Vintage Hotel Dresser || And a Giveaway ||

Have you heard the news?  We're hiring!  We were so thrilled and humbled to find ourselves wrapping up 2017 with a waitlist of eDesign clients.  But making our customers wait is not our MO so we're onboarding a new design assistant to keep 'em happy and keep 'em coming!  If you meet our qualifications and are interested in applying, we want to hear from you!  Applications are due February 12th so get to it!

While Chelsea is heading up the expanding design branch of our business, I'm still steering the furniture front - and I've landed a new piece with quite the untold history!

The seller told me that his dad rescued it from a closing DC hotel somewhere on Florida avenue.  Let me tell you, he is certainly durable enough to have survived many-a-hotel stay.  But despite being built like a tank, he does have a few marks I couldn't mask: a scratch on the side, a sliver of missing veneer, and a faded water mark on the top.  All things I could have hidden with paint but OH that wood grain!  I couldn't bring myself to do it! 

So I shined him up and celebrated the scars of his rich and storied life.  

I removed the old damaged apron (those housekeeping sweeps had not been kind to that thing) and added sleek metal legs. 

I did want to  keep the original knobs so I refinished them to match the new gams.

He's also hides a secret: his top drawer is a hidden desk!

The drawer front folds down to create a handy little work surface or mail drop spot.

Complete with cubbies for stationary and office supplies.

But the crowning jewel of this vignette is this canvas print by a local artist!

This piece is just one of the many stunning abstracts by Laura Gunn Art.  I mean just go to her website and you'll be mesmerized by her process - its a riot of color in a dreary world (name that movie!).

Laura Gunn Art

Originals + Canvas Prints
Washington, DC
 

To me, art has always been personal.  I'm most drawn to the emotion in a painting.  Which my abstract mind most often finds in abstract paintings.  I doesn't matter what it makes me feel just that it makes me feel. 

I could stare at Laura Gunn's "Still" for hours.  Sometimes I think it's a quiet ocean horizon.  Sometimes its a soundwave with the gentlest flutter, a tiny reverb.  I love that it changes for me, and yet stays the same.

And we're delighted to announce that we at SMH are teaming up with Laura Gunn for a very special giveaway!  You could win your very own 24" giclee reproduction of a Laura Gunn original on gallery-wrapped canvas (that's a $149-$169 value!).  Follow these 3 steps to enter:

1) Follow @cate_stylemutthome and @lauragunnart on Instagram
2) Browse Laura Gunn's the Gallery Wrapped Canvas collection and
3) Comment below with the piece you'd like to win!

Winner will be announced next Wednesday, February 7th on Instagram!

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Vintage Hotel Secretary Dresser
Now Available for Sale
40"W x 19"D x 38"H
$545

And if you are interested in this piece or a custom order like it, email me at cate@stylemutthome.com for availability or to ask about our third-party shipping policy.

Simple Christmas Tour

Hello, hello! 'Tis the season for Christmas decorated home tours, and while it's been really fun to see how other friends have decorated their homes for the holiday season, I wasn't planning to share my own home until yesterday afternoon! We've enjoyed getting our Christmas decorations out as a family and setting up our tree and lights, but it's kind of been something I just wanted to enjoy with my family this year. It's easy to feel pulled in a lot of different directions during the holidays, and with our plates full of other really good things, this was one that I was planning to shed. I confided my conflict to Cate who wisely advised that if it doesn't bring me joy, then don't worry about it. And at that, I decided to whip up this post!

I don't share a lot about life behind the scenes of StyleMutt Home, (not as much, anyways). But it's moving forward at Polar Express speeds, (just like anyone's). The way I decorate our home is every bit a reflection of that passage of time, our growing children, myself. Our home has always been an extension of the character of our family and my personal development as a creative individual. The reason I enjoy documenting our home is the same reason I journal - to be able to look back and see growth and movement. So, despite the simplicity, it warms my heart to share our Christmas 2017 home with you, friends!

Notice the angel on the far left, with her nose in the air and arms crossed. No candle, baked good, seashell or wreath like the others....she's my favorite. Hah!!

Oh my goodness, I hope I can still remember in years to come how funny it was trying to figure out a layout this year! We are right smack in the middle of a sofa debacle that is a story for another day, but we figured things out by using only the chaise part of a massive sofa / chaise combo.

Our kitchen has seen A LOT of action lately now that we're in full swing holiday party season. Yup, lots of mediocre baking going on in here. If you like quantity over quality, I'm you're gal! Lol! Between the kids' classrooms and their various activities, it's been one party after another!

Shire's bedroom is pure Christmas magic to me. I find myself in here without any reason to be; it's just a happy place. The bedspread was from my grandparents' old lake house, and the mini tree is on loan from my sister. I love that Shire's room is a compilation of special memories, people and places.

Our bedroom is the last stop because the boys room is just done being photographed. It's a charming hot mess and I love it because I birthed them, but their door is officially closed to the public. :)  I enjoyed adding a tiny bit to our own bedroom, though, to make it special for the holidays! The bunch of boxwood was just the kind of small festive nod I was looking for for our room. It suits the simplicity of the space well and because there's not a lot going on, I feel like you really see it, you know? I often tell clients, the less there is, the more you see.

