A client's master bedroom project reveal!

A few years ago, I was working with my client Kathy to redecorate her master bedroom. Her master bedroom is full of potential; it's spacious, has gorgeous high ceilings and large windows. She and her husband like contemporary furniture with clean lines and wanted me to help them create a warm, comfortable, inviting and sophisticated room with a boost of color, drama and pizzazz, all on a very small budget. All the furniture in their bedroom, artwork and family photos have to stay. I was up for the challenge! You can read more about the process of our entire collaboration here and here. 

Recently, Kathy sent me some pictures of her finished master bedroom. In her email, she told me that the room was completed a year and a half ago. In the email, she also wrote, "We still love our bedroom, I admire it all the time!". As a decorator, it is one of the best compliment I have ever received and I can't be more thrilled! 

I can't wait to share with you the before and after of her master bedroom makeover, here they are!

Before

After

Before

After

Before

After

Before

After

Before

After

I would love to help Kathy arrange her furniture or style her accessories personally but because it's e-design (online decorating), she will need to execute the room herself. Through my step-by-step guidance and design guidelines, she was able to pull together the room easily. I think the room feels much more brighter, fresher and more inviting now, don't you think? She made some adjustments along the way but I think she did a fantastic job overall! What do you think about the makeover? Thoughts?

If you need help decorating your home, please click here for further information regarding my design services.

A client's home office design project!

I just wrapped up a client's project recently. I was hired to makeover her spacious home office. In her questionnaire, my client told me that she wanted a modern, girly and chic home office that feels warm and looks colorful. Her favorite colors are pink, yellow, blue and silver.  She is also a great mint fan and wanted me to incorporate a few modern mint filing cabinets that she saw on a website for her home office. She wanted to keep her tv, a stylish silver side table (it's gorgeous, by the way!) and a floor lamp (but get a new lamp shade).

She sent me a couple of beautiful inspiration pictures and photos of her home. When I saw the inspiration images, I knew exactly what she wanted and was very excited to get started. 

This is what her room looks like now.

The best thing about this project? The budget! I was so thrilled to have a great budget to work with so I can pick some really nice things for her home office. Also, with a bigger budget, your options are so much wider, obviously!

I splurged on the statement pieces, mostly on the big investment pieces. A big bulk of the budget goes to things that she can enjoy for a long, long time like the sofa, desk, desk chair, entertainment unit, light fixture and coffee table. Meanwhile, I kept the rest of the furniture and accessories affordable yet still fun and fabulous! These are the design boards that I came up with! 

For the wall color, I recommended two color options. She can either pick a very pale blue or a very pale pink color. According to my client, her room doesn't receive a lot of natural lighting during the day so I wanted to keep the wall color light for a bright and airy feeling. 

While sourcing for all the pieces for the office design, I found these stunning mirrored wall sconces! I was absolutely smitten with them. As much as I wanted to use them, I didn't incorporate them into the design in the end because there isn't any wall space anymore. I really don't want to overcrowd the room for the sake of accessorizing because I think it's really important to have some "breathing space" in a room so your eyes can rest. Perhaps I can keep this mirror in mind and use them in the future.

When I showed my client the design boards, she was thrilled with them. She loved it and thought that the design was very functional. She works from home so I really wanted her to have as much storage as she possibly can. We made a few changes and additions and that's it. She has ordered a few of the items after test driving them in person and told me she would order the rest of the items over the weekend! She is also interested to have me decorate her daughters' bedroom in the near future. I can't wait to get started!

Don't you just love it when both you and your client share the same design taste? It definitely makes the whole design process a lot smoother and easier.  Honestly, I can't wait for her to pull the whole design together and hopefully, she will send me the "Afters" pictures! I will share any updates and progress on her home office whenever possible so follow along and check back regularly!

If you need help decorating your home, please click here for further information regarding my design services. Email me at mixandchic(at)yahoo(dot)com for details.

A client's master bedroom project update!

Remember the master bedroom project I was working on for one of my clients, Kathy earlier? You may read about our collaboration here. Recently, she has sent me some pictures of her bedroom's progress.

Here's the moodboard I created for her master bedroom.

All the furniture in her master bedroom is staying. Kathy and her husband, Robert loves red. Here's the picture of her master bedroom when we first started:

Before:

Progress:

Before:

Progress:

Before:

Progress:

Kathy and Robert's master bedroom isn't styled yet and far from being finished but everything is coming along nicely. Currently, Kathy is working on her curtains. 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.

A client's master bedroom project!

Recently, I have been busy working on a client's online decorating project. My client, Kathy has hired me to help her with two rooms, her master bedroom and living room. We started with her master bedroom first.

This is how her master bedroom looks like now.

As you can see, her bedroom has wonderful peaked ceilings and beautiful big windows that overlooks her backyard. Her bedroom is neutral, roomy and has a lot of potential.


In the questionnaire, Kathy wrote that she loves a little bit of vintage, handmade textiles and pieces that feel collected over time but nothing shabby chic. At the same time, she also likes the clean lines of contemporary furniture. She is drawn to blues, greens, reds and turquoise.


