Progress in the Guest Room

A couple of months ago we took our scary storage/ workout room....

...And turned it into a guest room.  We started by tearing out the drop ceilings & then having the walls & ceiling re-drywalled.  A closet door  was also added to hide the massive storage closet/ understairs storage.  We took our old guest room and turned it into another office for me & my assistant, Meghan.  (We are still waiting for our furniture to arrive in the office but I'll post pics when we're finished!)

The guest room is pretty much a hodgepodge of things we already had, with the only new item being the linen curtains I had made out of my new Thistle fabric.  I used the vintage wooden dresser I found a while back & truth-be-told, it's stuffed with off-season clothes.  My wooden lady (who is super-heavy) makes me happy:

We're still missing one of the most important elements in the room- the headboard!!- so I have to warn you that the pics really don't look that great, but I'm excited about the progress we've made & wanted to share.  (The pics are also really grainy- sorry!!!)  It's a very tiny room so just room for a bed with a small trunk at the end.  (Which I couldn't even fit into a picture)  I used white/cream bedding we already had & have been having fun layering the bed with different quilts to suit my different moods.  Right now I wanted sort of a Fallish-Bohemian feeling so I used a couple of old vintage quilts.  Here's a blurry pic I snapped of the half unmade bed this morning:

{The quilts are vintage and the 2 boudoir pillows are in a Peter Dunham linen}

I used my favorite pair of massive glass lamps on either side of the bed & was able to just fit in our pedestal table along with the dresser:

{The window isn't centered in the room so we had to go with two totally different sizes of end tables...  Since we were using pieces we already had, the pedestal table is a bit shorter than I'd like so I raised the lamp up with some books to make it more even with its mate.}

I have a collection of old mushroom prints on one wall and wooden printers' trays that the boys & I are working on filling with natural objects on the other, so I'll be sure to share overall pics when we're "finished."  I'm planning on doing a headbaord upholstered in warn oatmeal linen that will stop right at the window sill.  I'm debating on on its shape because I am still to excited over my curtains to cover them up too much with a straight headboard so it will either be rounded or I'll cut out the corners.

Here's a close-up of the curtains in Thistle in Sepia & I'm pretty excited to see them in there:

{I chose them because I could mix them with just about any colors I wanted when my moods change}

Anyway, I'll share more when there's more to see.  I hope you liked it & that you're having a great week!!  I also took a few more photos the other day of one of our most recent installs & will be sure to share.  My client's bedroom turned out beautifully & is really different from this one, so I'll try to post soon.

If you're interested in purchasing any of my fabrics, you can visit my online store here.

If you'd like help creating a home you absolutely love, contact me about our design services.

Warm Air Rises

I received a question the other day pertaining to the image below.

"How much does it cost to heat a space like this?"

Great room view looking across dining, kitchen and living room.  The house plan can be purchased through Simply Elegant Home Designs at Hudson Simple Cottage House Plan   

Unfortunately there is no good way to answer this question.  There are simply too many variables involved; however I can give you one big generality.  Warm Air Rises and Cool Air Sinks - In the image above warm air will tend to rise towards the peak of the vaulted space.  Therefore, in warm climate regions high ceilings tend to be sought after because you don't want the heat near your body.  Conversely, in cold climate regions ceilings tend to be lower where you want to contain as much of the warmth as possible.

Warm Air Rises - Is one of the basic rules you should consider when designing an energy efficient house.  To me energy efficiency is the most important aspect to Green Design.  For more of my Green Design thoughts you might check out the following:
keep it simple 
top 10 green things to do

I'm back from Thanksgiving break and it was soooooooo great to get to just relax & hang with my family.  (And eat, of  course!)  I was thinking about it...  and isn't it funny that for this one day a year, almost all of us Americans are eating pretty much the exact same thing?  How weird would it be if we all did burgers on Tuesdays or pesto on Fridays?  ...  the grocery stores would be pretty profitable.  Random, I know. 

{We braved Black Friday - not bad at all, very odd- and found these cute little boots from Gap Kids}

We finally finished raking our yard and I got in a few pics of the boys:

{Christian, 4 and Justin- almost 2!}

I took a complete break from work, which was really nice, but I couldn't help going back to look at pics of some of our recent installs from last week...  Here's a mid-stage pic of one of my favorite rooms as we were moving everything in:

(The curtains are LL Textiles Live Paisley in Gold and I wish the were in my house :)

My client made a last-minute color switch on the walls & they turned out to be too pink.  We're going back to our original color which will be a cream.  {She had a color from one brand reproduced in another brand and it didn't come out perfectly to match the swatch... }    {I'd love to hide all of the not-so-smooth details from you to make it all seem perfect, but just keepin' it real & hopefully it'll help someone with being exrta careful about switching paint brands/ paint matching.}  This room is definitely going to be one of my favorite rooms we've ever done when we're finished.  My clients have the coolest style (she's traditional, he's a bit more edgy- so the mix is perfect) and I'm in love with the room.   

Anyway, I'm off for the day to a master bedroom installation.  I'll be sure to share some peeks!!  Hope your Thanksgiving was special!!




If you'd like help creating a home you absolutely love, contact me about our design services.