Reader Design: Johanne's Black & White Beauty

Today, we're off to Canada! Johanne, who is a professional interior designer, is welcoming us in to her Montreal home that she shares with her husband and two adult children. 

Johanne and her family moved in to this 1950's cottage 15 years ago. It sits outside Montreal in a town known for its stunning mountains and parks. Johanne doesn't use a lot of color, but that doesn't mean that her home is devoid of depth or emotion. Her neutral palette just bring other features to life - like the wood fireplace, used year-round, that Johanne calls "the best investment in the house." 

From Johanne:

“Many things come into play when designing a house. The first thing I look at is the architecture. This cottage has very large windows, so our first move was to open up the space and take advantage of the ever-changing light and nature surrounding the house. ”

The second thing Johanne considers? Location. 

“We live in a Nordic city, so I am very influence by Scandinavian design not only for its style but also for its way of life: simple, modern, warm, and practical. I love wood and try to use it as much as possible along with natural materials such as stone, straw, wool, and cotton. ”

“Midcentury and Scandinavian furniture design offer modern furniture that blend well with many different styles. They are good quality and timeless which is always a good investment. I like to mix them with older pieces such as our tulip dining chairs with our rustic dining table, which we found in an old barn and have had for many years.”

The third consideration is nature. Johanne seriously considered the world around her and took advantage of those influences in every way she could. 

“Soothing grays, greens, and earth tones are always a good choice for me. Those are the colors I see when walking on the mountain, but they are also the colors I see when I go on the gorgeous beaches of Maine, USA, where I have spent every single vacation of my childhood and where we have taken our children as well since they were born.”

I think we can all agree that Johanne has some incredible style. Thank you, Johanne, for letting us in and sharing your design influences with us. 

Learn more about Johanne on her website or follow along on Instagram! 

Reader Design: Nicole's Thrifted Nest

A moment of levity comes this week with Nicole's beautiful home. Now, most of you know Nicole as a #howyouhome co-host along with our very own Chelsea. Today, she's giving us the inside scoop on her Nashville home that we've come to admire often in those little Instagram squares. 

Nicole and her husband moved from NYC to Nashville several years ago and are now renting in the area. That means Nicole gets the opportunity to be extra creative about her decorating!

From Nicole:

“I like to define my style as eclectic but with a classic spin. It’s definitely a mix of midcentury modern, boho and eclectic with traditional touches. All of the styles together create a more unique look.”

Her living room here has it all - boho elements, thrifted finds, plant life, and some amazing mix-and-match patterns to keep it interesting. 

“I’m inspired by the ocean so blue seems to be my go-to choice of color to decorate with. I love pictures of the ocean, boats, and anything tropical. It just relaxes me. A home that is collected over time and from many different sources makes it more unique to you. A ton of my home is from Craigslist and thrift stores! Not only does that make my home more personal to my family but it also makes it more affordable. I prefer to keep a more polished look though so I get rid of unnecessary clutter or pieces that don’t add anything to my space. ”

I wouldn't call Nicole's style minimalist, but she's certainly careful about the items she chooses to surround herself with. 

“‘m not gonna spend a lot of money on things that are trendy. I’ll either thrift them, come up with a way to DIY it, and use accessories as a way to change things out with the trends and seasons. We’d rather spend our money on things that are timeless and will stick around with us for years to come. ”

The bedrooms are all kinds of wonderful with their textiles and wall hangings. They're the kind of bedrooms I would have loved to slumber in after Tuesday night - anyone agree? 

Nicole, thank you for letting us in to see more outside those tiny squares. Your home is beautiful! Follow Nicole along @sweet_domicile for more! 

We're off the Reader Designs next week for Thanksgiving but I'll see you all in December!

