Downtown Design

I recently completed a consultation for a small office design here in Santa Barbara. The office is located on the upper floor of a converted downtown building that was once a house. The three employees in this small satalite office happen to all be male, thus the goal was to keep a masculine feel while creating a space that is "pretty" and pulled together. Best of all this approachable yet sophisticated design does not come with a huge price tag! 

1. mirror; 2. succulents; 3. tray; 4. sideboard; 5. lamp; 6. unknown; 7. pillows; 8. office chair; 9. paint; 10. sofa

Santa Barbara Sunroom

One of my best friends (and past roommate) and just moved back to Santa Barbara with her new husband and we couldn't be more excited!  She moved into a great corner lot duplex with an awesome yard (hard to come by in this town). Their new place has a wonderful little addition of a sunroom. It is big and bright space that opens up onto the yard, but they were a little stumped about what to do with it. They knew they wanted to make it a multi-purpose  space with room for a dining table, desk and sitting/entertaining area but weren't sure how to make it all work, especially on a budget. They asked me for a little inspiration to get them going and here is what I came up with:

House into Home

My sister and her boyfriend took on the enormous task of purchasing and renovating a house in just 4 months. Being on a tight budget they did most of the work themselves; with their own hands they tore down walls, patched and painted, laid tile and grout, installed windows and cabinets...all while also refurbishing old furniture and purchasing new in order to turn their new house into home. I recommend from the get-go that they start with a plan and lucky for them they had a designer in the family to help them with this task(me!). Living on opposite sides of the Rocky Mountains did not slow us down; via the internet they were able to share their photos and room dimensions with me and I was able to deliver to them floor plans and renderings to help them visualize their end goal. It was a thrill to see my design come to life, and even better that they are equally as thrilled with the end result. There is definitely some more work to do (isn't there always?), but they have to be proud about how much they were able to accomplish in such a short time. Secretly I am super jealous. We are all eager to share with you the befores, the designs and the afters:

More to come!

Palm Springs Pleasures

This summer I went to a bachelorette party in Palm Springs, CA. We had a blast doing all of the 'typical' bachelorette party activities (sitting by the pool, playing silly games, pillow fights, dancing our butts off...just kidding no pillow fights), but one of the added perks of the trip for me was that we got to visit a few of of the local hotels that I have been hearing about since design school and have been dying to visit -  the Ace Hotel & Swim Club and the Parker Palm Springs. I did not have my camera on me but here are some pictures I found online (if you have time to check out the sites, there are also some great articles to go along with the pics!). I am going back to Palm Springs this weekend for a wedding; will sadly not be staying at either of these gems but will hopefully find some time to visit again! 

Ace Hotel:

(photo credit: www.jessicaclaire.com)

(photo credit: www.bonappetit.com)

(photo credit: www.fashiontofood.com)

(photo credit: http://tmagazine.blogs.nytimes.com)

(photo credit: http://tmagazine.blogs.nytimes.com)

The Parker: 

(Photo Credits: http://www.theparkerpalmsprings.com/index.php)

Tasting Room Designs

Santa Barbara has an Urban Wine Trail; it is a group of wineries in what SB locals call "The Funk Zone," an area south of downtown and near the beach.  We got to go wine tasting for a team outing yesterday and I fell in love with one of the new tasting rooms in the area called Drake + Chatter.  You would think I fell in love with the wine, but of course it was the design that tugged at my heart strings.  We ended at Municipal's tasting room which is another one of my favorite tasting rooms (based on the decor of course), it has a vintage school house type of feel.  Here are some pics:


Drake + Chatter:

Municipal: 

Design Stops in Denver

Recently I went to CO to visit the family.  My (twin) sister Kelly has recently moved to a new area and she wanted to take advantage of having me in town to go explore with her.  With just a few hours left before my flight home we headed on over to South Broadway, a street just outside the city of Denver.   You won’t find this place on any tourist maps but it was so much fun!  Sometimes I’m intimidated by these ‘hipster’ type areas but this was place was the perfect amount of hip, vintage and friendly.  

The first shop we visited turned out to be my favorite, it was a cute little self-owned craft shop called "The Fancy Tiger."  The walls of bright graphic fabrics and shelves of colorful yarn immediately put a smile on my face.  

As we perused the displays of home made craft kits and tiny buttons we found ourselves near the back of the store, staring right into the eyes of a hot pink deer.  We found they teach sewing and craft classes back in this area.  If ever I wanted to move to Denver before I only want to get there even faster now;  exactly the kind of place I have been looking for!  

We (sadly) left the store and headed next door to Buffalo Exchange.  You might have seen this chain before?  Although we wished we had hours to sort through the racks of vintage clothing and accessories we were kind of on a mission to hit the home decor stores so we were in and out pretty quick.  

Not gonna lie, I kind of wish I purchased this "Coloradical" hat...next time.  Had to snap a pic of the colored hardwoord floors, do you think they were recycled from a gym floor?  

Next stop Good Will.  They had a whole basement full of furniture.  A midcentury dresser caught our eye, but we passed this time.  Side note: Did you know Target donates their surplus items to GoodWill?  My friend Brooke just told me she saw some Room Essentials drapes there and I saw some stuff too...it’s true (not that I didn't’ believe her)!    

We headed across the street to a few shops.  We stopped in Decade, really cool stuff but kind of pricy.  The kind of treasures you only wish you could find at a flea market or local thrift shop (if you only had the time).  Instead you pay extra since they did all the work of finding it and prettying it up for you.  But they had some really cute stuff, lots of ideas for cute gifts.  Wish I had more time because I have lots of bridal showers coming up.

