Reader Design: Amber's Fantastical Home

It represents a world where Alice in Wonderland meets Beetlejuice.

That's how a visitor once described Amber's family home in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Surrounded by a bunch of boys, Amber has created a space that blends everyone's interests and loves.

Since I reside in a home full of boys, I am drawn to pieces that coincide with my son’s and husband’s interests, but are inspired by my flair for the dramatic.
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It took a few years, and a couple unsuccessful projects to really find the direction I wanted to strive for in really expressing the inner being of my style. I’m mostly drawn to white and black pallets with a few small bold accents in the form of light fixtures, art work, pillows, and other decor.
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I am not opposed to trends, and I believe that they can be incorporated to anyone’s preferences. However, I am very selective in my color palettes, decor pieces, and architecture. I tend to lean more towards modern and vintage furniture, artwork, and miscellaneous decor. When I first began, I knew I loved Art Deco Designs, but I did not exactly understand how I wanted to express it in my own home. It was definitely not just the ‘easy and convenient’ option to freshen up our living space and took years of thought.
 
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Through some trial and error, Amber has landed on a style that makes sense for her and her family. An important component of that style are family heirlooms, some of which Amber has refinished and some of which she's left in the original state. 

There are too many of my favorite pieces to mention (I could, and should, write an entire book on that subject), but a lot of my decor comes from heirlooms my Grandparents have left to me in which I restored and customized. One heirloom of which I did nothing to and it means the world to me, is the portrait that graces my hallway wall labeled as “Lady Virginia”. My Grandfather purchased this portrait of an unknown lady in 1968 because it reminisced my Grandmother Virginia. On the backside of the portrait he inscribed that the picture would belong to my late Uncle Gerald, but sadly my Uncle passed away of cancer three years ago. Needless to say, I am proud to display this priceless piece of art in my home due to its’ background in our family history.
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A home full of stories, some old and some new, is a beautiful thing. Amber, thank you for showing us around! 

Follow Amber along on Instagram at @the_beautiful_savages.

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Styling: One Hour to a Curated Collection

Hi Friends! With several design projects wrapping up simultaneously right now, I've got styling on the brain 24/7! It's not uncommon for our design clients to have few to no styling accessories, (with the exception of books), so we're always keeping our eyes peeled for shops that we can head to when we need a lot of goodies!

Now, Cate and I love to find accessories when we're out at thrift stores, barn sales and vintage markets. Little by little, we've curated styling accessories that suit our taste and the spaces we need to fill. This exploratory approach has taken each of us years of digging and picking up and turning over in our hands. So how does one create their own collection in a single afternoon? When it comes to the final touches in our clients spaces, we turn to the great world wide web!

Here are some of our favorite online shops where we can find all the patina or polished, modern or time-worn goodness we need to complete any space.

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As seen in a StyleMutt Home project:

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As seen in a StyleMutt Home project:

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As seen in a StyleMutt Home project:

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Example pottery styling in a StyleMutt Home project:

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We hope you find these sources as useful and inspiring as we have! Now, I'm off to round up some final touch shopping lists for some very awesome clients! This weekend we are off to shoot a finished project that combines my love for industrial urban spaces and bohemian flair. I CANNOT wait to share it with you, friends! Here's a quick peek of the progress our client sent last month:

 
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Thank you so much for stopping by!

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Fresh Flip + Making Plans

Hi Friends! This Summer has been an absolute whirlwind in the Matt/Chelsea abode. We have some big plans for our home which have lead to emptying out, decluttering, and starting fresh. And in our experience thus far, starting fresh in a house we've lived in for 8 years is no small feet, (especially a house that was built in 1980). It's like moving but we're not going anywhere. When we moved into this house we had two babies, one in the oven, and a whole crew of people who helped us get settled. Now, all these years later, the task ahead feels daunting. Some rooms simply need fresh paint, others a bit more than that. We've listed out what we need to do and are just going to check things off one by one!

One of our first steps was emptying out all our closets and dressers a few months ago and really pairing down. You wouldn't move with things you don't use anymore, so in the same way we got rid of things we don't use anymore. In all the emptying out, I found myself with A LOT more room in my dresser. It was a great feeling to keep only favorites, but that meant I needed to downsize my dresser! I took to the Habitat for Humanity Restore with the kiddos and found a winner within minutes!

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GOSH I LOVE THEM!!!

Anyways, I used this new find as an opportunity to test out a color we are considering for a kitchen island - 'Salamander' by Benjamin Moore. It's a deep tealy-green and a color I can see in our home for the long haul!

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Obviously it's been a long time since I've refinished anything - notice the one bare leg in the center! Hah! Didn't even notice it until we'd brought it inside!

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The pulls were an Anthropologie clearance find, and I love the brushed metal against the blond wood. I don't use a lot of brass in our home, but any brass we have is brushed or aged in some way. My personal style is very 'campy'; it's minimal and super laid back, and I use a lot of bare wood in our home.

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So this piece represents two winners in one! I've got a new dresser and we've got a color for our island! I'll be back again soon to lay out the plan for our upcoming kitchen renovation - the first of many steps to wake up our home, but we'll get there!

Thank you so much for stopping by today!

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