color inspiration

while i was driving the kids to school the other day, i was admiring these....

my gloves... they were on at the time:)   i was thinking how pretty the colors are and how nice they would look together in a room.  take a closer look...orange, turquoise, hot pink.

so when i got home i decided to take a look on pinterest to see what i could find. look at this beautiful table setting!

image via

and this ...

image via

isnt this room fresh and inviting? there are all of the colors in my gloves, just interpreted in a different way. my point to all of this is that you can find color inspiration anywhere and everywhere you look.

 house beautiful has a page in each issue called "paint palette" where they show a photo of random objects (food, flowers, rocks etc...) and pull a color story from it. i love this feature. here is an example of it that i scanned in....

these colors are amazing together. i am not usually a purple gal...at all....but this combination works for me. i have been dreaming up a room using these colors. i will try to put it on an idea board and post it at some point.

so next time you are trying to decide on a paint or a fabric color, look around... your answer could be right in front of  you! or on you:)

jodie

kids craft cabinet makeover

i loooooove getting little projects like this done. they are quick and easy and full of instant gratification (my favorite).  this cabinet is near our kitchen table and it is the perfect spot for all of the kids craft needs. we have been in the house for 2 years and i have been talking about organizing it for just as long! so with some extra time over the holidays...ava and i decided it was time to tackle it.

of course i have a before and after for you. are you ready?

wow...that is embarrassing! btw, i didnt even ask ava to pose like that:) after dumping some unneeded things, taking a trip to ikea, the dollar tree and office depot, it looks like this...

ahhh much better!! the inside of the doors stayed just the same...one side is a height chart for the kids...and the other has sentimental photos that arent coming down. i cant tell you how much this kind of thing excites me...i have been opening it for no reason in the past few days just to have a peek!

after living with it the other way for so long i learned a few things. kids need items in open containers...so they can put them back right where they found them. i think the my favorite improvement is having all of the paper/notebooks in stacking trays...that has been a huge help! here are some close ups...

i have this wire basket next to the cabinet for homework items. ethan and ava each have a box for their school things, and then there are a few books that can be grabbed when reading is required.

i am sure kevin would want me to point out his beautiful, handmade, 6" base molding (on the left wall) that he made and installed for our entire downstairs...right after he installed all of the hardwood! lets see if he is reading....because this kind of post does not usually catch his interest:)

lets look at one more before and after shall we?

that is some good clean fun right there! lets see how long it lasts...so far so good!

jodie

happiness is....

 

or would be...me finding time to read these! i love design books, but they always seem to fall into the category of "i dont really need that right now".  i never buy any, so instead i ask for them as gifts.  i was giddy on christmas morning to open the bottom two (thanks mom)! i have managed to already get half way through the home within us . it is soooo good....bobby mcalpine writes so well  about how design really reflects our emotions and i cant wait to finish. the top three books came from and amazing local used book store  that i will definitely be going back to for more.

i am excited about the new year....this time of year always makes it seem like the possibilities are endless...like anything can happen. what i am making happen right now is cleaning. i am putting away all of the decorations and giving the house a much needed deep clean. it is amazing to me that all of the stuff that has been scattered around the house for the past month fits neatly into 4 totes!  i swear the house feels lighter already.

happy new year! i am looking forward to a good year with my business and this blog!

jodie

ps. since i started this post the mail came...with 3 new magazines! now i have to make time to read those as well:)

holiday decorating in northern virginia-part II

i think this is a record for me...three posts in a week! i just wanted to make sure i got all of my holiday posts in before the holidays. i know for me, once they are over i am done with looking at decorations!

i thought i would show you another home that i decorated for christmas. i am so fortunate to have such wonderful clients! this is the second year i have spread holiday cheer for this client and i had just as much fun. of course i was fed well...with the most delicious soup!

lets start in the foyer....

here is her pretty living room....i  love using fresh greenery.

the dining room...

here is the dining room chandelier all gussied up for the holidays.  it used to be a sort of green color... but earlier this year, my client took it down and i painted it brown with some gold accents. of course i dont have photos of the process....but we are very happy with the outcome.

that about wraps it up for the holiday decorating....until next year! now its time to relax and enjoy the season. happy holidays to you and yours!

