Friday's Organizing Item

Today's Agenda:  Plan for a fun, productive week next week!  Hopefully on the agenda is finishing up decorating an apartment in NYC, wrapping up place cards and ceremony programs, creating these and attending two weddings!  Good thing I have something to look forward to given that the Olympics will be over...

I have been working on an apartment in Manhattan where it is essentially a "soup to nuts" project -- everything from purchasing appliances, dishes, etc. to organizing closets to finding the perfect pillows for the couch.  A couple weekends ago I went up and among other things worked on organizing the closets.

I'm not sure what we did before The Container Store {maybe we were just unorganized??!} but there is nothing like strolling the aisles there and looking at all the products they have and thinking how could that wall mounted whatever revolutionize my life {in my corporate law life in Manhattan I used to roam the aisles and enjoy the peace and organization of The Container Store!! Not joking...}.  In this specific case shelf organizers and shoe bins revolutionized this closet.

Here is the before.

Not too bad.  We had already tossed out a ton of those dry cleaning hangers and replaced them with wood hangers and the clothes had already been edited so we didn't need to go through that step.  What we did need to do was to create a functional closet.  Where if one shirt was taken out of the pile, the whole pile didn't come with it.  And where you could easily find the mate to your favorite black heels as you are running out the door to work.

After a trip to the Container Store and Bed Bath and Beyond and purchasing the following:

Shelf Organizers

Shoe Bins

Flocked Hangers

Friction Trouser Hanger

Friction Skirt Hanger

Here is the after!

 

Much better!  I first took clothes out of the closet by groups -- sweaters, then dresses, etc. -- and rehung everything on the appropriate hangers -- ones that fit in the space and the clothes didn't fall off of.  Then I grouped the folded clothes by category -- beach tank tops, going out shirts, cool graphic Ts, long sleeve plain Ts, etc.  And then went to town on the shoes -- these bins are fantastic since they fit the space just perfectly and are clear so don't clutter or distract from the clothes.  There are no lids on these boxes so no need to pull a box out of a massive stack and then have to put it all back together -- you just grab the shoes you want and go.

Just like it makes a huge difference to have the right black shoes to wear with that black dress {okay black shoes are okay with that black dress, but not "it"}, I think it makes a huge difference to have the right accouterments to outfit your closet in a way that makes it easy to use.  While some closets  really may require a whole Elfa installation others just need a cohesive set of hangers and a way to divide the clothes in a usable way.  

Dining Room Turned Guest Bedroom/Lounge!

Today's Agenda:  Working on my website and client projects {yea, embossing!}.

Isn't there something sort of unnerving about having so many options at your fingertips??!  I'm finding that with the website design -- am loving that I can do anything I want but that just means I need to first figure out what I want and plan for it and then execute.  Not a bad problem to have and a good learning process.  Trying to embrace this. 

So, this past weekend we had our first guests in our newly defined guest bedroom/lounge and I had a chance today to snap some photos.  I'm loving this "new" room and feel like we have added on a ton more square footage to our happy condo.  The whole redesign just took a couple of days {key move was finding movers who would gently and carefully move our sleeper sofa from the upstairs loft -- not such an easy task!}. 

Here's what it was like before as the dining room.  Great memories of Thanksgiving dinners in here.

  And, more recently as the lounge.  Which inspired me to think more strategically about how to use this space.

 

 And, now modern lounge + guest bedroom.

  

Now that I am using our home office in the loft full time for work it didn't really seem that peaceful for guests to sleep amongst my fabric samples, corkboards of images and stacks of magazines and stationery.  But I didn't want to give up the living space that we have in what is technically a second bedroom.  So, I kept the lounge feel but made it easy to turn into a guest bedroom.  The bathroom is even down the hall so it really can convert nicely to a guest suite! 

I had also had a can of black paint that I picked up free after one of Pottery Barn's lectures they have been having on Benjamin Moore paint colors {you just get a coupon for a free gallon of Natura paint!}.  So, finally, I got to test out painting a wall black and also painting stripes on a wall.  Am loving both. And holding myself back from doing this in the entire condo though!

Here are some more details of the new room. 

View from the kitchen {and of the "new" dining room!}

View through the curtains {am doing research on barn doors to install here -- if anyone has done this please feel free to send me some tips or info!  In the meantime my go to Ikea Merete curtains are up on a tension rod -- no commitment!}

 

The black wall, fainting sofa, new twigs and vase from Ikea.

One of my favorite sofas from Room and Board and THE guest bed.  I just bought a featherbed topper for the pullout bed and it is amazing.  Going forward I'm advising any client who has a pullout bed to get a featherbed topper for it -- unless, of course, you really don't want guests to stay...

View of the curtains {again, Ikea} that I used on the windows to make the room feel taller and tie in the black, white, cream, blue and gray in the room.

 

Newly painted stripes in the hall from this room that leads to the bathroom.  This makes it easy for guests to set their luggage in the hallway, use the mirror to get ready and hang up any clothes, jewelry, etc.  The stripes do make the hallway feel longer too and ties in nicely with the black wall in the main room.

 

Lovely candle.

My favorite painting.

 

Bringing in some soft pink in the flowers that ties in with the flamenco painting and marble table.

Favorite matchbox for candles.

Fun gift from husband.

 

Unexpected accent of bright blue in contrast to the soft blues in the room.

 

The detail in the marble table from Eastern Market.

 

My lovely curtains.

