Blog Anniversary and My New Office

Time flies when you are having fun!  I can't believe two years has past since my first post on a favorite local designer, Darryl Carter.   I originally started my blog to share inspiration for my design business but it has turned into so much more.  My blog has lead me to meet some wonderful people and work on some great projects.  But, most importantly, I want to thank everyone who reads my blog on a regular basis.  Your support and encouragement is what makes this adventure the most special.

I want to mention that I've been updating my Facebook page with lots of current project photos that you can check out here.  If you want to see real time updates, "Like" my page while you're visiting.

I thought this would be a good time to share pictures of my new office.  I've been working in an "un-inspirational" space for far too long (which you can see here) and just thrilled to have a new office.

I've been saving the image below of Suzanne Kasler's office for some time.  Like her office, I wanted my office not to have much color so fabrics and finishes for client projects would stand out.  I did paint my walls in Ben Moore's Clay Beige for some contrast with the trim and doors.   It's a great color that can read either warm or cool making it so versatile.

You can see the space has changed a ton.

I love my new work table, pendant light and stools.

One more before picture.

Here are fabrics for a current project that is in the works for a gorgeous historic home on the eastern shore (more on that later).

Here's a closer look at the rope railing and under stair storage.

The storage is perfect for my Hunter Douglas samples and much more.

I enjoy seeing my folk art block prints by Bonnie Murray every time I walk down the stairs.  I picked these up on a family vacation in Duck, NC at the Greenleaf Gallery.  They are a wonderful reminder of family vacations.  Below is a close up of the rope railing made from hemp.  

For now my fabric books had to go back on my old book cases.

My new white parson book shelves are due in next month.

Here's another shot of Suzanne Kasler's office.  I liked how she used baskets to organize her fabrics.

My fabrics are now organized in a similar fashion.  These baskets contain some my all time favorites from the Washington Design Center.

My new books shelves hold design books, reference books, and tons of furniture, lighting, accessory, and plumbing fixture trade catalogs (not pictured because not as pretty to look at).  It's feels great to be so organized.

And lastly, my inspiration board which changes weekly.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great week!

Recent Projects: Design Plans, Updated Bathroom, and My New Office

Wow, it's been a busy summer so far.  Hard to believe June is almost over!  The kids are busy with swim team, track, field hockey and other various camps plus lots of hang out time with friends and cousins.  

I've also been busy with lots of exciting projects to work on.  I'm currently helping three families with major home renovations.  All three renovations started this past spring and all of them are finishing up very soon.  Please stay tuned for pictures of these fun projects.  

Below are other projects that have been in the works...designs plans for a pretty country home, a master bathroom update, plus my new office is almost done!!  

I'm also very much looking forward to my brother and his family visiting next week.  It's going to be a relaxing "staycation" that will include lots of boating, swimming and good eating.

Completed Design Boards

When you hire me for a full design services you receive a digital design plan and/or something that looks like the boards below.  The design boards are completed after several meetings with a client to fine tune the project scope and client's style and functional needs, plus share initial design ideas.  After many hours of searching for just the right furniture and fabric, both online and in vendor showrooms, the design board is completed.  The boards include space plans with furniture layout, pictures of furniture, fabrics for upholstered pieces, pillows and drapery treatments, finish samples, and suggested paint colors.  It's so much fun to pull together an entire look.  

This design board is for a client's great room that includes a dining area, a seating area in front of the fireplace, and a second seating area for watching television.  My client loves the Ralph Lauren look...classic, fresh with a touch of rustic.  

In a recent post on selecting rugs for a client...Oriental Rugs I highlighted this client's rug which you can see a small picture of in the middle of the board above.  Two of these rugs will cover a majority of the wood floors in this space and provide lots of color and pattern.  There were lots of colors to work with in the rugs but I chose a navy blue because it provided "pop" against rugs.   Adding texture and pattern being very important to complete the look.

Here's another board for the client's living room.  A little more formal and feminine but still very livable and inviting.  Patterns such as animal prints and chevron add a ton of personality.  This room will have an eclectic feel and will be grounded with some black accents used throughout the room.  

Here's the rug that will be used in this room with the above fabrics...

Master Bathroom Update

This was a fun little project.  It's a amazing how just paint color, new lighting, and a window treatment can transform a space.  

Here's a BEFORE picture of a client's bathroom.  She wanted to add blue or green to her bathroom but it just wasn't working with the tile.  So she asked for my help.

Here's the AFTER picture.  I suggested we use a similar color in the tile for the walls.   This paint color created a more tranquil spa like feel for the bathroom.   We added crisp white towels, a decorative chandelier over the tub and a pretty window treatment with a touch of blue.  Artwork will be added to each side wall soon.

Here's another view of the window treatment and chandelier...

