Some Client Updates and a Little Update in Our Guest Room!

We are just about to finish up a gorgeous and I mean gorgeous study install this month! The wallpaper is up, the room is painted and some furnishings have been placed. We are awaiting the window treatments and window seat cushion and pillows which will arrive soon! My client and I are discussing art options and decor details now and I am so happy with the results so far.

This photo shows the wallpaper chosen and some of the fabric and trim choices we are considering!

Here is a sneak peek of the corner of the study, I can't wait to show you the rest of the design when we are done!

I was shopping around in one of my favorite NJ towns, Lambertville. If you are ever visitng the NYC area, take a day and drive out into the country and spend some time visiting the many quaint boutiques and restaurants in Lambertville. You will not be disappointed!

We added a couple of little touches to the walls in our lake house guest room, the antlers I found in Lambertville this weekend and I love how they look!

Have a great weekend!!

Updates Around My Place!

I realized that I haven't shared a couple of small updates around here......I am always on the hunt for specific furniture pieces that are beautiful and practical at the same time. Living in a smaller home always makes you think of these things ha! I was at one of my favorite little antique shops The Tomatoe Factory in Hopewell, NJ, looking for something else and came across this beauty. I could not get enough of the beautiful wood grain and finish. The aged brass details made this a show stopper for me. Here it is!

What I love about it is that opens up for almost a 4' console/serving table and I just used it last weekend for drinks and appetizers for a dinner party we had, it worked out great!

I also really needed a smaller scale cocktail table for my living room. I have been very patient trying to find just the right table in style and size. Our living room is smaller so I did not want to make the same mistake I have made in the past and get something that is too large that overpowers the room and interrupts the flow of the space. This piece recently came out and I loved the marble top and hammered gold base. I purchased it from High Fashion Home, a great online website. You need to stop by!

Finally last but NOT least, I picked up a couple of paintings from a local favorite artist in Stockton, NJ. I love his use of color and that his subjects are all local spots around Hunterdon and Bucks Counties. I been wanting a piece for a while and love them so much! Not sure where they are going to find a home yet around here but when they do I will do I will share!

Anyway, just a few updates that I have going on, any in your home? Please share them with me, I would love to see! Have a great day my readers!

My Outdoor Space.....Half Done!

We are in a cold spell right now but about a week ago we had some gorgeous sunny weather. So, off I went trying to pull together our deck space on a limited budget. I had been eyeing this outdoor set from Ikea and I made the hour long trip to see it in person. I was pleasantly surprised by the whole set. Ikea furniture in general tends to be smaller in scale but we thought for now it would be just fine. My biggest concern was be able to seat a lot of people without taking up too much deck space.....So here is what we decided on....and we are pretty happy with it! Plantings and pillows to come:)

Here is the table extended one side but it does it on both sides. The result seating for 10 people!

Here is what both table ends look like when down which we actually really like because it conceals the umbrella base.

A sneak peak of the front of our house! My favorite part is my little kitchen window flower box, flowers just make me so happy!

Focus on the center BLACK flower, yes, I found Black Velvet Petunias at this amazing nursery and needed to get them! I will share updated photos of the box when all the plantings really start to flourish!

Happy spring to everyone! I would love it if you would send me photos of your outdoor space, real homes not staged ones that we always see in magazines. I plan on featuring them in an upcoming post! Thanks for reading!

Finally Done with Our Stairs!

You may remember my post about some of updates we were working on in our home. Our carpeted stairs needed to be replaced with hardwood stairs. 

Instead of replacing the entire staircase, another inexpensive option is to resurface the old staircase by installing only new stair treads and covering the toe kicks with thin composite board and a detail trim piece.

Here is the finished result and we keep asking ourselves why we didn't do this sooner! 

Upstairs Adam replaced the railing with this beauty!

We added this great antiqued brass wall sconce from Hudson Valley Lighting.

Slowly, I have been working on adding to my vintage and eclectic art gallery wall. I picked up some interesting pieces from antique stores, flea markets and etsy. The wall is always evolving and here is where I am right now but that can always change!

What do you think?

Have a great weekend!

My Kitchen Pantry!

