project: c+m's entryway

my sister and her husband recently bought a house.  it's got beautiful bones but needs a lot of love in the design department (note the jade green carpet below).  ;)  fortunately for them, her husband is a construction manager and knows all about building and construction.  and her favorite sister (what?!) is an interior designer.  so they are totally up for the task.  

of course i'm offering her my services.  

we started with the entry way for a few reasons:

1- it's the first thing anyone sees when they enter the home.

and 2- it's a small space and easy to complete.  sometimes when you're updating your entire house, it's easy to get bogged down, feeling like nothing is complete and there's so much to do.  because there is!  so we wanted to have one project that would be quick to complete.

here's how it's going down.  my sis sent me pics and dimensions of the space.  

we chatted on the phone about what her style is, how she wants the room (as well as the entire home) to feel. luckily, i understand her style pretty well.  i call it "casual elegant."  she's got 2 children so it needs to be livable, but there are also 2 adults that live there, so it needs some elegance, too.  her style leans toward the traditional end of the spectrum, but she likes to blend with more modern/transitional accessories and textiles.  so here's the first draft of what i came up with:

1- modern orb chandelier.
2- inexpensive, yet ornate mirror.  this will be painted a different color.
3- wall stencil for some textural interest.
4- large gourd lamp in a fun color
5- entry rug in a durable material
6- the main player- the console
7- colorful accessories

all sources on my pinterest.  

what do you think?  

project: the green house- great room inspiration board

i've been hard at work crunching budget numbers, and then finding furniture, artwork, light fixtures, and rugs for our new home.  and i think i've finally got a decent plan concocted!  here's what i'm thinking for our kitchen/living/dining great room.

1-art from big cartel.  

it's a large, glossy, painted wood panel.    it'll go right over our dining room table.

2- storage solution - i got the idea here.  

i'm going to customize it a little bit for the size we need and the look we're going for.  but this will either go in our computer desk area or will house some books, dvds, and our dvd player.  or both.  plumbing pipe and reclaimed wood?  yes, i think i can handle that.

3-dining table and chairs from csn.  

i like that it features a removable leaf so when we're having guests we can expand, but when it's just the 3 of us it won't take up as much space.

4- cute little side chair from urban outfitters. 

 it'll go beside our fireplace, in the little reading nook with the plumbing bookshelf. 

5- industrial type stool from ikea.  

i'd like to find some vintage drafting stools eventually, but this is cheap and accessible, so i'm all over it. 

6- grey sectional from west elm.  

now i'm not normally a sectional type person, but this one is modular which means we can switch up furniture arrangements as we need to (i'm a big fan of doing that), the seats are wide and accommodating, and the color is great.  add to that the fact that west elm upholstery is all 15% off right now, and you've got a deal.  i pick these up thursday!

7- making mercury lamps with burlap shades out of some old glass lamps i already have?  yes please!  

so there it is.  version 1.0 of our great room.  i  can't wait for it to be completed!  wanna come hang out?