the Fowler's Family room

Over the summer, I've had a few "design irons" in the fire. One fire put out that I can now share with you is the Fowler's Family Room. They wanted a make-over and I was glad to help. The above photo shows the plan I laid out...

Updated finishes, fabrics, and colors. New window treatments, new lighting, new furniture, and a new cozy feel.

Here are a few before photos.

Notice the outdated fan & light....

& the TV is way too large for its cabinet....

a boring builder beige wall color...

& mixmatched furniture (and the sofa was too long).....

& uh, we need something here...too much clutter in this nook.... So I put the plan to work and I'm happy to say my clients loved the outcome!

I used a larger console, at a much better scale for the TV, with a rich dark wood tone. The back wall was painted a gray-green to punch up the character in the room. I accented with the gray-green again in the window panels to pull everything together.

Remember the red leather sofa & recliner? They were switched out with an updated rich brown leather recliner & a cozy linen sofa.

The homeowners have great taste in art and were able to pick up the leafy prints on their cruise this summer...

A brown stripe in the window treatments helped tie in the new brown leather in the room for a more cohesive design...A new linen sofa fit the space better. And new throw pillows accented in brown, again, tie it all together... I love the small faceted mirrored table from West Elm. Its perfect for a small area, but still gives you a surface for drinks while relaxing. I wasn't sure Mrs. Fowler would go for it, but said she especially loved the table once installed! Success!

And remember the cluttered desk and brass shelving in the akward nook? I sketched the design for built-in shelving so that it looks as if it were always there. The wood was painted white to match the room's existing trim, and we used the same gray-green color on the back wall of the unit. The space now has a much cleaner look. An overall photo.... Hope to share more summer projects soon!

Mosaic Monday.....Texture.

Be sure to check out the Little Red House's Mosaic Monday to see other lovely mosaics!

Dining in Iron and Gold....

In Brentwood, TN, there is a lovely new neighborhood called Windstone that sits tucked away in a valley of nearly 200 acres. In this model home there, the foyer and its winding IRON stair case set the stage for the entrance. But the dining room off the foyer needed a little finessing...

It also has touches of IRON (in the chandelier) and it has touches of GOLD with the paint color on the walls.The furniture (high back uphosltered chairs and an antique-like wooden pedestal table) I found at a little known furniture store in Franklin, TN called JJ Ashleys. I thought a round table would work well in this room.....now everyone can see each other while dining around it....

I had the window treatments professionally made for the arched window....taupe sheers with GOLDEN flowers stiched in to play off the wall color....and IRON hardware to hook and hold....

(p.s. I loved the sheer fabric so much that I purchased more of it a few years later for my personal home....to see my own dining room re-design with these sheers, CLICK HERE....) Go see Susan at Between Naps on the Porch for Metamorphosis Monday posts!

I'm hooked on photography.....

At Karrie Hillis Photography, Karrie is great at capturing the simple things in life and making them wall-worthy....

....I can surely say that I am hooked on great photography like Karrie's.....

...things like an old door with brass knobs, historic buildings, or a green rusty entrance that is never used, become artwork....

....Quaint places in black and white take you back to another time....

...this abandoned home makes you feel something and wonder who once lived here....

...a single limb on a tree....

....a favorite soda....

.....she captures cute smiling faces.......and sexy poses, too.... You can drool over more of Karrie's wall worthies here at Karrie Hillis Photography.

And check out Hooked On Houses' blog party, "Hooked On Fridays," to see what everyone else is hooked on.....

Dining in Blue...

Remember the model home I was working on in Westhaven? Well, this is the dining room. It needed some color on the table.....

so I went with BLUE!

3 centerpiece votives...in blue....Pretty and delicate stemware....2 different patterns are fine to use together..... I added white dinnerware with blue placemats, blue linens, and a blue accent plate for each place setting....

Before and Bare.....

After..... Head over to Susan's Between Naps on the Porch for more great tablescapes!

Nikki's getting hitched!

Nikki's getting married next weekend! So my friend and I gave her a party!!!!

Gave her a veil to wear out!

Made a lingerie card to go with her lingerie gift (you don't get to see that..) She also needed some type of notification to show that she would soon be "taken"...So, I made her a sign to wear around her neck.... We would play the dice game later while out...you get the picture.... But before we got it all started, we had some food, games, and gifts! Isn't she cute! Congratulations Nikki! See other fabulous tablescapes at Susan's Between Naps on the Porch's blog party, "Tablescape Thursday."

a model home in Westhaven...

I do design work in a community in Franklin, TN called Westhaven.

For this model home, I selected the exterior and interior finishes. Later, when everything was complete, I added accessories to the home. And one thing that needed work was the kitchen table, it needed tablescaping.

Kitchen table Before....

And after.... I purchased a dinnerware set similar in color to the Porter color on the walls....then I added some white dishes with a beachy theme to accent.... The tablescape compliments the kitchen adjacent to it. The cabinets were finished in an ivory paint, with no glaze, and topped with Uba Tuba granite on the counters.....the island cabinets (as well as the inside finish of the glass cabinets) were finished with beadboard in a Nutmeg stain. I added some of the white plates behind the glass cabinets to contrast the dark stain and really pop! Uba Tuba granite usually has a hint of green and some veining of gold, but is almost a black granite..... Notice the bronze finish on the cabinet hardware to pull in the dark granite....I designed the backsplash in Autumn Lilac 2x2 slate tiles laid diagonally and a pinwheel pattern framed over the cooktop area for interest. There was no need for metal or glass accent tiles with the slate. The natural random color slate has gave all the variance needed for an interesting backsplash. I love how it pulls colors from the countertop, cabinets, and wall paint color.

I thought this post would be perfect for Susan's Tablescape Thursday at Between Naps on the Porch. I will have to show you the rest of the model another day!