Decorating a Beige Living Room

Posted on July 3, 2015 by Simply Styled

Happy Friday, and happy 3rd of July!! I am gearing up for a mellow weekend celebrating the 4th – BBQs, swimming, and fireworks of course – but before we get the long weekend started, I wanted to check in with you all!

As you know, my best friend just moved into a new apartment, and as she fills the new space with furniture, I’m here to help out and give advice where needed. I woke up this morning to a text from her saying that she doesn’t love the couch she ordered, and everything just looks really blah and monotone (beige sofa, beige rug, beige walls).

PERFECT timing, because I’d started this post earlier in the week. Let’s talk about what do do when your room is all one color… beige. I was going to title this “Decorating a Neutral Space”, but let’s call a spade a spade… everything in her apartment is beige, so it’s now “Decorating a Beige Living Room”. This is a big problem a lot of people run into but it’s actually a really easy fix. Sometimes it’s a case of the person being scared of color. Sometimes it’s a case of them gravitating to the same color for everything they own.

Here’s the room as it stands right now:

The good news is, the room has good bones. Not a bad “before”… am I right?!

The light in here is awesome… it gets really good exposure! I mean, a full wall of windows, and adjacent sliding doors to the deck. It doesn’t get much better! And, the sofa looks SOOO good – it’s the perfect size for this room. So excited to get started.

Ok so, with good light, open layout, lots of windows, and fabulous core pieces to build out from, it’s just about adding some pizazz to all the beige (the walls, the rug, the sofa the console table). So let’s talk about creating a calm, beautiful room based around neutrals, without it ending up being bland, beige, and boring.

Step One: start with a color palette
The key is to choose a color that you love. Look at your wardrobe – what do you wear? Do you look good in rosy colors? Does green make your eyes pop? Also what makes you happy – are you your best self near the ocean? In the woods? I happen to love blue, so that’s the color I went with for this exercise, and based on Kira’s pinned spaces (take a look at some of those here) these rooms are a mix of preppy, beachy, and rustic, and I think blue lends itself well to that aesthetic. Once you’ve decided what colors you’re into, then move onto step two…

Step Two: Decide where to bring in color
I’m a HUGE proponent of keeping the most expensive things you own neutral, so that you don’t tire of them as easily, and so you can change out the accessories when you get bored. If you had a big green sofa, it sort of limits your color options. But if we do colorful accessories (rug, pillows, curtains, throw blankets, art) on a neutral sofa, it’s easy, and quite a bit more cost-efficient to get new pillow covers than to replace the big ticket items).

Step Three: Bring in live plants
The emphasis here is on the word “live” – we are not talking silk flowers. A room feels dead without anything in it that is “living”. For a space like a living room, I’d recommend one larger green plant and one smaller plant (I like orchids – they stay alive for several months, saving you money on cut flowers every week, and they’re just so pretty, what’s not to love?!) Trust me – a plant or two in a all beige space really brightens things up – even without changing anything else.

So with all that said, I put together four variations of the same room.

The things that stayed the same in each room:
– The sofa (this is the exact sofa she bought)
– The side table (which she already owns)
– The art (similar to the gold leaf art she owns)
– The wall color (a very pale grey).

Ok, let’s get to it….

Room One: Here, we brought in color through the navy curtains, navy stools, and patterned blue and white throw pillows. The rest of the room is very neutral, with a natural fiber rug under the oatmeal colored sofa she bought.

The key to pairing a neutral rug next to a neutral sofa… they need to be different shades (one warmer and one cooler perhaps), and different tones (one lighter and one darker), and very different textures to ensure one doesn’t visually run into the next.

Room Two: Here I kept the blue curtains, but swapped out the natural fiber rug for one with a bold pattern and color, and exchanged the navy stools for a ivory bench.

If I had to guess, I’d guess this would be Kira’s least favorite of all the rooms, because there more color in it than there are neutral tones, but I thought it was still important to see it.

Room Three: This will be the hardest to get right in real life because it’s the most neutral of all four options.

I swapped the navy curtains for white, brought back the natural fiber rug, which means that the stools and pillows are the only source of color here. In real life, I think I’d recommend moving the gold leaf art to another room, and bringing in art with more color because the risk is still there of ending up with a borderline drab room.

BUT, maybe not… I’d just have to see it as it came together……..

Room number four – this is really a combination of rooms two and three. Here, I kept the white curtains, and brought back the blue rug.

I like this one, but something about it seems a bit off – like it’s bottom heavy. Having everything at eye level so neutral, and then the dark rug, I think the walls need something with substance as well. Maybe even having art in a black frame, or a really large wall mirror propped up against the wall behind the sofa with a big black frame. Just something to anchor the upper half of the room a bit more.

So anyway, this is really just a jumping off point to get the ideas started.

Ultimately, I really like all these rooms for very different reasons. I like number one the best because it feels really balanced, but I suspect Kira will want to go with lighter curtains, and with all the light that comes into her apartment, I wouldn’t want a dark curtain panel blocking any of that out.

Because of that, I think we need to think carefully about what colors to bring in, what patterns to incorporate, and how to ensure its not only balanced, but that she loves it.

Next up, I want to talk about hanging curtains in a tricky spot………..

Chicago Apartment: Coffee Tables

Posted on June 25, 2015 by Simply Styled

Adding onto yesterday’s post, I wanted to pull together some (affordable) coffee table options that fit within the living room aesthetic.

Some are more rustic, some more refined. Some have storage (hello hidden remote controls) while some offer no clutter concealment. Some have glass tops, some are solid wood. Some are more beachy, which some are more elegant. They really run the gamut – hopefully there are some contenders in there for the Chicago apartment.

Which are your favorites?

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Chicago Apartment: Living Room Inspiration

Posted on June 24, 2015 by Simply Styled

Now that we’ve got the layout sort of figured out, it’s time to start pulling together inspiration.

