Some unexpected bargains

It is still un-styled but we added a few more pieces to my "tight-budged-princess-with-champagne-taste" client's home today ...

The media cabinet is one of my favorite pieces. We went to pick it up from HomeGoods today and came home with a new leather chair and rustic side table as well (that place is dangerous!). 

The leather ottoman, the lamps and the nesting tables and artwork were all purchased last week from HomeGoods. We will definitely be working on replacing / adding pillows to the generic sofas and need to bring in some personal touches but it is getting closer to being move-in ready.

We also added a few more things to the playroom ...

The best is a couple of pieces of art that my client's 10-year-old daughter created. We need to get them framed but I think they are just perfect! I LOVE children's artwork and this is one creative little girl - we used her art previously in her mommy's psychology offices ... you can see her earlier artwork here.

The rustic desk is another of my favorites. We picked it up from Living Spaces. Seriously. I was expecting the worst when we went into the store but it was an inexpensive option where we could get some furniture quickly and honestly, I have gone to worse places. [Did you know that once I went to a gas station in South Central L.A. to purchase a sofa out of a container? Oh yeah, I did. It was for a client who has a gorgeous home but her nanny told her she could get a sofa for a couple of hundred dollars and asked me if I would help her select the fabric.] Anyway, I was pleasantly surprised (and very relieved) when we walked into Living Spaces and they had an entire section of one-of-a-kind vintage finds. Who knew?

A tight budgeted princess with champagne taste

Some of my favorite clients are kids (they are so honest!). It is incredibly gratifying to see the smile on the face of a ten-year-old when you have gotten it "right".

Saturday I spent the day working with shopping with a darling mom who is getting ready to move into a new home with her 10-year-old daughter.

"Need ready-to-go furniture on the cheap for a tight budgeted princess with champagne taste" was how she contacted me.

They are starting with almost nothing (a clean slate ... my favorite) and a really tight budget ... also my favorite. I love the challenge and the gratification of helping someone on a "shoe-string" budget put together a home that is beautiful and comfortable and makes them happy to walk through the front door without putting them into debt.

Because they were starting from scratch and their move-in date is near we needed to work fast and find things that we could pick up immediately. I spent a few hours last week choosing a few key pieces (bedroom storage, nightstands) from Ikea ...

A few of my favorite Ikea pieces

... and Saturday we went shopping for what we needed to fill in with. We started at a big-box store for a few essentials (a sofa and dining table) and then went hunting for some more unique pieces from HomeGoods.

This is the perfect nightstand for my youngest client

HomeGoods can be hit or miss but I tell you there are days that I am there that I think I could furnish an entire house from just what is in that store. And that is kind of how it went on Saturday. They had fun and bright and eclectic pieces for a darling 10-year-old, and beautiful, elegant and rustic pieces for her mom.

This chest will add some flair to the end of a long hallway



A few more of our HomeGoods purchases

We found a beautiful media cabinet for the new TV, a fabulous white leather ottoman coffee table, two gorgeous linen dining chairs to keep the dining set (oh, wow, set is like a 4-letter-word!) from looking too ordinary (they will flank the 2 ends), a round ottoman for the master bedroom, lamps and bedding, and baskets and stools, storage containers and pillows galore. I can't wait to photograph and share the final project!

The desk and desk chair - Ikea / the rest from HomeGoods!

It was a highly successful day (the little girl was happy and smiling and so was her mommy) and when we were finished I checked my fitbit and it had registered over 10,000 steps! Woohoo!

Happy Monday everyone!

Sunday rest

And he said, "my presence will go with you, and I will give you rest."

- Exodus 33:14

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TGIF

Happy Friday Everyone!

Long time no see ...

I cannot believe we are already into April and Easter is over. I don't remember the years flying by so fast when I was younger ...

We had a quiet Easter this year ...  we tried to use natural dyes for our eggs which didn't turn out too well (we rushed them) and I forgot to take photos of the finished eggs (blogger fail!) ... but you can see I started with good intentions:

Went to an Easter egg hunt at my sister's house ...

And this little one turned a year and a half ... seriously, wasn't she just born?

My kitchen is finally finished ... well, it has been for a while but my camera is not working (is there some rule that says everything has to break at the same time?) so I have been waiting to share ... here are a few from my iPhone to give you an idea and I will do a nice post about it when the new camera arrives :D

The floors were lightened and the walls darkened, new counters and cabinet fronts were installed and we finally have a working oven! (the new range was the culprit that started the whole thing).

Just before Easter I had my photographer sister come along for the first stage of the nursery install I have been working on for the last few months (remember the nursery where I had to keep the gender of the baby a secret?) 

 Photography: Patti Prizler

 Photography: Patti Prizler

Photography: Patti Prizler

She had a girl! We have a few more things to install before I can show you the final reveal but it is very worth waiting for!

Hope you are all doing well! Thanks for reading :D

A room at Grandma's

The grandmother of the twins that were born a few months ago needed a room of her own for the girls to come and stay.  And just like the girl's room at their house, this room needed to sleep not just the twins but their big, 3-year-old sister too. 

My sister (who is the best assistant) and I went over yesterday to put up the artwork and bring in some accessories. I forgot to have my sister bring her camera which we could have really used since the lighting was tricky (a beautiful morning sun - but had to shoot right into it - yikes!). My little camera tried it's hardest ... and photographer I am not, but I think the room is cute enough that you will see through the not-so-great photos...

We used Sharon Montrose's animal prints and I was told the giraffe was the three-year-old's favorite. 

The window treatments were already in the room and the full sized bed already had a color scheme (the quilt and the bedskirt) and that made an easy jumping off point. I added the rug and the wall color (Benjamin Moore's Fairest Pink), the white duvet cover and shams to brighten up the bed and the crib bedding from Serena and Lily tied it all together. 

The nightstand was from ZGallerie and the accessories were from HomeGoods and Target.

I cannot resist a bla bla doll ...

What lucky little girls to get to spend the night at Grandma's house in a room like this!

Perfectly imperfect

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”  Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

                                 - 2 Corinthians 12:9-10

I love that passage. It is such a good reminder for me. I don't have to be perfect. My weaknesses, my struggles ... they just let the Son shine more.

And in a weird way, it reminds me of today. I lost an hour (springing forward) ... but oh, it is so worth it, isn't it? I love the longer days with the sun shining late into the evening ...

Spring is coming!

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