Doorways Safehouse: Twin Bedroom {Gracious Living by Design}

The Doorways safehouse redesign was such a great project to get me through the D.C. winter.  It was so wonderful to meet so many designers, many of whom I had heard of for quite some time.  Today I am featuring Anna Kucera of Gracious Living by Design.  Anna is such a sweetheart and was one of the first designers to respond to my plea for help on this project!  When we met, we realized that one of our good friends was once her landlord... small town!

Anna's work is absolutely gorgeous.  She designs high-end spaces and really makes them shine as they should!  Here are a few samples from her website -

When I gave Anna the tour of the safehouse so she could see her space, we were able to meet the family currently living in the twin bedroom she was working with.  At that time, the room had one set of bunkbeds which were subsequently relocated to another slightly larger bedroom.  Here is how the room looked back in December - 

The room was most clearly in need of usable storage.  The small nightstand was not really working as a storage piece.  They needed more places to keep things (that was a theme in all of the bedrooms).  The closets are very small so they do not offer much help - considering these families have most of their personal and treasured belongings in this one small space.  

Anna worked up a great design board (including sources) on Pinterest with a "growth and new beginnings" theme (hence the butterflies), but it was so much better in person...

That dresser folds down to be a desk which will be great for extra toiletries for anyone who doesn't want to use it as a desk.  I have to call out the muralist, Brian Cantwell, who did an amazing job in this space.  The room is so cheery, calm, and beautiful!

A before and after - 

         

More to come next week!

Doorways Safehouse: The Playroom {LCK FIne Arts and Design}

This week and next I am highlighting each of the designers in the Doorways redesign project.  Today, we are moving down the hall to the playroom which was redesigned by Linda Kosovych of LCK Fine Arts and Design.

Here are a few samples of Linda's design work - 

Her love of color certainly carried through to the playroom at the Doorways safehouse.  I think this is the only room that Linda was really interested in designing and perhaps her love of color was the main reason for that!  This space serves as both the toy room as well as a computer room and an arts and crafts space for kids living in the safe house.

Here is the space before Linda got her hands on it.

And after Linda worked her magic...

How much fun is that?  The chalkboard wall is definitely one of my favorite features.  Bean bags were an inspired choice because they can be pulled into the living room for more TV seating.  It's a little hard to see but the books are now kept in mesh baskets hanging on the wall.

And a before and after -

      

Great job, Linda!

A Hobby Becomes a Job {Spendalla}

Exciting news!  As of last week I became an independent home stylist for Spendalla!

I met the owner, Wendy Pilch, back in January when I had my home closet consultation.  We hit it off.  She liked my house and asked if I was a designer.  I admitted I was a wanna-be but am practicing law instead.  As she was leaving my house, she asked if I might be interested in doing some home styling for her clients.  Clearly her clients love her and want her to help style all aspects of her lives!!  She doesn't have the inclination to do home interiors so she was looking for someone to help out a bit.  

I thought about it for 2 weeks and talked to her about it a bit more.  Handy Hubby was very excited for me to do it (how awesome is he?).  In the back of my mind, this is something that I had been hoping to do for a long time.  The blog was an outlet for my creativity but maybe not quite enough.  And I love helping my friends improve their own homes, so this is really an extension of that hobby.  Finally, the Doorways project sealed it for me.  I got a feel for working with clients and how it could work out for me.

I'm going to keep my day job (which I still enjoy and it pays the bills quite nicely actually!) but I work part-time so I'm going to use a few of my off hours to do some home styling.  

To be clear - this is not a full scale home design service.  But, if you are looking for someone to help you pick out furniture, window treatments, paint colors, or accessories for your home, or if you just need someone to come over for a couple of hours to move furniture around your house and find better uses for your space, then I would be perfect for your needs.  I am also happy to help you get a big picture idea of what you might do with a major home renovation or help you pick out tile for a renovation already in progress.  

Finally if you are a real estate agent or a home owner selling your home, I would love to help you stage a home to sell.  I have already started doing a bit of this work but would love to do more, in a use what you have format.

I will work in person if you are local or by email/video conference.  All services are based on a flat hourly rate.  Please let me know if you are interested!  

I look forward to working with you!  

Doorways Safehouse: The Living & Dining Room {On My Agenda}

For the next few days, I'm going to post a little about each of the designers and the rooms they designed at the Doorways safehouse.  If you are just joining us now (or rejoining after some time away), check out these background posts about the project before reading further.

