON'T

 I prefer to keep it as real as possible. Tulips do not bloom in December so why have that flower around? Stick to objects of nature that are around all the time such as branches, ( but not with lights on unless decorating for Halloween or Christmas, just like outside) moss balls, maybe even an aloe plant. The one exception I find is a GOOD quality orchid. Lets face it those beauties are finicky! They are around all year and work with every decor. Forsythia in spring is good too.

Do

Don't 

Besides treat your self to some beautiful grocery store flowers every now and then! Even celebs do it!

Update on stairs....

Well no this is not the grand finally! But excited to say that it has led to another project! We have been contemplating going darker on our hardwood floors for quite a while. Now that I have seen the stairs I'm ready to do the whole thing!

For the cost of restaining the floors and me tackling the stairs myself, the project will come way under what my first scary estimate was just to put hardwood on the stairs to begin with. By doing this way we are getting the best of both worlds!

Now it's color choice time.....

Deciding between dark walnut, Jacobean, and (waiting on color sample for) coffee brown. All by Dura seal.

On my stairs I have been playing around with a combination of paint and stain. The chocolate brown on the first step is just paint. I just used a random can of Behr Sweet Molasses I had from another project. The second step is half black and brown paint, and on the right side I top coated with a little Jacobean stain. Of course this is all just a test simply to get an idea....

Which color do you prefer....

Spotlight on World Market tables

Everyone loves a good deal, but sometimes those good deals come with the not so good quality!

World market has always been a place for budget savvy home owners and designers alike to pick up some fabulous pieces that save a ton of money. Here are just a few of my are picks from World Market nothing over $250!

It's friends and family weekend too for those World Market Members!

Happy shopping!