IF I WERE BUILDING A BEACH HOUSE....

i LOVE going to the beach.....grew up doing it and feel so lucky to live 15 miles west of the atlantic! no, it's not necessary....but a beach house some day sure would be nice......or at least i can dream about it! and thanks to pinterest

 http://pinterest.com/langandlucy/

 and phoebe howard

 http://www.phoebehoward.net/home.aspx

i was able to plan my pretend beach house....cant wait to move in (ha!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

BEAUTIFUL HOMES OF NORFOLK, VIRGINIA

NORFOLK, VA IS A GREAT PLACE TO LIVE AND I LOVE DRIVING AROUND AND LOOKING AT ALL THE PRETTY HOUSES!!! I COULDN'T RESIST TAKING SOME PICTURES OF THESE HOMES TODAY-TOO GOOD NOT TO SHARE!
 I'M LUCKY ENOUGH TO PULL UP IN THE DRIVEWAY OF THIS GORGEOUS HOUSE EVERYDAY TO PICK UP 3 ADORABLE KIDS THAT WE CARPOOL WITH. THE HOUSE FACES BEAUTIFUL WATERFRONT VIEWS WITH A KILLER DOCK AND FLOATING DOCK THAT THE HOMEOWNERS SHARE WITH THE NEIGHBORS. I LOVE LOVE LOVE BLACK AND WHITE AWNINGS! THIS IS THE PERFECT HOME FOR THIS FAMILY OF 5 AND THEIR GOLDEN PUP.

NORFOLK HAS SOME OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL LIVE OAK TREES

ONE OF MY FAVS!



AMAZING YARD!!!! THIS PLACE IS STUNNING.

BIG CURB APPEAL!

LOVE LOVE LOVE THIS DRIVEWAY GATE!!

IF THE KENNEDY'S LIVED IN NORFOLK, THIS WOULD BE THEIR COMPOUND!!THE FRONT FACES THE WATER....BUT NOT A SHABBY BACK VIEW!

 

DYING TO SEE WHAT BLACK AND WHITE STRIPED AWNINGS WOULD LOOK LIKE ON THIS AWESOME PLACE-LOVE IT!!

THIS PICTURE DOES NOT DO THIS HOUSE JUSTICE!! BUT THE HOMEOWNER WAS CUTTING HIS GRASS AND I DIDN'T WANT HIM TO SEE ME! IT'S TOTALLY A FATHER OF THE BRIDE HOUSE-I LOVE IT!

WISH I HAD PICTURES OF THIS HOUSE FROM THE WATER-AMAZING!!!

HAVE ALWAYS LOVED THIS HOUSE!

 

 

WEEKEND AT MY COUSIN'S

I KNEW WE WERE IN FOR A TREAT GOING TO MY COUSIN'S HOUSE IN ARLINGTON, VA....THEY RECENTLY ADDED ON A KITCHEN, FAMILY ROOM, MASTER SUITE, AND POOL....COULDN'T WAIT TO HANG OUT WITH THEM AT THEIR AWESOME HOUSE!

MY COUSIN IS ONE OF SIX KIDS.....AND SHE IS A TWIN....AND HAS TWIN BROTHERS JUST OVER A YEAR YOUNGER THAN HER....NOT TO MENTION THE 2 OLDER SIBLINGS!!

HOW MY AUNT AND UNCLE STAYED SANE IS BEYOND ME. BUT I DO KNOW THAT THIS FAMILY LOVES TO LAUGH....THEY ARE THE MOST ENTERTAINING AND MOST HILARIOUS FAMILY AND I ALWAYS FEEL LIKE IVE HAD A GREAT ABS WORKOUT FROM LAUGHING SO HARD AFTER I'M WITH THEM. I LOVE MY COUSINS!!!

AND THEIR HOME? THIS IS A FUN HOME-ITS THE HOUSE THAT ALL THE TEENAGE FRIENDS LIKE TO COME TO AND HANG OUT....BECAUSE MY COUSIN WILL WELCOME ANYONE TO HER HOME AND YOU JUST WANT TO BE THERE!!....IT'S VERY LAID BACK AND CASUAL AND STYLISH AND EYE STIMULATING!! LOTS OF CREATIVE TOUCHES THROUGHOUT THANKS TO MY COUSINS FLAIR.

THE DISTRESSED FLOORS GAVE SUCH A FUN CASUAL EFFECT-LOVE!

 

FRIDGE TO DIE FOR...CAN'T WAIT FOR MINE TO BREAK-GLASS DOORS ARE AWESOME!

