Design Reveal: Impulsive to Intentional

Hey there! It’s been quite the start to 2025, sharing three wrapped projects by mid-March! My heart is full and I am so grateful for such amazing work with awesome people. Today’s project was not only local, but a friend of a friend of a friend - both of whom I’ve worked with before! This client came to me after she and her husband had completed some high-quality DIY projects in their family room. She admittedly shared they had seen the ideas in various images on Pinterest and just went for them! The outcome was not what they were hoping for and left them feeling a little disappointed with this room. Understandable when you’ve already put so much time and effort in! I think this story is pretty common; with access to thousands of home interior images, it’s easy to get inspired when you see something in someone else’s home! The problem is lacking a fuller vision for your own home. What works out beautifully in one home may not translate as well in yours. It’s tricky!

Before

Such was the case here. The accent wall over the fireplace mantle and the accent wall directly behind the TV were competing with each other and making the room feel all chopped up. Without undoing the work they had already put in, my goal was to create one strong focal point and one soft focal point. By painting over the blue accent above the fireplace, the focus is no longer on a big blue square, but on the surrounding pieces throughout the space.

After

Before

I loved where they were going with the vertical shiplap behind the TV! Great instincts there. But limiting the accent to just behind the TV was not benefiting the space. I advised them to extend the shiplap the entire length of the wall and paint it in a soft, earthy green (we used Acacia Haze by Sherwin Williams).

After

Before

One of the most common things I encourage clients is to mount their curtain rods as close to the ceiling as possible and then we select a length of curtain that just kisses the floor. This maximizes the vertical space of a standard height room, making it appear just a little taller.

After

I also pulled in a patterned rug that is a better scale for the size of this room and the layout of furniture. Lots of floorspace for kiddos to sprawl out!

This client’s visual inspiration was full of soft, earthy colors and warm wood toned accents. The previous blue elements didn’t align with what they seemed naturally drawn to. Keeping their sofa was a no-brainer as it was a new purchase and working really well for them, but pretty much everything else went out! Rather than keep to as tight of a color palette as the blues had been, I wanted to use a variety of tones in the same ‘earthy’ family. It’s a funny rule of thumb, but I never look outside and think the sky clashes with the trees or the ground. There’s so much beauty in nature and I’m very much inspired by it’s colors!

These battery operated wall sconces are the perfect finishing touch to this side of the room and help balance out the lighting in the evenings.

That’s a wrap! This project actually flew; these clients are super go-getters and without hesitation tackled the implementation of these ideas and purchases so fast! They were definitely ready to go and are now able to relax and enjoy the fruits of their labor.

Thank you all for stopping by!

Design Reveal: Working W/ Previous Owners Choices

Hello, hello! One of my favorite activities, and my husband can attest to this, is heading to Georgetown to walk the neighborhoods above M Street. The architecture, history, hidden gardens, colorful doors, elaborate stone churches and landscaped parks with cobblestone paths make for a completely enchanting experience. Georgetown is charming and I would highly recommend a visit if you’ve never been. When this client and her husband found out they were expecting, they knew they needed some more room, and an unexpected gem popped up in the most magical neighborhood just north of Georgetown.

With little time to spare before their due date, we got right to work! The previous owners of this home had a distinct style and left behind all the bold window treatments and bedroom wall colors. My clients opted to keep these elements more out of convenience than personal preference, so I worked them in with a completely fresh vision.

Living room before (as seen in the listing)

Living room plan (with client feedback)

I offer every client 3 drafts for each room we work on together. I knew this first draft above was pretty bold, so I was surprised they loved it! The only edit was swapping the chairs, which was an easy switch!

In the clients inspiration I noticed they were drawn to warm colors. Absolutely none of the inspiration they shared included a gold and rust color scheme, however. These curtains are indeed a statement, but rather than tone everything else down, I decided to lean in and match their saturation with dark rust toned chairs, and then pepper in some blush and terracotta tones.

