eDesign Reveal: Jess and Keith's Soulful Row House

October 18, 2018 Chelsea | StyleMutt Home

Well this is a very special reveal, indeed! Remember last March when we welcomed a much needed addition to the StyleMutt Home design team? Well since then our girl Joy has been representing the SMH brand well, tackling jobs across the world in Australia and right here on our home turf. As we have learned since branching out to include design services, getting to actually see a finished job is a BIG deal! StyleMutt Home has been beyond blessed to work with many clients who are as passionate about seeing their homes transformed as we are, and we’ve had just the opportunity with a particularly fun client over this past year.

Jessica and Keith are a SUPER sweet couple living in a quaint DC row house on a street oozing with charm. When they came to us they had only been living there for a few months but had come a long way putting their style on their home. While their living room was more or less finished, (just needed some of those final details), their dining room was only just beginning. Let’s take a look at the ‘before’ shots they sent us!

Joy and I decided to divide and conquer on this project; I took the entryway and living room, and she tackled the dining room. Having two designers working on one home can be tricky because you really want to make sure that there is a consistent point of view from one room to the next. Communication from all parties involved needs to be tight, and I can honestly say this crew made it happen without a hitch. Jessica and Keith were amazing to work with, and Joy’s design for the dining room left me in awe. It was just so much fun! So let’s look around the finished home!

In the entryway we wanted to get things off the floor and hugging the wall. We swapped the coat tree for a hanging rack, and got all the shoes in a narrow storage cabinet on the adjoining wall.

The living room was so close when Jess and Keith came to us - they just needed a bit of advice for styling accessories, lighting, art and a rug! It never ceases to amaze me how a space suddenly looks awake! with just a few additions and styling!

The dining room, on the other hand, was closer to the beginning of its makeover than the end! (This would be a good time to jump back up to the top and take a look at the ‘before’ picture!) The only element Jess and Keith wanted to keep was the freshly painted accent wall, SW ‘Citrine Dream’. And after Joy took the reigns in here, I don’t think I’ve ever loved an accent wall more!!!

To point out the obvious first, the use of warm woods in here mixed with stark white and black pieces makes this bright color take on a highly sophisticated personality. A punchy color works remarkably well when the remaining elements are strong and LOOK expensive, (even if they are not).

Less obvious touches of brass and marble speak volumes in this multi-functional area, and prove that small doses of these finer materials go a long way.

An intentionally selected statement art piece doesn’t cower against the statement wall - anything softer would have been absorbed by the citrine color, but this piece pops right out - exactly what it was intended for!

It has been such a treat to get to work with Joy on this amazing home with these incredible clients. Everyone put in the time and effort to see this home to the finish, and we wish Jess and Keith the very best life together here.

So ridiculously proud to get to share Joy’s hard work here! It is truly a pleasure to have her on our team and I’m still pinching myself that we are lucky enough to offer her talents to our design clients. You can see more of Joy’s work on her site, Joy Lewis Design.

Thank you all so much for stopping by!

SOURCE LIST

Entryway hooks, Urban Outfitters
Entryway mirror, Pottery Barn

Living room shelves, Room and Board
Living room sofa, Crate and Barrel
Living room coffee table, West Elm
Living room drink table, West Elm
Living room chair, West Elm
Living room rug, West Elm
Living room sconce, Lamps Plus
Living room art, Laura McGuigan
Living room accessories, primarily CB2 and what the client had on hand

Dining room table, Overstock
Dining room chairs, Poly and Bark
Dining room rug, Overstock
Dining room chandelier, West Elm
Dining room art, Minted
Dining room shelves, World Market
Dining room white storage, IKEA
Dining room vintage storage cabinet, Craigslist

Shire's Pink Room

August 29, 2018 Chelsea | StyleMutt Home

Hi friends! With one day of a new school year under our belts Summer already feels like a lifetime ago. Boy did it go by fast! But even at warp speed we still managed to squeeze one itty-bitty little makeover in there. :)

There was no plan to update Shire's room, but after a pretty major home maintenance issue forced us to toss some damaged furniture, etc, I tried to find a silver lining around the unfortunate incident. Or rather, a blush lining. After purchasing the least expensive necessities I could find, her room had lost some of it's Shire charm. And if there's one thing I know to be true, there's no bigger impact for your buck than a can of paint! Shire's style has always been different from mine. I don't even care if that's on purpose to spite me; I love her dearly for it. She is her own gal!

