Riley's Room {Client Project}

I realized this week that I had not posted about a wonderful project I did last year for Kathi's son Riley who was ready to move up from his nursery to a new room.  Well… he might not have been ready to move at first but his new baby brother was about to push him out!  Unfortunately, I never took a before photo but it was a guest room with a variety of furniture that got moved to a spare room in the basement.  

Kathi had already chosen this furniture but we made some final decisions on the pieces.  She was very interested in a blue/gray scheme with orange accents, so that's the direction we went. 

Kathi had also seen some amazing horizontal striped curtains that she loved but we ultimately decided they might overpower the room.  And she already had plantation shutters (my new obsession) so the room did not really need any more window covering.

You can find sources for the rug and wall art here.

Orange is such popular accent color right now.  I'm guess red is going to be the next "it" color.  I will miss orange though because it's such a cheerful option and goes with pretty much everything.

Amie's Hall Bathroom {Client Project}

While I'm limping along with my own hall bathroom redecorating project, I am inspired by my friend (and client) Amie's finished hall bathroom.  Amie and I have been friends for over 10 years and she has been a great supporter of my design gig.  Amie lives in a beautiful townhouse in Alexandria with her husband and 3 kids.  This is not their forever house (move to Arlington please!) so they don't want to invest much more into this house but also want to make it nice for them now.  Everything they have done is beautiful and I'll share pictures if she lets me.

Here's where we started - soon after she picked up this new shower curtain at HomeGoods which is so adorable.  We used this as the jumping off point for everything else.

This was a builder's grade mirror, vanity and medicine cabinet.  Of course, the requisite kid toothbrushes and toiletries.  Amie commented that they weren't even using most of the stuff on the shelves any more.  Up first - cleaning out! 

On the right wall was a single towel bar which is less than ideal with 3 kids and overnight guests using the bathroom.  Hooks seemed like a good alternative.

I showed these "before" pictures to Amie and she said "you would have thought we staged these to before pictures" - we didn't.

We discussed a loose nautical theme with the shower curtain as the inspiration.  We chose Sherwin  Williams Utterly Beige for the paint.  This might be a slightly darker color than I would have normally chosen but the shower curtain and cabinetry is nice and bright so the contrast really works.  Here's the Pinterest board I put together for Amie to pick and choose her accents from.

And here's what Amie's bathroom looks like now!

My favorite thing is the oar in the above picture.  The "3" signifies Amie's three cute kids.  Amie also changed out all the hardware for these knobs which transforms these standard cabinets into something a bit more special and personalized.

Amie stalked HomeGoods, Marshalls and TJ Maxx for weeks looking for this mirror - she finally scored a great deal on this one.

  
Amie's 3 kids' first initials happen to be A, B, and C (not in birth order!). No joke. I think she planned that!  These hooks are adorable.  The picture above is Amie's oldest son on vacation in the Outer Banks.

Of course, if this was their forever house (or even their 5 year house) we probably would have changed out the lighting and pluming fixtures for oil rubbed bronze.  They are all perfectly functional and will not deter any future potential buyers!

Now some side-by-side before and afters -
 
BEFORE                                                                    AFTER

Let me know if I can help you with your home decorating problems!  Sources here.

p.s. Thanks Amie for taking the beautiful "after" photos.

The Other Bathroom

This is a "before" post, and maybe a little "during" but we started on a new project.  Well, I started a project with a little help from my kiddos.  Handy Hubby took it easy on the couch while he recovered from a nasty little stomach bug.  I got a little bored on Sunday and started tearing up our upstairs hall bathroom.  This room has only ever been mentioned on the blog once before (here).

This room has been untouched since our renovation five years ago.  That said, I love this bathroom.  This is a really big original bathroom for Arlington homes.  Our layout is atypical for Arlington where most are center hall colonials which leaves a tiny space for a bathroom but they have larger bedrooms.  I also love the black and white tile despite its less than perfect condition.  The biggest problem is the large crack in the floor in front of the sink.  I put up the wallpaper in about 2003.  It lasted 10 years but the steam has finally taken its toll.

We have been talking about renovating this bathroom.  It's not in the budget for this year or probably next to gut and fully redo this bathroom.  I really want to though!  So, we're going to make some minor changes:

• Remove my beloved wallpaper {sniff} & paint the walls (color TBD)
• Change out the pedestal sink (not original) for a sink with actual storage
• Remove the medicine cabinet and hang a slightly larger mirror in its place (we will have plenty of storage elsewhere for the contents of the current cabinet)
• Maybe change out the toilet for a more water-saving model 
• Install a new light fixture
• Repair and paint the ceiling
• Hang some art

Budget = $1000

Here are the rest of the "before" pictures…

So this happened on Sunday...