New organic towels from Pottery Barn are embroidered with the client's initial so they don't get mixed up...

My New Office

Basement renovations make for the best before and after shots because basements look awful to start with and mine is no exception.  Here's a BEFORE  picture of my stairwell.  Couldn't wait to get rid of the yellow linoleum flooring and rubber/metal threshold...yuck!

Here's an AFTER picture.  

Here's an embarrassing BEFORE picture of my basement.  Yes, it was the dumping ground for everything.  Basically what I couldn't see, didn't really bother me too much.  It's amazing how much you can accumulate in ten years!

 After a grueling weekend of clean up it was ready for Dave, my super contractor, to get to work...

Here's Dave in the midst of the a dusty mess.

He transformed the space into this...

Here's another BEFORE picture...

Here you can see we put up a wall to create two rooms in our basement.  One for my office and one for Reid's workshop.

Another BEFORE...

Here's the AFTER with a semi transparent door that leads to the workshop.  I didn't want my office to feel closed in so wanted the door to appear window-like.  

A BEFORE of the stair well...

And the AFTER.  A cabinet maker is installing shelving and doors for storage under the stairs.  The stair railing is going up soon too.

I'm going a bit nautical for the railing by using hemp rope, the type of rope used by boats for hundreds of years before the manmade ones replaced them.  Below you can also see a close up of the super durable sisal-like carpet I selected.

Dave's hard work is almost done and now mine begins.  We just moved everything into the office but still waiting on furniture to arrive.  What a crazy mess with fabric books and vendor samples everywhere.   I cannot to wait till it's all in it's place!

Here's the digital design board I put together for my office.  I decided to mix contemporary items with rustic ones.  I'm keeping everything simple so the fabrics and finishes stand out.  I'm most excited to get the tack boards on my wall so I can add all my inspiration pictures for client projects.  I'll share more pictures later.

Have a great weekend!

Behind the Scenes

It's been a great day!   My new design assistant, Jen, started today.  I'm thrilled because not only did she hit the ground running (in just one day she learned to use a Mac, sourced fabrics for a project, staged accessories in a client's home, and helped me set up vendor accounts) but she's talented too.  She has a great background working with fabrics and tiles.   I met Jen in design school and soon learned she had a good "eye" and was a hard worker.  Plus she chose Jack Johnson, one my favorite singers, for a celebrity design project!  I knew we'd get along!

Since I've started my business I've been fortunate to meet lots of great people who help me make my designs become a reality.  Here are just a couple of people that I work with.  This is Jeanie, a wonderful seamstress who works at my workroom, and creates gorgeous drapery treatments and pillows.

Here is Cathy, another seamstress who works out of her home and makes wonderful roman shades and pillows.  Aren't her vintage looking sewing table and drawers great?

One day I would like my office to look like Suzanne Kassler's office.  Mostly white,  a clean canvas that won't compete with client's fabrics, pictures, carpet samples and finishes.  Not shown is a fully upholstered wall where the designers pin up all the samples for their designs.  I so want to do this to one of my walls and discard all my ugly brown cork boards!

Here's a little peak at my office.  I have to warn you that my office is definitely a work in progress.  It's spacious and has tons of natural light making it a nice space to work in but currently lacking some pizazz.  One day I'll replace my desk which I'm sure will be the impetus I need to redo the space.  My desk is always covered in sort-of-neat piles that represent my "to dos" for the day.

I like my cute pillow but really need to replace that unattractive chair.   You can see my draft table on the left which I use more for storage of note pads then drafting.   I use AutoCAD on my macbook for most of my drawing.

Here's my work table that I use to layout fabrics, trims, paint chips, and finishes for projects.  On the back wall is a bookcase filled with some of my fabric and trim books.

More fabric books, design books and design boards can be found on another wall.

I'm a big fan of John Robshaw fabrics so I hung up some of his pretty fabric samples so they are one of the first things I see when I walk into my office.

I'm also a big fan of Schumacher fabrics.  These memos were just too pretty to fold up and tuck away.   Client drawings are in the cart (previously used for toy storage a few years back) and my Benjamin Moore paint chip bag on the right accompanies me on every paint consultation.

It's not the prettiest or most stylish office but it works for now. But I admit it is fun to dream about my future office that I'll have one day.

My next two days are filled with shopping trips with two wonderful clients in and around DC.  Thursday I'll be checking out all the home stores on and near U Street with a client who is in need of some gorgeous accessories for her home.  Friday I'll be checking out all the home stores in Vienna and McLain with another client who is also in need of some great accessories.  When you're accessory shopping for a project you know your close to completion.

So many of my projects are so close to being picture ready.  I cannot wait to share.

Please call me if you would like help making your home more beautiful!

Thanks for stopping by and have a great rest of the week!