Mrs Robinson Presents

Remember my 30 before 30 list? Remember number 13 (sidenote - I have always thought that 13 was a lucky number becuase there were 13 letters in my maiden name!) about starting my own design firm?  Yah... well, lets just go ahead and cross that one off the list!

For the last few months I have been working with a handful of amazing clients, and I LOVE it!  I get to play with color and textiles, and help people turn their spaces into places where they actually want to spend time!

I am still working on getting my logo and business cards designed (why is it so much harder to do this stuff for yourself?) and I will definitely share that if i ever make a decision! 

Today I am going to give you a little sneak peak into my favorite client's home.  She is a lovely young gal with an adorable husband and the most gorgeous little baby you have ever seen.  They love color and are definitely into combining a mid-century vibe with their classic Portland bungalow!  They recently moved here from Chicago, where their apartment was a lot smaller, so its been fun to pretty much start from scratch!

Here is the dining room before:

 And here is a picture of my Sketch-Up model.  We were ordering that gorgeous table online, and were concerned about how it would look with and without all the leaves (they have a large family here in town, and want to be able to entertain comfortably).

The dining room in progress:  (The table, chairs, paint, and rug are all in and we are just waiting on the drapes to be made and installed)

The adjoining living room before:

As you can see, she is not afraid to mix colors and patterns (which I LOVE), however we do have to be careful to strike the right balance as we layer in more elements so that it does not end up feeling like a carnival!  (and yes, that is my blurry finger in the corner there - I was taking this picture at a really awkward angle, not even looking at the screen as I tried to get the widest shot possible!)

And here is my Photoshopped after.   

We were looking at a few pieces, like that CB2 credenza, and that Amy Butler rug, but knowing that online ordering is always risky (as color changes immensely depending on the lighting, time of day, etc) we decided to only order one piece at a time so we could make smart decisions and not have a bunch of stuff that doesn't look quite right.

So we started with the rug, and as you can see in  this photo, the greens are much less saturated, and verging on sage rather than the acid in the online photo.  We really like the rug in the space, especially since the softer tones actually help balance all the boldness of the adjoining dining room.  And as you can see from the leftover birthday decorations, pops of bold color will really be fun (and will help relate to the dining room nicely!)

We are now considering alternative options to the CB2 credenza, and I think we are going to try and find a neat old piece that we can paint!  We have also talked about painting the brick area of the fireplace, and updating the chandeliers in both the living and dining rooms.  

It has been so much fun this far, and I am excited to share more updates as we progress! (and as I learn to take better photos in our gray gray city!)