Reader Design: Ashley's Farmhouse Boho Home

Ok, y'all (side note: now that I'm a Seattleite I never say that word outloud, but boy does it feel good to type it!). 

Daylight savings has happened. The days are officially darker, and Fall - and perhaps even Winter - are already here. Today, we're taking off to Montana and fully embracing all there is to love about this season with a tour of Ashley's home. 

It's some mutt-ish mix of boho, mid-century, and rustic and replete with all the Fall vibes. This is a perfect opportunity for an edition of "I Spy: StyleMutt Home Reader Design." Count the Fall references in this home - all things layered, cozy, and Thanksgiving-inspired - and we'll see if we come away with the same number. Deal? 

From Ashley:

“I strive for functionality that also looks good. I strive to promote a sense of coziness and cleanliness in my home. A space that is clutter-free but also has a ‘lived-in’ feel (because, yes, real people live here!) I take pride in creating an oasis for my husband to come home to after a long day of work.”

This oasis was created with a lot of DIYing, bargain hunting, and creativity. In the living room, Ashley and her husband transformed the cookie cutter box fireplace into the stunning stone masterpiece you see. All it took was a lot of sweat and, per Ashley, maybe a few tears!

In the living room, they negotiated and landed a "dinged" floor model version of the farmhouse table they were eyeing; those display scratches didn't detract at all from the table - in fact, they added character! 

In the master bedroom, they added some character again with a DIY shiplap wall. Now... I know what you're thinking. Thank you, Joanna Gaines, for the shiplap obsession that's rocking the nation. But Ashley knows that despite its current trendiness, the feature is still completely her. 

“I don’t pay too much attention to trends, but instead gravitate towards classic and timeless pieces. I don’t want to feel like my décor is dated only months after designing a space. With that said, I do have shiplap in my home which is very “trendy” right now. But shiplap isn’t new, and I love the interest it adds to a space – so that is why I have it in multiple rooms, not because it is “in”. There is already talk about people regretting their decision to shiplap their walls, but I love it and have no regrets! At the end of the day, as long as your space brings you joy, that is all that matters!”

At the end of the day, all that money and time is well spent if the results makes you feel content, happy, and home. 

“[I’ll always invest in] anything that is well built and serves as functional décor! I love finding pieces that are made with quality materials and will stand the test of time. With that said, I also love finding functional useful items and displaying them as décor in my home. This dual purpose makes it worth a splurge!”

Thank you for the tour, Ashley! Your home is so full of love and built to withstand any season. 

Follow Ashley along on Instagram @ashley.joyfullygrowing for more. See you all next week! 

Reader Design: Lisa's Fashion-Forward Farmhouse

As I promised in my last post, today's reader design is a fun blend of fashion and bold vignettes.  With the life of a jet-setting fashion designer, Lisa's new-found happy place is her countryside home on outskirts of Seattle... I mean, just look at that view!

From Lisa:

I have been designing clothes for over 30 years in the Seattle region...  I have always followed interior design because it is so closely related to fashion and I love creating and advising others to create a unique home! My style is hard to define, but my approach and goal is to make my home a visual "experience" so I think I would call my style "experiential". I love to incorporate my fashion background and travels to evoke a sense of history, function and whimsy!!! (Framed garments are sprinkled around my home!) I want people to enjoy every corner in my home and get a design "fix" when they look around each room....I love it when my friends feel empowered to go home and change things up a bit in their own homes!

Her career has taken her to NYC, LA, Munich, India, Paris, London, Korea, HK, Montreal, Toronto and (Hong Kong 36 times!) - working with sophisticated brands such as Nordstrom's, Cutter & Buck, Annika Sorenstam's Collection by CB, Unionbay Jeans, Eddie Bauer and coat/ outerwear collections for Trina Turk and Pendleton.  Quite the resume I'd say!

We transformed a 1937 farmhouse into our current home. We stripped the house down to the studs [while]... my husband, son and I lived in a duck hunting lodge on our property for 5 months while we renovated this home!  I re-oriented the back door to become the front, with the expert help of an architect. During the warmer months we have hot air balloons floating by my kitchen window regularly! It's a treat to see!