Nicole Lanteri from On My Agenda took on the living and dining room combination.  This room is the only space where the clients in the safehouse can hang out and relax other than in their rooms.  Nicole describes herself as "a designer, former lawyer, and happy small businesswoman." She raised quite a bit of money for the Doorways project and she only purchaseddd high quality furnishings.

Here are a few samples of her past work from her website:

Here are a few pictures of the Doorways living and dining room space she was working with:

Generally the space was in pretty good condition.  The built-ins are a great feature and focal point.  The space does have nice light although the shades generally remain closed for security reasons.  The built in bench works well for the house because several kids can sit together there.  

Here is Nicole's design board (from her blog) - 

The fresh golds and oranges are wonderful with the gray and teal.

And here are the after pictures...

It's an amazing space now. The pictures do not do it justice!  I think everyone is in love with the new Room & Board sofa especially.  The West Elm chairs offer comfort and durability.  

And a quick before and after...

Thanks Nicole for taking on this big project!!  Check out Nicole's blog for the sources.

p.s.  I love Nicole's Pinterest page so be sure to check it out here!

Happy Valentine's Day! {Elizabeth's Valentines)

Happy Valentine's Day!

Hope you are having a happy day.  Handy Hubby and I have never been super into Valentine's Day. Before we had kids, we never saw the point of going out for a romantic dinner in overcrowded, overpriced, and understaffed restaurants just for the sake of a day.  We often ended up in our local Mexican favorite-of-the-minute (we eat a lot of Mexican food) because those places were always empty on the "fancy nights".  

Now that we have kids, we give the kids a little candy (a definite treat for them) and big hugs when they wake up.  When Elizabeth went to kindergarten last year, we started doing school Valentines.  Her preschool was somewhat anti-commercialized so they did not allow kids to bring in Valentines. So, kindergarten became a whole new outlet for my pent-up creativity.  Check out last year's here.  

In first grade, candy is not allowed (say wha??!!), so Elizabeth and I set out to find something that would work for first grade.  We perused Oriental Trading company for cute pencils, erasers, or pencil shoppers (I don't think any of those would be objectionable to a teacher).  I briefly considered bubbles but then thought better (she thought it would be awesome).  We found some cute penguin erasers on sale for $3.99 per dozen. We did a little Pinterest searching, and then the rest was history...

First I cut some 4.5"x6" cardstock from the scrapbook aisle at Michael's.  I also invested in this little paper trimmer which is intended for scrapbooking but I think it will come in handy for various craft, invitation, and birthday projects for years to come.  It's similar to this one but I bought mine at A.C. Moore with a 40% off coupon.  

Next, Elizabeth cut some "snow" out of 4x6 cards for the penguins to hang out on.  

Then she glued the snow onto each card.

Lastly she attached the penguin to the card with a removable glue dot.  (How is it that I never knew about Glue Dots until last year - the BEST!).

And my sweet and crafty Valentine girl!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Doorways Designers & "Before" Pictures

Over the next couple of days or weeks (depending on my blogging ambition!), I'm going to spotlight each of the designers in the Doorways safehouse project.  I should say that all of the designers were very quick to respond to my request whether they could do it or not.  I was completely shocked and so happy to have found all of the designers we needed within 2 or 3 days!

After everyone signed on (and signed a confidentiality agreement), I sent everyone pictures of the spaces and then they ranked their room choices.  (BTW - DropBox is a great way to privately share photos!)  Everyone received one of their top 3 choices, and several received their first choice.  I thought I would share who got one room along with a run down of the "before" pictures.

Living and Dining Room - Nicole Lanteri of On My Agenda

Playroom/Office - Linda Kosovych of LCK Fine Arts and Design

 

Bedroom #1 - Anna Kucera of Gracious Living Design

Bedroom #2 - Kate Fallon of Studio K

Bedroom #3 - Heather Cichelli of Casa Mila Design

Dorm Room - Kiera Kushlan and Jessica Centella of Residents Understood

I mentioned the other day that I am tackling the basement office.

Finally, my two sweet neighbors are taking on the two hall bathrooms.  Thanks Meghan and Krista!

We are also thankful for the tremendous help we are receiving from Washington Workplace in the attached staff office.  I'll do a separate post on their designs.

I'll be back shortly with some progress pictures!