Reader Design: Jen's Fresh Crush Camper

It's finally Friday!  Can I get a Fri-Yay?!  We've been so pumped about the flood of Reader Design submissions that we can hardly contain ourselves.  But we've decided we want to give everyone their full moment in the spotlight and save these juicy reveals for the end of each week.  Lucky for you, it's the weekend and we've got an alternative space for your viewing pleasure.  

Ok like me, you may have noticed that decking out an itty-bitty-living space is all the rage these days.  But tiny cabins and converted school buses are just the hipsters of the movement: catching on to the trend after it's been around for a good long while.  Let's not forget the origins of tiny living dates back to the 1920's with this little number:

The Camper

Ok.  It's not much to look at.  But that's because this was before Jen from Fresh Crush got her magical hands on this diamond in the rough.  

You remember Jen right?  I mean how could you forget her master bedroom & foyer Reader Design.

WHAT?!?  You don't know what Reader Designs are?  Shun the non-believer!  I bet you even have an entry of your own to share.  Why would you deprive us of your unique point of view?!?!  Reader Designs are an open invitation to share your unique design and creativity.  There are no requirements to be a professional decorator or even a fellow blogger. The purpose of Reader Designs is simply to share incredible rooms with fresh ideas and document these features in our SPACES section to use as a reference of inspiration.

Oh, I see!  That's not the issue.  The issue is you don't know how to enter your space.  Well that's an easy fix.  Just tag #stylemuttspaces on Instagram or post your pics right onto our Facebook wall! 

Ok, now that you're in the loop - back to today's sensational space:

The Glamper

BAM!  Betcha didn't see that coming!

It used to be that when I thought "camper," I pretty much pictured what Jen initially found when she acquired hers: 

A big, smelly, mysterious pile of YIKES.

Jen, how you could see this jewel somewhere in of all that I shall never know.

From Jen:

"This project was around for a few Summer seasons! But it was so much fun. The goal was to keep a vintage retro look, but modernize it a little... and keep it cheery! My husband and I had a blast figuring out every little detail from new exterior paint, to new upholstery and lighting. There isn't a square inch we haven't touched and updated, and we love every minute we spent in this beauty, all Summer long with our family. A big step up from tenting!"

I'll say!  I'd like to check into my room please.

I can't imagine what kind of spring cleaning it took to strip it down to the bare bones.  Unrecognizable!

And Jen didn't bottle up her personal touches on the inside:

  She gave it some glam on the outside too.

How inviting!

And polite too!

Yup, Jen's got herself a keeper with this camper.  Thank you so much darling for sharing such an epic space!  Don't forget to pop over to Fresh Crush to see the complete camper reno and to what else she's cooked up.  

We hope you have an inspired weekend my friends!  Ok maybe not to go camping in this weather we're having.  But if I had myself a glamper... 

Jen, if it's not still parked outside tomorrow...

Spring-Fresh Pallette

Frankly, I have no idea if Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow or not a few weeks ago on Groundhog Day, but we're gonna go ahead and make our way into Spring here in our chaotic abode. Sound like a plan?

Actually, I find the home decor transition from Fall/Winter into Spring/Summer to be challenging! I may be ready defrost my eyelashes, but truth be told, I prefer this: 

The mustard velvet, grey herringbone tweed, cozy knits -- it's my little slice of paradise. I love our Fall/Winter home. I love the time we spend here together doing puzzles, cuddling under blankets, and drinking hot chocolate. But alas, the seasons move forward and so must I. :)

I wanted to get an equally inviting mix in here for the upcoming seasons. With neutral furniture and plenty of white wall space, it's a really fun canvas to work with! I've been thinking for the past month about what colors I'd like to introduce in here for the Spring and Summer. The focus will be on the pillows, styling the bakers rack, and some art. Here's what I came up with and I'm so excited to implement this color palette!

A huge thank you to the Pinterest fairies for pulling through with this most perfect picture of my colors, (source here)!!! So here's what I'm playing with: Warm wood tones, camel browns, and snaps of mustard, mint and soft peachy pink.

To get a better sense of these colors in the context of my home, I put together this little vingette that really helped me visualize! 

The only taste of the type of pink I was thinking of was the covers of my old Little House on the Prairie books! But they're exactly the subtle glow I've been imagining.

