Reader Design: Amy's Perfect Imperfection

It'sssssssssssssssssssssssss Friday!  And I'm particularly excited about sharing today's reader design because of the heart behind this home in Minneapolis, MN: Amy from Modern Chemistry at Home.  While emailing back and forth with Amy about sharing her style mutt space on the blog, it became very apparent she's a kindred spirit.  Much like us, her desire is to see people encouraged and empowered in their own home decorating.  She too believes that creating is a form of worship.  But like many forms of worship it can be too easy to get caught up in the beauty of what you're creating instead of why you're creating it.  We just love how Amy has made it her mission to embrace her home's imperfections and create a real, raw, and inviting space.

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From Amy:

Hello, everybody! My name is Amy, and I really am a style mutt. In fact, my blog (Modern Chemistry at Home) got its name partly because my husband and I have very different tastes and my decorating is something like a chemistry experiment as we merge our styles.
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My style perspective has definitely changed over the years. My point of view has developed through having children and learning to think about function just as much as how a space looks. 
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I’m definitely drawn to spaces that have a mixture of styles. Some of my favorites include Midcentury and Scandinavian Modern, but I also really enjoy children’s spaces and would seriously put pretty much anything from Land of Nod in my living room or bedroom. 
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I love a cheerful room. Natural light, lots of white, fun patterns, and bright colors speak to me. Clearly, my decorating isn’t too serious!
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And a big part of my story as we renovated and decorated our fixer-upper is how God worked in my heart to help me be content and understand that my identity is not in how my home looks. Our home is a place to raise our littles, live life together, and bless others through hospitality. It can be beautiful, but perfection isn’t my goal. 
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There are quite a few things in our home that I inherited from my grandparents. There is a special joy in decorating with these furnishings. 

GASP!  I must have this entire vignette - especially those bookends!!!!

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One of my favorites is the big dresser in our bedroom. My sister-in-law discovered that it is probably an Empire style dresser. The shape is so lovely!
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My favorite DIY might be the white bookshelves a friend helped me build. They flank the fireplace in our living room and I just love them so much. It’s satisfying to make something with your own two hands!

Well done Amy - those bookshelves look like they should've come with the house!

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And my favorite room is probably the nursery. Again, I enjoy children’s spaces because they are often so bright and cheerful.
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Decorating this room helped me develop my style and gain some confidence. So with this room as a sort of guide for how I wanted the rest of our home to feel, I reworked other spaces in my home that didn’t feel right to me. I made a lot of mistakes the first time around! But the process of trial and error can be really enjoyable—in hindsight, after we get it right. ;)
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I just love decorating creatively and it is my heart to help and encourage others to do the same.
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Thank you Amy for so sweetly inviting us into your perfectly imperfect home.  Follow Amy  @modernchemistryathome for more decor goodies and check out her full home tour on her fabulous website!

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You want in on this? Submit to #stylemuttspaces for your chance to be featured in a Friday Reader Design.  No design experience necessarily you just got to love your space and what to share it ;)  

Reader Design: Kathleen's Impeccable Emerald Accents

I have a question for you.  What's better than a Friday?  How about a fall Friday?  Nay - how about a...  

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As Chelsea posted about here and here, we are keen on green this season. Well not only do we have a stunning home tour courtesy of Kathleen from Lindsay Hill Interiors for you today, we have more of our favorite trending fall color: emerald.

From Kathleen:

I would describe my style as crisp, clean, and cozy. I love in a small and cozy much more than big and ornate! I love using white backgrounds and adding interest with pops of color and with wood and texture. I always add something vintage, or antique, or a family heirloom to every room. I think old things have such charm and character, and they help keep us connected to our past and to those we love.
[This is my] dining area with plate wall and old buffet that I painted. I don't love my table, but I'm making it work for now! Also, I removed the inner drum shade lining from the chandelier so the crystals could sparkle.
The Kitchen is my favorite room in the house! I have a thing for white kitchens, and I love adding pops of color to them.

Would you look at those excellent green accents people!?

