DC Apartment Reveal!!

You guys! This is a big day for StyleMutt Home and one we've been dreaming and scheming for a nice long time - and it's such a treat for us to get to share it with you, friends! After several years of flipping furniture, we've felt this natural progression occuring in the direction of interior design. When sweet, young Christine came to us asking if home decorating is anything we would be interested in, we jumped on the opportunity to help her with her apartment! 

Her style is very eclectic with an emphasis on cheerful, she loves nature and color, and her edgy side is perfectly balanced by a gentle, soft side. We were so blessed to work with Christine and wanted to represent the multi-faceted, multi-talented, independent woman that she is. 

So you want to take the tour?! Come on in!

LIVING ROOM

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Among a very small handful of pieces Christine already owned was this small shelf that her Mom built and painted!

"TOTES MA GOATS"

Christine has herself a nice little vintage camera collection - we used these nesting hexagon shelves from Axel Co. to display them as a fun statement over the media cabinet, (which we found on Craigslist and cleaned up with new hardware).

Faux greens from IKEA nestle cozily inside these wooden bird feeders from Target.

Recognize the tree stump? We shared the tutorial for how we made these from a neighbors backyard trees a little bit ago! You can brush up on the deets here. :)

These faux engineer prints cost about $6 each and only 4 minutes of time a piece, (after getting the supplies). More details on these prints comin' soon - find the easy frame tutorial here!

Christine got herself a banjo during our time working with her - told you she was a cool chick! 

BEDROOM

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As Christine is in grad school, we wanted to give her more surface space to spread out and keep organized. Building her a desk along the bottom edge of her window sill created a long, sleek, inconspicuous space to do so.

Her beautiful headboard is actually an old door that was once used in Chelsea's home! One side is painted Duck Egg blue, and the other is natural wood. We created legs out of 2x4s that can be screwed into the door headboard from either side in case she ever wants to switch things up!

The color scheme for her bedroom was inspired by Christine's most precious piece of art - a painting named "Lilith."

That's a wrap! Happy house warming to the best first design client these two style mutts could ask for! We will be following up shortly with a source list for both rooms. Thank you so much for stopping by and have a wonderful day!

Reader Design: Kelly's Effortless Bedroom

Guys, I have a new happy place.  It’s the StyleMutt SPACES page.  I mean, would you LOOK at all that eye candy?!?  But you wanna know why it’s my favorite place – or collection of places rather?  Because of you. 

Seriously, this page is all you.  This gallery represents décor from all over the world, all walks of life, and all kinds of Style Mutts.  And you don’t have to be a designer, a blogger, or a betty-homemaker to join this league of extraordinary rooms!  Just use the tag #stylemuttspaces on Instagram or post to our Facebook page to enter your pics. 

Today’s reader design is from San Diego, California.  Kelly from House of Aqua started with a desk and a magazine rack and built an entire bedroom around it!

From Kelly:

Our master bedroom design was inspired by my desk nestled into the corner of our bedroom. The desk was originally in our living space but I no longer had room for it so I moved it into my daughter's room. My daughter wasn't using the desk and wanted more floor space for playing so it ended up in my room, awkwardly placed behind the bedroom door as it was the only available place in our small house to put it. I realized that if I had a stool or chair without arms it could function as a desk without interfering with the bedroom door. I've logged many hours in my cozy desk area while conducting research and writing my thesis for my graduate degree! 

Those oversized acrylic numbers once belonged to a Gas Station marquee!  Clever clever salvage.

I keep my desk supplies to a minimum by only keeping what I need so that everything fits into the shallow drawers of the desk. For example, I only keep one set of pencils and a couple of pens which are in the cup on my desk.

Our bedroom furniture it just over ten years old and I was ready to replace the set with an upholstered bed and white furniture until I thrifted a midcentury modern magazine holder that sits next to my desk.

For whatever reason that magazine rack helped me link together a design that I didn't know I wanted and helped me fall back in love with the bedroom furniture I already had.  Most of the decor is hunted down in HomeGoods and thrift stores. I find that I gravitate towards a mix of elements such as acrylic, wood, stone, and nature. I like crisp white bedding but I bring in different textures with functional pillows.

