A client's living room project update!

Remember the online room design giveaway I did during the Christmas holiday last year? One of the winners, Tara from The Silver Lining needed help pulling her living room together. You may read about our collaboration here. She has sent me some pictures of her new purchases and makeover progress.

Here's the picture of her living room when we first started:

Tara wishes to spend as little as possible on this makeover so the pieces I recommended are all budget friendly.

Here's the moodboard I created for her fireplace/ entertainment area:

Tara loves a neutral palette but she is ready to inject some fun colors into the new design. Her walls were just recently painted (refer to the pictures below for actual color) so the wall color has to stay. The same goes to her sofa, curtains and ottoman. She has been looking for a rug for her living room so I send her a list of rugs I think would work in her space.  The area rug will be the starting point for our accent colors in the room. We ended up selecting the Moroccan trellis rug. 

As luck would have it, I found a great 7' 10" x 10' 10" chevron rug for $108 (after a 50% discount) and a few discounted rug from here (update: you can get the rug here, they are having a 50% off discount again:

http://www.rugsusa.com/rugsusa/rugs/rugs-usa-chevron/light-blue/200OWCHV01D-71001010.html

It isn't made of wool and it is quite thin but for the price and size, it's a good buy. Oh, don't forget to read the reviews, too). I emailed Tara again so she can considered them as well. Guess what? She bought the chevron rug and is thrilled with her purchase. Here is what the rug looks like in her living area.

I really like how the modern chevron rug broke up all the neutral furniture and beige floor in the space. It truly creates a wonderful visual interest with the zig zag pattern. You may read about the details here on Tara's blog.

Tara also bought the four bookcases I suggested and painted the back of the bookcases a beautiful dark blue. I suggested adding a stylish greek key shelf paper on the back of the bookcases or simply painting them a similar color picked up from the rug. Either options, they will still look great, in my opinion. Here is the bookcases, all painted with shelves installed. They look so perfect with the rug, aren't they?

But alas, with all things design related, mishaps happened. The two bookcases on the other side of the fireplace don't fit! Two inches is all it takes for them to fit, what a bummer!

Fortunately, Tara has came up with a solution for her bookcases. You can read about it here.

Oh, Tara also emailed me her new stylish table lamp picture a while ago. The table lamps will be placed on her console table. I think the color and pattern looks great with the new chevron rug and the painted bookcases. What do you think?

Now Tara is looking for some new pillows for her sofa and mirrors for her console table. I can't wait to see everything in its place. I am so excited about this makeover! I will continue to update this makeover project in the future, so stay tuned.

If you need help decorating your home, please click here for further information regarding my design services. Don't forget the promotional 50% discount is still available. Email me at mixandchic(at)yahoo(dot)com for details.

Giveaway- Pillow by Finishing Touch Interiors: The Boutique!

Another great giveaway today, my lovely readers. This time it's brought to you by Finishing Touch Interiors: The Boutique!

Finishing Touch Interiors: The Boutique offers a lovely range of homeware products. In this charming boutique, you will find shabby chic and vintage inspired goodies for the home from kids cooking sets, beautiful hand stitched kitchenware, linen cushions to bath accessories and more!

Below are some of wonderful items available from the boutique.

Sarah, the boutique owner from Finishing Touch Interiors decided to offer one of Mix And Chic readers an opportunity to win one of her beautiful pillows. The winner may pick their favorite pillow out of the two selections below:

#1 (front)

#1 (back)

#2 (front)

#2 (back)

How wonderful are these pillows? You can get four different looks out of these two pillows! 

To enter:

This giveaway is open to readers worldwide, yay for international giveaways! 

1. Be a follower of Mix And Chic blog via Google Friend Connect. Visit Finishing Touch Interiors: The Boutique and let me know the name of your favorite item (basic required entry). Leave a comment. 

For additional entries (an extra entry for each of the following):

2. 'Like' Mix And Chic on Facebook and leave a separate comment. (If you are already following, please leave a separate comment to let me know as well.)

3. 'Like' Finishing Touch Interiors on Facebook and leave a separate comment.

4. 'Follow' Mix And Chic on Twitter and leave a separate comment. (If you are already following, please leave a separate comment to let me know as well.)

5 'Follow' Finishing Touch Interiors on Twitter and leave a separate comment.

6. 'Follow' Mix And Chic on Pinterest and leave a separate comment.

7. Mention this giveaway on your Facebook status (include a link back to this post) and leave a separate comment.

8. Tweet about this giveaway (include a link back to this post) and leave a separate comment.

9. Blog about this giveaway (include a link back to this post) and leave a separate comment.

10. Bonus question: Let me know which pillow (the name of the pillow) you would pick if you win and leave a separate comment.

There is a total of 10 chances to win for everyone! So hurry, don't miss this opportunity!

The last day for entries is March 21, 2012. The winner will be chosen by random.org and announced on Thursday, March 22, 2012. Good luck, everyone!

Makeover Miracle- Closet turned office and spare room turned closet/ dressing room!

