design plan: global guest bedroom

guest bedrooms are fun spaces to design!

you don't have to take them quite as "seriously" as a master bedroom, so if you are having design anxiety, this is a great room to experiment and take some chances! 

this is a guest bedroom design plan for a globe trotting couple that wanted a casual, slightly graphic feel to their guest bedroom. 

interested in working together to transform a room in your home?
you can read about my services here.

email me at autumnclemons@yahoo.com o set up a consultation!
i am now taking appointments for september and october!

my new living room chairs + silk curtains

finally!
introducing....my new silk drapes and chairs!


i have slowly been working on refreshing this room...you can see previous posts about this room here and here. (and see how i transformed my planter here and how i hung my gallery wall here)



first up, my chairs...
i spend a lot of time sourcing items for clients, and, like most of my clients, i am on a budget. i decided that when i was ready to replace the annoying 10 year old leather club chairs, i was going to splurge a little, if necessary. i had been saving for a while, and i wanted to get EXACTLY what i wanted, because i knew it might be another 10 years before i got new ones!

quite honestly, my very favorite chairs were from oly studio, but i don't have 6K to spend on 2 chairs, so it came down to these two chairs from sam moore:
a: the holden wing chair
b: the azriel chair (this chair has several lookalikes, including the larkin chair from bollard designs)

sam moore offers some REALLY nice chair styles, and hundreds of fabric offerings, and, (if you find the right source), really great prices!

i decided to go with the azriel chair...i liked the slender arms and the slightly smaller scale. plus, i plan to eventually have some slipcovers made for the chair, which i will use in the spring and summer. i really like the way these chairs will look with slipcovers:

i decided to go for a simple, nubby fabric, and had narrowed down the options to either "charcoal" or  "mushroom":

i ultimately decided on the mushroom, and for the legs, i took a chance and opted for a finish called "truffle".

i am really happy with the selections i made! i love how the chairs are so monochromatic...the grayish/taupe finish on the legs really makes the chairs feel unique.

the fabric is perfect for disguising dirt and adding additional texture to the room!


and now, onto my drapes!
here is a preliminary sketch that i sent to the village workroom, where the drapes were fabricated:

the banding on the edge is dupioni silk in "celeste", and the body of the drapes is in cream matka silk (a rough or raw silk that looks similar to linen). 

the drapes arrived within 2 weeks of ordering them, but it took us a LONG time to get them hung!

i decided to go for something a little different and opted for a goblet pleat at the top---

i really love how the edge banding is a soft, shimmery, SUBTLE detail.

the room now:

i still have to strip and re-stain the side table in between the chairs and the sofa, install blinds, and get a new sofa, but besides that, this room is almost complete, until we add the coffered ceiling, fireplace, bookcases, and paint everything! 

affordable find: gold lotus chandelier

a gold, sculptural chandelier at 1/10th the price of the original?

yes, please!

worlds away blossom gold leafed chandelier
$998

gold lotus pendant lamp
$99

happy shopping!

random friday ramblings

ahh!

its friday. 

how did THAT happen? (and while you are at it, please explain to me how july is almost half way over.)

i just wanted to share a few snippets of the last few weeks...

i finally made it to the "new" location of the overstock outlet store. for those of you that don't know---SLC is the headquarters of overstock.com, and they have an outlet store. it used to be located in sandy, but is now closer to their headquarters, near the airport.
anyway, i wasn't blown away, but i do have to say that there were a lot of chairs. if you are looking for a pair of dining chairs or a sinlge upholserted chair, this would be a great place to look!
it is only open thursday, friday and saturday.

i am gearing up to decorate charlottes room. for her nightstands, i am considering an ikea hack with some simple 2 or 3 drawer dressers, with some acrylic side panels added. i am not 100% i can pull it off right now, but if i can, i think it could look amazing!

i have been in love with this nina campbell cypress wallpaper forever. i always planned on using it in my powder room, but i am considering using another wall covering in there, and using this in the toilet closet in the master. 

this project is pretty far down on my to do list. but its always nice to cream.