That’s funny, Thor sleeps almost exactly the same way as Emmy there…

Gah!  Where'd she find those Swiss cross sheets?!

The mirrors propped on our nightstands help to make the room feel larger by reflecting light...  We maximize storage by using the decorative vase and box to store belts on our dresser.

UGH!  More adorable terrariums!  I want them all.

Aren’t you just amazed that this whole room effortlessly started with such a relaxed workspace?!  I just wanna set up camp at this desk and blog for dayssssssss…

Thank you Kelly for opening up your home to us this Friday!  Follow Kelly (@houseofaqua) for more easy-breezy style!  And if you are on the fence about submitting your own room for your chance to be a Friday feature, then ask yourself one question: do you like what your style has to say?  If the answer is yes, then we want to hear it!  You never know who else out there will be empowered to develop their own voice...xoxo

Constellation Table ||A Star-Crossed Love Story||

This is a love story.  A furniture love story.  The story of one table top and one table base who were destined to be together.  But first they had to figure up how to break up with their original table top and table base... And that's where I come in...

Ok guys, I'm no homewrecker.  In fact, I would more likely call myself a homemaker.  But in this case, I did have to break up two perfectly good tables to help them find their soul mates.  You may remember that a while back I scored a deal on this world market table:

My first impression of the table was that this combo was a little too dark and sad for my taste so I offered to give the base a makeover.  He got a full-bodied coat of gold spray paint and rub down with dark wax.  But I think his new look got him thinking he was too good for the ole plain wooden top.  And so he left her for this glamorous round mirrored tray and they made a beautiful bar cart together. 

But the rejected top took the break-up kinda hard.  She spent the next four months single... and aimless... and hiding underneath my couch.  

I tried to convince her that she didn't need a base.  She was a strong and beautiful wooden top who didn't need a base to feel useful.  I tried to fix her up with a pair of handles and make her into a tray, but she just wasn't into it.  She wanted a new look, a new life - something that would make that campaign bar cart jealous.  I suggested all sorts of makeovers.  But they were either too understated, too out-there, or too over-the-top for her liking. 

 But then one day... we found it...  Her perfect look.  

Source: Fab.com

It was classy and elegant and simple.  Just like her.  

Meanwhile... I just so happened to meet this quirky base while out on a Home Goods run.  He was simple, sleek, three-pronged, and perfect for my wooden top.  Although he was with that crazy guitar-pick top at the time, I knew that wouldn't last.  I mean, she was laminate and a weird shape and (on closer inspection) severely damaged.  There was no way they would ever make it out of the store together.  I just had to intervene.

After getting a quick discount at the register for the damaged pair (always ask at Home Goods for a deal if you find a serious imperfection - you never know if you'll get a little money off!), I convinced them they would be better off seeing other people and the crazy top went on her way (into the trash can).  

I, being the perfect furniture wingman, told the base all about the wooden top.  He agreed to be set up on a blind date but needed a little sprucing of his own first.  So when the two finally met, it was like the stars had aligned:

The base was now a handsome gold.

His simple, clean lines perfectly complimented the top's celestial swirl of elegant constellations.

Her makeover took a combination of black sharpie, gold leaf pen, an orbital sander, and sealing wax.  When applying the wax, I accidentally discovered that it smeared the gold.  In the end, she liked that better because it gave her more of a "cosmic swirl" - don't you think?  

It is definitely NOT accurate so sorry all you sextants out there who were thinking of using this table to navigate the heavens while at sea. 

[My low-budget staging is brought to you by my $0.50 brass candle sticks and some photocopies of stellar maps and moon charts.  Winning!]

I picked out my favorite constellation - not sure what it really is, but I'm calling it Mufasa.  Can you spot it?

A winning combination don't you think?  

And they lived happily ever after...

The piece has already sold, but there's no need to make sad puppy-dog eyes - we do custom orders!  Just email me at cate@stylemutthome.com and we can talk about how to get you your own heavenly table.

And friends, if you like what we are doing over here at StyleMutt Home, please help us reach more readers by voting for Chelsea's space in the #SOdomino contest!  We offer our eternal friendship and gratitude in return ;)