Heading back towards the car we came across Ironwood.  This place was AWESOME.  I dont even know how to describe it; I suppose it had a quirky rustic vibe.  Kat Von De (yes I watch LA Ink) would have enjoyed it very much.  Everything from butterflies and insect collections, to books, to trinkets, to succulents...so random but so cool all at the same time.  Kelly wanted a shelf,  turns out it wasn’t for sale and it wasn’t even a shelf!  Just an iron base with a piece of wood on top (bottom picture below).  That should be easy enough to replicate?  

I took home this little guy.  Might have started a new tradition of collecting little brass animals wherever I go (obviously had to start with an owl).  You could always  find these on Etsy but it’s so much more fun to have a story behind finding a little treasure.
  

Sadly it was Sunday so stores were closing early, and I suppose we did have a plane to catch.  Finished the day off with a yummy piece of thin crust pizza at The Walnut Room and called it a day.  Can’t wait to go back for more!  Two more reasons to go back: a the Mayan Movie Theater which serves beer and Sweet Action Ice Cream shop with ‘the best’ ice cream, you can smell the waffle cones being made all the way down the street...just follow your nose. 

Happy Anniversary Surf Brew

Surf Brewery is an awesome brewery in Ventura, if you have not been you can check them out here.  They have just celebrated their first year anniversary, so that means it has already been a year since I got the opportunity to help with the design of the tasting room!  My best friend's husband, Chas, is the head brewer there (he's cool like that), and he was nice enough to introduce me to the Surf Brew team as a design consultant.  I love the beach, I love beer, I love design...how could I resist?  After meeting with the guys and getting a tour of the brewery I left with some great ideas for the space.  I wanted to gather some inspiration images so that I could translate the feeling I was going to try to get across.

When thinking about Ventura and the vibe of the town I felt the mood of the tasting room should match...therefore be cool, vintage and inviting.  Kind of like hanging out in your buddies really cool garage.

One of the biggest concerns of the owners was that the space of the tasting room was long and narrow, and it dead-ended into a huge cinder block wall.  I thought this would be the perfect spot for a huge mural of the Ventura pier, as if you were hanging out drinking Mondo's Cream Ale (my favorite) watching the surf from the beach!  This turned into one of the highlights of the entire design.  Originally I thought about a photo mural, but they ended up hiring an extremely talented artist to paint the mural on the wall (Art by Craig Tyler, mural by Erin O'Brien).  She did this by projecting a photo on the wall, tracing and then filling it in.  The end result is definitely the highlight of the entire design.  Some of my other designs that made it into the space were eclectic furniture, reclaimed wood features, concrete bar top, stained concrete floor and paint colors.  Of course they put their own personal spin on it but overall I was thrilled to see my design inspiration come to life.  

THE FINAL RESULT: 

I highly recommend making the trip to check Surf Brew out for yourself and of course get a sampler while you are at it!  If you get thirsty before you get down there you can now get Surf Brew beer at Whole Foods in Santa Barbara!

Before & After

I can't believe it's June, where have the past few months gone?  In case you were wondering I did not abandon my blog...at least not on purpose.  I made the decision to start a new job, take on a new client, move and leave town in the same week and have been playing catch up ever since.

Trav and I are enjoying our new space very much.  We moved on up (literally we moved upstairs)!  It is bigger, brighter and has been a refreshing new start.  I originally assumed it would be easy; it's a somewhat similar floor plan and I figured we'd just use all of our old furniture.  But of course the designer in me was not content and I've been dreaming up new designs and have been on the hunt for the best deals to make our new place feel like home.  My favorite transformation so far is our new dining space so I thought I would share it with all of you! 

Here is the before shot: 

It's not a huge space, but more of a dining room then we had downstairs.  I was inspired by this table that I fell in love with from World Market:

I did not however fall in love with the price tag of $299 (especially when you add the $100 chairs I of course wanted to go with it).  So I decided to take my inspiration, get creative and come up with the same look for less.

In sticking with the color theme I found some teal wood chairs on Overstock.com for $176.99 (only $2.95 for shipping as always!).  Then I found a wooden table on Craigslist for $175.  I made sure to pay attention the the table dimensions since it is a pretty small area.  Made in Mexico it is sturdy, well constructed and totally the touch of rustic I was going for.  Now for a paint color...I already had teal chairs so I wanted to mix it up.  With the Pantone Color of the Year on my mind I headed to Home Depot and picked a redish-orange for the table legs (I asked them if they could reference the Pantone colors but they did not have that information).  I settled on BEHR Preium Plus - Interior Gloss Enamel in "Firey Red."

I didn't do too much prep.  I just laid down a plastic inexpensive drop cloth, Trav took off some of the iron details I wasn't into, and I went to it!  I decided to brush the paint on very lightly...I figured if I wanted to go thicker I could always add another coat; I'm glad I used the paint sparingly because I ended up really liking the shabby effect.

And here is the finished result!

It is not identical to the World Market table I had originally had in mind but I think it's definitely inspired and I love it!

 

For a fun added detail I found some old glass milk jugs at a local antique store.  I coated the interior of the jugs with the same paint I used to paint the table legs.  I left upside down to dry for 30 minutes and voila- a fun and fresh pop of color to polish off the look.  (I have to confess that I am not sure if adding water to the jars will lift the paint, so I put the flowers in ziplock bags with water and secured with a rubber band before I put them in the jar.  Maybe it would not affect it, and there is probably a special paint to prevent this but I just wanted to go with what I had at the time and now I'd rather be safe than sorry.)

I grabbed some furniture and artwork we already had too fill up the rest of the space.  Some accessories I found at local antique stores completed the look!  

Hope you enjoyed my mini apartment tour!  I love getting creative when it comes to space and budget.  Keep your eye out for more posts to come...I promise it will be sooner than 3 months next time!

LIVE WELL!