This is by far one of my favorite living rooms! I never would have chosen these curtains if we were working with a totally blank slate, so working with them pushed me towards a design that is so outside the box. I love the vibrant energy this room exudes and how it is a well balanced combination of sophisticated and casual.

To pull off a design like this, every detail matters. The amber glass globe on the lamp, for example; it’s a small detail but it benefits the entire room far more than a clear glass option!

Let’s head to the kitchen, where the previous owners also left several choice elements behind!

Dining room before (as seen in the listing)

We’ve got a full teal kitchen as you can see above, and that influenced much of the direction I went with color palette on this floor of their home. They also left behind the dining light fixture, which was great because we loved it. I also really felt like the banquette was genius and decided to do the same in the design of the dining room.

I continued the color palette from the living room here in the dining room as these two spaces are completely open to each other:

Dining room plan

With a homerun at draft 1, the design moved forward!

Again, there is a beautiful balance here of grown-up sophistication with family friendly ease.

Finishing this reveal is the sweetest of nurseries!

The previous owners had painted this room (walls and ceiling - a brave choice!) in this peachy apricot clay tone. They left behind these gorgeous aqua floral curtains with splashes of coral flowers. Expecting a baby boy, my clients opted to ditch the curtains but keep the wall/ceiling color. To be completely honest, I stressed about this wall color and how to make it work for a little boys room - but not for long!

Nursery plan

I decided to keep all surrounding colors saturated - a vintage rug in deep chocolate brown, curtains in a rich forest green, a crib sheet in a dark rust - no more soft baby colors! With a room totally wrapped in a shade like this, I wanted to strike some serious balance by adding depth with the surrounding elements.

That’s a wrap! Thank you so very much for coming by to check this project out today. I hope you enjoyed it!

Design Reveal: Colorful Family Room

Hi friends! My first wrapped project to share with you for 2025 is one that started almost one year ago! When the client contacted me last February and we chatted about her project, I was immediately excited to get started! Aside from the fact that I connected with her amazing style, I really resonated with the context of this one: Her kiddos are officially past young toddler stage, and she was ready for her home to reflect that. I love that so much. I am very familiar with that hope of reclaiming our home a tiny bit after all the baby gates and high chairs were packed and donated away. While the closing of the baby and toddler chapter was a hard one for me, I did feel a sense of excitement about having a bit more freedom in how we could use our home moving forward. This project represented that hope for this family and it was such an honor to come alongside to work towards that together.

Here is where we started:

Some of the feedback I’ve received on Instagram is that it would be helpful to see more of the process behind a design, especially in regards to things I tried, things that didn’t work, etc. So below is the very first iteration of this space that I created along with the feedback I received from this client. I offer every client 3 drafts for each space they hire me to design with them, so their feedback is really important for getting it exactly right. 9.9/10 times we rarely need the third draft because the feedback from the first informs all the right edits for their perfect design!

Once I started on the edits for this design based on her feedback above, things started falling into place really well. Loved the alternative rug, but since it didn’t work with the original sofa so well, I went for a lighter chambray blue. Some of the minor details were further tweaked at the end, but we pretty much stuck to this second design in implementation:

And here is how that final digital design above came to life!

There is a tremendous amount of joy - close to giddiness! - that happens when I see a project in real life. It’s not just the time poured in, but the passion and hope for what could be.

This room feels like a sunset! While it’s a level up in sophistication from where we started, it’s still incredibly casual and family friendly. We chose performance fabrics for both the sofa and chair so food and drink spills aren’t a concern. The coffee table is cement and not only easily wipeable, but I’ve heard it’s climber friendly as well ;)

Reserving open floorspace for play and piling on pillows for movie night was another priority in here - I’ll spare you the boring digital floorplan rendering, but I played around with multiple sizes of sectionals, coffee tables and accent chairs to make sure there was a really comfortable flow about this space.

Well that’s a wrap! Thank you so much for popping over to check out this first design of 2025! I really appreciate having a space and community to share this most fun work with. There are 3 more projects on this ones tail that I’ll be photographing this month, so this is just the beginning! Back soon, friends!