A Nursery that is All BOY!

I've had a blast working with one of my clients on this nursery.  It is her fourth child and she has been-there-done-that with sweet blue/white, pink/white nurseries.  This round she wanted to do something different and go all BOY.

The room looked like this before for baby #3...

The inspiration for the nursery started with two things I found at Scott's Antique Market in Atlanta.

The first is this fabulous lamp made from reclaimed parts from a John Deere Tractor factory.

The second were these old yarn spindles.  With these spindles I was imagining peg hooks or some sort of shelving.  I wasn't quite sure, but I knew we had to have some to play with for the room.  

These elements definitely got us going on a rustic track (which I always love!).

We were also inspired by the dog silhouettes in this fabric.  We wanted to use this fabric, but kept getting stumped on how to incorporate it into the rest of our developing plan.

After exploring a few fabric options, the client stumbled across this fabric that she loved, and we knew we wanted to incorporate it in a strong way.   

She already had a glider in this fabric from her first child...

So I paired these three fabrics for the crib, with the buffalo check glider.  I was still looking for a way to incorporate the dog silhouette idea. 

Piece by piece the room came to together, until it looked like this...

Circles are a repeating element from the polka-dot crib bumper, to the spindle shelves, and the circular parts of John Deere lamp.

I made this wall-hanging by running strips of burlap behind these inexpensive clip-together glass borderless frames and hanging the rows from sturdy hooks to form a grid. 

I used the tiny polka-dot print for the changing pad as well as the piping and ties on the crib-bumper.

I was concerned that the beigey/buff cream in the buffalo check would clash with the whiter creams in the other fabrics, but it's really not noticeable in the room.  Everything meshes together very well. 

Layering lots of shape, sizes, and textures of items gives these shelves a "lived in" look.

We chose simple, inexpensive window treatments to balance the price of custom bedding.  It turned out to be a nice break for the eye in the room.

I blew up a silhouette of a lab from the dog fabric that we loved, made a stencil and then painted this canvas with a simple cream background and the chocolate dog.  I hung it with a strip of burlap and a sturdy hook to give it more height.    

We painted the crib the soft sage color of the bed skirt to soften the look.  

Now this little guy is here, and he is LOVING his room. 

Thanks for reading!

Fab

When I'm decorating for my clients, my favorite part is putting together fabric stories!  I guess this is a nod to my degree in Apparel Design.

The client already had curtains out of the pink floral fabric for her little girl's room.  I picked out these two complimentary fabrics to break up all the pink.

We are talking about using the pink floral for drapery and bedskirts and pillow shams.  The green dot would be a duvet cover and additional sham with the solid green linen as a ruffle trim.  

Isn't it fun?

The Room of Many Rugs

I've tried a few different rugs in our living room, before finally settling on something I'm happy with (for now).  

But, I'll go back to the beginning.

First there was a borrowed young Kilim rug.  The colors were too strong to go with my color palette.  

Then, I had this gorgeous antique kilim, which went great the floral curtains.  This lives in my dining room now, which is directly adjacent to the living room.  

Then for a funkier flair, I went for this cowhide.  I love it, but it left a lot of bare floor.  Bare floor= not so cozy.  

Now, I've been loving this combination!  It's a hemp natural rug layered underneath my cowhide.  This gives me the coverage that we need to make the room cozy.  It keeps my dog from scratching up the floors, and will help keep us warmer in the winter.  This hemp rug is more cleanable than a sisal or seagrass because it does not have a latex backing.  

Rugs can totally change the feel of the room!  

All of the rugs, except for the first red kilim, are from Paige Albright Orientals in Mountain Brook, AL!  

Our Furry House Guest

This little "mini Bei Bei" is staying with us for a month, while his "mommy" is out of town!  He's my sister, Kate's mini-goldendoodle puppy!  His name is Barnabas.  (I know, what's with our family and crazy dog names!)  He's about 4 months old and he and Bei are quickly becoming BFFs!  They play non-stop and he follows Bei's lead on all the training cues.
I wonder if two dogs are in our future???

Fabric Stories for a Boy's Room

I put together a few potential fabric stories for a client's little boys room, so I thought I'd share...

a)

b)

c)

d)

Fun, huh?  What's your favorite?

