A Nice Alternative

Sure we'd all love to have unlimited funds to spend on those perfect pieces for our homes. That's just not reality for many of us. In this economy, I'm especially trying to keep my eye out for ways to make the most out of my clients budgets. I'm currently working on an office design and below is one of the chairs I presented to them in my design. It's from Target and comes with an affordable price tag. Tonight while doing some more research, I ran across a different chair frame using the same fabric at Horchow for over double the price. Either would work interchangeably in my design but the Target version is definitely more feasible for the budget I'm working with. Always keep your eyes out because I see this situation time and time again. In the long run, you can save quite a bit of money.

See if you can pinpoint which one is the less expensive version.

AVINGTON SLIPPER CHAIR-WHIMSICAL

BETTY GUMBALL TREE CHAIR

My New Office

With the exterior of our townhouse under construction the noise has been absolutely unbearable. Sydney can't sleep which means no time to work for me. I've resorted to taking her for rides in the car until she drifts off and then pulling over at the park. The stroller used to be my main source of naps but the car gets a longer one out of her and I've been too exhausted to walk around for hours like the good old days! After a month of car rides, I started getting antsy and felt like I was being held hostage in the car. I could only browse Facebook and play Words With Friends on my iPhone for so long! I needed to become more productive during my car time (although the couple naps I actually took myself, I considered productive) so I moved my office to the car. I'm still only able to get small things done but it's helped a little with my frustration with the construction.

The Sky's The Limit!

I'm currently working on a nursery for a lovely little one due here in a few short months. This I must tell you is my DREAM JOB! It's not everyday that a client will give you completely free-range on a design. Now I'm not meaning I have a free range in budget...I actually have an extremely small budget but as far as the design elements are concerned, it's all up to me. As a designer, you dream of projects like this...they usually don't exist. My only requirement was that it must be gender neutral so that when another baby comes down the road, it will be ready for them.

So, for my inspiration, I'm back at it with the Avalisa prints. I'm addicted to these things! I just can't help myself, I find them so inspiring.

Further detail of this project to come!

THE INSPIRATION

Time Sucker

I'm the first to admit this blog has been seriously neglected. But I have a good excuse and her name is Sydney Bean. You can read more about what she's been up to HERE and also see why my Design Assistant Gabby hasn't been helping much either. Her and Sydney Bean are partners in crime and keep getting into mischief together. It makes for some busy days and little time for blogging. I have recently been feeling the "itch" though, like I need to get some ideas out of my system. Those creative people will know what I'm talking about. I blame it on some new avenues of inspiration I've found. One of them being Lonny Mag. As I went to subscribe to this magazine, I soon realized it's an online version, not quite the material I'm accustomed to. At first I wasn't too thrilled about this as I'm old school like that. But, as I thought about my normal magazine reading process (tearing out magazine pages and inserting them into page protectors & binders) I soon realized that this online magazine was much better for my new life...you know...the one with the 8 1/2 month time sucker! Yes, Lonny Mag and and all of it's beautiful eclectic-ness were just what this busy Designer needed.

If "The Bean" Were A Boy

In my previous post, I told you I'd post my nursery design for if The Bean had been a boy. For those of you who don't know, my daughter's alter alias is "The Bean". Long story short, my first ultrasound looked like a lima bean...hence The Bean...let's just say it's a name that's stuck.

So if The Bean had been a boy, this would be her zone.

Double Vision

When I found out I was pregnant, after the initial excitement of becoming a Mommy set in...my mind started designing the Nursery! I had no idea which gender I was having yet so I decided I would come up with some mock designs for both. At that time I really felt like I was having a boy, so I designed that room first. Well, I was WRONG so on to the next thought process. Maybe for fun I'll have to post my boy's design board later!

When designing, I like to take one item whether it be an art piece, area rug or even a fabric pattern and build off of that. It takes much of that overwhelming feeling out of design. The hard part then becomes what will that one piece be? I wanted a room that would grow with my daughter so it had to be more mature than a typical baby room but still be whimsical enough for a baby. When I found these art pieces, I knew I had found my inspiration. I have a Boston Terrier (ahem...see my Design Assistant) and what woman doesn't love purses! A yellow & black pallette would give the room some sophistication...BINGO...we have set our mood!

BOSTON TERRIER YELLOW HANDBAGS

How do you like that table accessory...wink wink?

Ok, so now on to why this post is titled "Double Vision". My best friend Jen Skog threw me the most AMAZING baby shower. She took my vision for my Nursery and turned it into a whimsical soiree. Jen is a professional photographer but from the looks of her design I'd say she has a career in event design wouldn't you say? Her design was even featured on The Cake Blog

All in all both Jen's and my visions came to life and it just goes to show how different areas of design, whether it be interiors, fashion, events, etc. all go hand in hand.

I had told you to stay tuned for the bathrooms after the Kitchen I posted about back in March. Well here they are (finally...thanks for your patience). The first bathroom shown is the Powder Room. My feeling for Powder Rooms is that you can always make them a little more bold and using pricier materials since it's a smaller space to work with. We used Stone and Glass mosaics for the countertop and backsplash, and a pebbled mosaic bordered with rectangular porcelain tile for the floor. I definitely believe we accomplished the Bold in this tiny space!

The next room we designed was the Master Bathroom. Boy do I love how this bathroom turned out! It feels so calm and serene when you are in it. White Carrara Marble was used for the countertops and was paired with green crackled porcelain tiles on the backsplash. The grey veining in the countertop was brought down into the floor with a large field tiles. Glass vessel sinks and chrome fixtures completed this tranquil feel.