These images came straight from Kira’s Pinterest board, and it’s pretty clear to see the common themes in what she likes:

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Clean lines.

Traditional core pieces.

A little preppy.

A little nautical.

Light colors.

Gold accents.

Soft upholstered furniture.

Warm wood tones.

A few rustic pieces.

Based on things she has, and things she plans to buy along with her Pinterest pages, I pulled in a few benches, a coffee table, and a few table lamps that go with the look and feel of what she likes.

Roll Arm Sofa, Console Table, Navy Bench, Gold Bar Cart, Tufted Bench, Coffee Table, Gold Side Table, Gold Table Lamp, Wooden Table Lamp

She already has the white console table, gold bar cart, and gold side table, (numbers 2, 4, and 7) and plans to buy this sofa from Pottery Barn (number 1).

What I like (and what I think she will like) about the other things I’ve pulled in (the coffee table, the lamps, and the benches), is that they are all within the neutral palate that she likes, and will serve as a canvas to bring in more color through additional accessories (pillows, curtains, art, table accessories, books, and perhaps the rug).

A few things to be very careful of based on the above pieces…

1. Too much gold.
Yes, there is such a thing. With the gold side table, the gold bar cart, and a series of gold leaf abstract paintings she has, she already has quite a bit of gold going on. The gold lamp will only work if she doesn’t do the gold ottoman, and if it’s placed on the console table at the far end away from the gold side table. If she does the gold ottoman, it cannot be placed next to the gold side table, and the room will feel more balanced with the wooden table lamp on the console table behind the sofa.

2. Needs color
As I said, these pieces serve as a neutral canvas for color (and the ability to switch accessories out with the seasons for a different look and feel between warmer and cooler months). If the curtains are neutral, the walls are neutral, the rug is neutral, and the pillows are neutral with all this neutral furniture already going on, this is going to look BORING. At least two of the three (rug, curtains, pillows) need to have color and pattern going on to bring in interest – my recommendation would be either the rug and pillows, or the pillows and curtains, if she doesn’t want to do all three.

So this is the jumping off point… time to source a few more pieces to choose from (coffee table, lamps, and chair / bench options) and then the fun stuff… the accessories and color that will bring life to the living space.

Furnishing a Chicago Apartment: The Layout

Posted on June 22, 2015 by Simply Styled

Hello friends! It’s been a while (does every post start like that now??)

I just got back from a weekend in Chicago, visiting my best friend, Kira. She’s about to move from a super modern high-rise apartment on the river, to a really charming spot in Gold Coast.

Luckily, the new place has an amazing layout – tons of light (which is essential for those long, dark, Chicago winters), and it is in the most amazing neighborhood. It’s all tree lined streets and darling brownstone walk-ups; a block from the lake, and it’s brimming with restaurants, shopping, bars, and coffee shops.

It’s amazing.

The challenge is taking a completely empty apartment, and turning it into something really fabulous. This is where I have been enlisted to help.

This is her first apartment of her own, and while she already has some really good stuff (bedroom furniture, art, occasional furniture and accessories), she’s also going to need to invest in some major pieces to complete the main living spaces. Since she moves in just a few short weeks, we want to get ahead of everything now, and put together a game plan.

The first thing I like to tackle is the layout. Over the weekend, we brought a measuring tape to the apartment, to get a sense of what can fit, and where everything should go. Each room is BIG, and based on cable hook-ups, doors, windows, and electrical outlets, it’s set up for a good floor plan already.

Starting today with the living room, here’s the layout we’re working with:

The living room is open to the kitchen with a bar – perfect for barstools, and has an entire wall of windows letting in tons of natural light.

She needs this space to function as both living and dining areas so with the cable hook-up running along the left wall, the ideal layout looks something like this:

Since the living space is where she needs the most new furniture, we need to prioritize what she buys first. Here’s what’s on the list of essentials and first priorities:
– New sofa
– Coffee table
– TV
– TV stand

Also on the list, but less essential or decorative are:
– Dining table for hosting (and chairs)
– Additional living room seating
– Lighting (table and floor lamps)
– Curtains
– Possibly a rug

With this list of furniture, and a broad layout in place, I put together three layout options that could work for using this space as dual living and dining – good for hosting dinners, and get-togethers.

Option I: really good for entertaining – the benches are low to the ground, so they don’t block off the view of the living room as you walk in. They are also really awesome for entertaining when you need extra seating, or if you wanted to tuck them away for more standing room, they could easily go underneath the sofa table behind the couch.

Option II has fewer seating options, but brings in a desk to this space as well. Since Kira will be working from home several days a week, I thought it might be nice to have a dedicated work space that isn’t a) the couch b) her bed. Having a desk makes for a more productive work day at home, and also helps you unplug – shut the laptop, put it in the desk drawer, and leave your work for the day at your desk when it’s time to watch bad reality TV.

In this scenario, I didn’t include a desk chair – I figure one of the kitchen table chairs can double as desk chair, and can be brought back over to the table if company is coming over. The large side chair here could also be substituted with the dual stools.

Which brings me to Option III: the desk is gone, the additional seating is brought back, but the kitchen table has changed.

I scooched everything in the room a bit closer to the windows to accommodate a slightly larger rectangular table. This can a) seat more people and b) double as a desk during the day while she works from home (whereas I find working at a circular table kind of annoying – there is not enough room on the sides of your laptop for note taking, or an extra mouse).

Each layout obviously has it’s pros and cons, but which do you like best?

Side note to all this: There are more posts coming on this apartment – tackling questions like how to hang curtains in a tricky space, and more exciting… a few inspiration boards that detail out what pieces to buy to fill this gorgeous space.