 

Perfect place for the apothecary case I picked up at Round Top in Texas last year.

 

Detail of the hooks.

And, the mirror in the hall reflecting back into the room.

 

I'm also loving just curling up on the couch in this room -- no papers, no TV, just a quiet place to read or have a glass of wine.  To us once you close the curtains to the rest of our home it feels a bit like we are in one of our favorite modern boutique hotels...we didn't even have to pack a bag. 

Searching for the Perfect Rug

Today's Agenda:  Bask in the glory of my newly painted black wall and my new lounge/guest room.  I had the impulse to change the room up just in time for some weekend guests and I love it!  I'm adding the finishing touches so will post before and after pics soon.  In the meantime I need to get back to some more fun client projects...and one day to not so fun tax prep...

Today I am continuing my search for the perfect rug.  Needs to be fairly neutral but could be interesting.  Needs to be reasonable.  Needs to be big.  Needs to not have crazy shipping charges.  Needs to not shed.  Why can "rug searching" be so hard!!

Here is what I am leaning towards.  

 

Platinum Jute

Some other contenders. 

Gray Damask

Chains

And some fun finds that are completely wrong for the project I'm working on but nonetheless, fun!

Blue Damask

Stripes
  
Andalucia

Safari

Ocean

Chocolate + Pink

And, yes, I still love these.

Black/White

Cowhide

A Week of Before and Afters - Day 3: An Updated Living Room and Dining Room

Today's Agenda:  Enjoy some more of that sunshine streaming into our home today! And melting the snow!

The next "before and after" is a great example of how you can successfully update the look and feel of a room without redoing and replacing everything, not even key pieces like furniture.  Let me show you what I mean.

Here is what the entryway, living room, dining room and kitchen of this fantastic Capitol Hill rowhouse {where a really really fantastic couple live!} looked like when I first saw it. 

 

 

  

 

 

  

  

 

   

 

We met and discussed what they needed from this space.

*More mature, sophisticated look since they had not updated the space since kids were in the house

*Cooler/calmer feel to the living area; less like a basketball court {it is a very long space}

*Wanted a clean, purposeful look (no accessories just for accessories' sake)

*Keep the space open and easy to entertain in or just kick back and watch TV in

*They liked Tuscan colors (yellows, warm colors/not too warm though); but no red or eggplant 

They were willing to paint {and had been struggling with paint colors for awhile as you can tell from the primed walls and paint samples!}, wanted to recover chairs in dining room, needed rugs in the living area and dining room, hoped for a new light fixture in the dining room and curtains in the dining room.

After gathering that information and thinking about it I came up with this inspiration board and collection of pieces {yep, staged in our living area} to present to them.

 

  

And we went from there. 

Painting the rooms and adding molding to the dining room made a huge difference and was work that the homeowners did themselves -- amazing!  We chose Benjamin Moore Calm {appropriately named!} for the living room walls and in the dining room used Benjamin Moore Calm for the top half and Benjamin Moore Ashley Gray for the bottom half.  The trim in both rooms is Benjamin Moore Super White.  

And with a handful of additional changes here is what it looks like now.

 

 {Added wallpaper to neutralize the tiles instead of replacing the tiles}

  

 {Changed painting and accent bowl with ones they had}

 

 {Painted the built-ins the same color as the wall to let the objects stand out; replaced misc collection of frames with the same frames; replaced lamp shade with a more modern tapered drum style}

  

{Used FLOR tiles to create a custom rug that widened the space; added pillows to couch} 

  

{Added a side chair, blue/green garden stool, copper tray, vintage-style embroidered pillow}

  

 {Replaced painting with a warmer one; added runner and new lamp; replaced knobs; changed out pieces on the mantel}

 

  {Just left it neutral and unadorned to let the brick and wood stand out}

 

 {New chandelier, window panel, rug}

  

{Recovered chairs; added fleur de lys piece and a montage of photos/pictures to add interest/personality to the room}

 

 {Added some texture/nature and glass container to continue the glass theme - chandelier, knobs}

 

{Painted this wall in Benjamin Moore Gentleman's Gray; added some black and white photos/comics in Black/White frames}

By first neutralizing the spaces and thinking of a cohesive color scheme and style between the living room and dining room, we were then able to bring in some interesting and purposeful details.

Chandelier {Pottery Barn}

  

 Napkins {Williams-Sonoma} + Placemats {Calvin Klein via Homegoods}

 

Knobs

  

Candleholders {same teal as the garden stool / from Homegoods}

  

Pillows from Pottery Barn {same yellow as in dining room napkins}

 

Brown leather chair {West Elm}

 Blue/green garden stool {Homegoods} + bronze tray {Target}

 

Curtain + Bronze Holdback {West Elm}

 Vases {Homegoods}

 

 Painting {Homegoods}, Fabric {Ikea}, Lamp {base from Homegoods / matching tapered drum shade from Pottery Barn}, Knobs {Anthropologie}

 

 New frame {matching the ones in the living room} with photocopied picture from the book Mrs. Kennedy Goes Abroad {we both shared a love of this book!!}

  

 Another frame with a photocopied picture from Mrs. Kennedy Goes Abroad

 

With the new sophisticated look and some additional pieces, we also highlighted beautiful and meaningful details the homeowners already had.

   

 

And some just plain fun details too.

Now we have a "new" space perfect for this couple to host a sophisticated cocktail party, a large dinner party, an impromptu snow fete or to just loll about.