Our Summer Vacation~Up North, Michigan

For the past three weeks, our home has been in complete disarray due to our kitchen transformation.   To get away from the stress, we packed up the car and headed out of town for a week.  We're back now, well rested, re-connected as a family and re-energized.  

While I'm busy catching up on emails, I'd thought I'd share some pictures from our trip.

If you're not familiar with life in Michigan, there is a place we go to get away, called "up north".  It's basically the upper part of the mitten {lower peninsula} to the tip of the rabbit {upper peninsula}.  

Last week, we chose to visit our favorite "up north" lake. 

Ahh...the simple life for seven whole days. 

All we had to worry about was getting the sand out of our hair {and our ears}, 

wearing enough sunblock and keeping the lid on the bait. 

The simplicity of the trip was very inspiring. 

I could have spent the whole week taking pictures.  

Who am I kidding?  I did spend the week taking pictures:).

I can't get enough of the old, chippy, crusty, nautical beauty that is Michigan. 

Nothing makes me happier or more content than being on the water,

for an entire week, 

with my family.  

 It was just what we needed.  

It was hard to leave the business for a week.  Especially right now, when I'm the busiest I have ever been. 

However, taking a break to enjoy the kids, the summer and life, has brought me renewed energy and inspiration.

"Pure water is the world's first and foremost medicine" ~Slovakian Proverb

I hope you enjoyed "Up North" Michigan.

We had a wonderful time, but it's great to be home.
Back to work!

"High Class Shabby Chic" Design Plan...

Today's Online Design Plan Video is Family Room/Master Bedroom combo for a young family moving into a brand new executive style home.  The client asked for a space that reflects her love of color, specifically gray, turquoise and yellow.  Her style preferences lean heavily towards "updated cottage" and "shabby chic".  The goal of this design plan was to incorporate casual elements from these styles into their new semi-formal home.  Hence the name of this project, "High Class Shabby Chic".

Here is the design plan video...

{Click here or on the design board below to view video}

You can find all product and image sources in the design plan video.

The main inspiration piece is this beautiful cityscape painting found by the client on Etsy...

{I was so excited when the client introduced me to this fabulous Etsy shop, Cherish Me Designs.  You can heck it out here.}

Here is another look at the Family Room...

{Special thanks to Just A Girl for the image of the gorgeous aqua built~ins.  Stop by her blog to see how she made this beautiful semi-custom bookcase from Billy Bookcases.   No joke, she made this amazing custom looking built-in wall out of Ikea Bookcases.  Not only are the bookcases gorgeous but, her styling is absolute perfection...check it out here.}

During this project, I learned that the client and her husband share a love of photography and nature.  These two interests were incorporated in the design.  They are very excited to put their personality into their new home.  Until now, their main focus has been on raising their family, their education, and establishing their careers.  This move has inspired them to nest and establish a sophisticated home design that reflects their personalities.  

They are "Ready for Love" in their new home.  

I'm very excited to announce the details of my new, improved Online Design Service.  Due to high volume of requests {for which I'm incredibly grateful} I had to temporarily discontinue the service.  During this time, I've found ways to improve the turnaround time and streamline the process, making it easier for my clients.  

I'll be announcing the details of the new service {including pricing}  August 15th, 2012.  At that time I will also begin accepting new reservations.  Thank you to my current clients for your patience during this little back-up.  Until August 15th, I'll be sharing some of my recent online design projects.  

My Laundry Room Makeover~Win $1,000 Visa Gift Card and $200 To Sherwin Williams!

I'm totally geeked about my laundry room makeover, and not just because of the awesome opportunity to redecorate a room in my house or because it's the biggest giveaway ever ($1000 Visa gift card and $200 to Sherwin-Williams). The reason I am so excited is that my custom Chip It! color palette has me so inspired!  

In case you missed the previous post, I chose two inspiring images and then the Sherwin-Williams Chip It! button provided me with two amazing color palette options based on the colors within the images.  Option #1 was based on an image of a pillow and #2 was based on a Pinterest outfit. I was trying to choose between these two for my laundry room makeover.  

I can't believe I'm going to show this again, but here is what it looks like now:

I absolutely loved both color palettes, and it was really hard to choose.  Thank you to everyone who weighed in.  I decided to go with...

