thanksgiving

i love thanksgiving...its like the calm before the storm.....

my favorite part is that i never have to cook...my in-laws do it all:)  i get to sit back and be thankful for this....

relax and enjoy your turkey day! take a moment to be thankful for all you have and then stuff yourself silly! (all images above are from pinterest)

jodie

business boost

this is where i was this past weekend....standing in front of this table...promoting my business!

i had the opportunity to participate in an event at a local nursery. a great time was had by all and i met some really nice people. this event was a way for me to get my name out there locally. we used to live in another suburb of DC and that is where most of my clients are (over 45 min away) so i spend a lot of time in my car.

this was also just the push i needed to get some good photos and a portfolio together. its still not perfect, but a lot better than what i had before...nothing! i am the worst at taking photos of my work.

i was very happy with the way my table turned out, thanks to many suggestions from family and friends. it was kevins genius idea to stencil my name across the front...there was no question about who i was or what i was there to talk about! do you recognize that stencil? its the same one i used on my window treatments in a lighter gray version. i loved it so much i decided to use it again.

i love to meet new people and i love to talk...so this was my kind of marketing. i am really hoping to get the opportunity to work with some of the people i met!

jodie

DIY panels

remember the burlap panels my mom sewed way back in august? well i finally got around to stenciling some of them and i am so happy with the way they turned out! i have painted freehand on burlap in the past...but i have never used a stencil. it was pretty easy...just a lot of measuring on the first one. once i got going it only took me about and hour to do each one.

here they are hanging in our dining room. of course when i look at this photo...it just reminds me of how badly i want to get new chairs. (and that my topiary  might not make it through the winter:))



i had to add this one of my faithful assistant....always ready for a beauty shot:)

now i just need to make time to finish the other ones....


jodie

client bedroom update

i blogged about this bedroom over the summer. we are still not totally finished.... i want to add some yummy throws and more tchatchkas (i like to use this word for accessories:)). but i decided to go ahead and get some better photos of it. i am no professional photographer as i have said before, but i think you can get a better feel of how the room is turning out.

here is a before photo...

 and here is the after....

it looks pretty doesnt it? there are still no photos in the frames above the chairs....but there will be soon! as i explained before, my client wanted a very warm and neutral palette with a little bit of shimmer. she wanted to use her existing furniture, so we mostly just added soft furnishings. we did order one custom entertainment piece for the room, but i didnt get a good photo of it this time. we also decided to layer a rug on top of the carpet...which i think works very well sometimes. in this instance it really helped define the  two areas of the bedroom.

i took a lot more photos! so of course i am going to show them. this way you can see more of the details in the room.....

thanks for letting me share! i love when a project is almost complete...and everyone is happy. i am off today to finish up the nursery i have been working on. i will be sure to share more on that too.

jodie

goosebumps (3)

i know you all have been on the edge of your seats waiting for the third installment of this series:) so here you go! i mentioned suzanne kasler in an earlier post when i was talking about ballard designs. she is a designer that i absolutely love. i spent some time recently looking through her work. she has an amazing sense of style and proportion, right down the the last detail. all of suzanne's interiors are so refreshing. i selected a few (well, many) of my favorites.....enjoy.

if you have time...take a moment to look through the rest of her portfolio. you won't be disappointed. i love looking a other designers work for inspiration!

jodie

fun rides and fall

i love this time of year. it is by far my favorite season. this past weekend it was beautiful here in northern virginia. i was supposed to be here....in shenandoah national park...enjoying the weather and the leaves changing.

 

but i got out voted and ended up here instead...

 

yes...that is me huddled over in the back while everyone else is having a blast! i hate (strong word, but needed here) roller coasters and most rides in general. that is why our friend tim is in the middle....he was my proxy for the day:) except for this ride...they made me do it. tim took video of the whole thing...while i was screaming at the highest pitch imaginable. oh, and did i mention this was a roller coaster in the kidzville part of the park? oh well....everyone got a good laugh...including me when it was over.

back to something i do enjoy....decorating for halloween. here are some pictures of some of my favorites around our house....

i hope you all are enjoying your fall!

jodie

nursery time

here is a sneak peek of a nursery i have been working on. it has been so much fun...especially because it is for some very good friends of our family! they decided not to find out the sex of the baby, so we had to go with a gender neutral design.  after some back and forth, we came up with black and white, with a little splash of orange and blue. it is hard to tell from this picture...but these are some things we are using in the room.

here is a photo of the actual room with the crib and new rug (that my client searched high and low for:)).  you can see the pretty blue we chose for the walls....and the window treatments draped over the crib railing....and yes, we are changing the blinds!

here is a closeup of the fabric we are using for a small pouf in the room.  the baby's grandma is busy making it! isnt it adorable...not completely in keeping with the black and white theme...but it totally works.

we have been working hard on all of the little details to finish this up. the baby is coming any day and we are all so excited! i had to add this last photo of the new parents to be. (hopefully they wont mind) this is hanging in their foyer, its from their wedding day.  i absolutely love it! actually, as i am typing this, i am realizing that this might just work perfectly in the nursery!

on a side note... i decided i am going to stop saying when and how many times i am going to post! i am just going to do it when and if i can:)

jodie