And this gal loves pink! Shire seems to be fully embracing her role as the only girl sandwiched between two brothers, and what's so endearing to me is that right now at age 8, being feminine to Shire means dresses and pink. To which I say, Rock it, Darlin'! So I wanted to gift her a pink room. After explaining that this is her room for the long haul and it may be wise to choose a pink that she can grow with as she gets older, we tried these samples:

All are Behr colors and my girl chose the middle one, Castilian Pink.

I never thought I could love a pink so much! Much less the kind of mauve-y pink I've stayed away from my whole life because it washes me out. Haha!!!

I didn't really do much else! The bed and bedding were a new necessary purchase but the other items have been around for a while. I love how the various wood tones, hits of black, and especially the subtle touches of red stand out against the dusty rose backdrop!

The List of Countries chart was a fun collaboration with our friends over at Bold Tuesday! Every country is listed by shape and title, from largest span to the smallest. You get a sheet of red dot stickers to place next to countries you've visited!

Aaaaaand we haven't visited many. Can you find our 4 red dots? Our family consensus is that we like the shape of Brazil best, Chile is super cool too, and the United States would look way better without Alaska.

I wanted to give Shire's room a slightly more grown up feel and turned her twin bed into more of a day bed that she can lounge on with a book, (she's a major reader - another serious divide between us). Funny how a different pillow placement kind of transforms the bed! I think it makes her twin look a bit bigger!

Shire's room is often our guest room, and she's already hosting her first guests: Some nomadic plants that needed a place to chill out during our kitchen reno downstairs.

I had always wanted a cascade-y plant but this isn't what I had dreamt of. It's untamable and out of control!

Last stop and I almost didn't throw it in here but...Shire had dozens of pieces of art on her walls collected since Kindergarten. It was time to make some tough choices and free up some wall space, for sure. I found this handwritten note from a friend last year and tacked it right up. I want my kids to always know the significance of simple acts of kindness - and the significance of paying someone such a heartfelt compliment as Shire's friend gave to her. I hope it encourages her to keep on keeping on. :)

Plus, if I'm being honest, I am totally digging that shade of red against the new pink walls. Hah!

And that's it! Not a major reveal but it was a perfect creative itch scratcher and just in time for our girl to start 3rd grade. 3rd grade! You would be right in assuming Matt and I are NOT old enough to have 3rd graders. ;)

Thank you all so much for stopping by today!

StyleMutt Home Designed Stay-Places

August 27, 2018 Chelsea | StyleMutt Home

Hi Friends! It was this time last Summer that I had the privilege of designing 8 or 9 short term rental spaces over a two and a half month span in several major U.S. cities. The opportunity ended as quickly as it began when the company that hired me as a freelancer restructured and brought all the designing in house. But I still think about each of the units and randomly wonder from time to time if there is anyone occupying them right at that moment. And I pray that they're safe during their travels and feeling the comforts of home while they're away, and that they have loved ones to return to. I have never been a frequent traveler but have family and friends who travel regularly and exhaustively for work. I designed each stay-place as I would if one of my own loved ones were staying there.

Sharing a round up of some of my favorite units from last Summer! Each has it's own style and vibe, some more 'me', others a bit experimental. All were completed on a budget the size of a chocolate chip and turned in within 36 hours of being handed the sketched out floorplan. Some didn't even come with 'before' pictures so I was going on measurements alone! But the experience was invaluable to me as a new designer and I'd say the nights I worked through to complete any of these jobs on time was worth it.

Let's take a trip down memory lane!