The only other impactful addition to the room is the kilim rug  covered bench at the end of the bed! Both the rug and the bench were found on a neighbors curb on trash day, so I brought both pieces home and turned them into one!

Well that's it! Thank you so very much for taking the time to come by. I hope you enjoy these days until Christmas and have peace about what is on your own plate. A bit of advice - no one else will really notice what you don't get done. As I walked into yet another children's holiday party last night for my son's cubscout pack, I placed my 4 dozen brownies on  table full of other various treats and thought to myself, no one would have noticed if I didn't bring these. Here's to shedding the excess so we can focus on the priorities.

Merry Christmas and God bless!

Eclectic Winter Tour

Welcome friends! Thank you for stopping by on the Winter Eclectic Home Tour hosted annually by Jess Rey from Domicile 37!  Ok before we begin my holiday tour, I should probably tell you that I've recently realized something very important: Christmas décor stresses me out. 

Now, I'm not saying I'm a Grinch - just that I'm stressed!  I know this is foolish.  (My husband who's middle name is Christmas tells me this often.)  Christmas is a joyous time of year!  A time for family, generosity, and humility.  And yet, I can't get past the feeling that our little apartment gets turned upside-down when the holiday décor comes out!  So this year, I challenged myself to find a way to have my fruit cake and eat it too.

If you're popping by from A Designer at Home - welcome! We are StyleMutt Home, a sister-in-law duo  (Chelsea & Cate) who love to mix and match a myriad of styles in the pieces we refinish and the spaces we design...

We have a small apartment - a modest 800 sq.ft.  The addition of a grand Christmas tree can easily overwhelm our little living space.  For that reason, I tried to keep my usual décor intact and with only a few low-impact, holiday additions.

I started by choosing a smaller tree this year than those we've used in the past.  It's all dressed up in our hodge-podge of ornaments - many of them handmade (not because we have kids, but because my husband and I were straight poor our first Christmas).  I spent hours cutting up everything from pizza boxes, old sweaters, and Christmas cards from the first year we were married. 

Every year, I like to read the sweet sentiments on the folds of the ornaments and remember a time that we may have been broke but we had everything we needed: each other and our then recently-adopted best dog in the world.

In addition to the usual red-beaded garland, I finished our little tree with some ribbons of leather in my beloved Camel color.

The smaller tree meant less furniture re-arranging and the rest of the living room could stay pretty close to normal:

The cot under the window where our dog loves to perch

Our tufted velvet sofa (scored for FREE on craigslist believe it or not!)

Our thrifted rock-star-of-a-lounge-chair we call John Bon Jovi

Behind the sofa is our little dining nook. 

We don't have a mantle so I hung our stockings on our chairs.

Across from the living room, next to the kitchen, is some built-in shelving which is currently sporting our little record collection.  This is the time of year we consistently like to have an old record on the turntable - preferably holiday classics circa the mid-century.

I hardly ever show our kitchen on these tours because well… there’s not much to show. 

But the highlight of the space is this Moroccan boucherouite runner purchased from The Gardener's House.

Each boucherouite rug is a riot of color and pattern, handwoven from recycled scraps and beautifully unique.  This one is titled "Farwell from the Farm" which lends itself to more of a work of art than a rug.  Perhaps one day, we'll have a bigger place and I'll hang it on the wall in the place of honor it deserves.

Two staples at the end of our kitchen counter is our mail-and-key bowl (a beloved wedding gift) and the porcelain lunch bag with Thor's doggy treats.

Past the whimsical grid of Matisse portraits, a few steps down the hall (like 3 to be exact), is our one-and-only bedroom. 

Right when you walk into the bedroom is my perpetually cluttered dresser. 

Pasted down from (and refinished by) my mom, it is always adorned in a tangle of jewelry and usually buried under a pile of clothes (let's be honest).

My husband's dresser, on the other hand, is usually clothes-free (apparently that's what the floor is for).  *Insert eye-roll emoji

I really didn't do much to spruce up this space except add a "Merry Christmas" banner above the bed.

Currently, a lot of my plants are bunking-up to make room for the visit from cousin Christmas tree.

This might be another reason I get stressed - I'm never sure how my plant babies will react to the displacement.  Last year, my fiddle-leaf fig tree (may she rest in peace) did NOT like getting upstaged from her usual corner and promptly let herself go just to spite me.  Figadora Tonks now lives in exile - I mean on the balcony - in a corner where no one can see the incriminating evidence of my black thumb.

I am pleased to report that so far, minimizing our holiday décor seems to be treating my holiday anxiety effectively...  Of course I haven't started holiday shopping yet so that could easily change lol.

Next stop on the tour is Jessica Brigham!  Pop over to her home for more eclectic inspiration and more directions to the last stop on today's tour circuit!  Thank you again for stopping by!

Here's a recap of all of  holiday hostesses:

Monday
Domicile 37 
Desert Domicile 
Kobel & Co.
Whimsical Blue Living

Tuesday
The Gathered Home
Casa Watkins
Up To Date Interiors

Wednesday
Monica Wants It
Designing Vibes
Maker of Home
Michelle Matangi

Thursday
A Designer at Home
StyleMutt Home    > Oh wait, you're already here!
Jessica Brigham
The Rath Project

Friday
House Home Made
House Haus Home
Jeweled Interiors 
Domicile 37