Option #2, based on the Pinterest outfit of my dreams.

Here is the beautiful color palette the Chip It! button provided:

Extra White, Tricorn Black, Interface Tan, Grounded and Storm Cloud.

I loved the pop of teal in option #1, but #2 tugged at my heartstrings.  The #2 color palette reminded me of my favorite place: my Dad's boat.  I kept going back and forth between the two color palettes until I came across this beautiful paisley fabric...

...and I immediately fell in love.  It has almost every color in the Pinterest outfit Chip It! palette: Extra 

White, Interface Tan, and Storm Cloud.  I took it as a sign to go with my heart and choose option #2.  I'll be using this fabric for a curtain to disguise the laundry tub and to hang on the window.

Another reason I chose #2 was because of the color of the upstairs hallway, where the laundry room is located.  It's very similar to the color Grounded provided in the palette.  This guaranteed option #2 would complement the colors I already have going on.  Here is a shot of the laundry room door:

I'm so eager that I've already started shopping.  Here is a little teaser of some of the things I'll be incorporating into the space.  With the Chip It! palette as my guide, it's very easy to choose items for the room.

Everything I purchased was based on the color recommendations made by Sherwin-Williams: Extra White, Interface Tan, Grounded and Storm Cloud.  The navy blue and white chevron rug was inspired by the Extra White color suggestion and the navy blue blazer in the outfit. The fun zebra fabric brings in a little bit of the Grounded.

The paisley fabric, as I mentioned before, combines three of the colors: Extra White, Interface Tan, and Storm Cloud.

  

Dark woven baskets mimic the Grounded color.  These babies will be incorporated into my new built-in storage shelf.   

I'm still making art selections, but so far I've been inspired to use a super-fun set of graphic prints in blue and white and a large-scale canvas giclee from Ballard Designs in brown (a.k.a. Grounded).

The drying rack shown here would be functional as well as bring in more Extra White. 

For the wall color, I'll be going with Interface Tan or Storm Cloud.  Still trying to decide, since they are both beautiful colors.  

The next time you see this color palette, it will be in the final reveal of my new laundry room.

Ever since I was told about the Chip It! tool, I have been obsessed.  I thought I was addicted to pinning, and now I'm addicted to chipping my pins.  The Chip It! button is so easy to use with Pinterest.  By selecting a pin board and clicking on your Chip It! button, you can chip any of the pins that inspire you.  All of the color palette results I have received have been absolutely beautiful.  This is a great tool for my own personal decorating projects as well as those I do for my clients.  

Check out the Chip It! video and drag the Chip It! button below to your bookmarks bar.

For a chance to win a $1,000 Visa gift card AND a $200 gift card to Sherwin-Williams, tell me about an image you would like to chip (feel free to include a link to that image).  

Rules:

No duplicate comments.

You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:

a) Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post

b) Tweet about this promotion and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post

c) Blog about this promotion and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post

d) For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about an alternate form of entry.

Entries from all participating blogs will be pooled for winner selection; only two entries per household.

This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older. Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail. You have 72 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.

The Official Rules are available here.

This sweepstakes runs from 7/9/12 to 7/20/12.

Be sure to visit the Sherwin-Williams brand page on BlogHer.com, where you can read other bloggers’ posts!

Online Design Consultation Service Announcement

I am really excited to announce the details of my new, improved Online Design Consultation Service.  

Due to a high volume of requests {for which I am incredibly grateful} I had to temporarily discontinue the service.  During this time, I've found ways to improve the turnaround time and streamline the process making it easier for my clients.  

 I'll be announcing the details of the new and improved service {including pricing} August 15th, 2012.  At that time I will also begin accepting new reservations.  Thank you, to my current online design clients, for your patience and understanding during this little backup.  Until August 15th,  I'll periodically share some of my recent inspiration boards.  

Here is a design plan I created for a master bedroom for a young family looking to add style and new furnishings to their gorgeous master bedroom suite. 

Bob and Bobbi's Dream-On Master Bedroom:

You can find product and image sources in this online design plan rock video:

{You can make the "Dream-On Master Bedroom" video frame larger by clicking on the lower left corner of the screen with the four small arrows}

  I look forward to re-opening the online design service August 15th, 2012!  I can't wait to get started:)

Thanks for visiting. 

