Designer of the Week: Kristin Jackson (The Hunted Interior)

Kristin is one of my favorite bloggers. The Hunted Interior has great ideas and beautiful spaces. She is one talented designer!

Part of her home tour

I love that table no matter how many times I see it. Can't get enough.

A room she made over in her home. I love that she is fearless with black paint, has such creativity and knows how to mix pattern like a master.

Kids Room

I am sorry for being so sporadic with my posting. I have so much going on lately and next week it should slow down so I can be more consistent.
When we moved into this rental home two years (and three months) ago, there were great visions in my mind for what I wanted to do and yet no money to do anything. In fact, it was only in the last week that I got around to painting two walls out of the four.
If you have three children sharing a room there is not a great time to do much of anything in there because someone is always sleeping. Excuse much?
Anyway, my mom gave me two hours to myself last week and so while I determined myself to listen to sermons I knew I had a small window to paint so that's just what I did. If you have never pulled up sermons while you paint can I suggest that it's incredibly fun? Therapeutic and helpful spiritually...win win.
While I would have loved to choose a fun color, I simply went with what I had which is Dolphin Fin by Behr at Home Depot. I have this light grey (reads a little blue but hopefully not too much) in my living room & bathroom as well. Love it.

This room is easy to copy if you have a VERY small budget for changing up your kids room. The artwork was free printables from Pinterest in Ikea Ribba frames. The black out curtains (not real cute but oh so practical) were less than 10$ a piece at Target per panel. The beds were from Ikea as well as the polka dot duvets. The sheets you can't tell in this photo but they are plus signs from Target's Room Essential line that I love but not sure if still available. (Got them a year ago)
My mom gave me the dresser and I spray painted the drawers white. Again, would love to do a great color or ombre type look to it, but no time and no money means I went with what I had (white always).
The lamp was probably the biggest splurge at 30$. Not sure if you are familiar with Land of Nod's famous gold one, but I have loved it for years. (A little plug for Land of Nod...if you want serious inspiration get their free catalogue online and when it comes to your home pour over all the incredibly cute out of reach ideas and then try to find one you can do anywhere else for less. That store is my absolute favorite for kids stuff). At 80$ for just the base I knew it would never be mine. Then I see this little beauty at HomeGoods for only 30 total and suddenly it seemed like a deal too good to pass up. That's what I tell Joe anyway. "Honey, you are basically ripping yourself off if you don't get this". In time I may be tempted to spray the base gold but I actually love this pop of color in their room.

I apologize for the very crappy quality of this photo taken by my phone at night. I don't own a good camera so I seriously need to step up my game. However, this gives you a little picture of the space. On the other side of the wall is their rug, toy bin & Sawyers crib. And what I like to call my "mountain wall". On the right wall is Ikea white shelves with their books and a large closet that covers a multitude of clothes, toys & crap.

I have since changed out the rug here because I loved this one so much I wanted it in my kitchen and the striped one was so flat there was no comfortable place to sit and play/ read. I found a great shaggy one at TJ Maxx that I love. Wish it was an 8x10 but maybe one day. The knock off Eames rocker is a favorite of mine that has moved around to each room in my home and settled here for now.

The soft rug brings them closer together. Ha! You think I'm joking.
My favorite combos for kids room are: coral/mint   navy/ mint  black/white with pops of color or anything with pink/ blue. Love the idea of keeping it modern and minimal but also love a good dose of color. Check out my pinterest "Little ones" board for lots of ideas. I like the kids room to kind of "go" with the rest of the home yet I still want it to be fun for them and a place they enjoy spending time in. They are much more interested in their play area / my sunroom which has probably too much color going on. I think that's why I kept their bedroom a little more subdued. To each his own! If you have kids hope it's a room that makes you happy when you walk by instead of cringing from ugliness. There's enough ugly dealing with little ones, lets atleast make their rooms look good, am I right?

Designer of the Week: Emily Henderson

I thought it might be fun to share one time a week of a designer who has great taste, a wonderful design blog, or helpful DIY's. In the past few years I've done more than my share of following truly fantastic design blogs and learning lots from them.
Emily Henderson is extremely well known and popular. I started loving her back when she was on HGTV design star (and won) and have followed her ever since. She now is Target's spokesperson on home décor and does wonderful videos that really make you want to run out the door to shop.
Her own home is inspiring and she's done countless makeovers, projects, and videos to learn from. Here are a few of my favorites:

(This is her living room)




A cute girls room she designed



This is one of her Target videos that she puts a room together using mostly Target items mixed with her vintage pieces

So go ahead and get to her sight. Not only is she a wonderful designer but she is REALLY FUNNY and a great writer. Emily's first book comes out this fall and I'm already excited for it. Learn it all at stylebyemilyhenderson.com

Easy & Affordable Ways to Freshen up Home

Let's say you are the total opposite of me and hate to shop. You don't want to spend hours in a store perusing. If you could just have someone tell you what's trending right now, what's going to look good in your home and is accessible to get...would that make you happy? Well, it's your lucky day. I'm going to share with you 5 things you can add to your home to make it look stylish, attractive and affordable as well.