In the Home Office, this mannequin is just "wearing" fabric that I draped and pinned on it ...I love having a pin board to see my lastest inspo ideas and tear sheets...I made the chalkboard from a old ugly print that I painted over, I loved the gold frame. My computer screen is huge so I can design multiple garments and get a big picture view of what the heck I am doing. I tend to get a little lost in my work at times and forget to eat, etc...I have an artist's personality and easily lose track of time!

This would be the office of my dreams Lisa!  A big visual board, comfy/cute chair, and adorably organized desk space... yum.

In the master bedroom, the [featured] artwork is a framed Chanel wool coat from the Paris boutique. I was lucky to buy this at one of our private Nordstrom "design sample" sale...it cost less than a couple lattes...heehee.   This wall was blank for 6 years until one day, I thought, hey, I don't wear that coat very often but I think it would be fun to hang on the wall...the rest is history!  I framed it with a black velvet trim and sprayed a hanger to match (recede to the wall) and voile' art!

Ooohh the perks for being a fashionists!  Tres jealous, Lisa.  But what a great idea to incorporate beloved sentimental pieces into your decor!

In the living room,  I made the coffee table from a wooden crate and thrifted mirror that cost me $5!  I love the natural elements, again on my mantel and the hide rug (a birthday gift from my hubby). Our floors are original to the home (1937) fir, they get "scars" easily as my husband would say...but we both like that well-worn effect, so shoes are welcome on them. 

I wish my hubby would get me a cowhide rug for my birthday *hint hint Caleb*

I hang branches everywhere in my home, I love the graphic quality and the expense!!!  And they are always available on our property, I spray them or paint them with white to freshen them up a bit...after I "de-bug" them of course!!!

For my kitchen island I chose to have in a dark wood finish to make it feel like a focal piece of furniture. I love the book shelves on one end and wine storage on the other. I also have this "thing" for butherblock tops...I LOVE WOOD. I love to polish this island with natural wood oil. My grandfather had an amazing woodworking studio in his basement and I loved to sweep up the saw dust when I was a little girl visiting my grandparents home. Even the smell of wood gets me! I think that's why all my candles are pine or wood scented!  Haha

I made the entry leaning mirror from our last home's bathroom re-model. I salvaged the mirror because it had a beautiful beveled edge and was HUGE....bought a hand saw and miter box, a sheet of plywood for the backing and cut and painted frame by myself. I own all the power tools in our home!!! Haha...

Welcome to the club Lisa ;)

That pheasant feather wall art was based off an actual feather Lisa's husband found at a friend's Montana ranch.  She cleverly printed a photo on architectural vellum and then paints over in acrylic and mounted it on wood to create our favorite faux pull-down chart art.

Thank you so much for inviting us into your home Lisa!  If you are as inspired by Lisa's fashion-forward touches to her home, be sure to follow her on instagram @ellegeestudio for more!

And remember my decor-loving friends, you don't have to be a well-traveled savant or even plumb trend-inclined to have your space featured here and on our Spaces page - just a home you love and your unique point of view.  Tag your pics with #stylemuttspaces on instagram or facebook and we'll contact you for more info.

Reader Design: Kathy's Cozy Nest

Big time,

So you KNOW what that means, don't you. A pretty dandy Reader Design! Can I just brag about our Reader Designs for a sec?! These special features have absolutely nothing to do with Cate or myself - we don't even personally know most of these inspiring home owners, (or renters)! By the Lord's sweet design we've digitally crossed paths with each of these talented guests in some form or another and they've graciously agreed to share their home on our blog. We feel like we have the luckiest blog in the world to have SO many incredible tours to view!

We are so grateful to those who've come on and are yet to come for what they've given StyleMutt Home - our growing SPACES page's popularity is beyond what we ever could have imagined. We are so excited about beefing it up with more Reader Designs and hope you'll join in the fun! Just tag #stylemuttspaces on Instagram or post a photo or two to our facebook page to express interest. Then we'll contact you with the simple deets!