Thrift Store Frames

Today's project is a quick thrift store collection makeover.  At the end of this post, please tell us about your thrift store collections.  What's the first thing you look for when you enter a thrift shop?

Hannah wanted her new room to be filled with pictures of friends and family.  For an instant collection of frames, we hit the Salvation Army.  

We went on half off day so we were able to get various styles and sizes for $1 to $3 each. 

We chose frames that had a unique shape, ignoring the color and finish.

I was able to find Krylon all surface spray paint in the colors of her new room.  

We took one of the largest frames and turned it into a photo-tray for her perfume collection.

First, we sprayed it black and placed an enlarged black and white photo inside.  Then placed in flat in the bookcase next to the frame collection to corral perfume bottles and colorful jewelry. 

We are looking forward to adding to the collection as we come across great frames through our thrifing adventures to come.  

What I love about thrifting is that it's a very economical, quick, one stop shop way to start a new eclectic collection.  We were able to throw this display together in a day and now, we have something to collect and add-to for years.  

Do you have a collection of thrift store treasures?  What do you hunt for?

Hannah's Bedroom Makeover

A few weeks ago, I shared the plan to redecorate my daughters room.  Her and I worked together to create a design inspired by a large custom pop art canvas of our dog Murphie, from AllPopArt.com.  

With the popart as our guide, putting the room design together was so simple.  The graphic quality,  simple striking design, sharp contrast and gorgeous color combination of the art gave us our cues for the elements of the new space.  

 Here it is...

We started with a fresh, light gray wall color (Essential Gray by Sherwin Williams).  

The art made it SO easy to choose the perfect wall color.  We simply matched the gray found in the art to a paint color and used a shade lighter on the color card.  That way it complimented the art without matching it exactly.

To mimic the striking contrast of the black in the art, we chose a shiny black chandelier {Ebay}.  By keeping everything else light, the black chandy punctuates the space.  

One flip through the PB Teen catalog and Hannah found the perfect bedding.  The colors and simple graphic pattern were a perfect companion to the art. 

To soften it up a bit, we added the white rosette pillow {PB Teen} and whispy white layered drapes from Target. 

Even though the pop art is graphic and modern, we wanted to keep the space feeling soft and inviting.  We incorporated vintage pieces, thrifted accessories and sentimental items to make the new, contemporary space feel warm and familiar to Hannah. 

Her desk used to be a vintage four post bed has special meaning to her.  

We gave it a fresh coat of glossy white paint,

and updated the area with new accessories.  The acrylic chair was a $10 Big Lots find and the monogrammed pillow is from PB Teen.

Hannah and I worked together to create a set of four magnetic memo boards for the wall over the desk.

You can see the step by step tutorial for the boards and the flower magnets, here.

Not only are thrift stores my favorite place to shop for accessories, but it's a fun place to get the kids involved in the decorating process. 

 Hannah and I went on a thrifting excursion and collected picture frames.  I'll share the details of this project soon. 

Another simple thrift store makeover project was this collection of jewelry boxes.  

{click here to see the tutorial}

We're using them on the dresser for stashing hair ties, lipgloss, earrings etc.  

I found the iron candelabara on the curb.  We loaded it up with her Great Grandmothers vintage costume jewelry for a pop of color as well as some of Hannahs modern day accessories {aviator shades...can you believe they're back?}. 

Lastly, the sconces were a garage sale find.

 I updated them to match the new chandy and used them to flank a vintage mirror over her dresser. 

The trundle bed {Murphie's bed} was also updated with new bedding {Kohls}.  

Storage boxes from PB Teen fill the bookcase,  

and provide a place for cd's, dvd's, and other unattratives. 

By removing one of the shelves inside the bookcases we were able to sneak in a flatscreen tv. 

Here is a look back at the design board we put together when we first received our pop art proof from AllPopArt.com.  

It was so much fun working with Hannah to bring the pop art inspired design to life.

It was a good reminder that inspiration for design can come from anywhere.  When it comes from something/someone that has special meaning to you {Murphie}you'll be sure to love the end result. 

In addition to pet paintings, AllPopArt.com has many other options for custom portraits on canvas. This was a sponsored post, but I can honestly say, I was so happy with the purchase that I will be ordering from them again.  The beautiful portrait we received will be cherished for years. 

{You can read more about the experience here}