e-Design: A Young Girl's Bathroom

This has been such a FUN project and I am so excited to share this bathroom with you!  It's girly, it's fun, it's young and fresh!!  Perfect for an eight year old girl!!

The Lowmans, who live in Birmingham, emailed me seven months ago asking if I would be interested in helping them design their 8 year old daughter's bathroom.  Beth, the mom, and I knew of each other through instagram/blogging.   Needless to say,  I was completely flattered that she asked for my help.

She and John sent me pictures of their bathroom mid "tear down" and Beth basically said, "...whatever you think, Fran!"

I remember sending her an inspiration picture of a bathroom I found on pinterest with bright blue hexagonal floor tile and asked her if she liked it.  She wrote back and said her daughter, Elizabeth, loved it!

I knew her daughter, Elizabeth, and I would hit it off!!  And, while I know Beth and John, were a little reticent about the blue tile; in fact, Beth told me later, "we just tore out blue tile and now we're putting blue tile back in!?!?".....I knew it would be the right amount of 'fun' to make this bathroom perfect for a young girl!

Once the tile was selected, everything else just fell into place....

Look at all that beautiful subway tile and the bullnose chair rail!  Good-bye beadboard...hello subway tile!!

The blue hexagonal floor tile was a bit of a risk, but it paid off big time!  

Even subway tile on the top of the bath/shower you guys!!

Beth's husband, John, did ALL the installation himself!  ALL THAT TILE work - completely himself!   And, let me tell you, he did an AMAZING job.  My design was only 50% of this whole project, his execution was the other 50% if not more.   Tiling is so technical and difficult.  He installed everything so seamlessly.  

And, just to give you an idea of the where we started.  These are the pictures Beth and John sent me.  Here is where we started......

Thank you to Beth Hontzas who did an amazing job photographing the bathroom and was so much fun!!  If you live in Birmingham, she does excellent work.  And, a huge THANK YOU to the Lowman family.  You guys are a beautiful family and I'm so happy to call you friends!  I'm happy Elizabeth loves her bathroom!  

Summer happenings….

Hi Guys!  Remember me?  I apologize for the radio silence!!  Summer has been 'happily' full-on with my kid's daily swim practices, baseball games, ballet and hanging out with friends at the pool.  Moreover, I've been up to my eyeballs in client projects!!  With my kids home full time, I'm doing my design work part-time and am so thankful for these opportunities.  Here are some snapshots of what has been going on….

My local client has moved into a new house and we will slowly be tackling one room at a time, starting with her powder room!  The minute I mentioned and showed her Farrow and Ball's color Hague Blue, she fell in love.  Here is the inspiration for her powder room….

Painting to start Thursday…….I can't wait to see it in person!!

We also are working on her home office, dining room and kid's rooms.  Hence, the recent order of Mally Skok purple, pink and orange fabrics.  I love her textiles!  I am looking forward to using one or two of these fabrics in her youngest girl's bedroom.  I think it'll be the perfect complement to BM Silver Bells.

I'm also working with a wonderful, repeat client, in South Carolina on her foyer and den.  You might remember my post on hexagon table skirts; well, her dad has graciously agreed to make her a hexagon table top for her foyer table.  Below are the fabric and trim samples I recently sent her for the tailored table skirt.

We are also working on her den and I love it when I get to work with clients whose design aesthetic I just 'get'!  I love her sense of style and every inspiration picture she sends me, I get so excited.

Recently, she sent me the below inspiration she spotted on OKL and you know you 'understand' your client when you have the same exact picture saved on her 'pinterest' design board!

And, lastly, but certainly not least, there's my newest client from Birmingham, AL.  She's a long-time reader and one of my first followers.  While we've never met, I already feel like she is a good friend!  She has always left the kindest and supportive comments on my blog and IG posts.

She contacted me over a month ago to help her with her guest bathroom. She wants it to be timeless;  using classic elements suitable for guests, but she also wants it to be suitable for her 9 year old daughter who will be using it on a daily basis.

The design plan I forwarded to her includes subway wainscoting for a truly sophisticated and classic look, but it also includes a bit of fun and whimsy for her daughter.

This is where Galbraith and Paul fabrics enter the picture to give the bathroom a youthful and fresh feel!

But, we didn't stop at the fabrics and the plan is to include light blue hexagon tiles for the flooring!  It'll be a lot of fun watching this take shape!

So, lots of fun and pretty projects.  This summer has been so great and I'm particularly looking forward to the end of this week when we leave for vacation!!  Two weeks!!  Whoohoo!  Happy Summer!