Designing a room around Dark Furniture: Part I

Posted on February 4, 2015 by Simply Styled

One of my good friends and her husband just bought the most AMAZING dining room table from Restoration Hardware. It’s actually this one (or very very similar to this one), and it’s absolutely stunning.

Now that it’s been delivered, they are in the process of making room for it in their apartment, and have very cleverly decided to split their huge living room, so that half is for the dining area, and half is for the living room.

The old floor-plan looked something like this:

I only know the general details of how the room is being split up, but I imagine the new floor-plan will look similar to this:

Genius, right?

By flip-flopping the room, you now walk into the “dining room” from the hallway, and in general have a good flow for entertaining.

What else is changing from the old layout? Well the ottoman is going to be way too big to transfer over to the other side of the room, so that needs to be replaced. By replacing it with a smaller coffee table, and eventually downsizing the TV stand, they will have room for living and dining spaces in the same room. I LOVE this. City living at its best.

The challenge? Designing the rest of the room around dark furniture (ding ding ding, the title of this post!)

The new dining room table is made of reclaimed oak – which is so incredibly gorgeous but the stain on it is a dark brown. Their existing sofa and club chair that will live on the other half of the room are both made of dark brown leather, which means there is a lot of dark brown happening in this space.

The walls of the room are a very light taupe color, the crown molding is white, and a beautiful bay window that lets in tons of natural light. Oh, and the space still has original hardwood floors. It doesn’t get better than that! The room has good bones, so it will be an easy task to use what they already have, and turn it into a complete and cohesive space.

Here’s where the room stood last week after the table was delivered. Excuse the iPhone picture – it’s a little grainy here:

The knee-jerk reaction to having lots of dark furniture is to compensate with lots of light colors everywhere else. On one hand, yes, bringing in light colors around the dark pieces (ie: light pillows on a dark sofa) do help to lighten the space, but the real magic needs to happen in the space at and above eye level when you walk in a room. Think about it for a second… dark furniture sits below eye level when you walk into a room, so if you have light walls, and light curtains, and light art (or worse, no art), your eye goes straight down, and visually the space just feels smaller. Adding interest through color and pattern at and above eye level, creates a feeling of balance, and so the “challenge” of dark furniture, sort of isn’t a “challenge” anymore.

Trust me, it will make more sense as you see it come together.

Ok, moving on… so what’s the plan in here? Since the above picture was taken, my friend already ordered a natural fiber rug to go under the dining room table. Good call girl.

The rug is going to define the dining space, and separate it from the living room. Also, massive area rugs are SUPER expensive, so to even think of getting a rug to cover this entire room, we’re talking serious money. No thanks.

Why else was it a good idea to go sisal? It’s neutral, it’s easy to clean (it’s going under a dining table after all) and it’s mainly covered up with the table anyway, so the focus of the room will be elsewhere. Any pattern would go mainly unseen here with a huge table on top of it.

My friend also said that the curtains need to be replaced because they can’t find the same ones anymore, but she likes the blue so isn’t opposed to something similar.

Sweet. Perfect place to jump right in…

Here’s what I think needs to happen on this side of the room:

Minimal changes my friends.

First, they need chairs. They obviously know this.

Then, I think that filling that back wall out is priority #2, so that your eye doesn’t stop at the table.

Oversize art will help… like OVERSIZE. I always find that it’s hard to find large scale art… it seems so big when you buy it, but once you get it on an empty wall like this one, it’s like an island in the middle of an ocean. My point? We need to find massive, beautiful, and not ridiculously expensive art.

What else? A bigger lamp that takes up more visual real estate will help. And plants. I LOVE bringing in larger house plants to wake up an empty corner.

I started playing around to test out different looks, and at first, I went more “traditional”. I think the table is so amazing – it’s a little rustic…. a little french-y feeling……… I loved the idea of adding Louis XIV chairs with it.

Here’s the first look I came up with:

I love love LOVE these chairs – that dusty blue linen is so pretty, and I was thrilled to see it on two complimentary sets of Louis XIV chairs. The blue fabric and lighter wood on the chairs surrounding the table will immediately bring life into the space.

LOVE.

I also thought it was nice to have the taller rectangular chairs at the head of the table, and mix in the round backs in the middle, but again if you like the look of one over the other, you could certainly stick with one type of chair.

I should also take the time now to call out the fact that the wood on the chairs is NOT the same color (or even same type) as the wood on the table.

That’s on purpose my friends.

Some people are weird about mixing woods, but it doesn’t bother me! I like the look of different woods in a space, because it looks “collected” instead of “we bought the set”. If it will drive you nuts, the good thing about wood is that you can stain it, but I like the different wood tones.

Moving onto the art, I am SO into botanical art right now – you literally see it everywhere, from shelter magazines to the blog world. These oversize prints from Ballard are SO GOOD. They are massive – each one is 42″ high, by 27″ wide. With prints this large, the frames should get pretty close to meeting the picture molding that runs around the walls, which will naturally draw the eye up, while taking up almost 5′ across that wall. Mission accomplished – these would meet the goal of filling the blank space out, without making it feel super busy (the way that a gallery wall can sometimes do).

The floor lamp has a bent bronze neck (shaft? stem? base? what IS that called??) and I like that this also helps fill out the space on that wall. I also like that having the bent shaft makes it different than a standard floor lamp. If the wall was still feeling empty once all of this was in the room, my recommendation would be to have two identical floor lamps similar to this flanking either side of the buffet. I also can’t remember the overhead lighting situation in here, so they might actually need the extra light. Boom. Kill two birds with one stone.

The fiddle leaf fig stands on the other side of the buffet in this mock up, but really any sizeable green houseplant would do in the corner.

And finally, the curtains… I thought that with the blue linen chairs, blue curtains might be a bit much, so I mocked this up with grey linen. I think I like it. The lightweight fabric will feel visually light (as opposed to a heavy fabric like velvet), while the grey still has enough of a color presence to draw the eye up to the ceiling.

