inspiration mood Board: Masculine Contemporary Indigo

One of my friends is designing a condo for a young professional  who wants a contemporary masculine condo and loves the color navy.
In brainstorming ideas, I came up with this concept living room for inspiration.

 Masculine and streamlined, yet comfortable enough to kick back and watch some TV or play video games. I think of someone who's seen a bit of the world and collected interesting pieces when I think of this young professional, so I threw in a rustic element or two for contrast.

The whole scheme features a navy and chartreuse scheme, with dark wood accents. This client has an urban condo with light wood floors, exposed concrete, and floor to ceiling windows.  Dark navy walls ground the space and give a moody vibe, while a concrete coffee table stands up to all the abuse pizza and video games can dish out. Chrome-arm chairs with a navy leather upholstery are slick and masculine, while the charcoal sofa is sure to feature comfy arms for napping during watching the game. Soft linen panels add an element of privacy to the windows, while the area rug dampens sound and ties the space together.

Mom's Breakfast Room: The big reveal

My mom worked her tail off and finished her breakfast room mini makeover.  You can read all about the inspiration I gave her here.

Just to recap, until she can afford to do the intensive, let's pull the construction permits makeover she wants, this is the mini version. Scrape the ugly popcorn off, paint everything, and change up the decor items.

Here's the before:

Mom says:
 "Seven years ago I downsized to a smaller house which was in need of updating. Dirty walls, leftover
drapes, and out of date décor needed lots of help. To make the space somewhat habitable, paint was
the first order of business. The breakfast room got leftover paint on the walls, a clearance quilt for a
tablecloth and the former homeowner’s living room drapes. A month or so ago, I started some general
cleaning and threw the drapes in the washer. What came out was a faded mess that I just couldn’t put
back up and no matter what I did the walls didn’t come clean. Time for a new plan! Susie Homemaker to the rescue.

First I tackled the awful popcorn ceiling. It’s a messy job but I had done other ceilings in the house so no
problem. Well, this ceiling was a DIY from previous homeowner and did I make a mess. Handyman BJ to
the rescue (making the project a bit over budget but oh well. . .). That accomplished, I finished painting
the walls and trim. The paint was the same Sherman Williams Sprout as the kitchen but looks different
in the light filled room.

Following the e-design, went shopping and found the curtains at my local store. Not so lucky with the
rug but did manage to find one I liked in the green/blue colors of the room. I like the dark brown in it

because it ties to the walnut hardwood floors in the rest of the house. I have a more traditional taste
so I’m the interior designer’s bane of existence and just couldn’t branch out to the more modern lamp.

Did find one I liked in the right colors and on sale! The curtains went up when I got home but oh no, too
short. So, to the fabric store to add a border like the designer did for her guest bedroom. Works like a
charm. However, the tablecloth didn’t turn out so well and it will be a re-do at some point.

Overall, it is a clean and fresh breakfast room and I love it. Thanks for the e-design!"

The ceiling, which was a lesson in what NOT to do in drywall, got a rescue from the resident Handyman. Neither Mom nor I have the patience for drywall mud. The walls got two coats of Sprout, the same color as the kitchen, and straight out of the can semigloss white for the trim.

With her e-design concept board, Mom got a budget estimate with retailers, item numbers, and costs for everything on her design board. That made it easy for her to go shopping to find the items she needed. Some things she didn't agree with me on, but she did have a list of places to start her search.

I can't wait to go see how it all turned out in person!


If you're interested in an E-design, click on the "Interiors" tab for more information!

E-design: Sissy's Home Office

My Sissy started law school this week. And I am SO stinkin' proud of her. One of the things she needed was a place to study, write papers, and read all those books.

She loves the look of Ballard Designs, so that was the perfect inspiration for her office. We couldn't do it on that kind of budget, of course. Sissy is now a starving student.

Source

It started with an inspiration board and a space plan.

Then, Sissy and Mom went shopping while I had to work.

Here's the office as of now:

I have lots of plans for finishing touches!

Vintage Girly Laundry Room- Heathery's E-Design

Heathery was one of three entries into my E-design Giveaway. She chose to have a solution for her laundry room/ passageway/ pantry.


She's got THREE dogs, so it needed to be durable too! I know from experience, dogs can be really hard on a home, just like kids!

Since she's just starting out, her goal was to do this as inexpensively as possible. My kind of girl! Heathery said her style was eclectic, vintage, and shabby chic. This room is just off the kitchen, where she plans a black, white, and pale pink scheme.

Here's her concept board:

And here's the floor plan of her space:

With her E-design, Heathery also received elevations of both main walls in her space as well as a detailed budget estimate showing  where to get every item featured.

Interested in your own E-design? Click the Interiors tab for more info!

Mom's Breakfast Room E-Design

My Mom called the other day. She's tired of the curtains in her breakfast room and is ready to do a mini-makeover.

The antique hutch is from my great great grandfather's general store. Three of these were the display cases.
It's my favorite piece in her entire house.

 Since it's so massive, the design scheme needs to play off the blue tones of the wood. The breakfast room is just off her kitchen, and she wants to use the same paint color to make it flow.


Here's a picture of the kitchen I designed for her last year:

This is the design I came up with for her- an inexpensive mini-makeover to freshen the space.

Rug- $52 at Lowes
Drapery-$15 per panel at Walmart Online
Chair Cushions-$16 at World Market
Tablecloth-$75 at Ballard (or DIY like we did here)
Artwork- Framed Ben Hampton print from http://www.benhampton.net/
Lamp-$ 29 at Walmart Online

She has the Ben Hampton print sitting under the bed- it's been there for years. I recommend pulling it out, and putting it on the wall so she can enjoy it. Then it's a fresh new space for under $200.