Speaking of beefing up that SPACES page, this gorgeous tour just hits all the right notes and it's from our oh-so-inspiring Inerweb friend, Kathy, (@thedailynest)! There's something for everyone in this one. Come on in!

From Kathy:

I would say my decor style is traditional with an eclectic twist! I love a traditional piece of furniture with maybe an accessory that would make you say, "What the what?" The most frequent comment I get about my home is, "It's so warm and inviting!" And that's exactly what I want my home to be. Warm, comfy and a place where you feel like you can come in and curl your feet up in a chair or put your feet on the coffee table!

This is an over all look at the living room, breakfast area and kitchen. The walls are painted Benjamin Moore's Revere Pewter and all the trim is White Dove. 

Traditional with an eclectic twist? Nailed it!

This is my husband's favorite chair. It's the Buchanan chair from Pottery Barn and I love the little pop of turquoise on the side table!

The breakfast area is where we really eat most of our meals, since we are now empty nesters! The round table is perfect for two but could sit four if need be. And one of my favorite all time purchases is this cow hide rug! I just love him or her! My 2 1/2 year old Granddaughter sits on it and says, "This is Mimi's cow!" We just recently found these incredible shutters from a salvage store and they are from Eqypt, can you believe! I think they add some architecture to the room flanking both sides of the french doors. 

The kitchen is the heart of the home! And this is so true for this space! It's where everyone gathers when we have our family get together's. Before we remodeled we had a tiny window over the sink and the counters ended there. So we added a large window that overlooks the pool and backyard and extended the counters and under cabinets to the end of the wall. The half wall used to be a solid wall and closed up the room so by opening it up to the breakfast area it makes the kitchen feel so much bigger! Best decision we ever made!

Our dining room, which used to be our master, then our sons room, and then an office, is now my favorite room in the house! Wow! I'm tired just thinking of all the transformations it's undergone! But with every change it's made our home functional for the time! I always say it was cheaper than moving! I found a room on Houzz.com that we used for inspiration for the built ins. The walls are Benjamin Moore's Hale Navy and my talented husband built the large shelf on the left and did all the board and batten which is painted BM White Dove.

Bringing in a little Fall on the large shelf which was inspired by a shelf I saw on HGTV's dream home one year! It's a great piece and serves as a buffet at times.

This room is affectionately known as the empty nest room! Because this was our younger son's room for his entire life! So when he moved out…hold on, talk amongst yourselves! It still gets me every time…okay I've pulled it together! This room is now my little office where I'm writing this now and it also has a daybed and crib for our Grandbabies! Can you say multipurpose?? The room is painted Benjamin Moore's Palladian Blue and the trim is White Dove. It's a happy little room, and I hardly ever think about our son leaving us! I kid!!

This is our master bedroom and right now its going through some changes so this is what it looked like a while back. We added this room when my husband wanted to have another baby and I said, "Can you build my dream bedroom?" And the day I went for my first Doctors appointment to find out if I was pregnant, we went downtown and pulled the permits to build this room! We recently painted the fireplace Benjamin Moore's White Dove. It was a red brick and I think the white really updates it! The walls are Revere Pewter and the pup is Sydney!

This comfy chaise from Ikea is perfect in this spot where the corner window overlooks the pool. It's a pretty view to sit and have a cup of coffee in the mornings!

This is my new and improved and recently remodeled laundry room! And I couldn't be happier with it! It had a very off center and awkward window above the washer and dryer so we eliminated it! I know! Who closes up windows? But it turned out great! We hung bead board horizontally and added these beautiful yet functional shelves from Ballard Designs and a little blingy chandelier makes doing laundry not so much of a chore!

Well that was just heavenly! Kathy is truly an inspiring home decorator and just as sweet as can be.  We highly encourage you to hop over to her blog, The Daily Nest, to keep up on her current projects and decorating tips!

Have a wonderful weekend, style mutts! Thank you for stopping by!