Overall I like how this all came together, but I didn’t stop there… I swapped a few things out and came up with another version of this room:

What changed? Well the chairs are a slight variation of those first ones, this time in a sandy linen. With the sisal rug and all the wood, it feels like a lot of brown on brown, and so the accessories need to change. I did a dark blue (almost navy) curtain, and swapped out the art, for a symmetrical gallery wall of… wait… what is that… more botanical prints! Holla!

I told you I’m crazy for botanical prints right now.

These ones have a super saturated inky blue background with that green… I love it. I think with the navy curtains, it looks awesome. I’m still half and half on the chairs though… is it too much brown or are they ok with the art and curtains? I think I need to see the color of the linen in person to tell if its more brown than cream.

My friend mentioned that they do like the vibe of West Elm, so I wen on to put together a third, less traditional, more modern version of this space…

…so another mock-up was born:

The starting point for me in here was the curtains. I think these are so cool, and the pattern will definitely succeed in drawing the eye up, and bringing some color to the room. The floor lamp also got switched up for an aged bronze pharmacy lamp. I like alternative floor lamps, and these just look cool, although take up less visual real estate than the floor lamp with the drum shade.

I’m loving the color that these chairs bring to the space – I also love the detail of the individually hammered nail heads around the edges. It just makes it a little more special.

Some of you might be thinking… If you’re trying to lighten up the space, why are you putting dark blue chairs with already dark furniture?? And I totally hear you… but the point I’m trying to drive home is the need for balance.

The challenge is not how to bring as much light colored “stuff” as possible around the dark furniture, but rather in balancing the darkness with other rich colors at or above eye level. So while these chairs are upholstered in a darker peacock colored fabric, the shock of color paired with similar colors in the art, and yet another variation of the color echoed in the curtains balances things out.

Even if none of these ideas make it off the cutting room floor and into real life, this is a good starting point for visualizing this half of the room…

Next up, I’ll be tackling some ideas for the other side of the room… the living room side. Working on integrating accessories that accent their dark leather sofa, club chair, and some ideas on how to style a cohesive space to pair with their new dining room…

Baby Rooms: Statement Walls and Ceilings

Posted on January 19, 2015 by Simply Styled

I am pretty sure that if you played one of those psychological word association games, and someone said “statement wall” the first thing you thought of wouldn’t be “baby room”, however I happen to think these two things… statement walls (and ceilings) and baby rooms kind of go hand in hand.

Why am I thinking about baby rooms you might wonder? No, I am not with child.

My sister and one of my best friends are both pregnant, and due very VERY soon! With babies on the brain, I’ve been mulling around the idea of my own future baby’s nursery. And by “mulling around” I really mean, giving WAY too much thought to. So much so that I even have a super secret baby board on Pinterest – it’s private, and yes, that is actually it’s name. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not that I’m hoarding my baby room ideas, but more that I don’t want my friends to think I’m accidentally pregnant before Kris and I get married this summer.

I digress.

Anyway, this post was born, after I was aggressively pinning to my super secret baby board over the weekend. I was in a food coma after too much pasta, and a not so great Paul Walker movie, and found myself just pinning away… nursery after nursery, bunny eared hat after baby moccasin (yes, baby moccasin’s are a thing). 45 minutes into my pinning frenzy, I realized something. About 90% of all the baby rooms I loved had one thing in common.

Statement walls, or ceilings. Yes, a statement ceiling is a thing now too (along with baby moccasin’s), and they are AWESOME.

Example one:

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This nursery, albeit beautiful is a little bland. Grey and white galore. It’s nice – clearly the parents have good taste (or a talented, yet, color averse designer) but just as you’re getting all judge-y about how this poor baby’s nursery is so completely and utterly neutral, you look up and bam.

That ceiling.

Those stripes.

It just gets me. And I bet same goes for the baby.

It makes so much sense to paint the ceiling something cool… that baby is lying in the crib, brainstorming how to escape, and all the while, staring at the ceiling. It (the baby) will probably log countless hours staring at the ceiling, so why not make it something worth staring at. Plus the stripes will probably confuse the baby and make it sleepy, which is the ultimate goal, right??

Anyway, I have one more note about stripes that I want to add in.

Warning: Some of you might hate me for what I’m about to say, but in my (very humble) opinion, stripes on a wall are SO DONE. Please people, for the love of god stop painting stripes on the wall… at least for a minute.

BUT on the ceiling?? Stripes on the ceiling = awesome.

Also, I wanted to add for good measure that I actually love this nursery – monotone colors and all.

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Ok moving on… if grey isn’t your thing, you’ll LOVE this one. Hello color! And a wall mural!

Can you just imagine all the fun little games of pretend your kids could have in a room with a mural that conjures up images of the “It’s a Small World” ride from Disneyland???

And the magenta next to that yellow???

It’s just too good.

I will say, this room is much better suited for a small child (and probably a girl) as opposed to an infant, but it could be a magical solution for a room shared by baby and older sibling, or even in a playroom.

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And if the last room wasn’t whimsical enough, check out the wallpaper on this ceiling!

Some of you may be familiar with this print from one of my favorites, Jenny of Little Green Notebook – she recently did the ceiling of her girl’s playroom in this exact wallpaper, and it is just so darling. I love the little swallows flying around in the clouds, and the various shades of blue would work equally well in either a girl or boy’s room.

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More striped ceilings, and this time in mustard yellow. Now THAT is a statement. Luckily, I happen to love it.

And with the dark walls? Sooooooo good. Can you imagine if the dark paint was also chalkboard paint? Some people feel the same way about chalkboard paint as I do about striped walls, but you know, we can agree to disagree here.

For a kid’s room what could be better than encouraging that kind of creativity and freedom to create?? It’s their space, let them go all Picasso on that wall!