I snagged this vintage tin canister set at a local antique shop. It's become my favorite kitchen accessory!
My kitchen, living room, and dining area are all open to each other. This sofa, though a nice quality, was a boring brown tweed. I decided to sew slipcovers for my living room furniture (crazy idea, since I had never sewn a slipcover in my life!), but I love how they turned out and how they tie all those open areas together now.
My husband thought I was crazy when I dragged this old door into the house (he still thinks I'm crazy!), but I love using it for seasonal decorating.

I have one of those myself Kathleen [both the decorative door and the less-than-thrilled husband].  Decorative doors unite!

This slate topped entry table is perfect for little vignettes, and to hold my white-headed lady.
This little settee [in the entry] also got covered in a white slipcover. In fact, I started my slipcovering experience with this settee, which was probably a mistake since it was the curviest of the pieces I covered!

Ok well you can't tell this was your inaugural slipcover Kathleen.  And how chic and fun is that typographic wall art and those touches of brass?!

I love the built-ins [in the mudroom] for hiding all those not-so-pretty necessities.
I originally wanted wallpaper [in the hall bath], but when I priced out the one I wanted, I just couldn't bring myself to spend the money. So I went to my local dollar store, bought a cheap stencil, and this is the end result. I love how it perks up this space.
My office is my happy room where I do my creating.
This [master bedroom sitting area] is where I retire to before bed to read, browse IG, and relax.
I love the feature wall behind the bed [in the master bedroom] - it adds a lovely tailored touch.

Thank you so much Kathleen for this incredible gem of a home tour!  And if you are not in on this already, be sure to follow Kathleen @lindsay_hill_interiors for more STUNNING home decor and design.

Want to see your own fall tour on our SPACES page?  We do too!  Tag your your home pics with #stylemuttspaces on instagram or post directly to our Facebook wall.  

Reader Design: Jen's Fabulously Functional Home

We are so pumped to have so many inspiring entries to #stylemuttspaces.  Chelsea and I want so dearly for StyleMutt Home to be a resource for our readers and we certainly don't believe the buck stops with us.  We pine for input from you all!  And we hope you never shy away from reaching out to us with your own ideas.  You don't have to be a professional designer or blogger to have your voice heard here.  Love your space?  Then...

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(or boy ;)  and share it with us!

Ok, I need to reign in my sassy snapping fingers and get back to serving your double helping of juicy inspiration from our next reader design.  Are you hungry?  Because dishing it out hot is our first international feature from Alberta, Canada: Jen from Fresh Crush.

From Jen:

"The goal was comfort and colour!  I was crazy for coral while doing this project, and pairing it with neutral walls, a little black, aqua, and yellow was the perfect match."

Fun fact!  I have a filing cabinet that I painted this color aqua.  Jen - great minds eh?! 

Jen's wall-mounted clip lamps make the best use of surface space without sacrificing style.

"A few simple DIYs brought everything together, the easiest (and cheapest) of which had to by my addition of a drum shade to our ugly old (but needed) ceiling fan.  And custom shelving added a lot of pretty for very little cost, but huge comfort impact.  Definitely a great space to unwind at night." 

Did you even notice there was a ceiling fan?!  I didn't!

Don't those shelves masterfully maximize the dead space in the corner?

Jen's marriage of form and function does not stop here.  Wipe the drool from your mouths and let's go gawk at the before-and-afters of her foyer:

"Our foyer needed a serious update, but on a budget..."  

You're speaking my love language here Jen ;)

"The goals were to make it welcoming and warm, get it organized with easy to use storage, and make it easy to clean.  The open concept of the foyer [makes] it easy for our little one to help out.  The previous heavy doors [on the hallway closet] were too hard to operate and kept everything hidden and hard to find.  The new flooring and neutral paint warmed everything up..."
"...and new lighting, along with a few DIY projects and accessories kept everything on budget.  My favourite project from the space was my DIY copper shoe rack."  

Me too Jen.... meeeeee too.

Read about more of Jen's bedroom makeover and foyer transformation on Fresh Crush,  Thank you Jen for sharing with us all the way from Canada!

So what do y'all think?  You crushing on Fresh Crush yet?  

Don't forget, we want to celebrate your individuality with you!   So don't hesitate to tag #stylemuttspaces on Instagram or post your photos onto our Facebook wall!  The whole point 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.  These submissions are seriously the jewels in the StyleMutt Home crown.  

You never know who else will be inspired by your space so don't deprive us of your unique YOU people!