A Functional Guest Room for Leesa...

Happy Monday all! First of all thanks for all your kind words about my last E-design. I'm always a little nervous sharing my work with the world. I'm not a big fan of being judged, and I think one of the reasons it's taken me so long to start this little business, is because of fear...Fear of other's not liking my work, so I appreciate your kindness.....Now onto today's business:
When my good friend, Leesa decided to turn her mostly-used-as-storage spare room into a functioning guest room, she asked for my help to make the best use of the small space. All she had was a gorgeous vintage oak dresser. This is what we came up with:

The gorgeous upholstered gray bed was the splurge for this room, and adds so much sophistication to the space. I chose white bedding. I love white bedding, but in a space that is used daily, it's just not practical, because you'd probably have to wash it daily. In a space that is only used occasionally, however, it's a nice luxury. She wanted a spot for her guests to sit (just enough room to sit comfortably while putting on their shoes) but there is no room in this small space for a large chair, so we added the two tufted, green ottomans at the end of the bed. She also wanted a place for a small desk, but this 12 x 12 room wasn't really having it.  Instead of two nightstands, I added a small white writing desk with brass hardware on one side of the bed (it can be used both as a nightstand and a writing space...holla) and a gorgeous gold side table to the other. The rest was just making the space comfortable, with a lot of gorgeous $10 pillows from World Market, and a cozy teal throw, along with my favorite Z Gallerie rug to soften the hard wooden floors. The desk chair reflects her gorgeous oak dresser perfectly, adding the weight and cohesion the room desperately needed.

Teal table lamp
lampsplus.com

Chocolate brown rug
zgallerie.com

Teal throw

Wall art
zgallerie.com

West Elm gold throw pillow
westelm.com

World Market throw pillow
worldmarket.com

World Market teal home decor
worldmarket.com

Bought at Nebraska Furniture Mart for about a third of this price, but if you aren't local and like it you can also find it here:
Upholstered bed frame
roomandboard.com

Redford House midcentury furniture
mytwodesigners.com

OKA wooden kitchen chair
okadirect.com

Ottoman
lampsplus.com

So what do you think? Are you over my green and teal obsession? Do tell...

Colorful Bohemian Living Room

Here's something I hate...When you are so proud of yourself for actually having three posts ready to publish for the week, but on the third day, you actually forget to hit post until 1:00 in the afternoon...yeah I suck....Anyways, an online friend of mine was looking for a little update for her living room. She loves color and I mean LOVES...which I of course LOVE. She had the gray sectional (or one similar to this one) and the orange lamps already, and that was pretty much it. She needed more seating, and wanted a way to bring pink into the room. When I saw this rug, I knew it was fate...plus it gave me an excuse to bring in my favorite teal ;)

Anatolian kilim rug

$1,130 - tabletonic.com.au

CB2 throw pillow

cb2.com

Black and white throw pillow

zincdoor.com

Magenta home decor

$57 - superette.co.nz

KAS Australia teal home decor

bedbathandbeyond.com

Tufted furniture

homedecorators.com

Accent chair

lampsplus.com

Redford House midcentury furniture

mytwodesigners.com

Meridian Tray

zgallerie.com

I'm slightly in love with this room and am so excited to see it come together. 

Also, I'm dying to bring that rug into my home someday....enter sigh here...

Now go, enjoy your weekend.

Kansas City Parade of Homes

Every year the hubby and I head out and lust after all the beautiful homes in the Kansas City Parade of Homes, dreaming of the home of our future, the home where we will raise a family and celebrate 40 Christmases. Now that this new home may become a reality, the Parade of Homes serves a bigger purpose  than window shopping...it serves as inspiration. This year, I went with my good friend Jessica, and after a few set backs we found some beautiful and inspiring homes. 

I snapped just a few photos for Race, of a few of my favorite ideas (or pieces of furniture) for reference, these were from my phone so please ignore the quality:

I'm obsessed with the idea of a white kitchen, but Race is definitely on the fence. This one is gorgeous, with the simple shaker doors, and modern hardware. I love the exposed hood, and backsplash. Those lights on the other hands, not my cup of tea.

I thought the layout of this kitchen was pretty cool. There is a little bar area off of the family room with a wine cooler and open shelving, that serves as a wet bar but is connected to the rest of the kitchen, so it isn't that weird awkward wet bar in the middle of your carpeted living room. This kitchen had a large, amazing prep space on the island that I loved as well. 

Another gorgeous white kitchen.

 This house was by far our favorite, and definitely took some chances in the color department that payed off:

Those curtains? Ahh-mazing.

Loving these french pocket doors in the study...this is definitely happening.

Yeah...we're cool...you'll notice my good friend (on your left), Jessica's leggings are tucked into her socks...she obviously wasn't aware we were going to be forced to take off our shoes, when walking through these houses ;)

Love this wine rack...it's like art.

We were obsessed with all of the industrial touches in this home (such as the coffee table above, the kitchen table below, and the rolling buffet, that I'm obsessed with in the second picture down). In fact I'm taking Race back to this one just to show him some of these pieces that I know he'll love. 

Another trend we saw throughout a few of the houses, was nixing the idea of a formal dining room, and having a large space off of the kitchen for a larger kitchen table. This is something we as a couple are split on. I think (or thought) that you need a formal dining room, for holidays and entertaining...the hubby on the other hand thinks we will never use it because we are pretty casual people....After seeing these homes, I think he's probably right, it is such a more comfortable and cozy atmosphere eating near the kitchen and family room, and definitely more us.

Loved the layout for this bar area. Wine cooler, hanging glasses and open storage for bottles:

I thought this little corner setup for a desk area would be great in our loft for the future kiddos:

We were both completely obsessed with the ceiling in this dining area. The dark wood added so much character to this builder grade home, and really differentiated itself from the others. 

We saw a few of these outdoor fireplaces, we're toying with the idea of a sun room in the new house (it seems to be a pretty common thing in Texas), and I think a fireplace in the sun room with a big, comfy chair in front of it would be a phenomenal place to curl up next to with a book.

I thought these inlays in the ceiling were cool and added a little oomph to an otherwise boring hallway...plus look at those built-ins:

The plan we're looking into building, has a butler's pantry, so I snapped this picture for an idea...yes, it's blurry, but the set up I loved, and the X shaped wine rack at the top is one of my favorite ideas I saw this weekend.

 So that's all she wrote...We saw some beautiful homes, with some fantastic features that I can't wait to incorporate into our new home. How about you guys? Anyone else take in the Parade of Homes tour this weekend?