Project: Family Hang-Out

 My clients, the Hart family wanted a living room that they could really live in.  Like I mentioned in my previous post on their dining room, they're an active family who love being outside, hiking, camping and spending time together so we really wanted an outdoors-in natural, fresh feel in here.  They're also musically-inclined and wanted a place where the damily could practice playing.  Although they do entertain, the initial function of their living room was to be a place where they can hang out, pay bills, do homework, play instruments and relax. 

Here's what the space looked like before.  It was a totally empty blank slate (how fun?!): 

 

And here's it is now:

When I initially surveyed the house, I noticed they didn't have many family photos and suggested doing a family photo wall in the living room because they wanted an extremely personal family-focused feel in here.  The problem was that they didn't have many family photos to create the wall.  

...So, this past Fall, I met with the family for a family "photo shoot" and I took a ton of pictures of them in the backyard.   We had so much fun "playing" in the leaves and even Whimsy, the family dog, got her close-ups. 

{The Harts}

They came out really well and I created this photo collage of all of the photos surrounding a natural "twiggy" sconce:

Mike & Debbi pay their bills  and the kids also do on homework here at the worktable:

{I love their family-passed-down-clock !!}

We chose a pen shell cocktail table: (This was the first element I chose for the space and used it as a springboard for the rest of the design)

And repeated the natural shells again in the capiz shell pendant over the work table:

I found this cool old lion painting in their garage.  I think he's prefect for the space and it was the last thing to go up.

I tossed this cool needlepoint throw of mine over the back of the loveseat for some added interest: 

 {It's a very tone-on-tone textural design in keeping with the family's natural, relaxed style}

The kids & I picked some pretty polar leaves from the trees outside the house and I had them enlarged on 3 and a half feet high canvases for the walls.  I thought it was a really personal way to "bring the outside in" since they love their house because of its wooded location. 

Here's a view of the second poplar leaf canvas:

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the before & after and thank you again to the Harts for trusting me to design your home!  It was so much fun!!

Hope you had a great 4th of July weekend and if you missed the first part of this project (the dining room), check out the previous post here. 

Client Project: A Green Dining Room

I don't have a before photo of this dining room.  (What's wrong with me?  You'd think I'd never blogged before! ;)  The only pieces in the room when I started the project were the old trestle table & chairs which I love.  My clients, Debbi & Mike, have 3 children- 2 at home a one at college.  They eat their nightly meals in the dining room and also use it for projects, homework, entertaining, etc.  They're an extremely outdoorsy & fit family and love camping, biking and hiking.  Their 70s house has large windows with beautiful views of the surrounding trees and if I didn't already call my house the "treehouse" I'd call this one the "treehouse."  Since they're so passionate about nature & the outdoors, I designed a room that feels textural, natural and filled it with with layers of greens and wood-tones.  

{Walls are painted in Behr's "Lion"}

I love the wax pillar candle chandelier & sconces.  They're simple and strong yet beautiful.

The curtains are an olive-colored paisley linen and we went with green tortoiseshell shades for a classic natural feel.  And, unlike me, Debbi can keep plants alive and I think they're perfect in here.

The oil painting was ours but now it's found the perfect home.  (It wasn't easy for me to part with, but it makes me so happy to see it here ;)  We chose Restoration Hardware's Printmaker's Sideboard and its massive size is perfect for dining room storage.  (Since Debbi & Mike also use their dining room to pay bills, some of the drawers are reserved for paperwork too.)

I set the table for a "summer dinner" and used glassware from Anthropologie.  (How gorgeous are the amber wine glasses???!)  I layed a massive squash leaf down for a fun take on a tablerunner.

Here's another view of the table:

I love the brass of the samovar (the huge tea pot) against the painting.  (I borrowed it from my grandparents because I thought it would look beautiful in here and now I think I need to find one for Debbi ;)

The dining room is a relaxed & subdued backdrop for whatever type of occasion is needed.  I think it looks just as beautiful when the table's bare.  (I'm going to want to keep coming back again to do more table settings.  (Knock knock! "It's me again to play dress up with your table!") 

Thank you so much to Debbi & Mike for trusting me & the design even when the wax candles nudged you a bit outside of your comfort zone ;) ;)   You're amazing and I can't thank you enough.

I hope you enjoyed & I'll be posting living room photos next week!  Have an awesome 4th of July!!!