Do you have one of the awkward spaces that lead downstairs into the basement? Or perhaps a space like this?

Well, we do and it was becoming a spot that everything and anything was being hung, dropped and piled up on and was driving me crazy! Our kitchen was renovated which we shared here and one of the top desired spaces by most homeowners today is some sort of pantry. We just did not have the space so we improvised and used that stairwell leading to our basement to act as pantry/storage closet for us. Sorry for the bad photo taking, the space is just so tiny to get a decent shot......What do you think?

We love it! Although small, it satisfies our need of storage for odd and ends, gloves, hats, scarves, paper products, microwave, mixer and many other things. It always surprises me what you can find in there, ha ha....

Our Home Update!

I just wanted to share some photos of the little bit of progress we are making with our home. Just to refresh your memory, we recently moved back into our house after living abroad for a year. We have done mostly painting but we have also bought some new furnishings and accents. Below is a shot of my home office in Ben Moore's Hale Navy. Other photos show some furniture for our living room and a gallery wall I am working on going up the stairs. Finally, a sneak peek of our bedroom which will be last room to be finished up!

We started with this room and painted it BM Hale Navy and replaced the carpet with hardwood floors.

This photos shows one wall in the office where my cork memo board hangs. I just bought a piece of cork board, spray adhesive glue and a wonderful black weaved fabric. I am really happy with how it came considering I don't feel like I am a professional DIYer....

I shared this photo already but we added this great LEE Industries chair and ottoman and one more chair will be ordered shortly to complete the room.

This is the staircase that leads to our office loft. I found this great Hudson Valley's Garden City Aged Brass Wall Sconce online and I am now slowly putting together a gallery wall going up the stairs.

And finally a sneak peek of our restful and calm bedroom. The lamp I snatched for a mere $10 at a flea market in the Hudson Valley. It was bright orange so a little bit of white paint, gold spray paint and a shade I already had and it all came together! I have another matching lamp but I am not sure where I will put that one yet!

My Living Room and Kitchen Update...Long Overdue!

Well, the summer is keeping me busy with traveling and visiting friends....but that is not an excuse for my lack of posts the past couple of weeks:(  I have been busy with a few clients and I have also been busy with updating our living room and kitchen. It has been a lot of fun and I am loving the results so far. I hope you do to. It is always a lot easier to do designs for others than it is for yourself and we have changed our look a lot and both the hubby and I are really happy with it!

So here are some before shots of our living room. We recently moved back in, so these are photos we took the day we were moving back in, sorry for my lack of expertise......

Like in most older homes, the room is quite small and has low ceilings but we are trying to give the room an open feel and make it feel clutter free. That I have to say is really hard! But this quote from Leonardo Da Vinci reminds of why I love smaller rooms...

"Small 

rooms or 

dwellings 

discipline 

the mind, 

Large ones 

weaken it."

I made a design board like I do for all my clients and that is found here. We painted the walls Benjamin Moore's Revere Pewter and gave all the trim a fresh coat of Super White and it brought a fresh clean feeling that we were looking for. We are not quite done yet with wall decor and some other furnishings but I wanted to share some of what we have done so far! Do you like it?? I know it is not every one's taste but I love the neutral backdrop and the mix of metals and ceramic pieces together.

The other side of the room is not finished...so that will be coming soon. We did paint the built in and replaced the knobs with those great little ones from Anthropologie. A few more additions and tweaks and it should be done. Built ins are very hard to style and next week I am going to do a post on tips for putting them together.

Also, we did a couple of updates in the kitchen. We hung a small gallery wall of photos which used to be in another room. I set them quite high but I feel like it draws the eye upwards and gives a little more height to our 7 1/2 foot ceilings. Adding the upholstered chairs makes it feel a bit more formal and gives the table a presence. We picked up those goodies at Marshalls for $99.00 each, love it when you can find a good deal!

Then there is this small wall next to our front door that never gets used. So we set up this small table with some candles and pretty things that I love!

 When all is said and done....I will get professional photos taken and share the finished space! Thanks for reading today and for following.

I wanted to ask you my readers...

What is specific design challenge you are having in your home? Write to me about it and I will post some suggestions that all can benefit from especially me!!