My favorite chair

I am working on two long distance projects right now. One is finishing a dining room that is part of a full house remodel that I have been working on for a while. The other is furnishing a condo that a previous client of mine is leasing while they wait for their current house to sell.

Monday I was in Crate and Barrel ordering eight Colette side chairs which will be upholstered in a gorgeous dark taupe fabric with the same silver nail heads - they will be just perfect for the new dining room. While I was waiting for the order to be placed, I saw the Clara chair again. Every time I see this chair I am reminded how very much I want to own this! It is upholstered in the most perfect shade of aqua blue. So I decided that I would use it as my jumping off point for the Condo in South Carolina. Someone should have this chair I am thinking!  

The client needed help furnishing a small living and dining area in a condo they are leasing temporarily while they wait for their house in the Chicago area to sell. There were three main things that I needed to take into consideration. One was the fact that they would eventually be gaining back all the furniture they currently own, and so some of my selections would be more temporary. Secondly, they needed furniture immediately, so I needed to use stores that had in stock items that were ready to ship. There are only two stores close to their location; Target and World Market. And their third request was that I give them 'champagne on a beer budget' (ha ha, isn't that what we all want?) ;-)

The Clara chair may be more than they are willing to spend, and if so, I will find an alternative. It did start the process rolling though.

They needed a small scale sofa, and the Hawthorne sofa (71") from Room and Board is perfect - it is well priced ($1,199), is in stock and ready to ship, and is upholstered in a very durable 100% polyester microsuede. The light color will help their small space feel larger but at the same time it will be easy to care for. It will also be simple to dress up with pillows and a rug to coordinate with the Clara side chair.

I love the Adeline rug from Pottery Barn and at $379 (for a 5' x 8') it could be perfect. Because I am working online, I will still need to verify the actual swatches to make sure everything is compatible.

I selected this bi-cast brown leather ottoman bench to use as their coffee table to give them optimum comfort. It is just the right size for their space and is a steal at $273.59 from Overstock. I have had only good experiences from ordering from Overstock and they have great shipping prices - this one ships for $.01!

This round marble top table from CB2 for $299 really says, 'champagne on a beer budget', but I think the leather ottoman will be more comfortable for the client.

This Porter side table from World Market will work great next to the Clara chair and is only $159.99. For the dining room, I chose the following table and chairs:

Stornas Dining Table - $399 from Ikea. It will seat up to 10 people with the leaf.

(4) Henriksdal dining chairs from Ikea ($59.99) - white slipcovers either long or short

And this Zebra dining bench, also from World Market for $199.99. The fabric looks black and white but is actually a dark brown.

They did not ask me for this but you can never have enough storage:

And since I am adding a few extra things, they might want to have some office space. This would be my choice:

Mason Glass Top Desk (Williams Sonoma Home)

Ripple Leather Office Chair

And now I wait to hear what they like and what they don't. I'll keep you 'post'ed ;-)

Leaves & acorns are calling my name

I love setting a table and especially a holiday table. Thanksgiving has got to be my favorite table to set because it is the one holiday that really centers around the table. For our family, Thanksgiving is all about family and being grateful and the food. 

Real Simple

My favorite table settings are ones that are elegant but simple. I prefer white china and love a crisp white tablecloth, topped with a runner and natural decor. I love using place cards for special occasions. And I am always drawn to leaves. In the fall, pears and acorns call my name. There is something magical about an acorn. In a week or so I will be making my leaf and acorn cookies ...

I love this idea - and we have tons of these balls that come off the trees that line the front of our property! We lost one of our large trees one year - it was the tree that our swing was on when the girls were little and I loved that tree. It felt like a death to see it laying across our entire front yard. Before the crew came to remove it, I had the girl next door scoop up as many of those little balls that had fallen off so that I could keep a small part of it.  I also like to use the leaves that fall from those trees - they are beautiful shades of yellow and red; simply writing each person's name in silver or gold pen is enough. 

Martha Stewart

BHG

BHG

Southern Living

Country Living

Country Living

Country Home

Carolyn Roehm

BHG

BHG

The gingko leaf is our family's symbol of 'home'. We have a gorgeous gingko tree in our backyard and in the late fall the leaves are a spectacular yellow. When the sun shines on it in the morning it looks like heaven.

Southern Living

BHG

And I will definitely be putting my butter into a leaf shape this year - I think I will pass on maple syrup though! 