Not to mention, you get to look like the cool parent with extra amazing taste. So there’s that.

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Speaking of great taste, is there anything better than this animal wallpaper?

There are giraffs. There are birds. There are geckos… The entire animal kingdom is representing here, and the black and white almost makes it like a modern, and kid friendly toile, letting you play with color in the bedding and rugs.

Also don’t get me started on the Little Darlings prints. They are so lovely I’ve almost ordered them multiple times for our place… and we don’t have kids. They are just that cool.

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More little darlings framed in this room! And how hip are these walls (why do I feel so old and “not hip” using the word “hip”??)

Anyway, I’m not going to lie, this arrow print could be a little dizzying, but for the hippest of parents (omg, I need a new word other than hip, help me!), this would be really awesome. I’m not sure I’m cool enough for something like this (clearly), but I like it anyways. And I think it’s good to have aspirational design.

Perhaps this is what our baby’s fabulous nursery would look like in our southwestern adobe villa in Arizona one day. You know, for when we are alternating between Aspen, Hawaii, and the Southwest for the winter??

Actually, back to being serious for a second…. this is wallpaper in the photo, but I think you could totally replicate something like this with a stencil, or even a good eye and a steady freehand.

Just throwing it out there….

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And then simply because I cannot resist its charm, the lovely swallow wallpaper again. It’s just so sweet!

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And I know it’s hidden down here at the bottom, but it doesn’t make it less important. On the contrary, this birch wallpaper has been a LONGTIME favorite of mine. And it WILL be in my house one day.

Whether in a nursery or in our badass powder room, or walk-in closet. It will be mine. It’s so chic. I never get sick of it.

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And finally, how sweet are these clouds??

Another simple stencil idea on a simple grey wall. Yeah, that mom has good taste – that’s what he’s thinking too, as he’s all cozied up on his bed, refusing to take a nap.

So what are your thoughts on statement walls and statement ceilings in a kids room?

I already know my mom’s thoughts on the topic, and she’s totally on board.

As kids, my sister and I had a room with rainbow wallpaper. It was so cheery and fun. Kind of perfect for a kids room, and let’s be honest – if you can’t be whimsical, and take some major risks and make a loud statement in a kid’s room, where CAN you??

Side note, I tried to find a similar wallpaper to the one we had in our room as little girls, and the result to a google search for “rainbow wallpaper” is a total throwback to Lisa Frank. To you 90’s kids out there, you KNOW what I mean!

Holiday Fireplace and a DIY Garland

Posted on December 15, 2014 by Simply Styled

Are you guys ready for some holiday house updates?????????

Let’s dive right in!

The fireplace is the center of our living room, and an obvious focal point to decorate for the holidays. I was so excited to be able to string up garlands, and doll it up this year since our old apartment didn’t have a central focal point in the living room. Everything was centered around our TV which was practical, but not the most attractive option.

As stoked as I was to decorate the fireplace, I REALLLLLLYYYYYYY wish that it had a mantle. If you look closely, you’ll notice that it’s a flat facade, surrounded by a piece of crown molding, so there’s no spot for long beautiful taper candles, leaning art, or cool decorative accents like that on top of it.

I’ve spent many hours scheming about how to create a mantle here, but with the fireplace being completely surrounded on all sides by a slab of mirror, it just won’t work… unless I dare risk 7 years bad luck by breaking it… which I’m not down for. Sometimes we just have to make do with what we’ve got…. right?? Kind of the story of my life, but let’s be honest – I’m just happy to have a fireplace to decorate this year!

When I lived here before, I always loved how we strung a pre-lighted garland across the fireplace, but after digging that garland out of storage it was looking pretty sad. It was all smushed, and had little (if any) resemblance to real greenery. Imagine something like this… but faded, and flattened after being stored in a box for several years….

It was time to find a new game plan for our mantle – I loved the idea of a garland, but wanted it to be super full, and really eye-catching. And what would be more eye-catching than a bunch of gold ornaments strung together and wound up with fairy lights and greenery?? This garland DIY is super easy to pull together, so for anyone looking for a fun holiday project, this is the one for you! In fact, the more wine you drink while working on it, the better.

May I present to you our Gold and Green(ery) Garland. It’s two separate garlands woven together to make one massive, awesome, holiday focal point. It’s sparkly – especially once the garland is plugged in at night – and a little over the top but I’m totally in love with it.

The ornament garland was a DIY project I worked on one afternoon while catching up on bad reality TV. Nothing to get you in the holiday spirit than watching the Kardashian’s bicker.

I actually tested it out last year on a smaller garland that we now have hanging in the kitchen (yep, even the kitchen got a little holiday love in 2014), and making it is soooo easy. Look back at this post for the original instructions, but there isn’t much to explain.

Basically you need to start with a TON of ornaments – do not use glass. They WILL shatter. I used 4 boxes of plastic balls in assorted gold tones from Ikea… LOVE the Ikea holiday section this year. They win the award for “best everything”. More on them later… back to the DIY.

Start with tons of balls {insert joke here}.

Get your hands on a long strand of thick wire. Ribbon might work but I like that the wire forms to the shape you want.

Sting balls onto wire while accidentally drinking the better part of a bottle of wine and watching trashy TV.

Here’s what you’ll end up with:

Super technical DIY project *wink wink*

Once I had all the ornaments strung on the wire, it was time to hunt down a pretty green garland to replace our sad looking one.

I wanted one that was hefty, and that looked natural (at least somewhat). I looked into ordering a fresh garland for about two-seconds until realizing fresh garlands in SF ran about $160. Um, no thanks.

Off to Michael’s I went (with my coupon of course) and scored this beauty for something like $25. I think without the 40% off coupon it was in the high $30 range. Still, not bad for a lighted green 9′ garland with pine cones interspersed and several types of faux greens in the mix.

