Design Reveal: Sweet Dreams, Brooklyn

It’s weird times, indeed. I know every single one of you has had to adjust your regular way of life in some way, shape or form. If you have been fortunate enough to still have your job, there’s a good chance that looks a lot different now than it did 6 months ago - So many companies are figuring out how to continue their operations remotely and out of office. While I have always done my design work remotely, there is one aspect I’ve thoroughly enjoyed doing in person - finishing photos! I’ve shared before that I only get to take photos of about 15% of my completed projects, so when the opportunity arises to take pictures it feels like Christmas morning!

About a year ago one such project was wrapping up just beautifully in Brooklyn, NY, and I was hoping to make it up to take pictures along with another project in the Chelsea neighborhood. As it happens, COVID struck before I made it up there and I was sorely missing this project in my portfolio (and getting to share it here with you)! So I reached out to the client who I’ve been in touch with by the natural evolution of friendship in the process, and she was totally open to taking the pictures for me! We even scheduled a virtual styling session, which looked a lot like this for an hour:

Despite my face it really was a lot of fun! Hah! Having someone else take pictures was such a good practice in letting go of something I normally like to have control over, and boy am I glad I let go. She absolutely knocked it out of the park! I sent her the same photography tips outlined in our Interior Design Starter Guide, and she nailed it.

Before I show you around let’s take a look back at what this room started as. Now, I have nothing against lime green walls. In fact, our design assistant, Joy, absolutely rocked this StyleMutt Home project with lime green walls. But when this client and I were discussing her ultimate vision for this space, her bedroom, the lime green walls just didn’t support the end-goal.

The plan, shown below, was to create a really soft and soothing space using various neutral textures and patterns, contrasted by just a few grounding elements. We wanted to create a sophisticated retreat that represented the client’s fun and joyful personality.

And here is our plan brought to life! ALL pictures are in huge thanks to this sweet client. Her pup, Peggy, seized the opportunity, for sure!

Another look back at the beginning:

One of my favorite aspects of this project was getting to source from some small businesses I’d had my eye on for a little while. The sconces and overhead fixture by Cedar and Moss really make this room feel special. They were an opportunity to use something a little different from the mainstream. All by themselves these lights fold in that sophisticated vibe we were looking for, but they’re still unique and fun.

Hey, over here, Peggy!

This is such an awesome example of how to make a neutral palette visually interesting. Breaking up a monochromatic palette with varying textures and patterns and elements brings a room to life.

And then adding in a few contrasting elements in deeper, saturated tones grounds the space, and actually helps in making the whole room feel lighter and airier!

The beginning again,

and now.

One more time:

It was important to remember while working on this space that the same person I was designing this room for was the same person that, at one time, liked the lime green - you know that person has a bold aesthetic that doesn’t feel the need to fit in any one style box. While we wiped the green clean, we replaced it with a fun graphic paper that nods to the vibrant personality of the client.

A single statement pillow by my talented friend, Abbie at a. Naber Design pulls together the blues from the nightstands and the rug.

With bedrooms I like to make the bed and bed wall the focal point of the room. Since this client said she didn’t have any use for a dresser, we decided on a chic low lounge chair nestled near the natural light, and called it a day.

That’s a wrap, folks! This is one of my all time favorite bedrooms I’ve had the opportunity to design, and getting to share it with you is all because of the great effort of my client. Sarah, thank you. You are amazing and this was such a treat to work on with you.

Thank you all so much for stopping by today!

Design Reveal: Church Lobby

He goes before all things, and in Him all things hold together.
Colossians 1:17

First things first. Hi. I hope you are well, safe, and finding peace. In fact, I hope you are stumbling across plenty of things that bring you joy and laughter! There is no reason this season, however long it lasts for us, should be void of joy and laughter.

On that note, one thing that brings me joy is creativity! While this design project, our church lobby, was completed prior to the current world situation, I’ve never been more excited to share a finished project with you. I want to use the humble means I have through social media and this blog to connect with you over our common interest in design and encourage your own creativity.

Everything I intended to tell you about our Christ Community Church lobby design almost feels irrelevant now; sharing a public gathering space during a time like this may seem odd. But I see more hope here now than ever before! More on that, but first a little reminder of what it looked like prior to installation! (Don’t mind the red slashes - I’d saved the photos like this to indicate to everyone which walls we’d be painting) (Oh yea, and I happened to show up on the day they do food collection and distribution lol!)

