Eclectic Winter Tour

December 7, 2017 Cate | StyleMutt Home

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

Pop of Color Custom Order

November 28, 2017 Cate | StyleMutt Home

It's a REAL treat to work with a client with similar design sensibilities. I mean, that’s gotta mean you’re doing something right, right? Your tribe is finding you. And you get to work with people that inspire your creativity.

This fall, I had the opportunity to develop a DIY nightstand tutorial for Apartment Therapy. Shortly after, a couple reached out to me hoping to get a customized a version of the tables that could work around two specific design elements:

The tables needed to be large enough to showcase a West Elm Pelle Table Lamp:

And they wanted a pop of color that played well with the West Elm Expressionist Printed Rug.

So with these specifications in mind, I rendered two options for them to consider - one with a teal accent color and one with an "inky" black.

And which color did they choose...?

Deep Breath by Behr Marque

Instead of painting the entire piece to match the rug, I proposed we just paint the inside to preserve their "airy" quality while giving the clients more versatility down the line if they ever got the itch to rearrange things.

I used the same materials as my original design for the rest of the build: blonde wood + camel leather straps but I did have to modify the proportions a little to accommodate their ideal dimensions.

To highlight the interior pop of color, I chose to style with warm earthy tones comprised of...

1) Terracotta touches (always)

2) A grouping of paintings

3) And a salvaged tree branch (ok, I pulled it off a sapling in the parking lot)

The happy clients picked up these custom orders this weekend and I'm happy to say they are already settled in their new home!

If you are interested in your own custom order, please contact me at cate@stylemutthome.com.

NY-Bound Custom Order

November 13, 2017 Cate | StyleMutt Home

There's a lot about this little business that has blown me and Chelsea away. We've accrued clients from across the US (and even Canada!), designed for a battery of dream spaces, and even shipped pieces out of state! That's crazy to think about - I mean, we're just two women working out of our homes! In our garages, at our dining room table, late at night or the wee small hours of the morning. And God is still growing us!

Recently I was commissioned for a custom order for delivery to New York. And I gotta say - it makes me feel swanky to have a piece in the Big Apple *sheepish grin.* The client wanted something similar to my brass finger pull tall boy but needed a lot more storage.

I did some hunting on my local craigslist and found the perfect low boy (from the same furniture line no less - how does that happen?!?).

Her design aesthetic was simple: she wanted a matte color that could go with anything and a touch of brass. After seeing some photos of her space and discussing her vision, I worked up 3 renderings for her to review:

She liked the idea of a warm gray or white in her space, but in the end she kept coming back to her first love: the moody dark finish from my finger pull tall boy. My client had a tight deadline so I immediately set about painting. But T-minus a few days until our scheduled for pick up, I ran into a bit of a problem...

Where was the brass hardware?

I had ordered these yummy brass finger pulls a week prior and had selected 2-day shipping. 7 days later, my tracking number was reporting that it was bouncing between distribution centers in the vicinity but never “out for delivery.”

What the?!?

Stupid hardware. Why you got to play me like that?!? I looped the client in on the conundrum and she gave me the green light to get creative in order to meet our deadline. She only wanted a “peek” of brass anyways so I combed through my local hardware store to see if there was something outside-the-box that would work. And I found...

Strike plates!

ould you tell?

Strike plates are those metal plates that you attached to a threshold to correspond to the bolt of the door. Much like the library pulls I reconfigured for my original tall boy, the strike plates had a subtle lip that could protrude off the drawer top like a true finger pull. I used the same brass tacks as my other piece for a low-profile attachment method that wouldn't interfere with the functionality of the drawers.

Recognize them now?

I showed my alternative idea to the client and she was all for it! So I attached the hardware right-quick and had the piece ready for pick-up in the NICK of time.

The piece arrived at my client’s NYC walk-up the next day and after the delivery guys fenagled it up the stairs (Pivot! Pivot!), it is safely in its new home with minimal wear and tear from the harrowing out-of-state journey.

And I can officially say I have big city clientele ;) *Eek!*

If you’re interested in a custom order like this piece or how we can work with you out-of-state, check out our helpful FAQ guide or email me at cate@stylemutthome.com.