Once I got the green garland home, I wound the two garlands around one another, and secured them to the wood molding around the fireplace with two small nails, and more of the wire that I’d used to string the ornaments.

The nails will leave the smallest of holes, and will be easy to conceal with wood putty, and a coat of white paint.

Another new addition to our holiday fireplace, is this starburst mirror.

I love a good starburst – we have one hanging over our bed as well – but this is one of the best finds of my shopping career… EVER.

Such a score!

I consider myself to be a pretty serious bargain hunter – not on the same level as those crazy extreme couponers, but I take the sale sections seriously. As I was at the Home Depot over the weekend, wandering the aisles in search of a ceiling medallion (another story for another day), I found myself in the aisle with decorative moldings, hollow core doors, and what else… mirrors!

Easily distracted, I ventured over to the mirrors, and there, hanging on the wall was a mirror very similar to this one that I’ve been trying to hunt down!! It was a bit smaller than I’d wanted, but I was intrigued. I picked up the box below the sample mirror, and guess what? It a box for a completely different mirror. A sunburst mirror.

A sunburst mirror that was marked down to $6.

SIX DOLLARS.

I cannot make this stuff up.

I grabbed that box so fast, and was out of there before anyone could fight me for my $6 mirror.

Not only was it SIX DOLLARS (which I still cannot wrap my mind around), but it was bigger than the octagonal mirror I was originally admiring, and it fills out this space above the fireplace so well.

Here she is close-up – isn’t she pretty??

I also love that the center of the sunburst is convex, so it sort of distorts the reflection. Very cool.

It was a Christmas miracle actually. I’ve been agonizing over what to hang here for a while. The empty expanse of mirrors above and on the sides of the fireplace felt really 80’s to me.

On the one hand, all these mirrors make the room feel larger, but with no mantle above the fireplace to lean art on, place picture frames, flowers, branches… basically anything to draw the eye up, and compliment the spot above the fireplace, it was just so empty. It needed something.

I toyed with the idea of trying to hang a large piece of art here, but wasn’t loving that idea. Every time I had Kris hold something up there it just felt odd. I also toyed with the idea of hanging a mirror over here, but never found the right thing

I am so thrilled with how this looks but I’m not completely sold on the ribbon that secures it to a nail above the mirror. For now, with the holidays, it’s fine, but I’m not sure if the ribbon will stay – perhaps a string of clear fishing wire or something similar would be best, so it looks more like it’s mounted to the mirror, and less like it’s dangling from above.

Surprisingly enough, Kris is on board with the ribbon, so if we do keep it, I won’t have to worry about his complaints.

Also in the living room are several wrapped presents – I like to get them wrapped and under the tree as early as possible since they just add to the festive feel. I’m liking the simple feel of this brown paper, and bold ribbon, and a sprig of douglas fir finishes it off so nicely! And guess what… the branches were free! I may or may not have been scavenging the discard bins at the Christmas Tree Tent at Home Depot, but it’s fair game! The guys working the saws at the tree lot confirmed that these branches that get stripped from the bottoms of the trees are headed to the chipper at the end of the day, so I see it more as rescuing them.

And how awesome is that red cardinal ribbon?? Michaels was having 60% off their ribbon over the weekend, so 25 yards of this stuff was $3. Yes please!! Red cardinals and festive tartan ribbon for everyone!!!

I’ve been spoiling myself this year with fresh flowers only in the house, and have found that I can make hydrangeas last for a solid month, if I take care of them JUST right. I made this arrangement feel a bit more holiday-like with the addition of woodsy greenery, and some cool burgundy branches.

Apparently hydrangeas like HOT water, with a little bleach. Cut the stems vertically so they can soak up as much water through their woody stem, and they are good to go. I learned this little trick from an episode of the Barefoot Contessa, and I never forgot it! Just change the water out once a week, they tend to last and last and last.

I think my record was 7 weeks of keeping a cut hydrangea alive. #impressive

So that’s our holiday mantle fireplace! More festive updates coming your way soon, but the whole house got decked out – there’s a tree, an inappropriate Santa, and a really festive dining room still to share!

A Green and Gold Christmas

Posted on December 11, 2014 by Simply Styled

I’m in the process of photographing and posting some of the holiday decor we’ve got up in our house, but wanted to share where I was pulling my inspiration from this year…

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Green and gold baby!

I’m loving the look of the overabundance of greens in the forms of wreaths, greenery in vases, swags of greens and garlands on stairwells (which we don’t have), across fireplaces (which we DO have), and everywhere in-between.

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If it’s crusted in gold, or glitter, or both, chances are I want it.

I just think that the combination of the greenery with all the gold is just so pretty with all the twinkle lights, and I think it adds a bit of glam to what could otherwise really be a rustic, woodsy look.

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I mean how amazing is that tree, and that entryway, and that staircase, and that garland?!?! My future house in the Hamptons will look JUST like this at the holidays 🙂

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THAT DOG!!!!

What a muffin, although, clearly this is the most well behaved dog in the world. All those leftovers on the table, and he’s not even trying to touch them?

Yeah right.

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How pretty are these trees by the way?? There are so many gold ornaments and gold lights, they take over the branches, and it looks like something straight out of Kind Midas’ palace.

That said, I’m a sentimentalist, and so every year our tree gets decorated with the ornaments I’ve collected over the years. It is such a fun tradition, remembering where each ornament came from. One of my favorites is a pair of ceramic ballet slippers that miraculously have not yet broken. They are HEAVY but so pretty, and remind me of all the Decembers I’d play with them (carefully) as a little girl.

That said, I did go a little wild this year, and we have a few trees in our house……..

Living Room Tour

Posted on December 8, 2014 by Simply Styled

Keeping good on my promises you guys! I really wanted to start back writing on my blog somewhat regularly, and sharing some of the exciting updates we’ve made to our place! First up, our living room.