If you're interested in an e-design, click on the Interiors tab, or contact me!

Emilee's E-Design

I've mentioned I'm giving away a free E-design to all three entries in my giveaway.

Today, I'm here to feature the first design, Emilee's Master Bedroom. Be sure to go check out her blog Sweetly Made (just for you)- she has some great ideas and projects!

Emilee decided to get a design for her Master Bedroom. She and Hubby have a young son, so they need a romantic retreat!

Their space has some great architectural features, but a lack of personality. They've fallen into the trap most young marrieds do- they get so focused on the public areas of the house and then the kids rooms, they forget to focus on their bedroom- the escape from the hustle and bustle of life.

Here's a few before pics:

Look at the awesome vaulted ceiling- and the builder's grade light fixture. This room is just calling out for some romantic style!

Emily responded in her questionnaire that they liked contemporary lines, dark woods, and their new blue sheets. She and her husband are also looking for some romance in this space. Looking at their pictures, the room also functions as a home office, and one of them is a big reader. They'd like to keep this re-design around $5,000 total.  They love the style of Pottery Barn and Restoration Hardware. Emilee hates clutter, so integrated storage is a plus.

Here's their E-design board:

The big feature item in this room is a new bed. I recommended they splurge and invest in a bed they both love- like the one shown above from Pottery Barn. The rest of the room is budget-friendly, and as they can, they can upgrade to more investment pieces. 

Both Pottery Barn and Restoration Hardware feature beds with lots of layers, so I recommended adding in a coverlet and a throw blanket on top of a white duvet cover with some detail- like the one from Target. Matching the coverlet to their existing sheets will really make the blue pop.

Other features of the room are a reading nook in the window alcove, and a steamer trunk to hold linens and serve as a place to put laundry.  The computer stays in the same location, but hides away in a computer armoire. A white Ikea chair adds a pop of freshness to the room.  I also recommended they start a gallery wall by enlarging photos that have meaning to them. 

The design finishes out with soft blue paint for the walls, a large rug for the floor, and a chandelier on a dimmer for mood lighting. I always recommend putting ceiling lights on dimmers- it makes so much difference to be able to adjust lighting to fit the activity taking place in the room. 

At $3,800, there is still plenty of room in the budget for Emilee to hire painters, seamstresses, and electricians if she so desires. 

So there's Emilee's Master Bedroom. I can't wait to see how they take the design plan and run with it! 

If you're interested in your own E-design, click on the "Interiors" tab at the top! 

Guest Bedroom Makeover!

Memorial Day weekend, before I started in on Kristen's bathroom re-do,  I tackled my guest bedroom.

I'd taken up the carpet way back when I did my bedroom, so I just needed to finish this thing!

I started by scraping the ceiling and painting it. Like I did  in my master bedroom.

Then, I painted the walls a silvery gray color to match the black, white, and red color scheme. The trim got a fresh coat of bright white paint- my favorite!

The drapes I bought several years ago at Target were way too short, so I used fusible hem tape and some red cotton broadcloth to add a banding at the bottom.


Then I painted the floors the same chocolate brown. This time, I took the lazy girl route. I didn't wash, I didn't prime, I didn't even cut in. I just started rolling that paint on.

Alex, my best helper, refuses to let me trim his nails, so he's made some gouges in the polyurethane on my bedroom floor. I wanted the guestroom to have a fix-able finish, so I decided to try floor wax. Like in Karate Kid, " wax on, wax off".

And here's the finished product!

Designing away!

I've been a busy Designing Woman the past week!

I just emailed off an E-design for Emilee, one of the entries from my giveaway. Since I only had three entries, I decided to offer everyone a free E-design as a thank you!

I can't wait to see what she thinks of it and share it with you! I think it's going to be great! Here's the inspiration image I found:

Pottery Barn

Next up is a space plan for a friend of Prince Charming's who just moved into a new loft. We did the consultation tonight and wow, what a view! His place is on the 37th floor overlooking downtown Atlanta. AMAZING!

Then, giveaway E-design #2, a fabulous and functional laundry room! I'm thinking pink on this one.

SW6840 Exuberant Pink

Beyond all that, a long-time work client is looking at converting an old 1800's warehouse into a boutique hotel.  When I was in town last week for a site visit, he took me by to get my thoughts. I just had to share some of the amazing potential this place has.

LOVE all the old brick. I really hope the deal goes through, because I'd die to work on a restoration and adaptive reuse like this!

I can't wait to share it all with you!

Kristen's bathroom- REVEALED!

I know you have all been anxiously awaiting the reveal of Kristen's bathroom. Since we did the reno while she was on vacation, I had to wait until she was home before I could reveal it!

I'm about to burst I'm so excited to share this with you!

Here's the before:

Talk about SMALL! If you remember when I first blogged about it here, this is the only bathroom, so it needs to be high on function AND style.

I shared a peek at the design board and the storage wall here.

And now, here's the finished product!

I need to extend a huge thank you to my awesome Mom, who came down and supervised the installation while I was at work. Another huge thank you to Kristen and Kris, for the opportunity and for letting me feature them here.

Soon, I will have the e-design for the winner of my Giveaway to feature!

Remember, if you are interested in your own E-design, you can contact me at MissSusieHomemaker@gmail.com! Click on the "Interiors" tab at the top for more info!

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