On the other hand, her husband, Robert loves sophisticated casual transitional style. His favorite colors are blues (in all shades), reds, grays and blacks. 


Overall, they wanted their master bedroom to feel warm, inviting, comfortable with some color, drama and pizzazz. They don't mind a little bit of bold color or a funky piece in their bedroom.


Kathy loves to read and has collected a lot of artwork. She hoped I can incorporate some of her art in her bedroom. All her bedroom furniture has to stay. Their favorite artwork that is currently above their bed has to stay as well.


They wanted a pair of new curtains, a pair of table lamps, a reading corner with a lamp and a nightstand for Kathy. They have an armchair and are planning to get it reupholstered. Since they do not have a proper bed, they hope to find a headboard or bed frame but they do not want anything upholstered.


After getting to know their style, their likes and dislikes, I came up with this mood board: 

I was sourcing for the headboard/ bed frame at first but during the first two days during our design collaboration, I saw this rug on One King's Lane and couldn't resist!

It is a very gorgeous rug and measures at 8' x 11'. It is a very good size rug and will work with her king size bed wonderfully. It couldn't be more perfect with the handmade textile look that Kathy loves and the color red that they both like. The price tag was $529 and I thought was a good deal considering it is made of 100% wool.

Kathy loves the rug as much as I do but she was a little concerned about the overall budget. Before the sales end, I sourced for all the must-have items to tally the grand total. I still went slightly over her original budget. Fortunately, Kathy bought the rug and it becomes the starting point of our whole design scheme.

For the wall color, I wanted something neutral and light to balance the bold color and patterns so I picked a light gray color for their bedroom.

However, they really liked the blue (above). They tried the blue paint color on their wall but Kathy didn't like it. I suggested a few blue gray paints, they tried it but still wasn't sure. Eventually, they picked a slightly darker gray similar to the one I suggested and they love it! I am happy that they eventually found a color they both love. 

Paint colors are always tricky because the same color might look vastly different in two different houses due to the amount of lighting received so it's always a good idea to try paint samples, just to be sure.

For her chair reupholstery fabric, I gave them a few options to choose from. We all decided on our favorite, the Duralee Kalah Blue fabric.

For window treatment, my first thought was red silk curtains. I found a great pair of red silk curtains at West Elm on sale but when Kathy decided to order it the next day, it was out of stock. Bummer!

After checking out other curtain options, Kathy decided to make them herself and go to a different direction. We decided to use white curtains and add this gorgeous red greek key trim for extra pizzazz.

It wasn't easy trying to find inexpensive red and white greek key trims online but I eventually found them on Etsy. I think the white curtains with the greek key pattern will be very chic, classic and sophisticated, something that Robert will love.

Although I have selected many of the key pieces for their bedroom, there are still a few small areas that required a bit of styling. I tried to stay on the original budget as much as I can so I incorporated a lot of things they already owned like artwork and books for the finishing touches. Using a mix of different artwork and books in a room will instantly create a cozy, collected, lived-in feel, something that Kathy is looking for.

Here is what I came up with to style her bedroom.

Besides artwork, Kathy also has a Greek figurine and a vase so I group them together with her Greek isle canvases to create a meaningful vignette. Kathy was born in Greece and I really wanted to give her something that is close to her heart. Unsurprisingly, she loves the vignette.

During the design process, we agreed on a headboard but finally went for a bed frame. I gave them a list of great options and they picked their favorite. However, they found a wonderful King size bed locally that they both love. It was on clearance for just $529 so I encouraged them to go for it. Here is the new bed that they picked:

Since their bedroom ceiling is quite high, I really wanted something above their bed to draw the eyes up. With all the hard lines of their dark furniture, I wanted something round or something with curves to soften them so I suggested a round mirror. Kathy wasn't sure about the mirror idea at first. She wanted her favorite artwork to stay above her bed.

As a designer, I wanted my client to be happy with their space. However, if Kathy really likes her artwork to stay above the bed, I am going to make it work. Still undecided, I came up with a side by side comparison moodboard, one with her artwork and one with a round mirror above her bed for her to consider.

After she looked at the moodboard comparison, she decided to go with the mirror option. As a plus, Robert also loved the mirror too.

I think the mirror looks gorgeous. It is also visually light and will add a lot of drama and style in the bedroom.

The last moodboard I did is the vignette for the dresser.

I am glad that both Kathy and Robert like my designs. We hit a few design bumps along the way but I certainly had a lot fun putting this master bedroom design together. Kathy is a great client to work with and she is quick with her responses. Clients who give prompt feedback are a blessing because we can made design decisions fast and move forward in a timely manner. I also appreciate she took the time to send me lots of inspirational images and let me know exactly what they like and didn't like. And that truly helped me get a sense of both their style easily.

I am looking forward to see the result of Kathy and Robert's master bedroom makeover. I am sure you are excited to see the final outcome of our design collaboration as well. I will share any updates and progress on their bedroom whenever possible so follow along and check back regularly!

If you need help decorating your home, please click here for further information regarding my design services.