New Posts

I completely forgot to post about this... but I have a new design blog. here.  Please visit, and comment.  Thanks!

West Elm Tapered Glass Collection

Classy and Casual, and ON SALE!!! No seriously, really good price for this set!

Fall Decor

Love these babies! How cute are they! Just think of how great they would be on your Thanksgiving Table!

I love these fun pillows, but they are a little pricy. The cool thing is they would be pretty easy to custom make. All you need is a plain pillow and you can sew on or iron on your own leaf pattern.

Sneak peak into the FABULOUS life of....

Lance Armstrong:

When I think of Lance...

as a person- I am not a huge fan
as an athleate- I am very impressed
as an advocate for cancer- love him

When I see his home....

I think I like him a little bit more.

I mean it takes a real man to have a pink living room

See why:

Photos courtsey of Architectural Digest.

“Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You."

-Dr. Seuss

Dare to make your home You.

Question: how do I distract the eye to look everywhere but my ugly carpet?

If a room is put together well the eye will naturally be drawn around the room from start to finish. The colors should work together with the textures and the lines of the room to make the room completely fluid. However; if there is a certain aspect of a room, such as ugly carpet, that you want to keep from the viewer, the best thing to do is to draw the eye up.

Making the walls come alive, is the *best way to keep the attention from the flooring. The correct lighting of artwork can turn a room from drab to fab. Another easy way to attract attention elsewhere is to bring pops of color into your throw pillows on the couches, or in your drapery. Even better; find a focal point in your room and make that the center of attention. If these tactics are used the eye will be so distracted by the fabulousness of the room, it will refrain from wandering down to your less than desirable flooring.

*These strategies are best for flooring which is not absolutely unlivable, but rather undesirable. For issues with flooring that is unlivable, I say a good rug is always in style. Some would say that having a rug on carpet is a lost cause. I agree heavily, as it adds dimension, texture, and color to a room. While it is not a traditional solution, if the correct rug is used, it can be a quick, cost effective way to cover up a floor you aren't crazy about. (also great for stains in carpet)

* For information of wall coverings, furniture, rugs, etc used in this post please email me.*

Loving This

I am loving this bed ensemble from BRANCH. Love the eco-friendly option, price, and easy cleaning code.

Check out Branch and enter promo code INSTYLE08 from August 22 - September 30 to receive 20% off all purchases!!  *Note that discount does not apply to sale items, and select furniture items.

Fabulous Rooftop Oasis

When I am a fabulously accomplished designer, I will have a rooftop oasis in the city, just like this one.  

Questions??

I recently had a suggestion for my blog that I use it as a place for question and answer sessions. Questions that the every day woman can relate to. For example: When I am hanging my chandelier over my dining table what are the measurements I should stick to? What is the best Color combination for a soothing relaxing bedroom? What can I do with a cutout in my wall that I never use? What can I do with color when we are renting and I can't paint? What is the easiest way to paint textured walls?These are the questions of the everyday woman. And I have all of the answers to all questions design... (ok maybe not all, but I will do my darndest to get all of the answers!)

So, ask away! Even if you dont have a design dilemma.. humor me... and make one up! Seriously, HUMOR ME, you can leave the question in a comment below, or you can email me your question. All questions will remain anonymous. Thanks for the input!!!

Guest Room

I think this room is so much fun!! I love the yellow in contrast to the old European pictures and the dark furniture! But, it is a good thing this is a guest bedroom. I think it is great to have a fresh bright color on the walls of your guest bedroom, but if that was the color you woke up to every morning it would probably get old... FAST!

Riddle Bathroom

When the Homeowner said she was interested in updating her bathroom, I jumped on the chance to do the design of the new space. After discussing color ideas, I got started on the concept and color scheme of the new bathroom. The existing bathroom was outdated and just needed a bit of color updating, a few changes to some existing furnishings, and some new accessories. The bathroom already had some wonderful pieces, those pieces just needed to be enhanced to make the overall design wonderful.

