White Trim

Ever since I posted about my home wish list, I've had quite a few responses about white trim.  It's an overall resounding DON'T DO IT.  Apparently it's hard to keep clean, and my friends assure me that my OCD would kick in and I would be armed with a Magic Eraser at all times.

Really?

Really?

I'd have to give up this high contrast look?

{via pinterest}

I looooove the look of a chunky baseboard.  Especially when it's white.

But, rest assured.  Many of the homes we are looking at don't have white trim.  So sad, don't you think?

Please discuss.  Do you have white trim?  Do you wish you did?  Do you love it as much as me?



P.S.  I apologize about all the narcissistic posting..... this buying/selling ordeal is consuming me right now.  I hope you're learning a thing or two with me along the way.

P.P.S.  We got an offer on the house!  I'll keep you posted on the deets if things come together.  Think happy thoughts for us, please!

Monday Redesign: Danielle's Living Room

Happy Monday everyone!  Danielle contacted us about her living room and needed help designing the space.  I asked Danielle a few questions, and in her own words, this is what she had in mind for her new space:

"A modern, chic & calming space design.  And the main things I want accomplished are to have a painted {or wallpapered} accent wall.  I'd like to get rid of the chaise and love seat and replace them with 2 arm chairs - If there's space for another chair in the living room, I'd love to see a third chair for additional seating. So, a new seating arrangement will be necessary. We'll be installing hard wood flooring in the living room in the near future, so a color suggestion would be very helpful.The fireplace has this 70's rock material happening that I'd like to update in some way.  If you have any ideas to share I would love to hear em'!"

So to work I went on a space design.  Just so you have an idea, here are a few pictures of Danielle's space currently.

The first thing I worked on was the floorplan.  Danielle wanted a more open layout with three chairs in addition to the sofa, if possible.  Here are the changes I made with the new floorplan pictured below.

1. Mount the television above the fireplace to give her more room to work with.


2. Place a bookshelf on each side of the fireplace to balance out that wall.


3. Place two chairs across from the sofa to make it more conversational as well as the best use of the space.  This will give Danielle ample access to her sliding door, and great traffic flow through the room.  And if she needs to turn those chairs around, say during movie night so everyone can see the tv, it should be easy enough to do.


4. For additional seating, a bench would be great centered on the wall with the opening to the dining room.


5. I kept Danielle's end tables and coffee table as requested.

After planning the layout, I did a little shopping for the space.  Here is a mood board for a visual of the new space.

And now for a breakdown of the goodies:

1. The color palette actually derived from the pillow sitting on the orange chair {#3}.  It has a neutral base, but color pops using contrast throughout the room {with mainly the orange and whites}.  The bottom color of this palette is Danielle's existing wall color and the color on top of that is the color suggested using for the accent wall.  The color is Behr Pepper Spice.


2. I love the modern and sleek look of this couch.  It's the Silhouette Sofa from Crate & Barrel in Maya: Taupe.  I would put three of these pillows and one of these on the sofa to bring in the orange color.  I loved the idea of hanging the three mirrors Danielle already has on hand from Ikea above the sofa.  It will make a great statement and mimic what I think she should do for the fireplace.  I also think this Nash floor lamp is great to put either behind her end tables for additional lighting, or next to the bench.  A pair of them in the room would be nice.


3. I saw this orange chair, and immediately fell in love with it.  It has such clean lines and fits Danielle's room so perfectly.  It's the parlour tangerine chair from CB2.  I would recommend a pair of these placed across the sofa each with a bull's eye silk pillow in berry from west elm.


4. To dress up the sliding glass door, I would recommend putting up some drapes, and Pottery Barn has great drapes at an affordable price.  I would get the Cameron Cotton Drape- two of them in the 50 x 96 length in white {hang the rod about a foot above the door frame, and let the drapes pool slightly on the floor}.  This will make the window seem bigger and more expansive.


5. I went with a darker wood floor to give a little contrast to the neutrals in the room.  I found a great wood floor at Lowe's made by Natural Floors by US.


6. I placed an 8x10 rug underneath the sofa and chairs to tie everything together, and so it didn't feel like the chairs were floating in the middle of nowhere.  I love the flexibility of FLOR and recommend the Sophistikat in Barley.   30 tiles to make an 8x10 rug.


7. Danielle has a couple options when it comes to the fireplace.  She can either paint over the rocks {in this case, I'd paint it all white}, or remove the rock and start over.  I went for removing the rock and starting over.  I would recommend something like this fireplace {scroll to photo 4 of 10} as it puts a little more chic into this modern room. I found this tutorial online too that seems like a pretty good step by step.


8. To provide additional seating in the room, I would get the Besta bench from Ikea.  I would recommend placing it just about centered on that wall.