I brake for comments!

A whole new world has opened up for me. The blogging world. Today is my first official month of blogging (not counting the first wedding post). I have spent countless hours in front of the computer, a lot of lost sleep, I have neglected the laundry, the dishes and the dog, have obsessed over stats, learned what stats even are, checked and re-checked for comments, read more design blogs then I even knew existed, have seen more ideas and have been more inspired (and challenged) and have been more motivated about design and my business than ever before. Twenty five posts in thirty days. Wow. 

But what I have really learned, besides the mechanics of blogging - headers and footers and sidebars and gadgets and posting and posting and posting - is that exchanging ideas with other people and being part of a community that I didn't even know existed a few months ago is exhilarating and challenging and wonderful and addicting. I have gained peers and mentors and friends and have connected with people all over the world.

I am learning by trial and error. My first week, I added a stat counter to my blog. It was amazing. I saw that people, lots of people were reading my blog (thanks to some wonderful referring blogs). But  then one day I found a little statistic on that counter that showed how long someone stayed on my blog. There was a little pie graph and I saw that over 50% of the people who logged on to my blog stayed on for less than 5 seconds. And that changed everything for me. It is not about the number of visitors I have - although that has helped with Google search for sure - but my goal is to see that people are returning and staying longer than a few seconds.

I want to know that I am inspiring others and making a difference with my blog, but I am also excited about how this is growing me as a person and as a designer. I risk my vulnerability and am challenged by the time commitment but I am hooked and excited to see where the next month will lead me. If you have read all of this rambling, bless you! And remember, I appreciate your comments more than you will ever know!                                       (Cartoons are by Dave Walker).

 Photos by Dreamy Whites via Houzz

Making lists

Musings from Sunday:

"I woke up this morning feeling rested and encouraged. The sun was shining and even after 'sleeping in' it was still early according to the clock. Today is one of my favorite days of the year - I GAINED AN HOUR TODAY! We 'fell back' an hour this morning, officially ending daylight savings time. I am going to embrace the positives of this even though I do grieve that it will be dark long before evening comes (my daughter says she will walk home from her daytime classes in the dark). Did you know that it is not officially evening until 6 PM - I learned this when we were printing the wedding invitations and as weird as it sounds, it is correct to say we had a '5 o'clock in the afternoon' wedding.

It will be nice to wake up to the light. But the best part is that it will give me a chance to get back on a better sleeping and waking routine. Since I have been blogging (one month on Tuesday!) I have been staying up too late and then consequently sleeping in. It has taken its toll on my schedule, my energy, my productivity and ultimately my attitude. I am tired. Today I start fresh. No more late nights. I will start earlier and end earlier. I will get up with the light. I will put the most important things first and stick to my list."

Happy Monday! I hope you enjoyed your extra hour yesterday! 

This cartoon is by Dave Walker.

Making to-do lists is what keeps me on task; it is how I stay organized and productive and ultimately stress free. When I am at my highest level of productivity, I am working off of a list. I make a lists for everything. I make lists of phone calls I need to make, emails to return, orders to check up on, things I need to buy (for clients, for groceries, for gifts, etc), lists of what I have to do and lists of things I want to do. Lists are what keeps my mind from feeling cluttered, overwhelmed and stressed. Lists help me to prioritize what is most important and helps me decide what I can let go of or what I need to delegate to someone else. 

I start each week with a list of everything I HAVE to do. I assign a day for each task. I print it out and put it in my calendar or take it in my car with me as I go about my day. I follow up each evening by updating the list - what things need to be added, what things carried over. 

This cartoon is by Dave Walker.

Where it gets hard is when I have sooo much to do and yet the deadline is way off. I can procrastinate. For example, I am in the last week of preparing for the big Wizard of Oz party. There are a ton of things to do. But I have the whole week. And so I can get off track. If I do not make a list and stick to it, I will end up overwhelmed and stressed. Lists (and sticking to them) are how I planned the wedding and carried out a zillion tasks without getting stressed. 

Tip of the Day: Put a pen and notepad on your bedside table to jot down those thoughts that come to your mind just as you are trying to fall asleep. You can add them to your master list when morning comes!