For example the cabinets were in great shape and the style, timeless, the hardware.. not'sa much. So a quick trip to Lowes and we were in perfect shape for a simple update to a great original piece. (Quick tip: This is a great way to change up the look on your own cabinets without really feeling a dent in your pocket.)

Another one of my favorite ways to keep those pants clanking, Paint. Appropriate usage of color on walls can make a BIG difference in a small way. Before the homeowner had faux finish pink walls and that pink was pulling out the pinks( that we didn't even know were there) in the other materials in the room. If you look at the room now, pink would never come to mind. But before the makeover.. everyone was seeing pink! (Quick tip: if you aren't sure about color choices make sure you ask for help, color can be very tricky if you don't understand the principles of color. )

Before - As you can see before there was a small flower arrangement above the toilet, 2 toilet holders, two towel racks, a cabinet and some artwork. The shower curtain was sheer black with pink flowers.
After - Like I mentioned before we did a small update to the hardware on the cabinet, the obvious change of color and I took away some of the unnecessary pieces in this small nook. My personal motto is just because there is wall space doesn't mean it needs to be filled. You know the "Sometimes Less is More". For functionality we still kept 2 towel racks, just positioned them more strategically in the space. Also I added a new plant feature on the toilet, to help with the scale of the space. And one of the toilet paper holders was removed. The shower curtain was the first piece purchased. It was really the color inspiration for the whole design. The wall color is found in very subtle weaves throughout the fabric, and the accent colors in the room (found in accessories etc) were also pulled from this piece. As you can see the colors flow well creating a serene feel as your eye travels the room. Whereas before, your eye would focus on the black curtain because it stood out from the wall so much. And in this design, that is not what we were looking for.

Before- Clutter was the main issue in this area. I played with options of organizing clutter, or simply eliminating it and I choose to just eliminate it. Because of the size of the bathroom, and the countertop space, this is an option I was able to use. I just hated having the beautiful countertops covered by baskets of makeup.

After- Like I said above, de-cluttering was the main issue here. Once that was accomplished I used the area to achieve the main goal of this bathroom, simplicity, elegance, openness and serenity. Did it work?

Before- Window. Right? Thats all you see here? Ya me too, and that was an issue. It just didn't work, I mean yes it was designed that way for functionality, but it simply looked off. The wall art was also an issue, 2 pieces not really functional for the space.

After- I am a huge fan of natural light, if you have it use it! But like I said before, privacy was a big issue, so the window coverings needed to be functional. So I used the idea of the half window being completely covered, still kept the top portion of the window uncovered to let the light in, but a bit of beauty was added to the top and edges of the window to give it a softer less demanding look. Also a new art piece was brought in to give fit the scale of the room. And of course the towels were updated to match the color scheme. (Quick tip: originally the towel rack was centered on the wall, good spot for it in most cases, but for this room not good. As you can see the cabinets take up a good portion of that wall and really made the towel rack feel of center. So with a good putty job, we moved the location of the towel rack to be centered on the space, this gives the wall a much better look)

Found these wonderful things at Pier 1 Imports, so far my favorite location of this store is Jordan Landing (just a little fyi)

This bench was super... um what's the right word... DATED! I thought about giving it a simple paint job to give it an updated look but once we had the walls painted I loved the color of the bench, it really made it pop from the wall. And because I personally love bones of the chair (and it was perfect scale for the space) I was really glad all we had to do was give it a simple upholstering job, and accessorize it with a beautiful pillow.

The counter space was a bit of an issue. Do we place baskets for Natalie to place all of her belongings in so that the area is organized, or do we just get rid of clutter all together. In the end the latter won. The simple look of a beautiful center piece for the counter was all the convincing I needed. Plus now Natalie doesn't have an option to be cluttered, there isn't enough space so she has to put it away, good no?

II think this design is worthy of mention, don't you? I am really loving the serenity of this room. I love the tufted headboard; it reminds me of Downy paper towel. It just looks so soft and fluffy. I also love the function of the sconces on the headboard, adding a bit of ambiance. The bed frame, and the cleanliness of the lines, are probably the biggest contributions to the simplicity of this design. Adding a bit of color and function are the two small side tables, and the two footstools.