I got an email from my client Meagan in March while I was traveling for the day job. It was a lengthy plea asking for virtual design assistance to update her home. Sure thing I said. A few hours later a second lengthy email followed. Essentially, her husband, Dwayne, wondered who she was trying to fool asking for virtual assistance. He knew her well enough to know she would not implement said virtual design so her new request was to meet in person so I could do the real thing. A week later I got a shout out from someone on Instagram declaring her love for my work and declaring herself to be my very first virtual stalker. Ok. Thank you. I think. Super weird but I brushed it off. When I finally met Meagan for our consultation, I discovered she was also my Instagram stalker! Whoa, I thought. Should I just run and get outa here? Suffice it to say I did not call 911. Over the next few months she has indeed turned out to be one of the best clients I've ever had. A true kindred spirit and someone I now text on the regular to say lady, what is good. Anywho, here's where we started:
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As you can see from her before photos, the girl's got some major style. Her home had some great pieces so at first I thought, hey, you have done a great job here lady, not sure you really need me. But she wanted a fresh look to reflect the flirty, fun and carefree way her family now lives and the room just felt dark and dreary, the complete opposite of her bubbly personality. With a new baby (cutie pie Dylan) we also needed some storage options to hide all the toys when the grown ups needed to chill with a glass of wine. The Ikea sofas would stay but everything else could go or be re-worked. Meagan was obsessed with blue so we decided right away to purchase these Bemz slip covers for the sofas. With such a strong color choice, I knew I would need to introduce white to balance things out and opted to do so on the walls, and with these Jonathan Adler curtains.
Everything else evolved. I loved the rug, but Meagan hated it and wanted something new. I went with a yellow rug to tie in to the eat-in area in the kitchen which had evolved from this:
To this:
As you can see, we re-purposed her original curtains and turned them into roman shades for the kitchen eat-in area. After searching for weeks for some budget friendly chairs I stumbled across these yellow beauties in Home Goods and almost peed my pants! I couldn't believe our luck. Can I just tell you that I guarded those chairs with my life? You know how those Home Goods shoppers can be, all up in your find, trying to snatch it away from you should you dare to blink or turn your back for a second. With the chairs and colors coming to together, we decided to take a risk by painting her old sofa table a bold pop of pink. We added the s-shaped shelving (a DIY post on that is in the works). So here's how it all came together.
Feels hella fun and playful no? The new light fixtures did wonders for the two rooms. Now let's talk about all these colors/textures. The question I get asked the most from readers is how I get away with the use of such bold colors (y'all know I've never used a can of beige paint in my life). The trick is balance. You can mix multiple patterns and various colors if you introduce some solid colors throughout to calm it all down. Think of it as the commas in a sentence, a simple moment of pause to catch your breath before you continue with your wild tale.
The best art, to me, are personal pieces. Framing photos of the family to create this gallery wall and adding photos to the end tables was therefore a no-brainer. The trick to a great gallery wall is to mix finishes, sizes and shapes. The burlap framed initial of the family's last name was something Meagan ordered from Etsy (a site we both love) and had in her entryway, but I added it here to complete the wall.
Can we talk about this fab mirror? Meagan rescued it from her neighbors trash and didn't know what to do with it. We sanded, spray painted it gold and it became a major statement piece on her gallery wall. This storage ottoman was another bargain piece from Home Goods. It has a soft close mechanism so baby Dylan won't hurt himself when closing it, and it's on casters so it can moved around as needed.
Okay, so I worried about Dwayne freaking out about the pink console. This was not something they'd approved and I mean, it's hella pink! But I felt that wall needed something bad-ass so it became a case of going bold or going home. He loves it (a lot) and so whew, I'm at peace.
A touching photo of Dwayne and Dylan sit atop some of Meagan's favorites books. And how fab is this end table scored at Overstock.com. So fab it is sold the hell out.
And that is it. We booted the family from the house over the 4th of July weekend to pull off the installation. Since I'm rarely around for the reveal, I was not there when they returned but I got the most amazing series of text messages of joy, squeals of delight from Meagan that night. When I stopped by recently, I got the sweetest thank you note, and a bottle of my favorite Reisling. I told you, she's a keeper. We're planning to update the kitchen next.
But first, these two little men will be having a blast at Dylan's 1st birthday soiree next weekend. Xavier and I can't wait.
Huge thanks as always to the best team a girl could ask for. We worked like maniacs that weekend to get it all done.
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