Residents Understood

Happy Holidays to all our readers, clients, friends & family!

- Jessica & Kiera -

It’s not very often that we meet with clients who have similar design aesthetics to our own personal styles. So when we do, boy do we have fun (because  it’s like shopping for yourself, but with someone else’s money!). Nicole contacted us when she had hit a design road block – she felt she had pushed her design ideas as far as she could and now wanted outside help to refine and pull together the spaces holistically. After our first meeting with her, Jessica turned to me and said, “So basically we’re designing for you.” I had to agree that Nicole and I seemed to lean towards neutral palettes that incorporated an eclectic mix of styles with pops of bold colors here and there. We worked with her and her husband on their dining room, eat-in kitchen area, and living room – which we’ve highlighted below.

{Top to bottom, left to right: Pendant Light, Black & White Pillow, Red Pillow, Portland Pillow, Round Side Table, Map Artwork, Red Coffee Table, Gray Side Chair} Want to see more products from the project? Check out their Pinterest Board!

Sometimes clients are referred to us in the funniest ways – Amanda and her husband Jim found us through her sorority sister, who was friends with my best friend’s sister, who both live in Chicago (wow say that five times fast). So, Amanda and her husband had just moved from what was formerly his bachelor pad in Chinatown and into their first home together. Needless to say, not much of “his” furniture was moved, with the exception of a large Miller High Life sign he somehow snuck onto the moving truck…

We worked with the couple on their entire first floor, which included a formal living room off the front entrance. Jim envisioned this as his “man room”- the room where he’d hypothetically smoke cigars (but not really). While The Champagne of Beers can certainly make a fabulous first impression in a home, we sided with Amanda on this one and designed more of a modern man’s room. We kept the color palette neutral with some gorgeous earth tones, complemented by accents of navy blue. Two large leather chairs on either side of the fireplace make for a perfect hang out for after dinner drinks with the boys (or girls).

{Top to bottom, left to right: Mirror, Swing Arm Wall Sconce, Houndstooth Pillow, Leather Chair, Navy Blue Chair, Navy Blue Area Rug} Want to see more products from the project? Check out their Pinterest Board!

We first started working with the Garnett Family in August on their basement redesign. While construction on the basement is in the works, they also decided to have us assist in designing a few other key rooms elsewhere in the home. Today we’re presenting a glimpse into the design plans for their sophisticated – yet feminine – master bedroom. The pair each have distinct design aesthetics – while he leans towards mid-century modern looks, she is drawn to more traditional femininity. By pairing soft elements like velvet drapes and a large tufted headboard with chrome details and clean lines, we created a room where both can feel perfectly at home!

{Top to bottom, left to right: Navy Blue Tufted Bed, Woven Pendant Light, Mercury Glass Table Lamp, Leather Chair, Throw Pillow, Cross Area Rug} Want to see more products from the project? Check out their Pinterest Board!

A few weeks ago we fell in LOVE with this post from Design Sponge. While we adored practically everything about the home, one idea stood out to us in particular – the owners had decided to stamp their walls to create the effect of wallpaper.

Looks amazing right!? Well at this point, I had been searching for the perfect wallpaper in my own home for months and was starting to think the ideal product didn’t exist. I wanted something graphic, yellow, and with a mostly white background (I’m not picky…ha). So when I saw the Design Sponge post, I dropped everything and started a new search for the perfect stamp and ink. It didn’t take long for me to decide on a stamp from The English Stamp Company – which offers tons of designs and most of them come in large 4″ sizes. From there I knew I’d need a larger than average ink pad. Luckily I stumbled upon these jumbo ink pads from Ranger (I purchased mine on Amazon).

A few days later once the supplies arrived, it took about an hour to layout the design with a measuring tape and laser level. From there the actual stamping was pretty easy, and not as time consuming as one would think. The final product turned out better than I could have hoped – totally worth the $30!