Friday Favorite: Brooke Crew Interiors

It's not often when you stumble on a designer's portfolio and you say scream 'Yes' to everything in her/his portfolio.  I found Brooke Crew Interiors who is based in Greenwich, CT while perusing IG and was SO, SO inspired.  If you don't follow her, you are missing out!

I am in love with her designs and I'm particularly infatuated with the work she is doing on Catherine Tompkins' home in Greenwich.  Her home is beautiful!! Think Sister Parish, Elizabeth Eakins, Raoul Textiles, Bennison, Quadrille and Dune and Duchess.  I don't think it gets much better, does it?

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To see more of this beautiful house and of Brooke's feed, go here!  Enjoy the weekend my friends!!

A Nursery Bathroom

As you may or may not know, I offer different levels of help or service.  Some e-design, some in person and some hourly consulting.  When this particular client contacted me last year, she was pregnant with her firstborn and was in the midst of decorating her nursery.

She had most everything picked out in terms of fabrics and furnishings, but asked me if I could provide a little bit more direction, answer some very specific questions and be a sound board for some of her beautiful decisions.  She really didn't need my help, she has a very good 'eye'.  

She just recently gave birth to a baby girl and sent me a picture of this!  She did a wonderful job!

Isn't this the sweetest?   I adore the wallpaper!  She still isn't finished with her daughter's nursery. But, she did recently send me a picture of a pillow she just had made for her nursery's playroom.  She now just now needs to get it monogrammed!

I love the mix of the small check and the peach bordering flange!  So precious!

Thank you and A Beautiful (Renovated) Cottage

I just want to say 'THANK YOU' for stopping by to see my One Room Challenge and leaving such incredible comments!! I felt the love you guys - thank you so much!!  It truly was icing on the cake after having worked so hard on it and not knowing how it would be received.  I would be lying if I didn't say that I had a nervous stomach for most of the day!

Today, I thought I'd leave you with some pretty pictures found on StyleBlueprint of this beautifully renovated cottage designed by Julie Couch.

This home is a great testimony on how to maximize the most of your natural light when you have a small home!  I'll let the pictures by Alyssa Rosenheck Photography speak for themselves.

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To see more of this beautiful home designed by Julie Couch, go here.  Have a good week!

A New Take on a Family's Napa Home

Back in 2014, Style Me Pretty, posted a beautiful home tour designed by Irene Lovett from Designstiles.  You can see the full home tour here.  But, fast forward to today and it seems like the same home got some pretty fantastic updates.

Both Rue Magazine and Domaine have published the same home tour (with the new updates) and I thought it would be fun to note the differences.

This is the family's dining room shown in 2014 on Style Me Pretty.

I love the antique rug and how clean and fresh this room looks.  And, below is the dining room as seen now on Domaine.

It is always interesting to note what has remained or changed.  I love the softer palette.  Just beautiful.  They obviously kept the furniture, but installed wall to wall carpeting, layered with a new antique rug.  They also installed a new light fixture and changed out the mirror.  It seems like the 'old' dining room mirror got relocated to the bathroom.  See below.

Looks wonderful here!  Another room that received an update is the powder room pictured below (this picture was shown on Style Me Pretty).

This room is so different now.  Here it is (below) now on Domaine.

Can we just say brilliant!!  In my opinion, the paneling and grasscloth make this powder room (and the floor tiles aren't bad either) ;) I love how they used the Serena and Lily's mirror (which I would love to use either in my own home or in someone else's home.)

Here is a picture of the home's kitchen on Style Me Pretty back in 2014.

It appears that the kitchen got a pretty significant renovation.  There isn't a window anymore above the stove, the fridge got relocated, they installed brass hardware, changed out the island pendants and installed a new island.  Here is the kitchen now on Domaine.

They relocated the Hicks pendant to the kitchen nook and I love, love the blue island.  So, which do you like better?  Anything you see that you absolutely love?  To see more of this Irene Lovett's portfolio, go here.  You won't be disappointed!

A Martha Vineyard's Home

There are so many elements I love about this home.  The nautical touches, the subdued, but fun use of color and pattern and all the classical elements running throughout the home.  

I love how colonial this dining room feels.  The above room was the inspiration for my dining room; see our dining room progress here.  

Is that Katie Ridder's Peony pattern in a rug? (above).  I've never seen it as a rug before.  

This home has all my favorites - striped walls, painted floors, spindles, empire lamp shades, gold framed nautical oil paintings, Katie Ridder fabrics, blue and green colors, antique furnishings and colonial touches.  To see more of this home designed by Molly Luetkemeyer (m. design interiors), go here.