I have been reading and following fellow blogger, Mai and her gorgeous blog, A Cup Of Mai for a while now. Mai is a super talented girl with a keen sense of style. She is also a stylish fashionista who takes amazing pictures (totally magazine worthy), share delicious mouth-watering recipes and has a flair for interior decorating. So when she showed us her closet turned office and spare room turned closet/ dressing room makeover, I was absolutely wowed. Both spaces were done on a small budget, which is always inspirational especially to those of us with tiny budgets. Let's take a look at these rooms!

Closet Turned Office

via

Very chic office space, isn't it? I would love to say I played a huge part in her office makeover, but no, she did it all by herself. The only thing I did was suggesting a piece of white artwork for her place to break up the dark wall and also to create some much needed contrast. (Earlier, she had three small rectangular mirrors hanging horizontally and it wasn't looking quite right so she asked me for my input.) For details on her resources/ budget breakdown for this office makeover, click here.

Spare Room Turned Closet/ Dressing Room

via

Don't you just love the bright and cheery colors in this room? This is such a beautiful dressing room and it's filled with so much wonderful ideas. I really love the framed shopping bags idea. It's chic, inexpensive, totally unexpected and it's so fun to boot! I also adore how she uses coffee beans to hold her make-up brushes. For details on all her resources, click here.

I hope you enjoyed both fabulous makeovers by the lovely Mai. Don't forget to check out her gorgeous master bedroom as well!

Guest feature at Bird & Branch Redesign!

I am honored to be a guest feature at Jessamie's lovely blog, Bird & Branch Redesign. If you like stylish decor and fashion, you will find it all in her blog! She also has this wonderful series named "Friendly Spaces" where she will invite fellow bloggers to share their favorite room or space on her blog. I am happy to be a part of this fun series! Please hop over and check out her cute blog when you have a moment.

Here is a sneak peek of the feature: Friendly Spaces: Mix And Chic.

Yes, it's my living room again. LOL. Many of you have seen it a few times now but if you are new to my blog, go check out the feature. See you there! Thanks to Jessamie for having me over!

Topic of discussion: Blogger decorator or professional interior designer?

A few days ago, I came across a good post about personal branding written by Jennifer from the popular DIY/ design blog, Rambling Renovators. In her post, she mentioned about "finding your own niche and establishing yourself as an expert" and a few other tips. Honestly, I haven't really thought about establishing my blog as my personal brand. Interested, I clicked on the comments to read about the discussion further. Click here to read about the topic.

Anyway, as I was scrolling down to read the comments, I found one particularly interesting commenter sharing her thoughts. Here is what she said:

"I love this advice...but that first line of establishing yourself as an expert is something that irks me a little. I watched the CBC doc The Trouble with Experts. It's really interesting and looks into the issue of all of us becoming a generation of people that relies on experts. Getting off track. As someone who is actually putting in the time, money and hardwork at school to become an interior decorator, I find it troubling that a lot of design bloggers (who are not professionals) see themselves as experts. Experts at blogging yes. Experts at gaining an audience and admirers yes. Experts at renovations and DIY yes. Design expert no"


Jennifer's reply to her:

"I actually have a differing opinion on the blogger vs designer debate (not that I think there should be a debate at all -- I think there's enough pie for everyone!).

But I always think that talent will always rise to the top, no matter your education. You can put all the money you want into becoming a decorator, a designer, a lawyer, an accountant - it doesn't mean that you will be great at it. It doesn't mean you can call yourself an expert. Take Sarah Richardson for example - who has no formal interior design education! She has a B.A. in Visual Arts and worked her way up as a stylist. I don't believe she is a member of ARIDO and can't even legally call herself an Interior Designer. But can she call herself an expert? I most definitely think so. 

There are a few other design bloggers who I would put in Sarah's league, as someone whose expertise I would pay for and whose opinion I would value. Conversely, there are some professional decorators and designers who have the education, who know the tools and the lingo, who I wouldn't trust coming anywhere near my home. I guess I equate "expert" to "outstanding talent" and for me, professional education plays into that only a minor part.

Not to belittle your education - I completely agree there are way too many bloggers presenting themselves as experts - but money spent and education can't be the only determinant of expertise."

What do you think of both comments? Do you agree with either of them? The reader's comment stuck in my head because I have never been to any design school yet I followed my passion and started my own design business (end of last year). I would never called myself an expert but went ahead and start this business because it would bring me joy to decorate for others. Now, my question is what are your thoughts about blogger designers/ decorators who haven't had any formal education in design? Do you think they have less credibility than professional interior designers/ decorators? Would you hire someone like me to decorate your home or do you prefer a professional interior designer/ decorators to design your home? I would love to hear your thoughts.

And the winner of the giveaway is ..........

I am happy to announce the winner of the recent giveaway brought to you by the kind people at Unique Vanities. 

I used random.org to draw the winner and here it is. The lucky winner of the $30 Amazon gift card is 

the lovely Sarah Lee Weaver from A Beautiful Life.

Congratulations, Sarah. I will send you an email shortly. Thanks to everyone who entered. There will be more fantastic giveaways in the future. So, stay tuned and drop by regularly. Have a lovely day, everyone!