Before

After

After with my special helper

We introduced you to the Trapanese Family back in January, and since then they’ve been working on completing the design plans for the basement. One room that they just couldn’t seem to fit into their hectic schedules was the mudroom. So, they called us in to assist in completing the design. We installed cabinets and countertops (that’s right – we’re designers with toolbelts!) last weekend and are now just waiting for the finishing touches to arrive and be placed. The transformation is already visible – it’s really turned into such a lovely, bright, and airy room!

Below are some of our favorite selections from the room – lots of fun pops of color (including the ceiling, which we painted navy blue). You can see more of the items from the room on their Pinterest board!

{Top to bottom, left to right: Red Storage Bin, Ceramic Hardware, Striped Runner, Wooden Hooks, Wire Basket, White Cabinets}

Rendering by Julius Goyanko, The Washington Post

We’ve been lucky enough to be asked back by the House Calls writers at the Washington Post for our third installment! This time, we were given a pretty unusual assignment – a music room for adults. Being given an opportunity to design anything a little out of the ordinary is always a thrill for us! We started by reading through the list of requirements from the client which was pretty small – at the core they really wanted a space where they could store instruments and play music, plus entertain and relax. Their aesthetic was on the more traditional side, so as much as we wanted to go ultra mod with the space, we decided to tone it down. So we set out to create a space that would have traditional sensibilities in terms of layout and styling, but with some nods to a more playful and contemporary side.

While the rendering and before pictures give you a great overall sense of the space, we wanted to share some of our favorite details from the design that you might have missed in the article. Below is a selection of a few of our favorite products from the project. If you’re interested in seeing more, you can check out our Music Room board on Pinterest!

{Top to bottom, left to right: Mumbai Throw Pillow, Kelly Green Zebra Pillow, Gray Ceramic Table Lamp, White Souk Rug, Black and White Artwork, Dryden Green Wallpaper}

Jennifer is a true lover of beautiful things and has a great eye for design to boot! She enlisted our help in turning her formal living and dining room into the space of her dreams. She had worked with other designers in the past on the rest of her home, but had left these two rooms untouched – once we saw them we couldn’t wait to transform them into the rooms she had always wanted. From our initial meeting with Jennifer we realized she wasn’t intimidated by bold colors, and was particularly drawn to varying shades of purple. Needless to say, we rarely get the chance to work with super feminine colors so we jumped at the chance to turn the spaces into a fun and feminine entertaining area!

{Top to bottom, left to right: Purple Rug, Blue Table Lamp, Abstract Painting, Blue Throw Pillow, Purple Throw Pillow, Upholstered Ottoman, Custom Sofa} Want to see more products from the project? Check out her Pinterest Board! Below are some shots of the rooms currently in progress. 

We think the house is going to be a real show stopper once all the final pieces are put into place. The last large project to complete is replacing the mantle and retiling it with some beautiful subway tiles from Ann Sacks. We”ll be sure to post the final images of the spaces as soon as they’re finished!

And just so you can see how far the project has really come from the beginning, here’s a snapshot of the living room before . . .

When we met the Garnetts, they had just recently purchased and gutted their new home. They moved in amidst construction and just weeks after their second handsome little boy was born. The family reached out to us once they hit the basement, which they planned to completely overhaul. We worked with them to create a space that could serve as both a central family hangout – complete with a built-in mini bar – and also the main play area for their two growing boys. Construction is slated to start soon with the hopes of having the space up and running for the holidays!

 {Top to bottom, left to right: Gray Sectional, Pendant Light, Blue Chevron Pillow, Yellow Pillow, Marble Table Lamp, Yellow Stool, Blue Area Rug} Want to see more products from the project? Check out their Pinterest Board!

We introduced you to Allyson & Alexander’s Redesign a few posts back, and today we’re sharing some before & after images of the project – we hope you like the transformation as much as they do!

Below are some of the beautiful images our amazing photographer Kate Hauschka captured of the renovated 1920s Logan Circle row house. She did such a wonderful job capturing some of our favorite pieces like the capiz tile chandelier, new built-in bookcases, and custom window seat.