Commercial Employee Break Room

I recently re-designed and re-decorated a break room for a local company.  Previously the space was bland and lacked any lounging areas.  It was primarily a small kitchen designated as the lunch room.  We made the space larger by eliminating some unused areas.  A private casual meeting space was added by adding sliding opaque glass doors that can be left open or closed for more privacy.  A corner was designated for lounging with upholstered chairs on casters with trays for easy movability.  A wall mounted “fireplace” was added to the lounge area with matching lighting pendants hung at various heights for visual interest.  A large adjacent wall was broken up by adding boldly colored vertical stripes at various widths at one end.  There is a large community table as well as counter and smaller group seating.  Televisions were added to be viewed from the various seating areas.  We added various textures with the backsplash tile, warm wood floors and the live-edged community table.  In keeping with the “upscale rustic” theme, we added creative light fixtures, galvanized seating and the glass ‘barn doors’.   The result is a warm, inviting congregating area which serves many purposes.  Each of the pictures below can be blown up by clicking on the image.

Graduation Party Ideas

 

As I have mentioned in my post from June 2016, I am experiencing my first graduate.  I left it up to my daughter whether or not she wanted a party – and in true teenage fashion, she waffled a bit, but then decided to do a joint party with one of her good friends.  We put it together rather quickly and naturally, I decided to share some of our ideas here.  It wasn’t excessive, but I did want to make it personal and reflect both the girls’ personalities.  It turned out to be just perfect.  See photos below.

 

Like most graduates, the girls made their own poster board with favorite pictures, etc.  Since they are from two different schools, we integrated their colors of purple, gold and green.  Our theme was ‘picnic-y’ so as not to feel too stuffy and our food reflected that with grilled chicken, ribs, salads, baked beans and corn bread – easy teenage friendly food.   We had a candy bar set up with custom M&M’s for the two different schools and graduating year.  Centerpieces were simple candle holders wrapped in school color ribbons.

Since at grad parties the kids come and go, it would be too difficult to serve a cake, so I made cupcakes frosted with the schools’ respective colors.  I presented them on this cupcake stand made with flower pots and fiberboard rounds.  I encircled them with ribbon and placed doilies on top.  Simple and such impact!

Here it is! The Summerhouse Shared Girls Bedroom.

The photos above show the accessories that became vital to pulling off the theme I was going for.

Remember this little table from an earlier post? This was my inspiration piece for re-doing a shared girls bedroom in a summer camp.

Well here are the results.  This little table became my inspiration because of the bamboo type accent and the vibrant gold.  Suddenly I saw the whole room as having a “Palm Beach-y/Lilly Pulitzer” feeling.  I immediately set out to procure my accessories.  Adorable pineapples, flamingo sheets, elephants, gold accents and naturally, pillows.  The walls were painted a Benjamin Moore eggshell paint in “Spring Wisp”, a lemongrass type of color.  The room already had the green carpet.  It was in tough shape after years of traffic.  However, since we were on somewhat of a budget, I chose to cover it with a sisal bordered rug that came within 1 1/2′ from the walls (carpet never gets worn on the perimeters because of furniture, etc.).  My only dilemma was that the room had to accommodate 3 twin beds.  Two certainly would have been ideal, but 3 girls share this room.  It worked out perfectly since the closet has shelves on either side which the girls use to store things that need to be folded.  Since this is a summer house, clothing is minimal, the closet is very large and can accommodate all three girls’ things.  I put a small piece of furniture inside that houses hair accessories, etc.  The doors of the closet were the typical 1970’s light wood sliders.  I decided to paint them white to brighten up the room.  The only thing I am still working on is the window treatment which I will keep simple (and blog when ready).  I am more than pleased with the results.  See below, each picture can be made larger by clicking on it.  Enjoy looking at them!

 

I found this little greeting card and was so drawn to it. Put it in a cute frame and it became the final accessory to top it all off. Note the flamingo – too cute!

A Statement Bathroom

I recently finished decorating a new bathroom in our lower level.  The Scalamandre wallpaper was my inspiration and the rest followed from there.  I found light fixtures that have the similar ‘arrow’ shape at the bottom and because they are long and lean they add a bit of elegance and help to balance out the large mirror.  I chose very large floor tiles so as not to conflict with the walls.  The ceiling is painted a high gloss black.  Add just the right accessories, ie. –  a little candle with a horn handled lid, and an étagère that was meant for the garden to hold towels and such.  Voila!

The finished product – home office!

Here are the results of my home office redecorating project.  I regret not taking a ‘before’ picture since the ‘after’ is such a drastic change!  Now it is a bright space, better organized and less cluttered.

My window treatment with the “inspiration fabric”.

 

Re-Decorating the office…

Inevitably every year around February, I am hit with the ‘decorating bug’.  The holidays are over, January feels tidied up and organized, February comes along, and…….since I’m not distracted by the gardens outside, I start to get bored and need to freshen up some corner of the house.  It usually happens by chance, in my daily travels I come across something that completely inspires me and then I’m off and making my plans!  This year it happened to be a fabric that I completely fell in love with.  I instantly envisioned using it in my home office, a tiny space that lacked big impact.  Truly color and fabrics lay the foundation of a space, but I feel nothing brings it all together more than your choice of accessories.  Below you see the fabric I chose.  The orange Asian theme is my ‘inspiration’ fabric.  The chevron pattern I chose to re-upholster the desk chair.

Then below you will see the collection of accessories that I put together to complement the look.

I am planning on painting a wall behind some shelves and the ceiling the orange color and hanging a large mirror to reflect a window and create a feeling of a larger space, and hang a small chandelier for a glamorous effect.

Stay tuned.  I will post the results when completed.