If you want help with your home or wedding decor, contact me by email @ SHCInsideOut@gmail.com for online rates or call me at 562.547.5247 if you are local

Comparisons

When I first start working with a new client, one of the most important things I need to do, besides understanding what they are trying to accomplish, is to understand what it is they like (colors, style, etc.) or, more often, to help them to discover what they like. Most people know what they do not like and it is my job to help them find out what they do. My goal is not to give them the house of my dreams, but rather the house of theirs.  

One of the most important aspects of our relationship is communication and honesty. Two things are critical to have a great working relationship. One, they need to trust that I know what I am doing, and two, they need to be free to tell me they don't like something without worrying that they will offend me. 

My goal with each project is to create a space that the client loves. Years ago, a friend of mine hired a designer to re-decorate her house. But she was never happy with the end result - she says it 'just wasn't her'. She went along with what the designer presented because she doubted herself and believed that he knew what looked good and so therefore she should like it. She also did not want to offend him.

And so one of the first things I talk to a client about is how important it is that they understand that they cannot offend me if they do not like something I show them. Design is subjective and just because something doesn't appeal to me doesn't mean it is not good design. I tell them that I can look through the many shelter magazines that I read each month and see work from some of the top designers and not like some of it. I go on to explain that these designers are talented and their work is considered the best - but that doesn't mean that everyone will like what they do. In the same way, they will not hurt my feelings if they do not like what I present to them and more importantly, if they accept something that I show them and they don't like it, then I have failed.

This does not mean that I don't need to educate and stretch them. It is my job to help them to see new ideas, to get them outside the box they may be in and to help them to understand the basics of good design, but ultimately they are the ones who need to be happy in the finished space.

I think that as designers, it is important to help our clients discover who they are and what they like; to help them to not compare themselves or their houses to what other people are doing - to not follow the latest trend but to create a home for themselves that will have longevity and satisfaction long after the latest trend has passed. 

I also think that in this crazy subjective and competitive world that we are in it is important that we are comfortable with who we are and what we do, and that we don't compare ourselves or our work to others. We need to embrace and develop the gifts that we have been given and share those with others the best that we can. And we need to be able to celebrate the wonderful gifts that others have as well.

What do I know for sure? I will always find many, many people who have MORE talent then I do. And that becomes so much more evident to me as I get more immersed into the blogging world and see all the incredible talent that is out there. I can let that stop me ... or inspire me! I choose the latter. (All photos & examples of very talented designers are courtesy of House Beautiful)

Have a blessed Sunday and embrace your God given gifts! xo

"Pay careful attention to your own work, for then you will get the satisfaction of a job well done, and you won't need to compare yourself to anyone else."

-Galatians 6:4

Wrapping it up

I love presentation. I get as much joy out of wrapping a present as I do giving what is inside.
The first thing I do for Christmas is select the wrapping paper and the ribbon I am going to use. Before my youngest daughter went away to school, as soon as Halloween was over we would head over to The Container Store and select our wrapping paper. The paper we chose would set the color scheme and style for the rest of the Christmas decor. The last couple of years I have had to do it alone - so not as much fun. I have also had great luck finding nice wrapping paper at Target. A couple of years ago they had a beautiful dark aqua flocked damask paper that was to die for. For me, anything flocked or any damask has my name on it.

This was what I used last year:

Interestingly, it is very similar to what Wisteria is showing in their latest catalogue:



I don't know why that bugs me, but it does kind of. You know, you think you are being original ...
 Anyway, this year we are on a strict budget and I had to think a little more creatively.
I normally buy a lot wrapping paper but this year I limited myself to only four rolls. I also wanted to be able to use the many, many rolls of turquoise ribbon I bought earlier in the year when I went a little crazy for the new color of the year! There is a wholesale ribbon store down the road from my house and they sell rolls of ribbon VERY inexpensively and I kind of over bought!

MY RIBBON DRAWER

So, I went with some neutral colors that I could throw in some plain brown packing paper (super cheap) and it would still look pretty. It is hard to tell in the photo but the paper on the far right is a beautiful moire taffeta looking paper and the silver one is more 'leaf-like' and organic then it shows here:

My turquoise ribbon will look great on these! I will probably add some silver ribbon too.

I had a store credit at Crate and Barrel left from the wedding and found these wonderful little ornaments to either tie on a package or use them for the edible gifts I make. I wrap the cookies and candy that I make in cellophane and pretty ribbon and I like to tie a little ornament on it as well. I love anything silver (they are more silver than the photo shows) and 'leafy' so these will be just perfect ($3.95 / $2.50).