Bedroom Re-Do || 2017 Flip List Item No.6

Like Chelsea said yesterday, our bedroom has always been a flat note to me.   We've tried a couple different looks over the past two years (see here and here).  Each time we rearranged, it felt like I inched a little closer to the vibe I wanted but without ever bringing the design to full fruition.

So I added item redoing our bedroom to the 2017 Furniture Flip Bucket List in the hopes of figuring out what was missing from this neglected space.  

The first thing that greets you when you walk into our bedroom has always been my nightstand.  I fell in love with this vignette ages ago so I used it as inspiration for the rest of the space: warm wood + pops of color + a glint of brass.

In the past looks I’ve tried, we’ve never had a headboard.  I think that made me feel like there was something juvenile about our space.  So this time around I needed to see if a headboard would help refine our bedroom.  And I gotta say I am loving the anchor of the plush blue velvet!

I also kept my beloved leather + brass cantilever chair in the corner by the window.  

I think one day I’d ideally like to use this chair at a desk, but until then I guess my husband can keep throwing his “clean” underwear on it *insert facepalm emoji.*

Next to the chair is our thrifted MCM dresser.  I found this bad boy for only $50 and eventually scored the sunset mirror to go with it.

Just outside our door you can peek the roadside rescue ladder I've often used as a lateral storage piece.  Our hallway doesn't have much going on so I added the low-profile vertical piece for some architectural interest.

In this redecorating process, I did figure out that I’m bothered by the lack of varied furniture height in our room.

I shopped our apartment to introduce something lower as an alternative storage piece - do you recognize it?  This bench was actually our coffee table but I liked the idea of converting it to a get ready station.

The pièce de résistance to the makeover however is new bedding... I never realized how grown-up it would feel to have a real duvet cover!  We scored the Marble Percale Duvet Cover and matching shams (guess what - their on sale!) from Cstudio Home and it’s perfect for me and my oven-of-a-husband (ok I’m an oven too).  

Don't forget to check out Chelsea's Cstudio Home finds in her bedroom reveal... Gasp!  That shag pillow cover!  *heart eyes heart eyes heart eyes*

True, most of this makeover is a series of subtle tweaks.  What can I say?  We’re still in a rental after all.  But this modest assortment of new things has me feeling right as rain.  Until I get the itch to change it again that is... ;)

And on that note, that’s officially a wrap on the 2017 Furniture Flip Bucket List!  After two years of late finishes, it feels good to cross the finish line with a month to spare.  I’ve already begun percolating what I want to tackle in 2018 so stay tuned for next year’s list come January!

Seven down, zero to go.  Catch up on the 2017 Furniture Flip Bucket List.

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!

Reveal: The Concrete Cave

Hi friends! Jumpin' on with another eDesign reveal today - this week's space is tucked inside Chicago's Wicker Park neighborhood and was a real test to my cozier sensibilities. Last week's space I did in Boston was easy peasy- exposed brick, large windows, warm wood floors - all the ingredients to go cozy to the max! The space I'm sharing today gave me a bit of a chill when I first saw the photos the client sent over:

The window-less room above is the bedroom. So what to do? Embrace the uber modern elements or go against the grain and add warmth and texture? I settled on both and found some helpful inspo images before finding the right mix of pieces!

With the influx of eDesign reveals here I cannot express enough how much I value floorplans! They are the least visually appealing aspect of a job but allow me to really understand the space. I play with various arrangements until I find one that enhances the elements of the room best. Here's a peek at the final arrangement and the floorplan we stuck to the closest.

And to help the client 'see' the space, an example of one of the design boards used for this project:

Without further adieu, welcome to Chi town!

The physical space is unlike anything I've ever worked with; it's industrial, yes, but also modern in an almost sterile way. My objective was to embrace both the industrial and modern, but also to warm things up, (without going all bohemian with layers).

If you can't beat em', join em'! I really love how this concrete coffee table pulls it all together; like it was grown right from the floor!

The bedroom was really exciting to me! A room without windows - no problemo! I chose a dark charcoal gray for the walls and my favorite CB2 Mantis sconce in nickel and wood. A leather headboard finishes it off and it's transformed into a sleek hideout cave complete with concrete bedside tables.

That's it! A short and sweet tour for today. Thank you to the installation team up there who hammered it out and got it done! I always have a feeling of anticipation when I know a design is getting installed and I'm hundreds of miles away waiting to see how it turns out! It's exciting, indeed, and good for my blood pressure, too. ;)

Thank you so much for coming by today!