Master Bedroom Moodboard

Not sure if anyone out there is like me, but I do a lot better with a plan. Being a visual person, having a visual plan is the best. Spending countless hours on interior design blogs while simultaneously watching HGTV and DIY interior design shows, as well as having a background at internet design agencies, the "moodboard" is my standard in visual planning. Traditionally room moodboards would have an interior designer's rendering of a particular view in a room surrounded by swatches of fabric choices and tile options all tacked onto tag board. Those are kind of hard to share in the blogosphere. Thank god for internet technology because I can't draw worth a damn!

There are two really cool online moodboard tools that are so fun to play with room planning. Olioboard and MyDeco are two such sites that team up with retailers and allow users to create a moodboard with photos of the retailers' products. It's an ingenious partnership because it saves the consumer a ton of time researching and collecting products and then sourcing them. I simply search or browse and pull furniture, lighting and accessories together and voila I have a master shopping list as well as a pretty moodboard!

Olioboard is the one I use most often. I just find it easier to use plus they throw out challenges to users to create a moodboard around a theme they provide and everyone votes. (Vote for my "Martinis @ 12 AM here!)

Since we Harpole's are in financial lockdown at the moment and can't spend a dime on anything while we are about to get our mortgage set up, and it's a bit cold for me to build in the garage, I have passed a few day's time dreaming of my dream-den, our master bedroom. Remember how it was in December? And even worse last January? Well, it hasn't changed much, but here is where I am making it go!

Master bedroom moodboard

Most of this is a pipe dream at the moment:

• Mirrored accent tables from Urban Barn $379 ea
• $780 West Elm rug
• Ochre Arctic Pear Chandelier  $11,125 choke!
• You get the point, spendy stuff that adds up WAY too quickly

So my personal challenge is how to make some of this stuff myself. I think the mirrored tables might be very doable. I am sure I can find an old vanity table on craigslist and spiffy it up a bit. For the rugs, we may have to bite the bullet (NO idea how to make them and I am a little weirded out by buying used rugs - who knows what people stepped in???). The chandelier is the biggest challenge. The metal circles are straightforward enough, I am just trying to track down wholesalers of glass drops. Not easy!

Let me know what you think or if you have a glass drop source or a tutorial on mirrored night stands! Also, if you get hooked on the online moodboards too, send your challenge and I will vote for you!

My first client! Kitchen for an architectural stone company

I landed my first interior design client! Rhodes is a high-end commercial architectural stone company in Seattle. They do grand stone installments like the new Ralph Lauren building in Greenwich, CT. 

My client's client, the Ralph Lauren building in Greenwich, CT.

Rhodes moved from Capitol Hill to Belltown this year. They selected a sparse space that needs loads of creativity to make it functional and appealing to high end clientele. 

First task, tackle the kitchen. The before kitchen is a very dark room with mauve counters and extra doors. They knocked out the mauve and sealed up one entryway.

Rhodes kitchen before shot - East and South walls.

Rhodes kitchen before shot - West and North walls.

The kitchen budget is lean, so we opted with IKEA cabinetry and appliances. Below is the visual layout of the proposed kitchen.

Proposed kitchen

East wall - the kitchen is only 5' 10" wide, so we kept this wall bare.

South wall with rough representation of the stainless quilted  backsplash (30x30") for the oven and glass bullet backsplash.

West wall - stainless apron front sink, dishwasher and an ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) regulation counter with wheelchair access underneath it. The sink cabinet is open as well for ADA compliance. 

Spec sheet

 I am very excited to share photos of the after shots with the kitchen completed!

Louboutin Table, Yes, Please!

Glamorous Table Design Resembling the Signature Red-Soled Louboutins

Stairs???

Here's the bent spiraling spine of our stairs ... Don't ask me how the hell I am going to get upstairs with these!

Stairs, I think ....?

Office Floors

Big progress this week! After staring at plywood underfoot for a year and a half, we finally have a room fully floored! Since we are doing basalt tiles on the main floor and upstairs hallway and the stones are 1/2" thick, we had to add a thick subfloor to the rooms not tiled so we don't have floor height variances. 

Before, before floors in our office

Closet shelves I built

Other side of room, before

Jake and I screwing down subfloor

Subfloor glued and screwed

Subfloor

We love the natural look and sustainability of cork. It's floating with a simple lock-in installation. Subfloor + cork installation took us just a few hours. 

Lock in place 

Progress

Bryce's fancy cuts

More fancy cuts

Finished floor!

We coordinated our flooring with our puppies

Jake loves it

After the cork is installed, I sealed it with 2 layers of polyurethane to seal the seams.

Now for decoration I want to add some FLOR tiles as a rug under the desk and in front of the daybed I am currently working on.