If you go on Pinterest there is no end to homes that are featured with a sheepskin throw. There's a good reason for that. They are so soft, comfortable, add texture, and look great with every style home there is. Whether it's on your sofa, over a chair, on your floor next to your bed...you really can't go wrong. HomeGoods and TJ Maxx always carry a few and of course Ikea has faux and real ones that are all between $15-30 usually. Go ahead, you'll thank me later.

This little Ikea beauty can be yours for only $30. They also sell them as a floor lamp. I also see this light featured regularly in beautiful homes. It's neutral, has a cute little black and white cord, touches of brass and just looks good no matter where you put it. I love the look of a task lamp, but this one takes the cake for me. Lighting makes a huge difference in your home. If you have a dated light fixture it will date your home! Don't be a victim to ugly lighting!  You can go to most thrift stores and find a decent shape lalmp and spray paint it but by the time you go to the trouble you might as well just take a trip to Ikea and get a new one. You can't beat it.

I love this photo. It was featured in Domino Magazine (Ann Ziegler) last year and I still flip to it for inspiration. My object here that I would buy is a basket. They have a huge variety at HomeGoods but there's just so much good going on in this photo. I love the Lucite console table. Anything that doesn't take up a big foot print in the home is a good idea. Can't. Get. Enough. Lucite. Also a huge fan of the antlers, pile of books & the brass candelabra. You really can't go wrong copying anything from this home. Check out domino.com for plenty of inspiration.

(Photo via Pinterest)

There's no quicker way to bring life to a space than adding something green and living. I love the idea of a plant but I'm not good at all about keeping them alive which is why I love the snake plant. Right now I have two and hardly remember to water them yet they are thriving. Put them in a cute white planter or a basket and call it a day. They add texture, color, and look great anywhere. I don't spend more than 10$ on a plant so if they die I don't feel too guilty. This is an easy fix for a room! (Also, in this photo note the sheepskin throw in the cute chair!)

Nate Berkus is one of my design hero's. I love him and just about everything he does. He makes going to Target fun because I always see something from his line that just makes me happy. At my local Target I have not had much success with his stuff so I drive a little ways to have better selection. This was his last line that he did and embarrassingly I have a good number of things pictured here because they went on a great sale and I just couldn't resist. It doesn't get much easier than going to Target and finding something of his, whether it's a pillow, picture frame, throw, basket or lighting. YOU CAN'T GO WRONG WITH NATE. Whatever you get from his line will feel timeless. Every season brings something new to love and look at. For easy access you could go online, but I prefer seeing it in stores.

Hope this post encourages you to make some simple changes, even if you just pick one and go from there. You can't flip through a design magazine or a beautiful space featured online without spotting one of these items I've mentioned. Now get shopping!

Dreamy Space

I came across this home tour on www.domainehome.com and it's from a designer named Shelby Girard. I am obsessed with what she did here. That table is one I have wanted for years (you can get one like it at Ikea for 200$). It's a bit on the small side so I always thought it would work best with a bench to optimize seating.

What she did to create the bench was pure genius. The benches are made up of Ikea coffee tables with the padding from Pier 1. It looks totally custom and perfect for that space. The wicker chair is also a long time crush of mine (Serena and Lily...way out of my budget) but just last night I saw ones similar at Marshall's for 80$) The clear vase on the table center is from H&M home for 15$ I believe. The lamp in the back is from West Elm but you can get a similar one from Target for much less and spray paint the base gold (if you follow me on Instagram you've seen it many times in my living room). The picture is not what I would choose personally, but there are so many great options out there. Right now I'm loving beach prints blown up and stuck in a frame. They are calming, pretty to look at and easy to capture yourself if you live in Florida. There's always a way to get a great look without spending lots of money. Be creative, follow creative people, and see what you end up with!

