nursery reveal!

I have worked on my fair share of nurseries lately, but I am especially proud of how well this one turned out!  Themed nurseries kind of make me cringe....it's so easy to go overboard with them, so I was ecstatic when all my client requested was a soft, muted color scheme, to only use items that held personal meaning and to tie in her husband's Mexican heritage.

We ended up going with greige walls, steel blue linen curtain panels with cream piping, a buffet the client already had, which I refinished in a gorgeous blue/gray with light distressing, and then added lots of texture, courtesy of the softest shag carpet you've EVER felt, a burlap glider, a cowhide throw pillow, a homemade barnwood ladder, burlap and wire baskets for books and jute Monkey's fist cabinet pulls. 

Daddy is also an alumni of the University of Texas, so up went the longhorn above the crib and it truly is the focal point of the entire room!

The rest of the color in the room was left up to the gallery wall, which sports a silhouette of the couple's dog, prints from the Animal Print Shop, baby pictures of mommy and daddy and homemade Christmas ornaments from Mexico, which we hung within empty barnwood frames.  Everything came from Etsy or was specifically made for the wall:

The longhorn.  I heart it. I thought mommy was going to think I was crazy when I suggested we hang it, but she loved it as much as I did:

The room is small, so, to maximize floor space, we hung wire shelves on either side of the window and filled them with books and stuffed animals:

A closeup of the gallery wall - the map in the middle is for mommy to mark where baby boy's roots are from!

Another angle, just so you can see those animal Christmas ornaments.  I was obsessed with them. OBSESSED.  Every time my client turned around, I wanted to stuff one in my pocket!

Thank you so much to the super talented Krista Bishop of Krista Bishop Photography, who really captured the bright and airy feel when you walk into this room! I am so blessed to have such talented friends and such AMAZING clients!

For help designing the nursery of your dreams, shoot me an email at kstivers@Hotmail.com

gilded frames

Earlier this week I got a call from a friend asking me to help her with a generously-sized gallery wall in her living room.  I am a firm believer that every house should have an amazing gallery wall of favorite photos and art, so I was especially happy to help!  She had seen a blog post from a few months back in which I had showed how to create a "gilded" look on picture frames with spray paint and gel stain and wanted to transform hers to "gilded" perfection.  Mirrors, chalkboards, picture frames all look amazing with a little bit of the midas touch and it's such an easy and relatively inexpensive way to add warmth, texture and character to any space.  To see how to create the look yourself, check out my tutorial here and feast your eyes on some "gilded" eye candy:

Elsa Soyars

Urban Grace Interiors + Lonny

tumblr

via

Haute Indoor Couture

Lonny

tumblr

Traditional Home

picture ledge gallery walls

If you've read my blog for any length of time, you know I love me some gallery walls (see here, here and here).  Whenever I'm working with a client, I always ask them to pull together some of their most sentimental possessions to use in their space and nine times out of ten, they pull out a ton of photos.  Gallery walls are a great way to highlight friends and family, vacations or special occasions and they  create a dramatic focal point in any room.  Picture ledges are a great way to incorporate photos, art and other keepsakes and the best part is that you can change pieces in and out without tearing up your walls.  Ever since I saw India Hicks' gallery wall in her Hibiscus Hill dining room, I was hooked:

Pottery Barn

Lime in the Coconut

Heather Chadduck via Cottage Living

Amanda Lindroth via Coastal Living

Lonny

Pottery Barn

DecorPad

David Jimenez

Pottery Barn

You can find picture frame ledges almost anywhere nowadays, but there are three in particular that I've used in the past and LOVED.  Ikea's RIBBA picture frame ledge is super affordable and comes in a bunch of different lengths:

Love this one from West Elm, too:

But, if you're looking for a deep ledge with a bunch of space for collectibles, Pottery Barn's Holman Shelf is definitely the way to go:

Have a great weekend!!

gallery wall goodness

After taking down all our Christmas decorations yesterday, I got to rearranging some artwork and photographs and before I knew it, I was re-doing an entire gallery wall!  If you're working on a tight budget, like I usually am, pictures of friends and family is a great way to add interest to any space and keep your treasures front and center for everyone to see.  Mix in pieces of art, initials, postcards, anything that holds personal meaning for you for even more drama.  If you follow me on Pinterest, you know I love a good gallery wall.  Here are some of my favorites:

Abode Love

House and Home

Elle Decor

India Hicks

Little Green Notebook

The Lettered Cottage

Lauren Leiss

NY Mag

Urban Grace

via

Steven Gambrel, via Elle Decor

Kate Spade via the Selby

Pottery Barn

Country Living

Renovation Style via Marianne Simon Design

Tracery Interiors

Traditional Home

big change in an itty, bitty space

While I usually find decorating large, open spaces more challenging than smaller ones, I have been contemplating how to go about tackling a 4.5 foot by 3 foot space in my home for the last year...the uninspiring toilet room.  There are plenty of other spaces in the house that need addressing, but I thought this little nook could use some sprucing up, so I turned to one of my favorite low-cost decorating tricks (and recent blog topics).

I picked up this book for $3 a few years ago at a bookstore that was going out of business. The hubby has spent quite a bit of time in the water throughout his career in the Marine Corps, so I'm drawn to decorating with that in mind.  This book has is chock full of pretty pictures...

...and beautiful quotes...

This bathroom by Steven Gambrel served as my inspiration for the space.  (I'll be honest, I'm inspired by any space that man touches):

I scored a bunch of black frames on sale for 60% off at Joanne's and added them to some I already had sitting in the closet and got to work.  This is what the sad little space looked like before:

And here is what I ended up with:

What a difference, don't you think?

Who knows how long it will stay like this...I sent pics to the hubby and, truth be told, he is not that crazy about it, but for now, I'm happy!  What do you think?