Chief amazing helper.

The area over the tub was the most challenging.

The walls are going to take a lot of work to get them paint ready but I'm not overwhelmed by prospect. The area around the tub is particularly horrible.  Lots of patching and sanding are in my future.

Next up I finish taking down the wallpaper and hopefully the medicine cabinet so I can get the rest of the paper off and hang the mirror over the gaping hole that I know is behind there from the original medicine cabinet.

And here's some original beauties from when we first moved into our house!

A sample of the original wallpaper doesn't really show it's iridescence!

Lots more to come on this project.  

Styling Bookshelves {Before & After}

I helped a client style her bedroom bookshelves a few weeks ago. The bookshelves are the focal point of the room, along with the beautiful window between them.  It took me about an hour to style the shelves but that also included clean-up and running up and down the stairs about 15 times to retrieve more things for the shelves.  

Here's how it looked when I arrived...

And when I left...

My clients had all of these items in their house already so we did not purchase anything.  Several of the accessories are items handed down to my clients from their families including the white milk glass vase from my client's grandmother and the sculpture from her aunt.  

I also included a nice mix of family photos, mostly in silver or black frames with white mats which really pop out of the dark back of the shelves. 

The finished bookshelves really help the room feel a bit more finished and organized.

                  

What do you think?  Any bookshelf styling tips?  Let me know if you have some bookshelves in need of some love!

Free Home and Art Styling Seminar - June 6th

Thursday, June 6th 

7-8 p.m.

Free

Join my colleague Laura MacCarthy and me for a fun (and free!) evening of home and art styling discussion at Fall Properties in Falls Church.  We'll each provide you with 7 tips for styling your home and finding the right art for your space.  Light refreshments will be provided.  More information here.

Hope to see you there!

Spendalla Home Styling: Jen's Under $500 Powder Room Makeover {Reveal}

Woohoo! My first client project reveal!  

I started working with Jen back in early March to get her family's first floor powder room into shape.  There was nothing wrong with the room... except it just was not right for their family.  Jen said that even her friends agreed that this room was lacking.  They wanted to keep the bath fixtures and the wall color but other than that, they were game for whatever.  Here are the pictures from my first visit.

Nothing offensive, just not memorable.  Jen said she threw some stuff on the wall that she had when they moved in several years ago. The tiered baskets were functional.  Her requests were that she needed toilet paper storage (there's no vanity for storage), and a place for a few magazines.  She had a few inspirational pieces, including some Turkish bath bowls and a great sultan's signature that her parents brought back from their travels.  She loves the wall color as well (Sherwin Williams Red Bay #6321).  Her budget was $500 - definitely reasonable for a powder room.

I gave her three pieces of "homework" - first to paint the lower half of the walls the same color as the trim.  It was painted a contrasting creamy yellow color which gave the room a country feel.  Jen is not a country girl!  Second, they had to take down the old mirror which was clearly a builder special.  Last, they had to change out the light fixture.  I had sent her several options by email a few weeks ago. She chose and ordered her choice after seeing my mirror selection.

When I arrived last Friday morning to install, she had done her homework. Gold star! Her kids also signed the wall under the old mirror.  Cuteness!

About an hour and a half later, I revealed this to Jen.

The rug is one of my favorite aspects of the new space.  It adds drama and interest, but also is functional in that it will protect their wood floors.  It's an indoor/outdoor rug so it can be hosed down if there are any.... incidents.

I replaced the tiered basket with this cart from Home Goods.  In fact, most of the purchases came together at HomeGoods.  The mirror, cart, basket, planter (with toilet paper), wall art, and a few other bits and pieces were all purchased on a single day.

I sent Jen several options for a sign for her door.  This was my clear favorite and she picked it instantly!  I love her (my?) sense of humor.

The befores and afters:

                                           BEFORE                                              AFTER

What do you think?

Source List:

Wall Color - Sherwin Williams Red Bay

Mirror - HomeGoods

Light - Sea Gull Pemberton (here)

Cart - HomeGoods

Art - HomeGoods

Wire Wall Hanging - Ross

Wire basket - HomeGoods

Rug - Overstock

Towels - Target

Soap and Toilet Scrubber (not shown) - HomeGoods 

Clay pot - HomeGoods

Tinkletorium Sign - Etsy
Turkish bath bowls and Sultan signature - owned by client

Total cost - just under $500!

You can see all of my various ideas and several sources on my Pinterest board for this bathroom. 

The absolute best part was Jen's reaction when she saw the finished room. She had only seen bits and pieces of my idea board and wanted to be surprised. Unfortunately, she would not let me photograph her in the reveal because she was not "camera ready"! hahaha.

Thanks for the opportunity, Jen! If you are interested in my services, please email me.