Design Reveal: Old World Charm in The Plains

Hi friends! It’s not a huge design reveal today, but I feel like we really packed a punch in this small living room! This room is right off the front entryway and rather than squish all the furniture along the one long wall, (which is common and makes sense), we went an entirely different direction. But before I take you around here is where we started. A total blank slate, but goodness that light!

The intention with this space was to make a cozy reading room. To that effort, I wanted to create a strong focal point with which to anchor the seating around. Matt and I built this fireplace with an electric insert about 7 years ago, and it added an instant anchor to our living room. I followed the same design for this room, using the side benches to hide the cord where the electric fireplace plugs into the wall.

With much time spent travelling the globe, I wanted to reflect this clients travels with an old-world inspired approach to the design. With an emphasis on rich textures and deep, muted colors, the overall feel of this space is warm and inviting. I also infused some feminine sophistication that embraces this beautiful client’s chapter of life.

One component that was important in this room was layering traditional pieces with the new. A plain-jane black cabinet behind the sofa became a budget friendly alternative to a more rustic metal and glass piece, but flanking this piece with brass votive sconces and layering the paintings above helps create a high-impact, timeless moment.

One aspect of this project that required a bit of strategy, (and this is true of many), was using the budget wisely. To make the high impact elements possible, (in this case the fireplace, sofa and gold velvet chairs), I used low-cost pieces to bring the room to life. The art flanking the fireplace is a collection of digital prints I found on Etsy and printed at a local Walgreens (framed in brass amazon frames). The coffee table is an amazon find. Not every item needs to be high end to achieve a room that feels luxurious.

I really could not love this room more and am proud of how we got here; there were a lot of small pivots from the first design draft to this point, but with each one there was a strong intention to support the greater whole, and that’s really why it has turned out as one of my all time favorite designs.

Thank you so much for stopping by to see this newest project come to life!

Design Reveal: Comfortable, Playful + Sophisticated

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Hello there! I cannot believe this is already the fourth wrapped project to be revealed here this year! Not a bad year at all; these last four projects (which are the previous three posts if you missed them), account for some of my proudest work. Each project has had its own unique challenges - there was the project that came with some previous DIYs by the client, there was the rushed project with the pregnant clients who opted to keep some of the previous owners unusual (and left behind) design choices. After doing this work for over ten years, I would choose the projects with unique challenges any day. They always stretch me creatively and lead to the most incredible finished homes. Plus, taking something about a home that a client doesn’t care for and turning it into something they love is a special kind of satisfying.

This project was no stranger to challenge! Though getting to work with such incredibly sweet people made it feel like a breeze. The challenge in this house was more to do with the compact size of the rooms and executing everything the client desired functionally out of the space. I worked on two rooms: A front facing living room where they gather with friends and play games, and a back family room more for casual lounging as a family. Come on in and look around!

Living Room

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Plenty of seating and plenty of surfaces! Those are the non-negotiables for an entertaining space meant for good conversation and fun games.

We started with the rug and the piano and dreamed up the rest! The original layout didn’t lend well to the flow of the room, so we moved the piano towards the back of the room and made the seating arrangement near the front. This utilizes the front window seat well either as a fun place to sit or to rest drinks/food.

While the room as a whole carries a soft and cozy vibe, we had a good time incorporating rich, saturated jewel tones - a perfect contrast in such a sun drenched room!

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Family Room

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The play with contrast continues into the family room with a slightly different palette that still feels cohesive to the living room. The goal with this room was an emphasis on comfort and durability, (we used all performance fabrics), while still reflecting the clients style.

The palette in this room is what I would call vibrant but contained. Ha! The chairs offer a big dose of bright, but from there the remaining tones lean more terracotta. Throw in the olive painted fireplace and patterned curtains, and the room takes on more of a vibrant feel than it really is. Just goes to show how a few choice color drops can have a big impact on a room!

Despite the vibrant contrasts peppered throughout this room, the atmosphere in here is very calm and soothing; which is funny because orange is considered an energizing color! But this room as a whole feels like a deep breath.

I love incorporating combo open-closed storage - and open storage behind glass allows for pretty vignettes that require very little cleaning!

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That’s a wrap on this project from Richmond, VA! Thank you so much for coming by and taking a look. If you like what you see and might be interested in working together on your own home, I am booking clients into the fall! Feel free to reach out here!

Design Reveal: Impulsive to Intentional

Hey there! It’s been quite the start to 2025, sharing three wrapped projects by mid-March! My heart is full and I am so grateful for such amazing work with awesome people. Today’s project was not only local, but a friend of a friend of a friend - both of whom I’ve worked with before! This client came to me after she and her husband had completed some high-quality DIY projects in their family room. She admittedly shared they had seen the ideas in various images on Pinterest and just went for them! The outcome was not what they were hoping for and left them feeling a little disappointed with this room. Understandable when you’ve already put so much time and effort in! I think this story is pretty common; with access to thousands of home interior images, it’s easy to get inspired when you see something in someone else’s home! The problem is lacking a fuller vision for your own home. What works out beautifully in one home may not translate as well in yours. It’s tricky!

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Such was the case here. The accent wall over the fireplace mantle and the accent wall directly behind the TV were competing with each other and making the room feel all chopped up. Without undoing the work they had already put in, my goal was to create one strong focal point and one soft focal point. By painting over the blue accent above the fireplace, the focus is no longer on a big blue square, but on the surrounding pieces throughout the space.

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I loved where they were going with the vertical shiplap behind the TV! Great instincts there. But limiting the accent to just behind the TV was not benefiting the space. I advised them to extend the shiplap the entire length of the wall and paint it in a soft, earthy green (we used Acacia Haze by Sherwin Williams).

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One of the most common things I encourage clients is to mount their curtain rods as close to the ceiling as possible and then we select a length of curtain that just kisses the floor. This maximizes the vertical space of a standard height room, making it appear just a little taller.

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I also pulled in a patterned rug that is a better scale for the size of this room and the layout of furniture. Lots of floorspace for kiddos to sprawl out!

This client’s visual inspiration was full of soft, earthy colors and warm wood toned accents. The previous blue elements didn’t align with what they seemed naturally drawn to. Keeping their sofa was a no-brainer as it was a new purchase and working really well for them, but pretty much everything else went out! Rather than keep to as tight of a color palette as the blues had been, I wanted to use a variety of tones in the same ‘earthy’ family. It’s a funny rule of thumb, but I never look outside and think the sky clashes with the trees or the ground. There’s so much beauty in nature and I’m very much inspired by it’s colors!

These battery operated wall sconces are the perfect finishing touch to this side of the room and help balance out the lighting in the evenings.

That’s a wrap! This project actually flew; these clients are super go-getters and without hesitation tackled the implementation of these ideas and purchases so fast! They were definitely ready to go and are now able to relax and enjoy the fruits of their labor.

Thank you all for stopping by!