The Mood Boards

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The Mood Boards

One of the first questions that I get asked when I meet with new clients is "how does it work?". All designers and stylists do it differently, but for the majority of my projects after an initial site visit I start out by presenting mood boards and photos of similarly styled spaces to demonstrate the overall vibe of the design.  I thought I'd share this process with the mood boards for one of my current clients who own an awesome 1970's rancher up near Sonoma, CA. This project will roll out over time, and will eventually include a kitchen remodel and a master bedroom, but we are beginning with the open formal living room/dining room and entryway.  Here's the floor plan to get a sense of the layout.

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The Projects Continue...

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The Projects Continue...

After months of dust flying in the air, the sound of saws and hammers, eating out of a garage, when it was mostly finally done we took a break...then school started and client work picked up, and I got a little unmotivated to keep going. There's some things purposely left unfinished. We plan to build shelves across the entire span of the fireplace wall to house our hundreds of books, small works of art, records, plants, tchotchkes and collected beach matter. I haven't figured out how I want to execute that, so we wait, and pop a temporary bookshelf in there for now. There are some things that will take me an afternoon to finish, like reupholstering the dining chairs. And there are some other things that are weighing on me that have to get done, so I'm outing myself to the interwebs to make it happen. Here we go...

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The Great Plant Wall

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The Great Plant Wall

We've got one big wall in this joint.  I've had a lot of ideas come and go while trying to figure out what to do with it... it could house a big hodgepodge of art and old family photos, a giant macrame, maybe dramatic wallpaper? But in an attempt to overtake the house with plants (I'm shooting for 100) I settled on a living plant wall.  The plan is to put a skylight in over the stairwell in the next year, which will help train the plants up and keep them nice an healthy.  I used the Wooly Pocket system in a skewed 3/3/2 pattern about three quarters of the way up the wall, with the lowest container just above head height. The containers have a well at the back that sustains the plants for 2 weeks before needing a refill.  Here's a little picture tutorial of how I put it together...

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Small Space Entryway

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Small Space Entryway

I think the thing that bothered me most about our house, the thing that brought me down about it and made me question why we bought it in the first place was the entryway. The front door opened directly into the hallway that flanks the staircase, there was nowhere go but downstairs to the boys rooms or down the narrow hallway to all the living room. There was nowhere to put my purse down, let alone house a piece of furniture or even a wall hook for my coat. The interior garage door entrance was on one wall, a single paned etched glass floor length window flanked the front door. I knew that we couldn't bump the wall out very far if we wanted to stay under the existing roofline, but I knew there must be a way to make the space slightly bigger and more useful, to give it a focal point and a purpose,  and to make me smile when I walked into our home.  

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Days Go By

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Days Go By

When I made the decision to finally begin my career in interior design, I had a choice, take a full time entry level position with a firm, or strike out on my own, slowly.  I went back and forth on this and finally decided that my favorite thing about the practice is in the details, the psychology and function of a space, and finding a way to marry those things with the people who live there. This isn't the technical part, it's the personality part.  I decided to go it my own to focus on what I love; creating inviting and relaxing family spaces.  I also went this way so that could continue to be my own boss, and work from home to be there for my boys.  Of course, skipping out on working for someone else, I've had to cultivate my own way of doing things, a unique style, a work flow, invoicing, marketing, all of which take me away from writing, and developing my upcoming classes.  If I'm being honest, I've been pretty stressed and uncharacteristically overwhelmed. I have a modest  client load and a major remodel in my own house beginning in the next couple of weeks which is delayed by permits and requires so much of my time, a kid with the lead role in the school play who is also juggling two different sports (too much) and a preschooler hot on his heels with places to be and things to do, and they would like a home cooked meal every night while we still have a kitchen.  I've backed off from blogging and social media a lot while we get ready to tear our house apart. I'm taking time to focus on the next steps for the business and the kids, and while I have about 20 unfinished posts in my head, I'm going to have to roll them all out very slowly.  I do hope you'll stick with me, because I'm sure it'll pick up soon.

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