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.

Mark Your Calendar!

Hi Friends! Jumping on to share a really quick announcement with you today - on January 10 I will be over on Roomhints sharing tips, tricks and fixes, for any and all pesky home decor questions you may have! Whether you're trying to find the right layout for a particular space, which paint color to use, or what size sofa to purchase, I'll be available with decisive advice to help you move forward! I sought this opportunity as a way to offer help for those who don't necessarily need a full design package but have questions that are beyond the expertise of their Joanna-Gaines-obsessed coworkers. Sometimes we just need a few experienced pointers to be well on our way, right? The process is three simple steps:

1. Register with me, Chelsea Bieber, for $49, (a fraction of a full design package)
2. Upload photos of your space to the Roomhints app, (you'll be directed how to do this, it's very easy)
3. Ask away! Let me know what's nagging you about that space and I'll respond with 5 practical tips, pieces, ideas, etc!

When the holiday buzz has quieted and you've swept up the last of the dried Christmas tree bristles, it's a perfect time to re-think your space and hit the reset button. I would love to talk it out with you and lend my help so you can love your home that much more in 2018!

Reveal: Eclectic Equine Condo

Hello, hello! It's good to be back here with you for another eDesign reveal! If you're newer around these parts of the great World Wide Web, first off, welcome! So glad you're here! I'm Chelsea and peeled off from doing furniture refinishing about 2 years ago to focus on the design branch of StyleMutt Home. It's been a really exciting challenge to learn how to do design work, (primarily eDesign), and navigate where the specific skills can be used. Although we have been blessed with a full load of individual clients this year,  I accepted and began a freelance design job over the summer with a corporate company who is similar to Airbnb. They're purchasing condos in major cities around the US and Canada and making them available to travelers as home-away-from-home stay places. But between their purchase and that first lease, there is a lot of work to do on these condos! My job is the design, (i.e. the fun part)! The work is very fast paced and often unpredictable. I design these spaces from the comfort of my own home, never stepping foot inside the physical space.  I never know what information they'll be able to supply me with on a unit before I get started on the design. Many times they give me a floorplan with measurements and that's it. If I'm lucky I get pictures, and maybe even a video tour! Regardless of what info I'm given for a space, they require all the details that make up a complete eDesign in a day or two. It's a lot of fast research, drawing, note taking and, <gulp> math, but the exciting part is having the creative freedom to design the spaces how I wish. The company always gives me a style direction, (industrial, old world, California cool, etc), but from there I can run with it.

The space I'm sharing today is in Chicago and came with all the lovely before photos a girl could ask for. It is a 2 bedroom condo with a comfortable living space complete with a full kitchen. When I saw the before photos the space just looked tired. The blue-gray walls just made the it all look kind of 'blah'; especially the kitchen. There is absolutely nothing modern or industrial about the architecture here like in many of the other spaces I have designed for this company, so my desire was simply to freshen it up and make it cozy. In my short experience with design thus far I have learned that the most successful designs are a natural extension of the space. Since this space is already very traditional, I stuck to fairly classic pieces that read traditional with a modern twist. When I first showed Cate her remark was how very equestrian it felt with the dark moody colors, rich velvets and warm leather. So I'm calling this the Equine Condo! Lol!

Let's take a look!

LIVING ROOM

Below is a before picture of the living room paired with my design plan:

BEDROOM 1

I'm telling you, it's so hard to design rooms without the current season on your brain. I worked on this space right as the days were turning crisp and pumpkins were being displayed on doorsteps. Can you tell?! I went all out cozy. It's a rather large bedroom and I just wanted to make it feel inviting, quiet, and relaxing. It's like a big green cave and I just love it.

BEDROOM 2

They said a bed couldn't be done. They said a dresser could never fit. Literally - I actually (accidentally) stumbled onto other designers' notes on this room. The client deeply desired this space to be a second bedroom, and with an en-suite bathroom it surely made sense.  I studied that floorplan and researched beds. I knew if the measurements were right that a full bed mattress would absolutely be doable. A bedframe, maybe not. So I found an adjustable bedframe that could be pulled inward a few inches if need be but still support the full size mattress. And with the bed nestled cozy in the corner there was more than enough space for a modest tallboy dresser with a small footprint. I'm not usually one to sit and work on puzzles, but I thoroughly enjoyed figuring out how to fit the pieces together comfortably in this room!

And how about that wallpaper?! Target has a gorgeous line of peel-and-stick that is ~$30 for 27.5 sq ft! That's a lot of impact for a tiny bit of $! I'm still fairly weary of using wallpaper, but I'm so pleased with how it turned out in this space. It's the perfect tiny room for it.

KITCHEN

I admit I wasn't thrilled with these cherry cabinets and cherry floor - it was a lot of red wood, hurt my eyes. Hah! But once again I am floored by the magic of a fresh coat of paint. My design for this space included painting the entire main living space in Swiss Coffee by Benjamin Moore and it absolutely wakes this space up. With all the red wood, the stools may seem an odd choice. I totally get it; why add even more red toned wood? Well, for one thing I didn't want any statements in the kitchen. I was adding a lot of contrast to the living room right next to it and wanted the kitchen to just be easy on the eyes, nothing sticking out. Secondly, although the red toned wood itself is not my favorite, keeping it all the same gives this space a slight modern feel. It's monochromatic which I love.

That's a wrap! I hope you enjoyed looking around - I sure am grateful to you for coming by!