Farmhouse Glam

A few weeks back I was enlisted by a Laurel & Wolf client to finish designing her dining room and breakfast nook. The client is a popular blogger with about 100K Instagram followers and had been gifted the following pieces by Raymour & Flanagan in return for a home decor feature on her blog.

Fair Harbour Seven Piece Dining Set for the Dining Area

Fair Harbour Bookcase for Dining Room 

Kenton 5 Piece Dining Set for Breakfast Nook

Although she does not mention it in her feature, she hired Laurel and Wolf behind the scenes to help design both rooms and "glam" them up a bit, with a budget of less than $5K.

Here is where I stepped in. Although I admit to you that I would have never specified these furniture pieces, I love a good challenge! Here are some before pictures of the spaces:

With super tight time, budget and vendor constraints, I got to work cozying up and styling the space. Here is what I came up with:

Although Laurel and Wolf and I didn't receive credit in the blog post for pulling this all together, it's still fun to see the results, photographed professionally! I will give us a little pat on the back for a job well done :-) Because if I don't, who will?

So, what do you think? Since we were on such a tight deadline, it looks like some of the pieces may not have arrived in time for the photoshoot, so I see that she improvised with similar, and it works well! 

I really think the rug from NuLoom is my favorite - it brings it all together with the casual warmth, texture and pattern for a boho-chic-country feel.

Farmhouse Glam Slam.

~L.S.

PS- Have you ever had someone pass off your work as their own? How did it make you feel? Tell me in the comments below! 

Casa Saccullo!

Soooooo, we bought a house!

I know, I know, I can't even wrap my head around moving. Again. But, this time it's just down the street! And really can't complain. We feel like we lucked out with this house in every aspect of luck. It's often unbelievably hard, tiring and frustrating trying to buy a home, especially a first one. And especially in the Bay Area where the real estate market is nothing less than cuckoo! I really think we were in the right place at the right time, and the universe aligned, allowing our bid to be accepted on this baby! Our real estate agent was just as shocked as we were when we found out we got it. Hah! That being said, timing wasn't exactly perfect :-) Anyone in the Walnut Creek area want to take over the next five months on our townhouse lease? Anyone?!

As a designer I saw total potential in this house, but I can see how some home shoppers with a much less wild imagination may have been just a tad scared off. In a minute you'll scroll through the pics and see what I mean! But, the shell is there. When we walked into the space, we just got that feeling that this was our home. 

We were lucky enough to meet the previous owners (may have hugged it out with them.) There are some serious good family vibes in the house. These previous (and original) owners had four children, two of which were adopted as toddlers from China and raised in the house. I feel like that lends to the good energy in the home! Is home energy a thing?! I think it definitely is. 

And as I mentioned, these lovely previous owners were the original owners. Meaning they bought the house brand new in 1994. And have lived there ever since. Meaning that in this case, there haven't been any updates made to it, like, ever 

So, get ready to feast your eyes on a lot of 1994-ness complete with some of the ugliest staging I have ever seen in my entire life. Brace yourselves, here we go!

So, take a moment and let your eyes recover from the visual assault! Do you see the same potential that we did? I really, really hope so, because demo started today!

Our immediate Phase 1 Game Plan:

(1) Remove Laminate Floors on First Floor and Install Hardwood

(2) Paint Paint Paint, like, everything.

(3) Remove Cabinet Overhang above Kitchen Island, Install Pendants

(4) Replace Stair Runner Carpet

(5) Add Overhead Lighting Where Needed

(6) Remove Fluorescent Overhead Lighting in Kitchen! 

Of course you know me, I have a nice big running wish list of everything single thing I'd like to do to make the house really gorgeous. But the above will be good enough to get us moved in, and then we can delve into Phase 2 if/when we can.

As far as I'm concerned, we are not. moving. again. Until it's time to downsize/retire! So we have just a little bit of time to get all of these projects done. I'm going to have to practice patience though... not one of my best suits!

I can't wait to take you along on the wild ride of fixing up Casa Saccullo! And truly, it's really not a "fixer". Besides it being dated and needing an aesthetic "face-lift", it's clean and in good shape. Apparently structurally sound (ahhh, I'm just bracing for that first earthquake!). So, like I said. All in all, we really lucked out.

Designing for myself is truly the hardest job, so I may be bouncing some ideas off of you in the next few weeks/years, okay? Okay great. I need to hire a decorator! :-) Would love to hear from you in the comments below! Suggestions? It's helpful to have a fresh pair of eyes looking, since we've been staring at these pictures (and at the house in person) for a few months now!

Ok, more soon! 

~L.S.