jodie

holidays at our house

we decorate for both hannukah and christmas at our house. last night was the first night of hannukah and it did not disappoint! the kids were so excited and i made my yearly latkes (although they turned out looking green? they tasted good:)) and my in-laws were here for dinner.  here is a photo of the little center piece i threw togehter...and notice the tablecloth is the one i made for my business event:)

my favorite part of the night was this card that ava made for ethan

let me translate "ethan you are the best brother i could ever have". this seriously brought tears to my eyes...i am a total sap! i had no idea she made it and gave it to him with a handmade snail she had made! anyhoo, a good time was had by all!

here she is finishing up the gift with a big hug:)

we rarely take photos of the four of us so i had to share a decent one!

here are more photos of some decorations around the house. first up...the front door....

some little details from inside...

here is our tree...the kids did most of the decorating this year...and i sort of love it!

so there you have it! i will post another clients home that i decorated in the next couple of days. thanks for stopping by!

jodie

 

holiday decorating in northern virginia- part 1

wow....it has been way too long since i posted. i have a good excuse though....i have been playing santas little helper! some of my clients hire me to decorate their homes for christmas and i love doing it. it is a nice change of pace from my normal day to day as a designer and the best part is the instant gratification:)

i have so many photos, so i thought i would break it into a few parts. then hopefully i will show you some of my own house later in the week!

so without further ado...here are the photos from one of my amazing clients. we have been working together on and off for over 10 years!! i think this is the 5th or 6th time i have done christmas for her and her lovely family. the best part....she always makes sure i am well fed while i am slinging garland... and this year she sent me home with two dinners...woohoo!

here is the outside....

the foyer (yikes sorry about the shadowy picture...but hopefully you can still see how pretty it is)

here is a closeup of the railing detail....

 

another small foyer detail...

 

here are some shots of the dining room...

i had to put this shot in as well....it is another wreath in the kitchen. we were calling it the year of the pregnant wreaths:) these were honestly the fattest boxwood wreaths i have ever seen...the stick out about 12" from the wall....

i hope you enjoyed and are having a nice holiday season!  i will be sure to share more in the next couple of days.

jodie

before & after laundry room

who doesnt love a good before and after? i thought i would share a project that is finally finished in our house. it all started way back in june. we purchased some cabinets for our laundry room from a habitat for humanity re-store (i love scouring these places for some good finds). i think we got 6 cabinets for $60! even though they had about an inch of grease on them and were yucky wood....i knew they would clean up well:)  of course i forgot to take photos of them before....but you will see the after....in a minute.

we originally had wire shelving in the laundry room that came with the house. as i am sure many of you know...wire shelving is the pits!  everything falls over, a total mess. of course i dont have before photos of these either! what i do have is this before/during photo of the laundry room...

this is after sanding, priming and painting the cabinets (i was still working on the doors). if you look really close...under one of the left cabinets you can see a hole? that was our first set back. when kevin put them up, he had a nailer below to keep them all level...when he took the nailer off...a nice chunk of the wall came with it!

soooo....one week this summer when kevin was travelling for work...i decided i was going to really finish this laundry room. and i did...or so i thought. until i discovered about 3 weeks after finishing that kevin had (accidentally) screwed into a pipe when putting up the cabinets!  (ahh...live and learn) it had been slowly leaking behind one of the cabinets for about 2 months. so down came one of the cabinets... the pipe got fixed...new drywall went in....and the cabinet back up. and that brings us to october:)  but as most DIY projects go in our house....5 months is about right!

now that you are all caught up and on the edge of your seats! here is the after...

ahh...much better dont you think? here is another before and after of the other side of the room...

this little power house laundry room doubles as a mudroom:) here are more details....i added some lucite knobs to the cabinet doors. my sister-in-law gave me the idea of adding the fabric behind the washer and dryer to cover up all of the plugs and wires...thanks Liz!

i have a bunch of these old gas station pricing numbers. i decided to put the year we got married up...

i am noticing a definite pattern with me lately...i like painting on burlap!  i love the way this sink skirt turned out!

oh and this chandelier was from one of my clients who didnt want it for her daughters room....it was white so i gave it a little face lift with dark gray paint...and accented with gold.

last but not least here is the valance i made out of a ticking stripe. i cannot sew...but i can work miracles with stitch witchery!

i hope you enjoyed this little tour. i love my laundry room now:) it was worth all of the effort. unfortunately it hasnt helped me do the laundry and better or faster:(

i have been getting a lot done on my house list lately. stay tuned for photos of my kids bedrooms....

jodie