I like it when clients go on vacation!

This makeover has been in the works for a few months now. My clients went on a 10 day vacation so we have been planning and discussing and I've been shopping for quite some time in order to take over their home while they were gone. True to my commitment, I spent more time in their home than my own this week and it was well worth it! I have worked in this home before but have not yet done the one thing that I think is truly required when you truly decorate your home--PAINT!

Before I show you the before and afters, I have to give credit where credit is due--the homeowner found the bedding and picked the paints. I was going for a relaxed, spa like feel in the bathroom and my first paint suggestion was a soft green. Well she wanted BOLD!! Which I LOVE! Their past bedroom had tan everything with a white duvet so I didn't expect this drastic of a change, though it totally fits their fun, dynamic personalities. This is a HUGE change for them and I'm excited they decided to make it a true transformation! So get ready for ORANGE paint as well as Green and Brown from the new Ralph Lauren Metallic line! It is GORGEOUS!!!

Master Bedroom

Check out the plain white raised ceiling in the before-it's now orange! They are considering a corner sectional in the right area by the couch. I would like some creamy toned side tables over there and there is a large mirror to hang between this area and the bed if they decide to not change this area but I avoided the furniture cost as well as a large anchor in the wall until the decision is made.

She bought coordinating straight valances for the long window that matched the bedding which I could NOT live with so I asked her to give me just one of them and let me alter it and add drapes and she let me do my thing! That is a favorite trick of mine--altering something simple off the shelf that lacks in 'umph' and make it unique while adding some style!

Master Bathroom

This bathroom is large and quite unique with the tub in the middle of the room and had great 'bones' but was just non descript with the tan walls next to the tan tile. I edited their accessories, added pops of color and created display areas for the things that they needed on the counters. The phrase on the mirror raises your eye and really makes you see how large the bathroom is, though this was VERY hard to photograph with all the reflecting mirrors.

Here are a few areas in the bathroom that helped create big changes. One thing that I LOVE about the homeowners is they have things they truly love and like to see that hold personal value when others would perhaps put them away if they didn't fit into the room. One of those things is a clay tube of toothpaste and toothbrush that the husband made when he was little! It was on his counter so I put up a shelf in an empty area so it had a worthy home. And I love how it looks so great with the paint, which I wish I could say I thought of but I didn't, it just worked! This shelf needs another item which I will figure out on another day.

Guest Bathroom

They owned the beach inspired pictures so I used those and added a few accessories to tie in and look at how easy this change was!

Bar/Pool Room

This room was set up but didn't have much personality. We wanted it moody, relaxed and a great room for parties! ! This paint is SO dark that I couldn't get a good photo of the entire room so below the before and after are two pictures close up where you can see the shimmer and true tone of the wall--GORGEOUS!!!

The bar cabinet was full of alcohol and couldn't be closed so I found the shelves at Pottery Barn and they helped enable us to organize and close the doors. The shelf display can be changed out to focus on a different theme or even drink motif! I used what they had for now but plan to talk to them more about what they love to really personalize this for them. Here are a few ideas to use as a display:

• High end liquors with several old fashioned glasses
• Wine accessories with a gorgeous decanter and cork screw
• Martini glasses with different mixers, a shaker and martini mixing set with a martini recipe book
• Fun shooters (the kind that look like test tubes) with popular shot liquors such as goldschlager or you could display ingredients for a popular shot or shot you are serving like a B52 or Lemon Shot with the recipe displayed in a frame and of course a Shot recipe book which is more fun to read than actually use!
• Unique beer steins with a display of your favorite regional or international beer

The ideas are endless!!


















Dining Room

This is right off of the bar so we chose to paint a niche to tie into the room and I also had to add shades to the chandelier to complete this area! There is also an entry area that we painted green and another bathroom that is also green and an office area that was painted brown but this post is getting long enough!


I enjoyed this week so much and love that they didn't see it as it was being done so they can fully feel the transformation when they walk in. It was a TON of work and their house was a MESS during this process between painters as well as myself working in the same space so I'm glad they were gone for that reason too! I wish all my clients would vacation for a week and let me take over as I think it is a rewarding process for everyone!

Tour of My Home

Welcome to my Home! If I were a Gardener, you'd want to see what my yard looked like, right? You can certainly see that I'm not a landscaper! That is on my list of things to do, I promise! Dentists had better have white teeth! And hairdressers should always have great hair! So I assume you wonder, how do I live? My #1 goal with my customers and with my blog is to bring beautiful living and functional living together and I would love to show you how I live.

We have been here since the Spring of 2007. I drew the plans for this house years ago and always had a 'vision' of what my dream home would look like. When we finally found land, I took my drawings to our structural engineer and we had blueprints done and submitted for permitting 2 months later! Nine months later, the house was done! You can do things fast when you know what you love and what you want. I enjoyed the process immensely and loved planning it all from the 'big picture' items to even the smallest details!