Navy Yard Condo || Soft Boho Master Bedroom

Welcome to our Navy Yard Condo Reveal Part 2! Actually, I suppose it's part 3 since we revealed the main living spaces last Summer, but it's our second day in a row revealing the bedrooms! So let's reccap:

Living Room / Dining Room: Full Tour Here

Then we hit the Guest Bedroom, where we scaled back in order for renting potential: Full Tour Here

Now all that's left is the Master Bedroom! We feel that the master bedroom is quite possibly the most important space in ones home, and we design them as such. This particular master opens to a private hallway/lounge area where our client can access her en-suite bath and closet. We felt that this hallway was as much a part of her living space as the others so we designed it with quite the dose of moody drama!

Wrapped in 'Hunter Green' by Benjamin Moore, (the same paint we used on the guest room dresser), and styled with picture ledges for convenient art swapping, (of which our client has quite the collection!), this passageway is special and instantly makes one feel as if they're entering a unique part of this home. We built the bench from metal sawhorse legs and scrap wood, and at just 11" wide it's able to serve as a quick-drop surface without interfering with walking space.

Picture ledges are a fantastic alternative to a gallery wall - you'll do a lot less damage to your walls and you can change things out as often as you please! These white ledges were from IKEA.

From dark and moody to bright and airy; the perfect contrast.

We wrapped the bedroom in 'Swiss Coffee' by Benamin Moore and contrasted the neutrals with warm wood. Similar to the guest bedroom we kept the lines of the furniture very simple and clean, and similar to the main living spaces we layered more pattern and texture.

Since our client came in with a real 'let's do it!' attitude we were able to present some really exciting ideas to her. The dark green moody hallway was just the beginning and she really nailed it! This wall treatment behind her bed was another project we included in our design for this space. We had all agreed that an accent wall of sorts behind the bed would make this room really special, but we wanted to keep it monochromatic, subtle, and easy! Since our client would be handling these projects on her own, (reminder, this was all done through eDesign!), we wanted them to be very manageable. After she suggested a shiplap wall, we thought about some more affordable and easier alternatives. We stumbled upon this idea on Pinterest of using just pieces of wood trim horizontally spaced apart and nail-gunned to the wall. It was a project that didn't cost a lot of time OR money, but the impact is exactly what we were looking for. It speaks the same language as shiplap, but it's a little more modern looking and different from the currently trendy wall treatments out there right now.

This colorblock pillow from Urban Outfitters was one of the first pieces of this design! We wanted to contrast the dark, rustic hallway with a light and airy space using soft textures and warm pastels.

The dresser and nightstands were a fantastic mix and match Craigslist maneuver - we wanted to use walnut wood in here and after using 'walnut' in the search bar, these pieces popped right up! We've mixed woods in various rooms before, but in a smaller space like this where the goal was a really clean and fresh feel, we wanted the few wood pieces brought in to be of the same finish.

For less than $10/each we created the wall hangings that incorporate a favorite quote our client gave us. Aren't these words by Joan Burge, (author of Give Yourself Permission to Live a Big Life), inspiring?! Solid choice to wake up and see every day. For more info on how to create large scale charts like these, see post here.

A pair of 8x10 prints from our dear friend Jessica over at Vol.25 look just perfect next to the warm wood dresser.

These brass sconces are from a seriously talented small business on Etsy called Rough Luck Studio. Their collection is extensive, affordable and we absolutely can't wait to use them again!

Because our client was a fellow 'style-mutt', she was very eclectic and liked all the things, (is there anyone who can't relate to this?!). Near the end of this project, when the air was starting to turn crisp and the colors on the trees were changing, she expressed interest in incorporating some richer colors in place of the pastel. The wonderful thing about the design of this room is that it's so neutral she can swap out pillows and throws for instant seasonal change. We suggested a gorgeous velvet rust, ivory and dark gray pillow as well as a mohair throw with pompom fringe from a local small shop, Valerianne.

Nothing else changed in the room, but look how fall/winter ready it is now!

That's a wrap folks! We sure are grateful to do this work; what an honor it is when someone invites us to help them create their home - of all the places in the world, home should feel truly special. Feel free to contact us through the 'free consultation' form linked on our eDesign page if you're interested in chatting about your own space!

Thank you all so much for coming by!