So Fresh, So Clean: Spring Living Room

Sure, its the final full week of February, but my mind is already looking ahead to the fresh palette those lovely months of March, April, and May bring. Spring is kind of boss. And so, I went into the below design plan doing my best to bring in fresh colors and texture that both reminded me of this rejuvenating season, and the homeowners that live and dwell here. It's nice to point back to the lighter colors that make our hearts warm and happy. There's something completing about creating a room with the newness spring brings us in mind.

This room was about traditional elements mixed with pops of color and pattern that make it livable for a young family. Lets talk about those botanical prints for a hot min. Is there anything better than going big, bold, and green in such a prime piece of living room real estate? I'm all sorts of into those two big buddies. Owning the wall, taking no prisoners. They live to command attention and I dig it. We used a landscape on the other wall for something more muted. 

While everything in this room makes me swoon, we need to talk about the anchors. The client's sofas were covered in a durable indoor outdoor fabric that makes sticky fingers and dog hair no big deal. We added height to the corner with a killer secretary that while adding height does double duty as a email-checking laptop perch. That corner chair screams I'm one of a kind, come sit with me, we're all about inclusiveness here.  We layered rugs, a budget friendly neutral with pattern that brought in colors represented with our textiles.

I start every project with textiles, It's always where I am first inspired and like to make sure a space has plenty of places to showcase all the color and pattern that fabrics provide. We started with an array of pillows mixed on each sofa. Some custom, some sourced. It's all about the mix. Skirted tables are also one of my favorite ways to sneak more fabric in and we covered this guy in a muted persimmon with green tape. 

With accessories, we kept the traditional meets colorful, meets friendly family theme going on the surfaces, shelves, and mantle. Whether or not this springy, warm, sunny whether sticks around... this space has all the right southern spring vibes. 

Photos: Luke Cleland 

My Kind of V-Day

It's here. The heartthrob holiday some of us love, and others kind of hate. I live somewhere in between this spectrum. I don't necessarily love what Valentine's Day has become, but I also see how it could be shifted into a holiday I can get down with. 

When thinking about the present day V-day, I get this anxious knot in my stomach, to pounce on OpenTable.com, find the very best restaurant available at the most optimal time, and carve out time on what looks to be like a hectic Tuesday. While I'm perusing eatery availability, I had a moment: why do we create the need to go out for Valentine's day, when all we really want to do (Kevin included) is stay in? With many projects in our pipeline and Kdawg's current clinical schedule, I'm stoked we chose to celebrate this Valentine's Day by cooking dinner at home and hanging with a bottle of wine and movie. Sometimes, less is more. And in my always maximalist mind, I'm turning a corner and going with the whole less is more theme this Tuesday.

My mission statement in design: to create beautiful homes in which beautiful lives can be lived. Thus, I'm sticking it to the Valentine's Day man and choosing to stay in this lovebug season. When we work hard to create these beautiful spaces, it only makes sense to make the most of them! 

Designers Dig the Rock House

I was so honored this week to be the first participant in the The Rock House Antiques monthly designer Instagram takeover. Basically, I got to go hang at one of my favorite places in Greenville with real fine people, shop the store for my favorite things, and put it all together in a fun vignette. On Thursday I took over The Rock House's Instagram and showed the behind the scenes of shopping and creating this fun space full of my favorite colors and things. This place is one of my favorite spots in Greenville to find unique things for clients and myself and getting to hang there for the day was a dream. Here's a roundup of how fun the day was!