The Fun-Shed

We've pretty much finished our shed/playhouse project and we are having so much fun hanging out in it!  To check out all of the inspiration sheds, check out this post here.  When we bought the house (about a year ago) this shed (below) was on the property sitting on a concrete slab.  It leaked and a some sort of animal family lived in it:

Dave and his dad knocked it down and replaced it with 6' x 8' Hartland shed from Lowe's:

We haven't painted the outside of the shed yet to match out house but if you'll remember, we haven't even painted our actual house fully yet, so those pics will come this summer.  (Can  you tell interiors come first with me? ;) ;) 

We wanted to create a fun place for us and the kids to hang out.  It's part playhouse- part relaxing place for us to hide from the bugs...  I wanted it to be pretty enough for me to enjoy being in, but still appeal to little boys.  (Will I ever have a girl??!! ;)   Anyway, here's what it looked like inside before:

And here it is now:

We strung up our globe (a 23rd birthday gift to Dave from me) between the rafters and I love looking at it when we're laying down on the bench. 

For a little nod to our own kitchen, we decided we'd do white shelves above a black counter.  We don't really have any kitchen-y toys yet so we're using pretty fruit juice cans and an old olive oil contrainer.  I love their vintage-feel. 

We've displayed things we've collected over the years along with the things Christian finds on walks.  It seems sticks are one of his favorite. I've "let go" of what happens on these shelves (meaning I totally helped get everything up there but he whatever happens, happens)  and it's really refreshing to have a space out of my control.   He says he needs to put them up here so Ashby (our dog) won't get them:

 I think it'll be fun to use actual leftover food containers (like empty mini cereal containers) to add "food" over time.   I also thought it would be fun for Christian to play "bartender" when we have parties/ bbqs. (ok- yes, I know how bad that sounds but I'm not talking only alcoholic drinks here :)  We'll put the different drinks we have to offer up on the shelves - ie coke, bottled water, orange soda,  etc- for people to see their options and then they can tell the kids what they want so they can fish it out of the coolers for them. 

Christian has been "cooking" a lot and also sampling the honeysuckle that grows just outside:

{honeysuckle leftovers on chair}

The beautiful old adirondak chair was given to me by my friend Rebecca of Acanthus and Acorn and Christian just loves it! 

{I adore the crackly old vintage kitty on the floor}

The bass that hangs is the first bass I ever "caught."  I was 4 years old and my dad had it mounted.  It reminds of of the fishing trips I used to take with my dad when I was little - playing Barbie's and caring more about the surrounding waterlilies rather than the fish.  It has been moving from house to house with me with no place to go, and finally, it's found a home.  (ps- I'm not sure I've even caught a bass since...  my dad's an awesome bass fisherman and has even been on those fishing shows...  this apple falls far from the tree.)  The botanical prints are different plants (and weeds!) we have around our yard.  Christian & I picked them and photocopied them with the printer.  I labeled them and added some personal stories/ thoughts on any that have special meaning.  To see the how-to details, click here. 

My "spot" is the bench Dave built.  We used a cheapie outdoor chaise lounge cushion for the seat wrapped in an old natural-colored ikea curtain.  (very washable and we have multiples!)  The dog pillow (we've had for years) looks exactly like our dog Ashby and I propped an old water-damaged flea market painting on the ledge.  We painted the floors black and added a grapic outdoor rug.  The old wire basket under the bench given to me by a friend is great for coralling suncreen, baby wipes and other necessaries:

Do you spy the "real" tenant in the playhouse?  Just under the painting... "Spidey" earns his keep by eating mosquitoes.  This playhouse is not for the squeamish!

Justin enjoys the bench too but not as much as the plates...

Do you remember those old fisher price tea seats?  My mom had saved mine:

Here's a photo Christian wanted me to take of the "oatmeal" he made for me:

{yum!}

Christian has a great time playing in here...

...But I think Dave & I might  actually like the playhouse more than him.  We love seeing him have so much fun and being so excited, so in that sense, it's just as much of a gift to ourselves as to the kids.  It's funny how that works.

Anyway, hope you're having a great week & enjoyed the tour!!

xoxo,

lauren

Rug: "Matrix" rug from overstock.com

No VOC Paint: (a favorite) "Beach Pearl" by FreshAir Choice @ Home Depot

Globe: Rand McNally

Women's Shelter Makeover

Last week a group of local designers headed by Jill Sorensen finished up the makeover of a local women's shelter for victims of domestic violence.  To say it was an awesome experience is an understatement.  I partnered up with Rebecca Ilgenfritz of Acanthus and Acorn to do the living area/entry and a bedroom of the house.  Here's what the living area looked like the first time we visited:

The shelter is affiliated with a local thrift store so we were able to "shop" the thrift store for items for the shelter.  (SO much fun!!!)  Many of the items used were also generously donated by people through Knock-Out Abuse.  We kept the existing furniture & found more furniture, lamps, artwork & accessories at the thrift store/ donations haul.  We all met at the house for a big painting day and - with the help of a group of local volunteers- added color to the drab house & some of the furnishings.  Rebecca and I used fabric remnants to sew pillows, we painted lamps, Rebecca kindly stole her daughter's curtains, and we purchased new shades for all the lamps at Target.   Here's the space now:

{The "new" room}

We popped bright pink peacock feather Liberty of London shades on the existing lamps and used shots of pink throughout the room. 