Making an Entry

This is my non existent entry way (Ignore the hideous floors, it's a rental and impossible to look clean). Sometimes you have to create one! When you enter our home you can see almost every inch of the house at once. We're talking small here, folks. However, there are options to creating the illusion of "rooms". If I had the resources I would choose a smaller table with less of a footprint, but this desk was free from a friend and a much needed storage piece in our home so for now it works. If were not white I would have painted it white, I will forever love white (check back with me in ten minutes...just kidding, but seriously)

The beauty of this little area is how cheap it was. The mirror and lamp are from Ikea and very affordable. The chair was a thrift store score for 3$ while I used a sheepskin throw from back in the day (also Ikea). A little tip about sheepskin: if it gets gross rub a little baby shampoo on it, stick in the wash with no detergent and it comes out looking new - even after it's been defiled by throw up. Happy little trick I found on Pinterest.

Weavings are not for everybody, but I love them and can't get enough. I've made a few but I can't do any better than Nate Berkus for Target so there he is, looking all great up there adding texture. If you have incredible taste and love weavings too there are many DIY ones on Pinterest or really cute ones on Etsy but it can add up fast. Not a fan of yarn on your wall? I understand, but texture can go a long way in adding interest to a room. You could use a cute tray on a table, books, candle, a bowl stacked on magazines, just something that's pleasant to look at and functional for you too.
The fan is a necessity as a Floridian, even with central air. I lived with an ugly plastic one for a year because that's all we could do, but one day I saw this at Target and knew it had to come home with me.

If you have a blank slate for an entryway, I'd suggest a cute console table with some small type of x bench underneath like this one below: (original source is theglitterguide.com) Target has lots of great options for x benches, desks, lamps...well, pretty much everything. Target is one dangerous place. Be sure to have a mirror somewhere nearby. It just looks good in an entry & quite useful as well. Less is more, personally, so better to keep it light and clean than messy and cluttered. If you are stuck with what you got, spray paint a table the color you love to add new life to it. Find a lamp or even a new lightshade that looks good & even buying a cute picture frame or a mirror from the thrift store and spray painting it a new color can bring life and style to a dull space. Now go make that entryway sing! It's your homes first impression of what's to come, or if you're like me it is half your home.

How Pinteresting

Inspiration can come from anywhere. Pinterest just happens to be filled with loads of beautiful photos & although it can be overwhelming, it's incredibly helpful to have a source to store so much creativity. Even if you have a décor budget that is non existent (like mine), it can give you a vision for what you love and how to slowly attain the look you are going for. Take for instance this photo below:

 

This is done by Amber Interiors, she has a blog and is one of my favorite designers. She has completely turned me into someone who loves that laid back California eclectic style with mid century modern pieces and a love for boho chic! I have changed my style more times than I would like to count (I lost my husband Joe way back at my shabby chic phase), but that's the beauty of design and the reason I came up with the title I did for this design blog. Home really is never done. Even when I find something perfect and make some changes, I get tired really quickly of seeing the same thing & absolutely love switching things up.

If you are someone who hates change, it's still nice to find the look you love and when you get it right, it's done. Here's another example of a beautiful space that makes me want to throw out everything I have and start over:

This is done by Sarah Sherman who has a blog as well (smittenstudioonline.com) and I am obsessed with her home and everything she does for design. If you had shown me this picture a few years ago I would probably have hated it, but now I want to move right in. Even finding one small element you love gives you a vision so when you come across it you'll know it works for you.
Finding similar pieces for less is attainable thanks to Craigslist, Thrift stores, Ebay  or Etsy. It's the search that I enjoy so much.

So if you are living in a space that brings you no joy or worse yet you hate what's on your walls or the rug you walk on each day try to make a small change! It doesn't have to cost a lot, and I firmly believe that home should make you happy, even if it's a temporary rental. This is where you are living and raising a family or enjoying life alone or with your spouse...it should be filled with what you love. Go waste a night browsing & I promise you it won't feel like a waste if it gives you a new perspective on your style, a fresh idea to try, or the guts to throw out what deserves to be tossed. I will leave you one more space to drool over (or hate if you have the opposite taste):

This is from the blog HouseTweaking.com and is one I've been following the longest. Dana (I feel like we are on a first name basis) has the most incredible eye for detail and I love the way she uses texture and color. Check out her home for some eye candy if you haven't already.

I wanted to start this design blog because it's become a part of me and something that I really love. If I can inspire anyone to make their space more fun, inviting, or beautiful it makes me so happy. I've been making some changes in my own home (little by little) so I look forward to sharing and giving some tips that have helped me. In the meantime, look up a design blog (stylebyemilyhenderson.com, I promise you will find something useful here) & look around your home to see how you can make it even better. Because honestly, home really never is done.

Sarah