Chair-e-o! The chairs are here!

The chairs FINALLY came in. I swear this is one of the longest design projects that hasn't had a lot of activity that I've ever had. It'll teach me to do an interior design project over the holidays. Not only was half of my stuff on back order, but then shipping was delayed due to the holidays! I JUST received the white guest chairs last week and installed them into the space, now I'm waiting on the bench that will go in the back seating area of the office and I'll finally be done! I feel bad that it's taken so long for my client, but fortunately, he's a patient man!

I'll post the FULL reveal when I deliver the bench and complete the space. I've titled this one Art Deco Meets Mod Vintage which appeals to both sides of my client, he loves the Art Deco style however grew up in the 1950s and loves to be reminded of his heyday. I love the mash-up of the two styles, it's keeps the stuffiness of the Deco style more casual with the fun and color of the mod elements in the room.

Before --> Design --> After

Kitchen Before

Kitchen Design

Kitchen After

Home Office Before

Home Office Design

Home Office After

So I was going through some of my old files, being the New Year and all, and I found many of my design sketches from past projects. I was actually quite surprised at how close they ended up being to the final design so I figured I'd share them with you to give you insight on my process.

Initially I meet with the client to see how they live in the space and/or how they want to live in the space. I get an overall idea of what their essence is all about and then sketch up some ideas. Sometimes these are in a layout program, sometimes they're in Photoshop and sometimes they're by hand - it all depends on what the project calls for. This way, they understand what it is I'm about to do before I do it, so that we get all questions out of the way up-front and there are no 'bad' surprises. Then I get the okay for 15% latitude in creativity during the process since there are always things that come up that could be done different/better but you never know until you're in the middle of it. Finally, the after shots are taken and I now have a series of images that I can relive the design by. Hope you enjoy these. I'll be posting more periodically.

Seriously, have you used gel stain yet?!

Holy cow! Where have you been my whole life gel stain & topcoat?! Alright, I did use you a while back, but I didn't remember how lavish, how rich, how wonderful you were. I'm building this rounded bench for a client that has a round dining room table. I initially finished it with a regular wood stain in English Chestnut and then topcoated it with polyurethane. It looked good, but a bit flat. And when I brought it over to deliver it, the color was not as deep and rich as the table it was supposed to match - even though the color swatch matched the table.

Back to the drawing board. Back to my good buddies at Rockler who offer the best materials and supplies and I should remember to go there for these types of items - not HD.

It's Your Turn Sweepstakes

Now that the holidays are over, isn't it time to reward yourself?!
As you know, I'm all about Being Different, so what's better than me being able to give away something that's nice and funky? AllModern.com, which is sponsoring this sweeps, is right up my alley featuring brands that I actually use in my interior design projects like Blu Dot, Alessi, Dwell Studio & more. If you want to see more table top products & accessories, check out their Dining Room furniture & accessories.

So now on to the important stuff - how to enter!

1. Simply enter a comment to this sweepstakes post telling me about your design aesthetic in a few short sentences. (Personal gain here, I love to hear what people like).
2. Enter your comment by 1/31/10 (that's right, it's 2010 already), and I'll post the name of the randomly selected winner by 2/7/09.
3. Rules & Regs: Sweeps is open only to US residents only over age 18. Sweeps ends 1/31/10. Be nice with your comments.

That's it! I hope you follow my blog to see what projects I'm working on, what products I'm loving right now and where I see design going. I'd love to hear your comments too, so don't be afraid to post away.

BTW - here's a link to the bowl and the hurricane for those who want more info.

Thanks, and good luck!

The doors are up! Entre Art Deco-dance!

Before

After

Close-Up of Doors

So last week I stopped by the law office and installed the doors on the built-in. These photos are from my phone so they're not very good - better ones coming later, but you get the idea of just the scope of the transformation from the cluttered and 1970s old office to the updated and sleek new office. Plus, this stencil came from the UK and I'm very pleased with it. I actually didn't expect it to be in two layers so that was a nice surprise. I really like how the two tone metallic colors bring out the dimentionality of the design. The last few items of this design are two guest chairs and a bench that have been on back-order pre-Hoidays. More on that later.

In the meantime, I'm off to my in-laws' house today to work on their kitchen renovation. For Christmas, my husband and I decided to give them the gift of our time and our talent. So he installed an attic ladder for them and I'm refinishing their kitchen cabinets and doing a little painting and a simple tile backsplash. I'm hoping it'll make a big difference for them.

Happy Holidays to all. Coming in the next few days - a chance to win some great stuff from AllModern.com. Be sure to check back!