I'm still not done, but who ever is? In almost every room, I see things that I need to do or things that aren't complete in my opinion but I will go ahead and start this so you can see how it is now and as things change, I'll show you that as a project!

Because my goal is to always make something beautiful as well as functional, I will show you each room and then point out something "pretty" that was either a focal point or something I created for that space and then something "neat" that helps myself or my family use that space better or easier.

I will try to put up a new room every week until our tour is done!

School Paperwork Solution for a Disorganized Child!

Do you have a disorganized child? I do! He has a form of autism and he very much struggles with not only keeping his paperwork where it belongs but also is not very gentle so he destroys things much easier than most. Every year, he has a planner and by mid November, it is looking pretty rough. By mid January, pages that should be intact are falling out. Also, paperwork that needs to come home sometimes doesn't and paperwork that needs to go to his teacher is lost between the car and the classroom! If any of this sounds like your child, read on!

Last year, we had to brainstorm on solutions and his teacher came up with a folder like this! I took on creating this year's folder for his new 4th grade teacher and of course had fun with it! He LOVES legos and I've had this scrapbook kit sitting, just waiting for the right project!

Here's how to set up the binder:

• Planner goes on the rings (this planner is school issued)
• Binder clips are clipped on both sides so it is opened to this week's page. NO tearing through pages trying to find where he is supposed to write.
• On the left pocket is a sticker that says "Keep at Home"
• On the right pocket is a sticker that says "Return to School"

Here's how to use the binder:

• His teacher helps him sort his items each day to bring home
• Items he does not need to touch that she is just sending home, she puts in the left pocket
• Homework sheets and things that need to be sent back are on the right.
• I place anything that is going back in the right pocket along with his completed homework.
• The teacher takes his folder and pulls it all out, preventing him from putting things where he can't find them!
• As I check his folder Friday afternoon, I move the clips to the following week.

This has worked great for us and I hope it helps you if you have a disorganized child! Working with the teacher is obviously necessary as this requires more support than most kids are accustom to. We have found that a little more effort on the adult's part makes it not only easier for us in the long run but takes stress off of him as sorting all this random paperwork has proved a bit overwhelming!

If you have other organizational issues with your child, let me know in the comments and I'll be glad to address them. I think it's safe to say that most problems we have faced in this family between this child on the autistic spectrum and my other child with a very short attention span so bring it on and I'll try to help!

Stacked Laundry Area

One functional decision we made when building our home was to put a washer and dryer in our master bedroom, in addition to a set in the upstairs laundry room. Anyone with a master on the 1st floor and kids rooms on the 2nd floor knows the frustration of having laundry on only one of those floors. We had this in our last home and I loathed carrying the laundry up and down the stairs. This was an easy decision for us!

When you walk into the closet, those stacked machines are the first thing you see. We custom build a hamper in a lower cabinet and then had the surround built around the machines to maximize storage. People have asked if you can stack this type of machine. They are so large that you can't imagine how tall they will be and picture it huge! You can see that they are a bit shorter than a standard closet cabinet which is to their left and is not as bad as you would perhaps have pictured. My 9 year old can reach the top controls just fine, though my 7 year old can't. There are other chores he can do so that's okay! It works great for us and I think it's easier on your back too! If you have a tight space and want to maximize your storage, this is a great solution.

I didn't love that you see the side of the machines when you walk in. Building our surround storage deep enough to cover the sides would have taken up too much space and I felt it would have been more of a "wall" than I wanted so we opted to leave it open and set the storage back. This storage, though large, would have also been too deep to function well, sometimes "less is more". I found this fun decal through Uppercase Living and I think adding this turned something boring into something fun with a bit of whimsy! I smile when I walk into my high functioning closet and what else could a girl want really?

A forgotten hall closet

This closet was a great place for things to "collect". It had lots of random stuff and it was a place where they looked for things they needed, not sure if it was there or not. One of those "maybe it's in the hall closet?" spaces. This space was a perfect spot to organize all their household items--light bulbs, cat food, tools, batteries, extension cords--all those things you need but often end up under the sink or in a desk drawer. I picked up a few of my favorite things (these bins, notice how there isn't an ugly gray handle on it!) and viola! A space perfect for all thier household items. Now when they need something, they know exactly where it is!

Back Porch Redo

I recently showed you the family room redo with the fabulous green window treatment. Now that their family room is done, they decided they must redo the back porch. They are in Florida and could use this space for many relaxing evenings as well as another seating area for large parties, which they do have!

Interesting story to consider: I mentioned I was working on this space to a mutual friend who had been at a party in their home when it looked like this (Right). He said "they have a back patio?". It was so underutilized that it didn't even exist! They didn't use it and their friends didn't even see it--even through the 16 foot window!!

