Thursday, June 28, 2012

The Beauty of a Quick Consult

We recently checked in on one of our quick consult projects, we met with our client to see the changes in her new home and to have a little Q & A session with her about her experience. She is a busy, working mom and was struggling trying to prepare two homes, one to rent and the other to move into on top of her daily life. When we asked her why she chose to have a quick consult she said,
"I'm a very busy working mom…I did not have the time to deal with all the nitty-gritty things, even just picking out paint colors. A quick consult was perfect and was very affordable, working perfectly into my budget and my time schedule."
For this project, my client completed my questionnaire to help me know her style and what she wanted from her project. We helped her with space-planning her furniture, selecting paint colors for the rooms. In the living room we decided to remove a small pony wall by the front door and a full wall covering the stair well to create a visually larger open space and give more flexibiity for furniture arrangement. Check out the before and after pictures:

Before - Stairwell Wall
After - Stairwell Wall (don't worry a railing will be installed)
Before - Fireplace Wall
After - Fireplace wall
Soffit built up from the mantle to house wires and support for television.
Before - Pony Wall
After - No Pony Wall
Because the floors were refinished there was no scarring from the demo.
Before - Dining Room
After - Dining Room
The color throughout the house was a nice, warm neutral which really livened up the place from the darker brown that was on the walls before. For the bedrooms we decided to have fun, our client let her kids have "free reign" with our design approval of course. Here are some other after pictures:
One of the girls bedrooms
We went neutral for the boy's room because he will be adding
color with his Red Sox decor!
Here is the other girls room.
We had this paneling that really needed some pizzaz, so what better then
painting it with fun, bright colors!
Downstairs family room, we used the same neutral but accented
the wall above the fireplace to help it stand out.
 We asked our client if she felt she received value from our design services? She answered, "Absolutely. I have told everyone I know, "You have got to call her, she's awesome!" It makes the project so much easier and takes the pressure off of having to make so many decisions because you kind of hand-hold me through the whole process."

Our client was very happy with the results of our design and the experience of working with us; she said, "I never thought I'd use an interior designer but you will be surprised at how affordable an interior designer really can be and how much you get for your money for working with Susan."

Monday, June 4, 2012

Creating a Photo Collage

Have you ever wanted to create a photo collage on your wall, but you keep delaying it because you are not quite sure how to do it. Well here is a quick how-to to help you create you collage without poking a bunch of "trial & error" holes in your wall.

But first… a few pointers for creating a photo collage.
Have a common theme, whether it is the style of frame, the object in the photographs, or the color of the photographs something needs to be cohesive. Also, make sure you have a good variety of sizes and in some cases shapes as well, this adds interest and having smaller frames help fill in the gaps. Another tip is to wait to select photos, if possible, until after the collage is arranged; this way you aren't limited to which way the frames have to go.

This photo collage is very cohesive; the frames are similar in shape and color
and they are all filled with black and white nature photos.
Photo courtesy of Houzz.com
This photo collage is being tied together by the object of the photos
which happens to be family photos. Notice all the different shapes, styles,
and even the different tones of the pictures (sepia, black & white and color).
Photo courtesy of Houzz.com
This collage has two similar ties; even though the frames are very different they are in the same color and filled with black & white photos. Also notice the use of negative space in a couple of the frames.
Photo courtesy of Houzz.com
Speaking of negative space…. Having a collage of frames is fun too!
Doing this you want to use unique frames with some ornamental value, using fun shapes, sizes and coordinating colors is what makes them interesting. I love the yellow birdcage in the middle!
Photo courtesy of Houzz.com

Here is your collage how-to! We have tested this method first hand for a client so it will work for you to! This is how we put a picture collage in her hallway...
1st - Get some butcher paper or packing paper and cut it to the size of space
       you will need. Ours is the length of the hallway.
2nd - Gather your frames and start arranging them until you find the layout you like best!

3rd - Trace the frames on the paper
4th - Find a way to label which way your frames go.
We numbered each frame and wrote the coordinating number on the paper
5th - Measure and mark on the paper where each nail hole is supposed to go.
Take your time on this one so that your beautiful arrangement looks perfect!
6th - Tape your paper onto the wall making sure it is straight.
To do this measure from the ceiling to the top of the paper on both ends and adjust as needed.
You want the majority of the images to be around eye level while being cautious to not
hang pictures to low.