client inspiration + tween room design plan

a few weeks ago, a client contacted me about designing a

room for her artistic almost 12 year old daughter.

(in fact, she is giving her daughter this room makeover

for her 12th birthday...how awesome is that?) 

she already had a start, but was stuck.

her requests:

she wanted some purple, but didn't want a "purple" room.

lots of storage for arts and crafts, 

a comfy place to read 

and a touch of yellow giraffe.

she also sent me a picture of the

cutest owl lamp from target,

that her daughter had fallen in love with.

oh, and everything needed to be under $2,000.

(and i do mean everything...the only thing

staying from the old room will be the mattress.)

here is the amazing picture she sent me as inspiration:

and here is the idea board 

i came up with:

i think it will be a fun space when it is finished.

one entire wall, including the closet doors will be painted in

chalkboard paint. the other walls will be a soft gray.

my client is going to make the headboard...

i can't wait to see how it turns out! 

interested in working together to make your space 

more functional and beautiful?

e-mail me at autumnclemons@yahoo.com.

rugs, rugs, rugs

when designing a room, one of the 

larger expenses can be a rug,

and so i get pretty excited when i find a place where 

great style + 

affordable prices collide.

i have always known that world market carries rugs,

but they have really improved their inventory lately.

i was thrilled to see all of their lovely choices:

garden party jute rug

wool damask ivory/gray

giraffe tufted wool rug

modern damask wool rug

jute stripe rug beige/tan

lattice carved rug

chainlink carved rug

lakai circles indoor outdoor rug

ikat medallion rug

wavy stripes indoor outdoor rug in black

arabesque indoor outdoor rug

tatiana olive tufted wool rug

 i will for sure be using some of these 

in future projects!

in progress: jen's library

do you remember my friend jen?

 if not, click here and here 

to see more of her house.

i have been slowly collaborating with jen 

on several rooms in her house,

including her 

 library...

aren't those doggie prints the cutest?

jen is a closeted designer....

we have a few finishing touches still left,

including window treatments,

(jen had been head over heels in love with 
this for-----ever, so we'll probably use it.)

accessories, 

and a something to perk up the ceiling.

we also just started working on her master bedroom,

which is going to be another fun project.

i will keep you posted as we

s-l-o-w-l-y make progress!

tips for shopping at online shopping clubs

in the last year, there has been an explosion of

"private" or invitation only shopping clubs/outlets like:

eziba, 

the foundary,

and joss & main.

one kings lane. 

i think these are fantastic resources for finding

interesting and unique items at a fraction of the

cost that you might find them boutique stores

or other places online.

here are a few things that you can do to better
 prepare yourself to find some amazing items 
at great prices:

check often.

most of these stores highlight several 

vendors/"events" a day, and the sales last anywhere from

 24 hours to 4 days, and once they are gone, they are gone.

most will send out a daily e-mail, alerting you to

the new daily deals. be sure to at least look at the

vendor lineup to see if there is anything that

piques your interest. most of the time there will
be an "intro" picture that represent what is
being sold...don't judge the entire inventory
based on that one picture. i have found some
pretty amazing items in "events" that
have pictures of something that i thought was...
um...kinda ugly. don't be afraid to click around.

know what's "out there".

in order to know if the deals that you are seeing

at these online shopping outlets are really

GOOD deals, you need to look around. spend some time

looking at local and online stores to get a sense

of what you like, and what they COST.
for instance, i have been wanting a "driftwood"
looking lamp for a while now. every time i 
visit a new-to-me site, i would always check out the
lamp section to see if they had a driftwood lamp, 
and to see how much it cost. (usually,
these lamps cost between $100 and $400.)

which leads me to my next tip...

be prepared to pounce.

sometimes, items sell out within minutes of the
store/event "opening". at many of these sites, the items are
one of a kind, and acting quickly can make
all the difference between getting the item you
want, and getting left with empty dreams of 
that perfect pillow/lamp/poster/treasure.
remember that driftwood lamp i have been hunting for?

last week, at the foundary, i spotted one for $72.
(it's not this exact lamp, but pretty close!)
since i have been doing some looking around, 
i knew this was a great deal and 
acted quickly. i must have gotten the last one,
because as soon as i completed the checkout 
process, a big "sold out" tag went 
across the lamp. good for me, but not
so good for anyone else who might have wanted one. 
***

if you haven't already signed up,

click below, and come shop with me:

the foundary

one kings lane, 

eziba 

joss and main
and, if you know of any others, 
please let me know!

summer dreamin'

i have to admit, that in the middle of january,
 i start to daydream about summer...

about strolling out the get the mail in my bare feet, 

eating outside on the patio and, of course, cookouts.

(am i the only one who is missing my grill?)

when csn contacted me and asked to to review a product,

i was very excited... 

it doesn't matter what you are in the market for

a pair of shoes, a laptop messenger bag, 
a decorator pillow, a light fixture or even a sofa. 
they have it all.

and since i have been daydreaming about being outside,

i thought i might get an early start on my 
outdoor entertaining with these:

i love the look of these thomas paul artifacts dinner plates, 

and since they are melamine, 

i don't have to worry about 

them breaking and shattering into a million pieces 

if i accidentally dropped them on my patio.

i also love the matching dessert plates.

the scrimshaw dinner plates or the 

hong kong dinner plates

would be a nice choice too.

several of my outdoor pillows are blue and white,

and these would go nicely, but i am

thinking i might be up for a change in color this year.

 those brown plates might look nice with

something like this....

is it just me, or does it feel a 

little bit warmer outside?

progress.

so, i ended up falling in love with

"providence blue 1636"

i loved it on the walls in my room, and really

fell in love when i saw the above image which i found here.

i knew i wanted something blue and

moody and a little "washed out" looking,

and dark...but not TOO dark.

i had a few requests for "before" pictures of this 

bedroom turned office and now on it's way to

a relaxing den...

 are you madly in love with the mauve wallpaper??

yeah, i thought so.

 i was totally prepared for HOURS of scraping and peeling, 

but the wallpaper 

LITERALLY came off in sheets! i could hardly believe my luck.

it was actually FUN to rip off.

 the kiddos thought it was almost

as much fun as i did...

 and here is the wall on it's way to being finished.

so, i wouldn't say that i am a BIG fan of "faux" finishes,

but i knew that this room needed it.

why?

ummm....

because maybe although the wallpaper came off really easily 

there might have possibly been a lot 

of wallpaper paste left behind that possibly

 maybe i didn't really kinda feel like probably spending

the next 5 days of my life scraping off from the walls. 

maybe.

so maybe i kinda came up with this

faux finish to possibly maybe disguise the

texture of the wallpaper paste and

save myself from like 200 hours of scraping.

maybe.

don't judge.

  i used a technique that i have used before...

it is the easiest thing in the world.

you just take a wallpaper paste brush,

and make a cross-hatch pattern across the wall. 

 since i already had a quart of

"knoxville gray" and "blue spruce",

i just mixed them together with a small

amount of glazing medium and got  to work,

applying several coats on top of the "providence" blue.

 i LOVE the way the finished wall looks!

it has this kind of dark denim look

which will look great with the

other items that will go in the room.

one of those items is this woven bamboo

blind that i bought at kmart for $10.

i have been lugging it around with me 

for several years, and it just happens to

fit the one window in this room.

yay!

this lamp is also one of those items.

 i have big plans for this $3 thrift store lamp

 which i will share soon....

the plan involves some gold leaf,

a trip to the lamp repair store to cut down the

throat and an anthopologie inspired lampshade makeover.

i hope it turns out as fabulous as i want it to!