speaking of TO DO projects, i can't wait to add more storage and functionality to my laundry room!
right now, it is literally just sheetrock and tile, with the washer and dryer sitting in the room. my plan is to add a countertop, cabinets above the washer/dryer, shallow hooks on the back wall to hang clothes, a window treatment, and possibly some wallpaper. oh, and a new light fixture! the one that is in there currently was a $5 one that i grabbed from lowes.

i have a things for round mirrors, and have grown quite a collection of them. my husband is very certain i own one of every single round mirror made, EVER. well, i had seen things online about this cute little martha stewart mirror and home depot, and when i saw it, i knew it really, really, really wanted to come live with me in my house! it is a happy addition to the other round mirrors i have!

yes, i know. this picture is UG-LY. i just thought the wood trim detail was fun...the slight inverted scallop and the hanging tassels. a more modern interpretation of this would look amazing in a kids room or powder room!
(this was taken at the zermatt resort in midway, at the tea room)

a few weeks ago i bought the smitten kitchen cookbook, and made the smores cake.
it was super yummy and worth the time and effort.

current cooking obsession: this cookbook!

it is chock full of healthy, simple, flavorful recipes that are DO-able...you know, for those times when you don't feel like shopping at three different stores for ingredients and don't have 4 hours to prepare dinner.
last night i made this recipe, and i was blown away! my husband, who normally doesn't LOVE tilapia, had two servings, and my notoriously picky 10 year old son ate it happily and quickly.

i am in love with this ceramic tray that i bought at target!
it does such a great job of corralling the items on my countertop, and i love having a collection of fresh herbs here as well.

when we visited my brother and his family in boise a few weeks ago, we went swimming...the sun was setting and the light was so beautiful, and i was taking a few pictures of the kids and the setting, and after i took this picture, i noticed the little bird that was captured, mid-flight.
i thought it was pretty magical.

lacrosse has taken over our lives...but in a good way. (aren't heard up little lacrosse boys the cutest?)

about a year ago, my son was begging for a new butt-end for his lacrosse stick. when my husband and son looked at the available butt-ends, they didn't see any that they could customize...or that were available in the colors he wanted. my son came up with an idea to made a butt end that had a removable piece that you could pop off of the actual butt end (leaving it taped/attached to the stick), and change it out! after some research, phone calls, designing, and scheming, my sons idea, (which has become quite the hobby for my husband!) is available!

yep---that little red "tag" in the middle pops out, and you can trade it out for another color and design!

i have never been witness to the process that brings a product from an idea to production, so this has been a fun journey to watch!

anyway, if someone you know plays lacrosse, be sure to check out their website! there will be more colors and designs available over the coming months, AND if you want something to be custom made for your team, just contact them and they can make it happen!

visit LAXtag.com to buy!

happy weekend everyone!!

neutral, masculine nursery, week 3: updating a vintage dresser

well, it has been a few weeks. again...eeek! 

if this summer were a theme park ride, it would be the fastest, curviest, craziest roller coaster of the bunch!  if you want any other explanations for my gross negligence, click here and here.

ok, where were we?

oh! thats right--the neutral, masculine nursery. 

(see our week 1 and week 2 progress!)

this week, i wanted to share a really wonderful way to update any vintage dresser and give it a clean, modern look.

my client had this dresser that was in her room growing up, and she wanted to use it in the nursery.

it was in great shape, and i knew that it could look amazing with just a few minor tweaks. 

first up: removing the hardware. 

the current hardware just wasn't cutting it.

i found this inspiration picture, and we both loved the simple, clean look of the wood dresser with the painted drawers.

 after about 3 seconds of contemplation, i picked my favorite white, benjamin moore's swiss coffee for the drawers. i also had my client fill in the knob holes on the cabinet doors so that we could install some ring pulls on the face of the door.

this is a peek after the first coat of paint:

after the second coat...

we took a while to find some hardware that we liked, and that fit the 6" spread of the previous hardware (NOT an easy task!). we ended up with some simple chrome pulls for the drawers:

and these for the cabinet doors: (i also used these in my master bathroom)

and---here is a look at the AFTER:

the room is looking fantastic! i cannot wait to share the rest of our progress with you...and i PROMISE that you will not have to wait another three weeks for the next update!