Here is another view of the patio BEFORE from the newly completed family room:

Here is the same view now that the porch has been redone:

The #1 change is the screen enclosure. This gives them a bit more shade and will help keep their new furniture clean. A brilliant idea that the clients had was their use of a refrigerator as a side table. It is topped with a natural branch runner to give it some texture and interest and used just like a side table but if they would like a cool drink on their Florida porch, they don't even have to move! The outdoor rug soften the pavers and makes it all the more comfortable. They now relax with their laptop and a drink and use a space that at one time was rarely uses!
This is the view from their breakfast nook area. We are still looking for the perfect simple 'something' to disguise the AC system. The clients now enjoy grilling which is something they never did before this redo!

What a difference a window treatment makes!

I showed you this completed room a few months ago and had not yet posted a picture of the entire window treatment. This slider is 16 feet long and was quite a project! This massive space needed quite a POP and I created that with green dupioni silk. Here is the BEFORE:
The topper is one continuous piece and is double sided with a blackout liner in the center. It weighed a ton and I could barely lift it on my own. The side panels are backed with the same blackout liner and they close to block light on the afternoons that they want to lie on their comfy couch and watch a movie.

This client had a friend visiting one day and he said this was the "sexiest" window treatment he has ever seen. I thought that was quite a unique compliment!

Note the back patio as that will soon be the BEFORE of the redo for their outdoor space.

Pulling Together A New Office

I was asked to help pull together a small medical office. This was for a Chiropractor that will see patients in a Pediatrician's office once a week as both doctors are working toward integrating standard medicine with fields that focus first on wellness, which as a parent I love the idea of. I feel odd mentioning names but if you are in Central Florida and are interested in this type of partnership between doctors, email me as I'd love to recommend them to you!

He has a waiting room and a room next to it for his adjusting area that was not private nor defined from the other. He brought his green table into an office with baby blue walls and red chairs and I must say, I was a little perplexed how I would make this space feel cohesive when I first walked in!

The Challenge:

Make a curtain that could provide privacy for the adjusting room. Warm up the space. Provide something for kids and siblings to do while waiting. If possible, try to make the curtain tie into the green table and blue walls and red chairs. (Um, okay!)

Before: waiting room area

After: waiting room area

Before: adjusting room.

(This also clearly shows the colors that I was working with)

After: adjusting room

Once I saw the small window, I had to complete a valance for that as well!


Here is a closer look at the fabric I found! You can't see the red well in the pictures but it does stand on its own in the space. It softens the room up and ties the colors together!

Fabric really is amazing isn't it?

Make Your Own Window Seat

I do encourage doing everything on your own but you may need a little bit of help on this unless you know how to use a saw! It only takes a short amount of time to do the construction part and it isn't that difficult! The fabric is all you!

1. Determine where you want your seat and the size. Lay out large paper if it has a unique shape which is what I did here. I free handed the curve. Or, determine the exact dimensions if it has straight lines.

2. Cut the seat shape out of two pieces of MDF. Yes, TWO.

3. Take one piece of MDF to your local upholstery shop and choose your foam. The thicker the better. You need to do this first, or at least know your plan, before you build your seat so you know exactly how high the base seat needs to be built. They will cut it for you to match your top exactly. To give you an idea of cost, mine is 4" thick and was around $70.

4. Use 2x4s to support one piece of your MDF seat at your predetermined height. Use studs to support the seat on the wall as well as legs and then make legs every 8"-12" where it isn't attached to the wall. If you plan to use this as storage, make sure your legs are spaced correctly for function. You won't see it so just make it strong and you are set! Construction is done!

5. Buy your fabrics!

6. Determine the bottom skirt measurement. You will need to leave 3" inches to staple on the top. The length should be adjusted based on how much gathering you want. 1.5 times your actual length gives you a decent amount but play a bit before you cut! Hem the sides and bottom. Start gathering and pinning until you get the piece the right length with gathers. Do one run on the sewing machine to hold the fabric in place and remove the pins. If you need to tweak it, just loosen or gather more as you go, especially around the corners but doing this first makes it easier. Staple it to the built in bench. You should use an upholstery stapler to get through the MDF which you can get at any craft store.

7. Set your seat fabric face down on a flat surface. Set your cushion and then your MDF, also upside down. Ensure you have enough room surrounding every side to cover before you start to staple! The TRICK with upholstering is to take it slow and to maintain your fabric lines as you go. Do not start at one point and stay in a straight line. Put a few staples in the center of the left side, a few on the right, a few in the front, a few in the back, always ensuring that your fabric is staying taunt, not pulled too tight and remaining straight. Do the corners last by gathering each piece carefully so you don't have any areas with a large amount of fabric. Staying balanced is key. Curves are tough! You must use fabric with some give. Email me if you need some hints but most likely, you won't have to worry with that!

8. Viola! You have a window seat and it's gorgeous and custom! Now sew some pillows from coordinating fabric to go with it or buy some! Mine has some scrapbook storage under it and if I'm in the middle of a sewing project, I slide the storage box and other stuff under until I'm done with that project! It's a great hiding place too, the kids love it!