Not a bad space, right! It’s big and open with high, unfinished ceilings. There is loads of light coming in through black trimmed windows. Our church lobby is a space that has seen a whole lot. It is mightily used in the most creative of ways. But there has always been greater potential for it. Those of us more aesthetically effected have longed for it to become what we’ve always known it could be: A space that pulls you in and invites you to linger. A place to socialize and a place to just ‘be’. An environment that is warm and safe and serves those who enter through its doors. But what does that actually look like? As an interior designer I feel the weight of stereotype that it’s materialistic, shallow work. I get that; it’s how I used to view interior design, too. But I think of it as a way to serve. It’s about creating an environment that makes others feel welcome and safe being themselves. Interior Design is not about creating perfection; it’s about creating comfort. Approaching projects with flexibility and peacefulness help me a lot in putting these feelings into a visual finished product.

When I was invited to help come up with a design for our church lobby last October, it was not a difficult task. For one, I have daydreamed about this space for a while, imagining what it could be. And not just me, but my dear friend, Nicole, too. From our blended ideas I was able to crank out a pretty quick design draft, which went through a few rounds of edits with a larger team, and we ended up with this:

The idea was to take our cavernous space and balance it from end to end and side to side. By selecting pieces of a certain scale, proportion and visual weight, we would be able to fill the space without adding a ton of stuff. We wanted to maintain enough open space for plenty of movement throughout, but provide several areas of seating that would cater to different needs. And we needed to ensure that the quality of the pieces brought in would be able to handle the heavy wear and tear of each week - the preschool who uses the church on weekday mornings, the multiple youth groups that come in every week, the regular breakfasts and prayer times that gather - I really wanted to source high quality, highly durable pieces that we wouldn’t have to worry about.

Our budget for this project was generous, however over half of it went to only TWO items - paying the electricians, and paying for 7 gorgeous fake leather 47” 12-channeled back booths from a restaurant furniture supplier. Everything else we got savvy and put in a good amount of sweat-equity, with one exception, (which you won’t miss)!

So come on in!

One of the coolest things about designing a community space was getting to do it with the community itself. I have never had so much talent at a projects disposal before, so it was particularly fun getting to dream big and outside of the box, knowing others that could make it happen! This planked wall is the first mighty example! A very skilled guy at our church, Scott, did this wall in a night and a day with his Dad, and it’s just beyond amazing. He chose these 12” planks, which was a genius move for a 16' foot wall. And you might recognize the IKEA Ivar cabinets. I have admitted on here before that I use these in almost every project because they are ridiculously inexpensive and entirely customizable. My Matt put them together, I painted them, (same color as the walls), and Scott mounted them - the end result is a sleek information center with ample closed storage.

Our free coffee station, which you see straight ahead when you enter the lobby, is a simple wood storage piece I found at a thrift store, and THE most ridiculous sign. George & Willy is a wildly popular small business specializing in commercial signage, and truth be told, I saved this sign of theirs back in November when thinking about the priorities of this space. I want all who walk through these doors to feel right at home and know where everything is. There’s nothing like walking into a strange place and trying to get your bearings. So clear signage that is visible from the front doors, but also complimentary to the overall design, is a critical element for this space. And this piece is that exception I was talking about earlier. George & Willy graciously sent us their Market Chalkboard sign when I shared the progress of this space on social media, with the simple line, “We would love to support your project!” Their generosity is truly a light of hope. I can’t wait to work with them again someday and support this fine company.

We had a big ol’ painting party to cover these walls in Polar Bear by Behr paint! All doors were painted the same, except the sanctuary doors. Another skilled craftsmen in our church, Bill, had added this beautiful trim work to the doors, and I painted them in Accessible Beige by Benjamin Moore.

And because I just get excited about details, I sourced these wood and leather doorstops on Etsy.

The kitchen was a really fun space to work on because we did it very low cost but high impact! I used a stencil to add some visual weight to the peninsula, while an incredibly generous and talented friend, Danielle, made the giant letterboard happen! She also created and installed a gorgeous floral wall mural that you can see on the far right side of the image below, more on that soon!

The casual seating area by the front doors was one of the first edits to the original design, made by none other than our pastor and friend, Jeff! In my first draft, I ran the leather booth all the way down the right-hand wall, end to end. But Jeff thought we should have a more intimate, comfortable seating area by the front doors. Brilliant! I never see these chairs empty now and am so glad he suggested this! One of the final touches I requested here was a curated collection of books from him - he’s an avid reader and I thought it would be fun to include a mini library of sorts right out here on the floor!

Now, to those gorgeous 12-channeled back booths I told you about! The camel leather just grounds the whole space and makes it feel so cozy and warm.Plus, no toddler or teenager can destroy them! I sourced pillows from another favorite small business, Istanbluevintage.