9. To balance the room, I put two bookcases in the room, one on each side of the fireplace.  I would recommend the six shelf in the 36" width in white.  The bookshelves should be place nearly centered between the wall and the fireplace on each side.

So what do you think?  Is there anything you would add?



If you need help redesigning your space, check out our services here.

Before & After: Laundry Room

Happy Monday everyone! Did you have a fun weekend?  I sure hope so.  My husband was back in town over the weekend and we hung all over each other all weekend.  It's like we were in college all over again.

I had a short list of honey-do's for him and it included helping me hang a couple things in our laundry room.  About a month ago, I mentioned how I was going to paint my laundry room.  And by golly, I did.

Here is the before picture.

The paint was an unwashable flat paint that wasn't tolerating my 2 year old and boxer dog very well.  {On a side note, did you know that Sherwin Williams makes a washable flat paint?  Genius, I tell you}.

In choosing a color, I knew I wanted something subtle and refreshing.  I started thinking some some blues would be nice, but in trying to keep a halfway consistent color palette throughout the house, I leaned towards a green color.

Here is the after picture:

You'll have to excuse my flashy pictures, but they were taken late last night.  The paint color I choose is Sherwin Williams Grassland {SW 6163}.  As I was painting, I feared that I had gone too minty, but luckly I stuck with it as I think it has a very calming character to it - which is the exact thing I wanted!

A couple of details on the wall hangings.  I found the mirror at a local thrift store for $10.  This is what it looked like when I bought it:

As much as I love a touch of gold these days, this was a little much so I spray painted it white.  As you know, I have a tendency to paint everything white.

And when we were shopping at Target this last week, I found this coat hanger on clearance for $9.

Only, when I checked out, it rang up at about $3.50.  Don't you just love it when that happens?  I knew the blue color wouldn't work, but I could easily spray paint it white, and save a few bucks.  {The competing coat hanger was $20 and it had a shelf above the hangers}.

A couple simple changes and my laundry room feels brand new!  All for a reasonable cost of about $40!

Before and After: Little Cottage

I don't know about you, but I could look at before and afters for.ever.  I love seeing a space transformed.  And this one won't let you down.  It was featured in the New York Times yesterday, and it's stunning. 

The kitchen before:

And after:

Melanie Brandman "knocked out walls and raised the ceilings to create an open space, and replaced the floors with dark stained pine."

 And here is the living room before: 

 

And after: 

 

Melanie kept the wood burning stove around-- with this being a cottage and all, it just makes sense. 

 

I had to include a couple other picture that I loved as well.  Here is another view of the living room. 

And I just love these pink pillows on these tufted chairs.

A transformation done in style, no?  I love it!  I hope it inspires you as much as it did me.  To see the rest of the little cottage, go here. 

 I hope you have a great weekend!  Happy Friday.

If you have a before and after you'd like to share with us, send it along to admin AT freshnestdesign DOT com.

Before & After Kitchen

We loving receiving before and after in our inbox.  They are so fun and inspiring.  Scott and his wife, Leyla have been busy remodeling their 1910 Victorian home since 2006.  Can you imagine the dust now?!  I think the transformation is so wonderful! It's so clean and crisp!  I don't think I would have a problem baking in this kitchen.

Do you have a project you're working on that you'd like to share?  Send them over to us at admin AT freshnestdesign DOT com.

Magnus Anesund: Photographer

I found Magnus Anesund's work via emmas designblogg and I can't stop looking at his portfolio.  Such great pictures and inspiration for the home. 

I love all the white walls accented with little bits of color.  All of the spaces feel so clean, and fun at the same time. 

If you would have told me 5 years ago that I would love white walls, I would have told you that you were crazy.  I grew up in a home with pure white walls and I couldn't stand it.  Now, I think I could welcome it into the home and bring color in with my accents.  We currently have one white room in our home (our photo studio).  I think I may need to rethink that.  What do you think?

Before and After: Living Room

We love seeing how our readers are transforming their spaces!  Karen sent over her living room space with a before and after.  Karen did an amazing job and spotted these chairs on the redesign we did for Marie.  We absolutely love the results!!!  

Do you have a space makeover that you'd like to share?  Email it to us at admin AT freshnestdesign DOT com.  Don't forget to submit your favorite space in your home for the current design challenge.   You have the chance to win a 5′ x 7′ area rug from FLOR!

Design Challenge Winner

Wowzers!  A total of 3,186 votes.  Thank you to all who participated and voted.

The winner is Jennifer!  Job well done on your dresser!

A big thank you to our sponsor, Five Star Source for the Anna Toddler bed.  Jennifer- please send us your infomation and we will pass it along to them.