WE HAVE A HUGE SWEET TOOTH IN OUR FAMILY......SO WHAT DOES MY
COUSIN DO? SHE CREATED A DRAWER IN HER KITCHEN SO YOU KNOW
WHERE THE CANDY IS....AND IT WAS BEAUTIFUL!! THE KIDS LOVED THIS.

 

THIS NOOK OPENS UP OFF THW KITCHEN AND FAMILY ROOM. IT'S WHERE MY COUSINS LIKE TO HANG OUT WITH FRIENDS, PLAY THEIR GUITARS, OR READ. GREAT COZY SPOT IN THE WINTER WITH THE FIREPLACE. REALLY REMINDS ME OF A BRITISH PUB!! AND THAT GRID LOOKING THING IN THE BACKGROUND? ITS OLD MAILBOXES FROM OLD POSTOFFICE WHERE THEY GREW UP IN MARYLAND. REALLY COOL!

A COLLECTION OF PLAYBILLS FROM THEIR TRIPS TO NYC.....AND AN
ENOURMOUS SKYLIGHT FLOODS THE SPACE WITH LOTS OF LIGHT.

 

MY COUSIN IS AN ARTIST-I NEVER KNEW-LOVED HER STUFF!

 

AND HERE'S THE SOLUTION TO THE CONSTANTLY MISSING HOUSE KEY-LOVE IT!

FURNISHING AND FINE TUNING: NORTHSHORE LIVING ROOM

IT'S RARE THAT I EVER START A ROOM FROM SCRATCH. AND THE SAME IS TRUE FOR MY STYLISH HOMEOWNER'S LIVING ROOM.

THIS CUTE COUPLE WANTED A WARM SPACE THAT WAS COZY ENOUGH TO WATCH TV BUT SOPHISTICATED ENOUGH FOR ENTERTAINING. THIS IS WHERE I CAME IN!

THE SOFA AND PAIR OF CLUB CHAIRS WERE FLOATING ON EITHER SIDE OF THE FIREPLACE. WE DECIDED TO PUSH THE SOFA BACK AGAINST THE WALL ALLOWING MORE SPACE FOR ADDITIONAL SEATING. NOW IT'S TIME TO ADD FURNISHINGS!

 

WE ADDED THE BEAUTIFUL STARK SISAL THAT GOES WITH ANYTHING......THEN WE INSTALLED  CUSTOM OFF WHITE PANELED DRAPERIES.  I USED THE COLORS FROM THE  EXISTING MULTICOLORED CLUB CHAIRS  TO DICTATE THE PALETTE ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE ROOM.

 MY CUSTOMER LOVES PURPLE SO WE ADDED THE CUSTOM VELVET OTTOMAN AND FOUND THE PERFECT COORDINATING PILLOWS FOR THE SOFA. THEN WE RECOVERED THE BLACK PAINTED OCCASIONAL CHAIR IN THIF SUPER FUN SILK WITH LOTS OF MOVEMENT-LOVE!! WE BALANCED OUT THE OTHER SIDE OF THE SOFA WITH A CUSTOM CHAIR IN A NEUTRAL TONE WITH A NICE POP OF TEAL FOR THE THROW PILLOW. AND FINALLY A  PAIR OF OVERSCALE LAMPS FRAME OUT THE SPACE BEAUTIFULLY.

 

 

 
 WOULD YOU BELIEVE THERE IS A TV INSIDE THE MIRROR? YEP, MY STYLISH COUPLE ARE GENIUSES!!

 

BEFORE AND AFTER: FUN CUSTOMER'S LIVING ROOM MAKEOVER

wow, how lucky am i to have found fun customer who is equally excited about design as i am!! well, im actually WAY more obsessed but love that she loves it too...makes work so fun collaborating with each other to figure it all out.
  fun customer has some amazingly beautiful family antiques that she wanted to make fresh and give it new life. so we decided to mix some contemporary and some vibrant colors. sadly the room isn't all the way finished because fun customer decided to "cheat" on her house and have an "affair" with another house (my customer's own words describing it-i love it!). i was actually very excited to hear of the "infidelity"....sad to abandon current project but thrilled to get my hands on the new place. fun customer calls it the "father of the bride" house-and it truely is! cant wait for you to see :))!!
here are the before shots.......

and here are the after!! (minus the oly studio chandelier we are saving for new house!).....(and minus a series of framed intaglios we had origionally planned in place of the mirror.)

 

 

 

 

the "to die for!" chandelier that was just about to be installed....but will be so happy in its future new house!

 

see you at the next house!!