We wanted to create a space that would encourage the women to hang out with each other & linger.  Of course it's all very "use-what-you-have" but I think the end result is fun & cheerful. 

The bedroom we redid currently belongs to a mom and her two small children. The rooms have to function for an entire family and hold all of their belongings.  Here's a close-up of the bed before:

And here it is now:

Here's a shot taken by Rebecca of the room before:

{Photo by Rebecca Ilgenfritz}

And here it is now:

{Photo by Rebecca Ilgenfritz}

Rebecca generously donated the beautiful antique iron twin bed and the new bunk bed was also donated.  We chose a pale aqua for the walls (that worked perfectly with our pillow fabric) to give the room a relaxed, restful feeling. 

Here's a photo of the lamp before:

And here it is now, piled atop thrift store books for some added height:

Here's the nail polish-stained dresser before:

And here is is now:

I love it!  All of the accessories were free from the thrift store and we added yet another Target shade to the painted urn lamp.  The green leaves in the little white vase are actually just "weeds" I picked from outside the house so they can very easily replace them with new ones.  The vintage weathered frame prints are insanely beautiful.  We spied them in the office at the thrift store and practically begged for them, keeping our fingers crossed that they weren't already spoken for.  They're not hung symmetrically as the dresser isn't perfectly centered on the wall & the visual weights of the twin bed and the bunk bed are so off, so a perfectly symmetrical grouping just didn't feel quite right. 

While taking the mattresses of the bed, we found that one of the mattresses had a beautiful vintage-floral pattern on it in the colors we were using.  We loved it!!  We decided to keep it under the bunk bed to be pulled out for a fun spot the kids could play on:

How much fun is the gold-and-cream rug?  (Thrift store again!)  It hides some stains on the carpet and is another soft spot for kids to play.  The bulletin board (below) was painted in the same aqua as the walls so it will simpy recede and we added a little tray with wooden back massagers on it.  Using a back massager is one of those things I used to love doing with my mom when I was little, so we thought the family might enjoy them and be able to do a little "massage train."  When the family was shown their new room, the kids immediately picked them up & started playing with them wondering what they were.  I love toys that spur interaction.

We used more leftover fabric to cover the box spring on the bed (this one had been with me since college & I'm so happy it's finally found a good home!!)  I love the little painting we found (another thrift donation!!) and hung next to the bed:

And one last picture (because you know I'm a picture nut):

I really can't thank all of the people involved enough for such a rewarding experience.  Cathy (the director of the shelter) is one special lady (& had to deal with our constant questions & emails) who cares so much about these women and helps improve their lives daily.  Jill Sorensen masterminded this whole thing and is the founder of Knock-Out Abuse.  She's such a upbeat, generous talented (and gorgeous!!) person.  Danielle, Ellen, Jennifer Sergent, the volunteer painters and the crew from Hardwood Artisans were such a huge help in getting our spaces finished in time and there's no way we could have done it without them. The other designers involved- Raji Radhakrishnan, Denise Willard and of course Jill Sorensen & Danielle Sigwalt are all just amazing people and I'm honored to have gotten the chance to work with them.  It's definitely a bonding experience and you really feel as if you're part of a team and I know I'll be seeing more of these new friends.  And last but not least, to Rebecca for putting up with my baby-child-smashed-rarely-any-free-days schedule, working so hard to make this project happen and for parterning up with me.  I'm so happy with how everything turned out.   

Here are some links to all of the people involved.  Check out all of the gorgeous before & afters of the other rooms!!

Rebecca Ilgenfritz: Acanthus and Acorn 

Hardwood Artisans - I highly recommend them for any built-in/ furniture work you need if you're in the area. 

Raji Radhakrishan: Design Dossier - mother's refuge

Denise Willard: Dream Design Live. - playroom

 Jill Sorensen Live.Like.You. -- go here for a wrap up post complete with videos

To check out the full article on the entire project by Jennifer Sergent, go to DC by Design.  You will not BELIEVE how amazing the other rooms are!!! 

Finally, if want to help, check out Knock-Out Abuse to find out how.  If you live in another area, consider contacting local shelters to start a project of your own.  It's one of the most rewarding experiences you'll ever have.  I'm going to cherish the memory of the mother & her two adorable children (a little boy & a little girl) walking into their new bedroom forever.  It was better than anything you can imagine.  I keep playing it in my head over and over.  She just kept saying, "It's beautiful," as she and the kids slowly took the room in.  The kids scooped up the back massagers and started touching & exploring everything and it's amazing to see that even 2-4 year olds appreciate something like this.  I didn't want to leave, but standing there staring at them through the doorway forever was probably not cool.  The mother was so thankful and I've never had a more deserving client.  This is really what it's all about.

xoxo,

lauren