Monday, February 1, 2010

My "Portfolio" In Progress!

Hi All! I'm very excited to share some things with you. I've been so busy around here lately with different projects, including my Etsy store, which I've added alot of new merchandise to, as well as launching my new design business. It started off slow, but has been picking up lately with interest from many different prospective "clients".

I got my foot in the door by redesigning my In-Laws home post-fire. It's been almost a whole year since Pat and Dick were displaced by a fire that started in their kitchen. After months of living in a hotel, they finally moved back into their home in October and I've been hard at work finding everything they need to furnish their "new" home. Moving back in, they had absolutely nothing, not even a place to sit, or eat, or sleep! After covering the necessities, I got to work in their living room. There is still some work to be done, like hanging the window treatments, but the majority is done, and I'm happy to say, they love their new home!

We'll start in the Living Room. Pat and Dick are used to having "beige" everything! So I added lots of color wherever I could to brighten the space.
All of the furniture was purchased either on Craig's List or from yardsales/moving sales.


The sofa and loveseat were a Craig's List find - Clayton Marcus - for only $350! The end tables and many of the accessories were from Home Goods.

The secretary above we found at a flea market for $25. I filled it with lots of books and blue/white transferware that I had in my inventory.
These next pictures are my favorite. All of these things I found at a house sale.

The woman having the sale was a professional stager and was getting rid of some of her stock. I grabbed as much stuff as I could, but ran out of room in my car. I went back for more the next day!
Here is another look!


Now into the Dining Room. I kept it simple in here and still have some work to do. A black shelf that I picked up at Goodwill will go under the middle picture, but it needs a coat of black spray paint first. I also have to add the window treatments.
The table and chairs were a Craig's List find for $250! The gorgeous marble and wrought iron console table was a Craig's List steal for $150. All accessories were from Home Goods.


The last room I want to show you is the Sun Porch. I only spent one day on this room so far, but I like how it's shaping up.

I found the china cab at the Goodwill for $50 and filled it with whatever I could find in their house. I will replace it with some more blue/white.


The upholstered parsons chairs were a Home Goods find.

There is still alot more accessorizing to be done, pillows, lamps, throws, etc. I envision an area rug in a neutral shade with a red border. I'm also scouring Craig's List for the perfect coffee table. This room is actually huge! The whole left side is yet to be done.

It's been alot of fun working on this house. As the rest of it gets done I will share more pictures with you.

Onto the next project!
This home belongs to a friend of my parents. They just added two room onto the back of their home. I was taken on to accessorize the back room, specifically the built-in bookcases. The homeowners have traveled all over the world, so the goal was to make this their "travel" room. I was asked to use mostly things they had acquired in their travels and then I added some things I found at Home Goods.


The builder also happens to be the homeowner's son and he specializes in woodwork. The built-in cabinetry is gorgeous! I had so much fun accessorizing them.





I also did the mantle. I kept this simple with the emphasis being on the beautiful wall sculpture from Greece.


Lastly, I did a wallscape using lots of black frames and adding sconces in an animal print that I found at Ross. The picture in the middle was the homeowner's and she really wanted me to incorporate it in the wallscape. I arranged this on the floor and when it looked right I hung everything on the wall. Photos of their travels will fill the frames.





The end result was exactly what the homeowner wanted. They will be traveling to Israel next and when they return I will start working on their Family Room. I will share those pictures with you too!

That's it for now. Thanks for checking in and have a great week!

More Google Problems

Need help people! For the past week I've been unable to see any pictures on my blog. When I go to my dashboard, all of the blogs show up, but there are no pics and my pc just keeps "loading". I only have this problem with google, not any other area. Does anyone else experience this or know what I should do? I've extremely frustrated!
Thanks~

Sunday, January 24, 2010

Why Do I Do This To Myself???

About a year ago, just before I started blogging, I was deep into the clutches of Rate My Space. Every free moment I had was spent browsing their site for ideas and once I got up the courage I even downloaded some pix of my own spaces. I had huge expectations. Boy was I disappointed. I got mostly good ratings and nice comments, but it was the negative ones that I remembered. I took them to heart and interpreted them as a personal attack on my taste.

Eventually I stopped torturing myself altogether and decided it wasn't for me. Ironically, it was Rate My Space that brought me to Blogland, where life is much happier and uplifting. On my last visit to RMS, I saw a space that had me at hello.

After corresponding with the homeowner, I discovered she had a blog. It was the lovely Kristen from Kristen's Creations, who mentioned that she had a blog, and that she was more interested in blogging lately than RMS. It piqued my curiosity and after getting lost for hours in Kristen's blog, RMS became a distant memory. The rest is blogging history. Later, I learned that many of us started out on RMS and experienced the same sort of discontentment and rejection.

Well, I don't know what got into me ladies. Maybe after a year of being away from Hate My Space, and a year of blogging, which led to a year of completely redoing my entire house, I got the courage to try again. Big mistake. The very first comment I received was a negative one. The feelings of inadequacy came flooding back. Just like being back in High School. What was I thinking. I received 4 stars, whoopie (and why do I even care?), but it was that comment that I dwelled on once again.

It was my family room, one of my favorite rooms in the house. We spend most of our time here and I recently added some new pieces and rearranged some furniture after taking down the railing - remember that?


Apparently, this space is not conducive to conversation. The seating is way too far apart and the rug is a bit too small. This comment came from a woman who by the way, didn't have any of her own spaces on RMS, just likes giving her 2 cents on other spaces. Yes, I looked her up. Am I demented? Yes! But was she right? YES! She was right! The seating arrangement is not close together. She also suggested I move the sofas to focus around the fireplace. Another great idea!


Of course all of that would require moving the massive entertainment center that I promised hubby we would never have to move as long as we still lived in this house. It would also involve a call to the cable company to move the cable to a different wall. I would then have to patch the wall from moving the huge mirror that is anchored to the existing wall to add anchors to another wall (more ginormous holes).

Yeah. Easy peasy. And guess what? I actually considered it!! Went so far as to start moving my sofas closer together. Uh huh. I lived with it like that too. For.about.a.nanosecond. Then I got a V8 and put it all right back where is was. BECAUSE I LIKE IT THAT WAY!

I have discovered that I don't need approval. I don't need affirmation. I don't need compliments. And I most certainly don't need to feel like I'm 15 again. Don't want to. Don't need to. Don't have to. I've said it before ladies and I'll say it again. This is why I love blogging. It is uplifting. It makes me happy. It makes me glad to be a 40-year-old stay at home mom with ADD.
I've also discovered that I LOVE my home just the way it is, awkward layout, too-small rug and all. I love my old desk that sits in a corner and is broken and in disrepair.

I love my fireplace that sits a mile away from my sofas.

I love my $4 bargain table that hubby bought for me because he knew I'd love it.

And I love my entertainment center and mirror exactly where they are.

Does this mean I am through tweaking? Certainly NOT! I will tweak to my heart's desire, but I will do it to please myself. And because it's fun. And because I enjoy doing it. And sharing it with you.

So, you may be wondering what ever happened with Hate My Space? I did what any normal person on Prozac would do. I sucked it up, put on my big girl panties, and removed all of my pictures.......;)