Since moving back into our new/old apartment in February, I’ve been working slowly but steadily to attack each room with updates.

I actually used to live in this apartment with my best friend Kira, but when Kris and I moved in together, he and I found a new apartment, and Kira stayed in this one that we shared. Fast forward almost two years later, she decided to move cross-country to Chicago, so Kris and I moved back in. It has a great layout, lots of natural light, and so much more space than we had in our first place together.

The only problem was that after 5 years of wear and tear, things were looking a little worn.

I’ve got to say, it was somewhat of a surreal experience to be living back in an apartment that used to be mine – it wasn’t the normal process of getting to know all the quirks of a new home. I already knew that the fake drawer front below the sink fell out from time to time…. that there is a super creepy clicking sound in the middle of the night as the steam heat turns on and the pipes warm up… that you have to open the refrigerator to open the dishwasher. Nothing about the apartment was a surprise, but instead of feeling like I was coming back home, it felt like I was moving into a strangers’ apartment. The apartment was the same, but somehow it had changed in the time I was gone. It was older. There were more holes in the walls. There were more scuffs in the paint. Nothing abnormal, just older, more worn, and not mine.

Luckily for me, the process of getting everything updated and back in tip-top shape felt like a fun project to tackle instead of a massive undertaking. It’s been a slow process, but don’t they say “slow and steady wins the race”? It’s taken me almost a year, quite a few gallons of paint, spackle, sandpaper, and elbow grease, but it’s feeling refreshed, and most importantly, like it’s ours.

Today I want to share with you the living room – it’s the room where we spend the most time, and one of my favorite spots in our house. Here’s where it started a few days after we moved in.

Here’s what we started with:

The Bones of the Room:
The walls were all scuffed from the multiple moves, had tons of holes from past pictures and shelves, and were painted a yellowed beige color. The fireplace had a really dirty, cracked stone facade in a peach-y color. The curtain rods I’d hung up when I was 24 years old weren’t hung straight, and were staggered to fit into the tight bay window space.

The Furniture:
We started with two sad looking love seats that I’ve been dying to replace for the past two years, a console table that really felt out of place for not only the space but our style. We had our huge, dark, bulky coffee table, that took up more space than the love seats, and matching side tables.

This is not to say that I hated everything we owned. Quite the opposite.

I really tried to be creative in our last apartment with how to make what we had work for our space – while nothing matched, and everything was a mish-mash of our starter furniture from our early 20’s, I used new throw pillows and decorative accessories to doll things up, and I’ll always think back fondly of our first apartment together, and all the things in it.

The truth was, all the stuff we were holding onto wasn’t functioning well with the new layout, and it wasn’t comfortable. Aside from nostalgia and feeling frugal, there was literally no reason to hold onto any of it anymore. What was worse, our old furniture, paired with the dingy walls felt especially bland and actually kind of dark and dingy, despite the light color palate.

This past year was a big one, and for so many reasons, it felt like the start of a new chapter. I turned 30 and got engaged, so moving into a new place felt like the perfect opportunity to get rid of the falling apart “starter” furniture we’d been holding onto, and invest in things we love… pieces that we’d take with us to our future homes, and have for a long time. What I wanted was a bright space that felt new, while highlighting the lovely architectural details this space has to offer, and pieces that could transition from an apartment to a home that we own.

So what updates did the space get??

Well first, we painted – all the walls got a coat of Intense White by Benjamin Moore.
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The first rule of renting is to not make changes that the landlord won’t approve of. This color is so fresh, light and neutral, we won’t be re-painting when we move out.

It’s hands down my favorite color of grey – coming from the same color card as Grey Owl, it’s the lightest on the paint card, but it is definitely grey – not white, despite it’s name. It’s a very bright, clean neutral grey, and doesn’t err on the blue side which absorbs light, and can make a room feel dark. The first color I painted was very blue, and I ended up having to paint this room twice. Lesson learned – paint swatches and lots of research when it comes to grey.

The trim got a coat of Decorator’s White – another Benjamin Moore color, and together the trim and walls look really crisp and fresh.
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My goal with the walls was to minimize all the imperfections – cracks in the wall, paint blobs from drips the last time this room was painted, and little bumps and nicks, holes from pictures and shelves but as you can see it’s not perfect. I patched all the holes in the walls with spackle, sanded them down, but it’s an old building, and these walls are plaster from the 30’s, so there’s not just 5 years of wear and tear, but almost 80 years… at least. While there are still some lumps and bumps, the paint and the touch-ups changed how bright and new the room felt.

Simple, easy to do, and inexpensive fixes with paint = huge difference.

I also updated the fireplace.

I posted about that process a few months ago, and we’re still loving the updates. The stone that was there was not very beautiful to begin with, and was so dirty and cracked – even scrubbing it, the years of soot were not going anywhere.

Here’s a close up of how it looked before:

Let me also add, that this “before” picture was taken AFTER scrubbing and scrubbing… the dirt was not going anywhere.

Here was how it looked during it’s facelift:

And a few more pretty afters:

Inside the fireplace, you’ll notice an abundance of candles. I would NOT light a fire in the fireplace at this point. It hasnt been used in years, it likely is full of soot and god knows what else, and I don’t want to risk setting this building on fire.

So candles are a good alternative – they are super cozy at night when they’re all lit, and in the day, they offer a pretty architectural element. As we burn them, I love the wax drips that come down the sides.

The contact paper is holding up really well, and everyone who comes over always comments how much they love it. No one knows it’s not marble, and I’m certainly not going to be the one to tell them 🙂 Read about the whole process here.

Another update? The old coffee table (which was part of a matching set) got sold to a new home on Craigslist, and we replaced it with this beauty.