I painted our original barnwood mirror black and requested it to be rehung vertical, rather than horizontal, as it had been previously. This made room for some much needed sconces to illuminate the space in the evenings.

I’ve shared peeks of this mural on Facebook and Instagram, but it’s such a delight to finally share it here with the rest of the finished space! As I mentioned, we got to benefit from the talent of local muralist, Danielle, owner of Fun Places Murals & Painting. Incorporating her gift in this space was just beyond amazing; I still can’t believe how beautiful this turned out!

I sourced our sturdy sofa from Article, my go-to for soft seating. It’s the only color in the space, but being at the far end of the room it definitely draws you in and gives the eye something to fall on.

Looking over these images just makes me that much more excited to gather again. We put in the effort for this space so that we could gather and be inclusive and provide a place for all to feel safe and welcome. If the past few weeks have taught us anything, it’s that we need community. And I can’t wait to see this place filled as it was meant to be someday soon. When this is all over, you have a place to come hang out, people of the Ashburn, VA area! We will be ready for you and we can’t wait to see you soon. In the mean time, if you’re interested in some time of peace and encouragement, we do have virtual weekly messages available. You can find them on our home page here.

That’s a wrap! A tremendous thank you to my dear friend, Morgan, for jumping in at the very last minute to take these pictures. She has a beautiful eye for capturing people, and I know shooting an interior was out of her comfort zone. Don’t you think she nailed it?! So, so proud of her and beyond grateful to get to benefit from her skills. From start to finish this space has been an awesome group effort. It just makes me delighted to see what so many talented, creative, and generous people could accomplish together.

Praying you have peace and good health during this time and the ability to find fun in the mundane! Don’t stop forgetting that this. is. temporary.

So grateful for you all and thank you for coming by today!

StyleMutt Home 2019 Designs: Which One is Your Fave?!

We are only 12 days into 2020 but I feel like I’ve taken a big bite out of it already! It’s exciting being knee deep in new projects this early in the year, but before we venture any further I wanted to share some of 2019s most dramatic transformations! Each of these client homes represent the type of work that just makes my heart soar. And the worse our starting point, the better! So I thought it would be interesting to see which transformation you enjoyed the most. No wrong answers here! We’re not pitting home-against-home, but rather which Before & After gives you the strongest reaction.

Before

Frederick: Master Bedroom

I gotta say, starting with gold walls makes me look really good when all is said and done. Paint is just an amazing tool, isn’t it!

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Before

Brooklyn Debut: Foyer

Not bad but kind of sad.

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Before

Brooklyn Debut: Living & Dining

“Very nice, very nice. We change it all!”

-Martin Short, Father of the Bride

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Before

Brooklyn Debut: Master Bedroom

Nice blank slate! This bed by Floyd sure was a fun discovery. Very cool company and we used several more of their pieces throughout.

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Before

Brooklyn Debut: Office

A 6’x10’ pass-through between the bedroom and the rest of the home - a perfect spot for a home office.

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Before

Brooklyn Encore: Master Bedroom

My favorite thing is to come in after a client has given it their best shot, because you can take your cues from what they’ve done! While this client no longer loved the lime green accent wall, I love that she thought of adding an accent wall in the first place! That speaks to her vibrant personality.So we just improved on that concept with a more sophisticated, (and subtle), wallpaper. (‘After’ photos courtesy of awesome client)

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Before

Alexandria: Living Room

Ah yes. The reluctant unpacker. This is not the first time to be brought on a job so fresh from a move that much of what could tell me about the client’s style is hidden away in boxes. But if there’s one thing that speaks to someones style, it’s their rug choice. And this was surely a rug to build a room around.

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Oops…no before picture

Frederick: Family Room

Not actually a big transformation because the client already had the sofa, coffee table, rug and lamp. Practically there, right?! We asked the client to paint the room and had them rearrange for a more functional and comfortable flow, added the coolest rust velvet chair ever, and styled with pillows, plants and such. This was more about waking the space up than completely transforming it.

So, any gut reactions here? Which transformation caught your eye the most in 2019? Digging these photos up to put this post together really just made my heart so full and grateful for what a gift each of these jobs was. I never know if I’ll be able to, (or want to), get final photos of a project when we first begin. I actually have the opportunity to take pictures of less than a quarter of the projects I work on, so it’s truly a unique gift for me to be able to see these projects in person, to share them with you, and to grow my portfolio. Because for every one of these projects I shared with you today, I was likely working on two or three others at the same time that will never see the light of day.

Thank you all so much for coming by today!