Vintage Hotel Dresser || And a Giveaway ||

Have you heard the news?  We're hiring!  We were so thrilled and humbled to find ourselves wrapping up 2017 with a waitlist of eDesign clients.  But making our customers wait is not our MO so we're onboarding a new design assistant to keep 'em happy and keep 'em coming!  If you meet our qualifications and are interested in applying, we want to hear from you!  Applications are due February 12th so get to it!

While Chelsea is heading up the expanding design branch of our business, I'm still steering the furniture front - and I've landed a new piece with quite the untold history!

The seller told me that his dad rescued it from a closing DC hotel somewhere on Florida avenue.  Let me tell you, he is certainly durable enough to have survived many-a-hotel stay.  But despite being built like a tank, he does have a few marks I couldn't mask: a scratch on the side, a sliver of missing veneer, and a faded water mark on the top.  All things I could have hidden with paint but OH that wood grain!  I couldn't bring myself to do it! 

So I shined him up and celebrated the scars of his rich and storied life.  

I removed the old damaged apron (those housekeeping sweeps had not been kind to that thing) and added sleek metal legs. 

I did want to  keep the original knobs so I refinished them to match the new gams.

He's also hides a secret: his top drawer is a hidden desk!

The drawer front folds down to create a handy little work surface or mail drop spot.

Complete with cubbies for stationary and office supplies.

But the crowning jewel of this vignette is this canvas print by a local artist!

This piece is just one of the many stunning abstracts by Laura Gunn Art.  I mean just go to her website and you'll be mesmerized by her process - its a riot of color in a dreary world (name that movie!).

Laura Gunn Art

Originals + Canvas Prints
Washington, DC
 

To me, art has always been personal.  I'm most drawn to the emotion in a painting.  Which my abstract mind most often finds in abstract paintings.  I doesn't matter what it makes me feel just that it makes me feel. 

I could stare at Laura Gunn's "Still" for hours.  Sometimes I think it's a quiet ocean horizon.  Sometimes its a soundwave with the gentlest flutter, a tiny reverb.  I love that it changes for me, and yet stays the same.

And we're delighted to announce that we at SMH are teaming up with Laura Gunn for a very special giveaway!  You could win your very own 24" giclee reproduction of a Laura Gunn original on gallery-wrapped canvas (that's a $149-$169 value!).  Follow these 3 steps to enter:

1) Follow @cate_stylemutthome and @lauragunnart on Instagram
2) Browse Laura Gunn's the Gallery Wrapped Canvas collection and
3) Comment below with the piece you'd like to win!

Winner will be announced next Wednesday, February 7th on Instagram!

+

Vintage Hotel Secretary Dresser
Now Available for Sale
40"W x 19"D x 38"H
$545

And if you are interested in this piece or a custom order like it, email me at cate@stylemutthome.com for availability or to ask about our third-party shipping policy.

SMH Announcement: We're Hiring!

Hi Friends! This post has been a long time coming :) We couldn't be more thrilled to let you all know we are officially seeking a part-time eDesign Assistant!

This time last year I had the pleasure of sitting around a table eating drippy take-out with Cate and McKenna, (our then Intern, now Development Associate), and I shared my hopes and dreams for the design branch of StyleMutt Home. Together we came up with thoughtful goals and intentional steps to achieve those goals. Cate and I prayed for direction, for clarity and the wisdom to make healthy decisions.

2017 FAR exceeded those goals or any of our expectations. By Summer we had to start a wait-list of clients because our plates were maxed out. And to our humbling surprise, people have been willing to wait! We are now eagerly in search of a new eDesign Assistant so StyleMutt Home can serve more clients at any given time.

Responsibilities will include:
-Handling small, (1 room), eDesign jobs solo
-Ability to FaceTime and email with clients to discuss project
-Ability to research product options that best suit the need, style and budget
-Using client approved products to create digital design boards that convey the vision and design plan to the client
-Producing digital floorplans that show the client all their approved products to scale in the parameters of their space

-And that's it! We really need someone capable of being handed a small client project and running with it! I will handle all consultations so I can pass along those jobs that will be just the right fit for you!

Preferred qualifications:
-Local to the Washington D.C./Northern Virginia area
-Experience creating digital design boards
-Experience creating digital floorplans from written down measurements
-Comfortable designing a space based on before photos and hearing client's needs and desires
-Familiar with Pinterest and has an account
-Effective communicator, patient listener

What you get:
-A paycheck for each job  completed
-Fantastic hands-on experience in eDesign
-Individual growth as an eDesigner for your own portfolio
-Your name attached to completed StyleMutt Home designs

We will of course spend time training you in our streamlined eDesign process so you feel comfortable and confident before we hand over any jobs! We are so excited about the opportunity to grow our team and anxious to get to know our future eDesign Assistant! StyleMutt Home is much bigger than who's behind it. It's become a look and the particular feeling of a space. It's intentional style that isn't manipulated or contrived. And as our projects continue to prove, StyleMutt Home designs are not following trends, they are leading the way. If you are interested in joining the team, please contact us through the link below! (Any previous work you can attach, especially digital design boards and floorplans, would be greatly helpful!) We will be accepting interest for this position for the next two weeks, through February 12.

Reader Design: Laura's Minimalist Boho Home

Today, we're off to a place that has recently felt like my second home: California. Fun fact: I worked so many hours for my day job in California in 2017 that I'm fortunate enough to get to file taxes there - yay! 

Specifically, we're headed to Dana Point, CA to Laura's family home, which is both perfect for a family and full of personality at the same time. 

“Making our home feel comfortable is something that’s always been very important to me. I never want to evoke the feeling of a museum-home, where “don’t touch that” is the motto. We have little kiddos that love to make messes and I want to embrace, enjoy, and live in those messy moments with them. I want our family and our friends to always feel relaxed when they’re here.”

That doesn't mean she just lets to house go though. In fact, Laura has a self-proclaimed aversion to clutter. That's why keeping it simple with her minimalist bohemian decor is the way to go.  

One of the keys of minimal decor is ensuring purpose of the pieces in your home. Now, the purpose doesn't have to just be functional; it can be sentimental, too! Often, those become the most important pieces of all, and even if they're small in size, they can make the space feel perfect and complete.

Take the item in Laura's kitchen for instance, which at a distance may be hard to find. 

“The small cactus figurine was given to me by my husband when we were engaged. He’d been gone on a trip and came home with it for me and it’s just been a cute “I missed you” momento that I’ve always loved.”

“In the Living Room there are two things: One is a vintage record player that belonged to my late grandparents. Though I never knew my grandpa, my grandmother and I had an extremely close relationship and this hand-me-down is one of the most meaningful things that I own. The other sentimental piece is the longboard on the wall. It’s a vintage board that was shaped by my husband’s favorite surfer, Phil Edwards. It was one of the last boards he shaped before he stopped shaping.””

“We definitely are true to our coastal southern CA roots. My husband, Jason, grew up surfing and there are hints of beach culture throughout our home. ”

All those special elements make this house a home, and it's an honor to get a peek inside. Thank you for showing us around, Laura! You can follow along with Laura on Instagram at @helmick_hacienda. See you next week, Mutts.