This is the Box Frame Coffee Table – Café from West Elm. Overall, we’re really happy with it. The wood is such a pretty warm color, the metal frame is incredibly sturdy, and without the storage shelf on the bottom that we had on our last coffee table, it invites less clutter, and looks really open and light. My ONLY complaint is that it scratches easily. It came with a few small scratches in it already, but after waiting for months for it to be delivered (it was back-ordered) the tray camouflages those little scratches, and some good wood oil also helps them disappear.

Padded coasters are our best friend.

You might also notice that those awful mis-matched love seats are gone. Woooooo hoooooooo!!

They’ve also gone to greener pastures on Craigslist, and we replaced them with the BEST sofa ever made. It’s the PB Comfort Square sofa, with chaise from Pottery Barn.

First I want to say how much we love this couch. Second, let me say that Pottery Barn was THE WORST company to work with from a customer service perspective. Truly awful. I won’t go into all the dirty details on here since everything ended well, and we love the sofa so much, but if anyone wants to hear about our experience, send me a private message.

What we love most about it:

It has really deep seat cushions, a nice high back, and it’s BIG. It looks kind of dainty in these pictures, but Kris and I can both lay down on it without touching – he’s 6’3″ and I’m 5’8″. The pillows on the sofa here are 24″ square, so you can really see how large it is from a scale perspective. It’s amazing.

A few more glory shots of our amazing sofa…

We got the cushions filled with down, and let me just say, it’s worth the extra money my friends. Not only can we re-fluff the cushions, but it adds this element of sinking in and being so cozy when you’re curled up on it in the evenings.

Here’s a close-up of the fabric.

We ordered the Textured Twill in Oatmeal after seeing it in the store on another sofa. It is really durable for scrubbing IN CASE something spills, but has the look of a more organic linen which I love. The other twill options are flat looking – similar to denim almost – and this color is wonderful at masking everyday wear and tear.

Kris was the one who wanted it, and he could not have made a better call here.

Final details? The new lamps, the woven rug, layered with the cowhide from our last apartment, the new pillows, and long white linen curtains.

I ordered the pillow covers off of Etsy, and agonized over which to get. I loved the large greek key trim, but matching the navy velvet was tough. I wanted a small scale print to coordinate, and ended up with this Schumacher fabric. I love the heavy weight of each – perfect for the colder months right now, and my mom and I are working on others pillow covers that we’ll swap in for the spring / summer months.

The knit creme colored throw was a find at Ikea (of all places), and it’s so cozy, and adds a bit of texture to the sofa. It also lives on the chaise lounge, and protects the sofa from dirty feet.

You can kind of take a peek into the entry and the dining room, but more updates on those spaces later…

The lamps are from Target, the side tables were the ones we had in our last apartment, and while I wasn’t crazy about them before, they don’t bother me anymore now that the big bulky coffee table is gone. They just sort of blend into the background, and the idea of replacing them is in the very very VERY distant future. Like years maybe.

The large frames are from Ikea also. A great find – the wood ties in with the coffee table nicely, and you cannot beat the price for a frame that size. The sailing prints are from Art.com, and as my dad aptly pointed out, I’ve hung them in the reverse order. It’s actually two prints of one single boat!

Oops! Need to rehang those…..

There are a few last pieces to finish to room off – a nice chair to fill in the seating area around the coffee table, a small side table for placing cold drinks, and a few more small details, but I’m really happy with where we’ve come in the last year.

It feels clean, refreshed, and is incredibly comfortable and welcoming, which to me was the most important part. It was impossible to lounge around watching movies on those old teeny love seats, and all the furniture we’ve got now, are things I want to keep for a long, LONG time.

OH! And I almost forgot one of my favorite things… rounding out our coffee table is the new book from Erin Gates – Elements of Style. I love her so much, and her book is absolutely beautiful – from the striped spine that kills me, to everything inside. One of my favorite books to flip through – not a surprise coming from her #designporn

So that’s where we are!

It’s taken a year to get here, and I’m sure that there are more (minor) changes to come, but I’m so happy with the space as it stands now, and let’s be honest… I’ve got a wedding to plan, so our house will be the furthest thing from my mind in a few months.

Next update coming your way… the dining room!

Happy Monday friends!
xoxo

The Mirror that Got Away

Posted on September 4, 2014 by Simply Styled

Regret. Major regret my friends!!

I’m going to call it “un-buyers remorse”. Ugh!! If only I could turn back time and buy that mirror a month ago at the Alameda County Flea Market, all would be well in the world!!

Here’s the short version of this story… a few weeks ago, one of my best friends and I went to the Alameda County Flea Market. “Flea Market” doesn’t sound like the kind of place I’d want to be, but I swear to you, this one is amazing. Some real gems my friends… Also, a lot of weird old (but not that old) nightgowns, Hawaiian shirts, and used shoes, but for the most part cool, unique furniture, accessories, and antiques.

Last month was our second trip to the flea market, and having already used our first trip to scout things out, we came prepared with a rough wishlist of what we wanted to find, plenty of cash, and comfortable walking shoes. We both came away from our little flea market trip with some absolute gems… but there is one mirror that I passed on, and it keeps coming back to haunt me.

It’s literally haunting me you guys… now that it’s long gone, and I can’t possibly have it, I keep seeing it pop up in pictures of beautifully styled rooms – on my favorite blogs… on Pinterest! I can’t escape it!!

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I realize that at some point I’m going to have to get over it, but it’s just so pretty, and it would look so amazing over our chest of drawers in the bedroom! As if to add insult to injury, the mirror we have hanging there right now is a boring, black, rectangular frame from Ikea. Oh, and I accidentally drilled two holes straight through the wood, so that it looks extra “special”. Dah!

People talk about buyers remorse, but I swear no one ever talks about un-buyers remorse. If only I’d pulled the trigger!!

Has this ever happened to you?