So here's my plan to work these colors in without making a dent in our spending budget, (which, let's be honest, I like to save primarily for essentials like take-out Chinese and the latest RedBox movies; important stuff).

Pillows Part 1: I found this lively fabric at Fabric Junkie and snatched it up to use for a pillow or two. I don't know how to sew, (or have a machine), so I was so pumped when a friends young daughter told me she's been learning! She's in middle school, wants to be an interior designer, already sews pillows and clothes for herself, and is going to be the next big thing. You heard it here first, folks.

Pillows Part 2: I absolutely adore this camel colored leather and how it mixes in with our warm wood floor and some furniture pieces. I still have a bit of scrap leather leftover from the tote-turned-planter that I made last Summer, and am going to cut out some shapes similar to the pillows here to adhere to a plain white pillow. (source)

Art: I hate the thought of taking down all our current art and replacing it, but our chalk board sign that says 'Cheers', (first picture above), is the perfect piece to rework. The subtle hues of chalk are just the dose of color I'm trying to incorporate, so I did a little research and found this site that shows how to make some really fun chalk abstracts! I can't wait to try this out!

I think this small round-up of DIY projects will be just the amount of impact I can muster. Nothing too crazy or different from what we've got going on right now. What about you? Any new colors or textures that you're bringing into your home this Spring?

Last but not least, it was not 5 degrees yesterday and my little ones took a nice afternoon siesta - I certainly don't need any more reason than that to get out and paint! The large piece behind me, (think dresser / buffet / media center), will be revealed and available for sale next week!

Stay warm, snowflakes! Thank you all for stopping by!

P.S. From now on we will be saving all Reader Designs to share for a weekly Friday Special! You know what that means, don't you. Come back tomorrow for another dose of epic inspiration! Spoiler Alert: We may or may not have a CAMPER Reader Design to share this week. I know. I can't wait, either.

Alternative Bedside Ideas

Hi All! Last week our sweet friend, Iris, (Around the Watts House), alerted Cate and me of a fun opportunity to submit some refinished work to HGTV and we couldn't wait to spread the word to you! (Thanks for lookin' out, Iris!!!) The call is for all madeover bedside tables and nightstands - they're asking peeps on Twitter and Instagram to tag their new and improved bedside pieces with #HGTVmakeover for a chance to be shared in one of HGTV's upcoming blog posts! How fun! You have until this Friday, 2/20 to tag your work if you've got something to share!

I think our girl, Cate, has a pretty good chance with these beauties, yes?!

Interesting fact: My home has not a single bedside table! I actually never thought about it until Iris shared this HGTV contest for bedside tables with us! Here's why we've skipped traditional nighstands: The boys need about as little furniture as possible in their room. We've got their beds, a bookshelf and that's it. The rest of the space is spared for wrestling. And by keeping their decor simple, I'm pretty confident we've spared ourselves some emergency room visits. :)

Our girl Shire's bed is snug inside a little nook in her room. It's a cozy spot that fits her twin bed, but with only a few inches on either side there's simply no room for a table. So we placed a shelf above her bed! This acts as both surface space for her water bottle at night, a spot for her beloved knick-knacks, (she's a true bowerbird), and topped with a piece of art, it's also her 'headboard'.

And then there's our master bedroom. A couple weeks ago I shared our bedroom after stenciling the accent wall behind the bed, but I didn't talk about any other details in our room. If you caught that stenciled wall post, you might recall me saying the bed is an antique family heirloom which has been passed through my family over several generations. With my bohemian driven style, I just couldn't see anything holding it's own right next to that headboard. So, I decided to do something minimalistic and just float a pair of shelves! 

We used basic white laminate board shelves from Lowes, but topped them with a piece of stained particle board cut to the exact same size for a customized two-tone look, (which we echoed on our floating wall shelves as well).

These shelves meet our surface needs and we never feel like we need more storage. I love how using something simple at either side lets the bed shine!

I'm not sure if our bedside solutions meets the criteria for the #HGTVmakeover contest, but I thought them worthy of sharing for anyone else who might be stumped on bedside surface space! 

Thank you all for stopping by!

Don't forget to tag your refinished bedside tables and nightstands with #HGTVmakeover on Twitter and Instagram! We'd love to hear if any of our friends get featured, so keep us posted!