Recipe for a Room ~ Steps 3 & 4

Step 3* Select Your Fabrics : I brought the "White" into the room with the bedding. It is from the Mary Jane Farm line, sold at Belk. $230


The fabric I selected for the drapes and throw pillows had the feel of most of my 5 words . . . cottage, warm, feminine and I would even say patine, as it looks "old". It doesn't take me long to choose a fabric because I know what I want before I go shopping. When I find one that will work I stop looking!

Step 4* The Floor Plan : The first thing I always do is find the "focal "of the space, fireplace, window ect. In the case of a bedroom , the bed will most of the time become the focal. I try to always face the bed to the entry of the room. The main tip for floor plans is to allow for walk ways ect. and to not over furnish the room.

Make a list of what is needed. Can you bring in pieces from other rooms? Measure!

If you are not sure about the floor plan, make yourself a graph and move things around on paper, so much easier than moving heavy furniture around in a space.

I NEVER use sets! I also like to mix finishes, painted pieces with stained pieces ect. The only new piece I used for this room was the bed. I try to do this for clients as well and use pieces that they already own. New pieces can be the "kiss of death" to a room, so be careful!

I had a hard time finding a bed for my room and I think you will be surprise where I got mine. I plan to do a post on it soon.

Recipe for a Room ~ Step 2

Step 2 * Evaluate the box. Walls, ceiling and floor need to be addressed early on in a room design. I took up old carpet and laid wood flooring. I also textured and painted the walls. I wanted to tear the ceiling out and add a wood ceiling with beams and paint it white, but the budget did not allow for that. If you want to add any extra moldings ect. , this is the time .

I will also choose the rug and get it down, before bringing in the furniture. I got mine at Lowe's $300.00.

You will remember that "white" was one of my 5 words, but I did not paint the walls white. I do not have enough natural light for white walls, so the white had to come later. I painted my walls a cookie dough color and I am very happy with it.

* I have noticed that I am not getting the comments I usually get with a post. I may not continue with this recipe . . . the comments are how we bloggers judge how a post is being received. So if you are liking this type of post, let me know!

Recipe for a Room ~ Step 1

After my last post, I got a e-mail that stated that the post was not a recipe at all, only the ingredients . . . they wanted the instructions, the tips, the budget ect.

Well, I am here to please, so I will attempt to do a few posts that give more info. If this becomes boring, just let me know.

Step 1 *'The feel of the space.' Whenever I have a room to decorate for myself or a client, I start by asking, "How do you want the space to feel?"

Do you see there is a big differences in how a room feels ? This room is very modern. It says , "I am cool and I don't follow the rules." I think the person that lives in this room would be fun to spend some time with . . .

I will ask a client to write 5 words that will describe the way they want the room to feel. Somehow the writing of the words makes them more important. I do this myself, as well. For my guest room (above) I wrote, white, patina, elegant-cottage , feminine and warm. Not a single piece will come into the space that doesn't somehow fall in line with those 5 words. They keep me on track.

As for the budget, I can tell by the rest of the house about how much I can spend. As for myself , I want to go as cheap as I can and still have a room I can be proud of. For this room, I set a $3000.00 budget .

I thought it might be fun to have you send me a picture of a room you want to re-do and we can all help you keep your eye on the prize. (I will pick one space only. e-mail me, with your own photo, if you want to enter the contest.)

My Recipe for a Room

Something old

Something new

Something primitive

And never blue . . .

My guest room . . . Happy Thanksgiving!

Starting a Inspiration File

I found this beautiful photo by John Minshaw a few months back and saved it for my guest room inspiration file. You can find things that inspire you everywhere. Start your own collection and refer back to the things that you love, whenever you start to feel lost.

This too was in my file. My guest room is almost done, and I can't wait to show it to you ! I would have been done sooner, but one has to wait for others to get inspired as well . . .

Can you see the direction I was going in ? Can you guess the style and the colors I used?

Take a look around and really notice what it is that makes your heart sing. We are all designers you know . . .

What are these photos telling you about my guest room? I want to hear your best guess. I can't wait to see who nails it !

Singing Mantels

A few post back , I did one of my "Pet Peeves " post , "The Line Up". . . I showed a few mantels that suffered from the mindless line of objects. This is a big pet peeve of mine, because I just know we can do better. This most important space should be given something interesting to look at. The cream of the crop of our accessories. I am really enjoying this beauty.

Even with no fireplace at all , the mantel will still become the focal of the space, so show some style. Let your creative juices run. I love this little cozy corner, small , interesting and just so perfect.

My own mantel, at Christmas time . . . special because the painting was done by my mom and all the little Santa's have special meaning to me as well, most were gifts from my girls when they were small. ( Note the Santa made from a toilet paper roll, just precious.) So take a look, is your Mantel Singing?

Things That Make You Go

ahhhhh . . .