Virtual Client- A Kitchen & Breakfast Area Spruce Up!

I was honored and excited when a blog reader from Mississippi contacted me for help with her kitchen and breakfast area.

She and her husband built their house a few years ago, and she was feeling that this part of her home was just blah.

She's a new mom, and so I wanted to help her make her space beautiful, relaxing, and practical...on a budget!

Here are a couple of the pictures she sent me...

The client loved the Southern Living Taylor Creek Idea House and has used it as her inspiration for many parts of her house.  So, I used the Taylor Creek House kitchen to give us some direction for where to take her kitchen.

(Sorry for the blurry picture)

For her kitchen I recommended:

- Paint the cabinets.  

If you want wood colored cabinets, I would suggest going very dark, like a dark walnut or coffee color, or going with a light pickled or white-washed look instead of a medium tone

- Replace the barstools (which she was hoping to do anyway).

- Replace the pendant lights.

- De-clutter above the cabinets and on the countertops.

Custom cabinets, which are preferred, go all the way to the ceiling.  To mimic the look of custom cabinetry,  you don't want the eye to be drawn to the gap between the cabinets and ceiling.  If your cabinets don't go all the way to the ceiling, you can use this space as storage with inconspicuous baskets instead of display.  

- Spray paint the black refrigerator with stainless-steel look appliance spray paint.

- Add a colorful rug to make the space feel homey, and give some cushion for her baby to play.

- Add bamboo blinds to the window

For her breakfast area I recommended:

- Remove the tv cabinet and invest in a small flat screen to tuck in the corner of the kitchen countertop (nearest the breakfast area).

- Line up the breakfast table parallel with the wall of windows on the left.  

- Add ceiling height white curtains to dress the windows, along with bamboo shades for each window, mounted just below the curtain rod.  

Always, always, always use floor to ceiling curtains!

- Add a colorful patterned rug

- Get an old long bench or church pew to push against the wall under the windows on the left.  Dress it with comfy pillows in an indoor outdoor fabric, and pull the table up to the bench like a banquet.  

So here's the look:

Here's the run-down...

1.  School house pendant lights.  She will need 3 of these over her peninsula, and 1 over her sink.  

2.   A very inexpensive indoor outdoor fabric for pillows for her breakfast area banquet.  I wanted something she could wash and/or wipe off when her baby (or husband) spill something.

3.  A Dash and Albert rug indoor/outdoor rug in Gunnison.  She can hose it off if something gets spilled!

4.  We're on the hunt for the perfect old church pew!

5.  Ikea has several options for simple white curtains in long lengths.  The downfall is...you can't order online.  

6.  Bamboo shades cozy up any space, in my opinion!  These are from Lowe's.  

7.  Another indoor/outdoor rug from Dash and Albert in Diamond Slate/Blue.  

8.  I suggested painting her cabinets a warm grey color like "Mourning Dove" by Martha Stewart.  Her walls are already Starched Linen (by ??)

9.  These hip and easy to wipe down bar stools are inexpensive from the Home Decorator Collection.  

10.  Freshly painted cabinets are yummy.

******

I can't wait to see the finished product!

CONTACT ME IF YOU WANT HELP WITH YOUR HOME!

sarawalkerdesigns@gmail.com

Sara Walker Designs- It's official!

If you're in our around Birmingham, AL contact me for help making your home a home.  

For the out-of-towners, I can help you too, via photos, email, & online shopping.  

A room I'd actually like to dine in!

We hung my grandmother's chandelier!  Finally!
I've been hating our chandelier since the day we moved in, so I'm so glad to finally get up something that I love!

Before:

After:

Also in the name of being less prissy in our dining room, I removed the cafe curtains from the windows...

Before:

After:

I also added in a few more antlers.  I probably have too many antlers in our house, but my husband loves to hunt so we have tons of them.  They're free and such an easy way to add a natural, rustic element to a room.  

The bad news is, this window is directly across from our bathroom, and so I'm trying to figure out how to add back in a little privacy.  I'm deciding between bamboo shades or some sort of gauzy pocket panel cafe curtains gathered on upper and lower rods...not sure what the word for that is.

I'm finally happy with our dining room!  (At least for today.)

Thanks Grandma (actually, "Grandmother" as she was called)!

Before:

After: