The best thing I did was paint my small black and white powder room. I would say the most fun space that you can get away with is your powder room. So why not go bold and paint it black partially and add some bamboo wallpaper?
You can go with a bold color or vibrant printed wallpaper and it does not ever clash with your home aesthetic. I had leftover paint from our bedroom accent wall so I decided to paid three of 4 walls in our powder room black! At first my husband was terrified of my idea.
This is the first phase of our powder room update. The space needed some color since the original brick accent wall just faded out.
Here’s tips on not making the room feel closed in with black color paint:
Paint the walls at least half and half – I decided to paint 3/4 of the wall black and then where the white paneling begins will remain white. It makes the room moody but bright at the same time.
Accent Wall – I recently updated the wall behind the vanity and mirror to a bamboo wallpaper. It gave the space such dimension and somehow made the space not feel so small.
Choose brighter cabinets and counter tops – We decided to keep the counter tops and bottom cabinets consistent through out the house. It benefited us tremendously in this small black and white powder room to have lighter fixtures.
Have other elements of black to tie it in – some people might disagree but having a black sink and faucet as well as black toilet tissue holder was perfect and it gave a sleek modern look that I was looking for. It brought so much balance to the space.
Greenery & simple decor – I loved that I went with brown floating shelves and green plants. It gave the room enough texture against the black paint.
So go dramatic with your powder rooms and don’t make them predictable! What is the most dramatic thing you have done to your space?
Our contemporary kitchen pantry is one of my favorite renovation projects so far. It has evolved let me tell you, but it is beautiful and functional for our family.
Backstory: Our home was built in 1976, and the previous owner lived here for 28 years but failed to update anything but the floors. Yes, so you know there is work to be done.
Check out the space originally and then after we took out the wall
Anyways, last year in 2021 we tackled the pantry area of the kitchen. We lacked space and for re-sell purposes that would hurt us tremendously. In the long run, we decided to revamp it with the help of California Closets. We love our contemporary kitchen pantry so much, and it has turned out to be extremely functional for our family. Here are the ends and outs of our pantry:
Small fridge & Pantry = less home value – Originally the space had a small pantry with wired shelving and an old folding door. You couldn’t fit anything in there. If we try to sell right now, we potentially can discourage buyers due to the lack of space in the kitchen.
We originally were just going to replace the fridge, but when it arrived it did not fit! We decided to move it to the other side of the kitchen and expand the pantry.
Expand Expand when you can! – We knocked out the little wall and made one huge space to install the open pantry. It has made such a difference in being able to hold all our food and seeing what we have.
Power cord hidden – That is a must have in a pantry always. My coffee machine to my tea kettle all work!
Add design to your pantry when you can – Simple peel & stick wallpaper was the trick for me. I wanted some excitement on the walls before the unit was installed. It now looks like a stunning contemporary kitchen pantry.
After the wallpaper was installed. Details of wallpaper at the end of this post
Used simple white bins from the container store at different sizes to “contain” everything in the pantry.
Its spring! And I am actually decorating a small area of my home in bunnies and eggs! Target easter decor is the way to go, when you want to stay on a budget but have a fun feel in your home.
This article does contain affiliate links.
My entire set up was under $100! I love the colorful eggs and cute little bunnies that are all under $25 dollars each to purchase. Shop the best decor pieces from Target below. I will admit I do have one thing from amazon from my display too. I will tag that as well.
Happy Easter and enjoy these target easter decor items! What are your plans?
Let me show you how to create a great vinyl records display. If you are a music lover and collect vinyls or even movie posters or art, using the IKEA picture shelves is golden. I recently inherited over 100 vinyls from my grandparents.
Before and After
A couple of weeks ago my mom was at my grandfather’s house and discovered vinyl records in their attic! My grandfather at first was going to toss them. But thank goodness my mom decided to hold onto them and give them to me and my husband to inventory.
I was blow away! I discovered some classic records that potentially are the original recordings. My grandparents had Michael Jackson’s Off the Wall album, it still had the price of $5.99 and stamped with the famous “Tower Records” label! I found Richard Pryor to Marvin Gaye in here as well.
Now that we have these treasures we need to have a vinyl records display. I have never been a fan of stacking records on their side, I find it not flattering. I feel that the album covers need to be exposed head on.
Here is what we did to make our wall of vinyls extremely appealing:
These are the perfect ledges for vinyl records
IKEA picture ledges – these are beautiful & simple and can hold a vinyl without it slipping off the wall.
Keep it white – I decided to purchase white picture ledges in order for our dining room space to remain clean and balanced. We already have wood shelving on the walls and black display cases. In order to not make the room heavy we decided to keep the new ledges white.
Color coordinated – to keep the wall from looking busy I wanted to group similar vinyl covers together by color. This is a great way to keep the feel of the wall clean as well.
45 inch ledges – I wanted to keep simple long lines on the walls so I went with their longest picture ledge they had so there was minimal break between them.
Check out the finished product. I am beyond excited for this display and it will be an awesome conversational piece when we have guests.
Shop some of my dupes for picture ledges below and other vinyls I am loving right now!
Key Vinyls we found:
1965 Smokey Robinson & Temptations
1979 Michael Jackson – Off the Wall
1959 Nat King Cole – Welcome to the Club
1964 Marvin Gaye – How sweet it is to be Loved by you
I love that my home can transition over the seasons easily.
But I wanted to have a little spring refresh family room this year! It was minimal but had a major impact still.
What did I do? Check out what I did:
New Pillows – It just transformed the space beautifully! I wanted bigger pillows that are comfy as well so anyone can fall asleep on our couch if needed. I went with more neutral colors as well so everything is more uniformed especially since I have the blue Teddi accent chair from American Signature Furniture.
Pillows are from Target; scroll to the bottom for details
Neutral throws – We already have neutral reclining chairs and at times they can get dirty so we decided to add throws over them to protect them as well as bring comfort. Its a great way to easily keep things clean and throws are great companions to pillows.
We needed organization…badly! We had this stunning bathroom vanity that we remodeled in 2020 but we couldn’t keep it organized. I finally bought some great bathroom organizer Target hacks that made our life easier in our master.
To shop exact items scroll to the bottom. There are affiliate links in this article.
These simple bins in the drawers did the trick! Shop at the bottom for my favs.
Very excited to share how we organized and that it did not cost a arm and a leg. Check it out below.
Here are the steps we took:
Pulled everything out & threw it away – Between my husband and myself we have a lot of cosmetic items. And going through them was great because there were things we didn’t use anymore or they were empty! So why keep it?
2. Bins, Bins and optimization – I bought all of my bins and organization stuff from Target. It was a great price and good quality that will last. I bought bins and a nice chrome pull out drawer. The bins are perfect to put in drawers to make sure everything stands up.
3. Categorize & Sub-categorize – I made sure we separated our items by “His & Hers” and then by facial cleansers, lotions, moisturizers etc. It is now so easy to locate everything.
4. Make the vanity countertop pretty – I bought 2 amazing marble trays for each of our sink areas. I love being able to house all the key toiletries we use daily together and it still looks clean. Bought both at Target, they are perfect and go well with our black sinks.
I am relieved that this is done! Shop the entire vanity look below! Have you ever put off a project that you dreaded for a bit? Lol
Check out some before and after pictures! And shop the blog post below as well as some other organizing favs of mine!
It’s the beginning of the year and the latest home decor trends 2022 continue to change/evolve! Over the past two years homes have turned into safe havens and sanctuaries. I feel the same way about my home especially since I work remote. Here are the top trends in 2022:
This article has affiliate links.
1. Mood Lighting
Key trend for the latest home trends 2022.
Mood Lighting – This is such a massive trend right now especially with people remaining home a bit more. In order to have peace, joy or any calmness at home, lighting is everything. I love hanging chandeliers to pendents over a countertop. I also appreciate a good lamp with unbelievable design. Just so you know, I prefer white light all day. I hate lighting that has a yellow tint to it. White light is great for cooking and pictures. However I will say, a yellow light sets a more calming mood so I cannot hate it completely. Shop some of my favorites:
2. Outdoor Living Space
I adore our backyard and its great that backyard oasis are still the latest home trends 2022
Live in outdoor space – Due to the pandemic again outdoor spaces are still very important and people are spending more time outside. Now of course a lot of the country is dealing with cold weather, but when spring comes outdoor spaces are the focus. We literally spent over $10k on our backyard from when we first moved in. Check out the renovation post on our backyard. Shop some awesome outdoor pieces. Shop some of my favorites:
3. Master Bedroom Dream
Master bedroom comfort – Since people travel, but not as much, the master bedroom has taken on a spa like fantasy feel. Shop some of my favorites! Key items to a great bedroom: Heavenly bed – This is one of the most important latest home decor trends right now in 2022. We have an amazing bed that gets firmer and softer at the touch of a button. We adore our bed and love the 600 thread count sheets from Macy’s and love the neutral bedding concept we have. Fluffy rug – Having a bold comfy rug that pulls the bedroom together is key. I feel like I spent just as much time on picking out my rugs as I do a paint color or home decor piece.
4. Home Office
Home Offices – Home office is no longer a desk and chair or the kitchen table. Home offices are now more important than a guest room or a play room honestly. Since according to 60 minutes special on workforce in USA its now 1 out of 7 jobs are remote. So offices are key. Feel free to check out my post on how I put my home office together. Here are the best pieces for a refreshed updated home office.
5. Bold Prints & add color
Bold prints & touch of color – I love a print mixed in with a bold color or two. We are about to work on adding accent teal walls in my lounge space. I have great solid color pieces but we needed a massive vibrant feel for the space. We also painted a black accent wall in our master bedroom which just changed everything. Just remember adding a print or bright color can transform a space and in 2022 more people will be on this trend. Shop some awesome prints and colorful artwork below:
Would love to hear your opinions on the best trends at the moment for the home. I am excited to add the the latest home decor trends 2022 in my home or expand what I have done already!
Its time for a little refresh to my luxury coffee table in my lounge space. I adore our fixer upper home and my favorite room in the house is this lounge space, check out my reel to see how far this room has come! I always like to switch up one or two things at a time and still keep the same vibe as much as possible.
So this time around I wanted to refresh our luxury coffee table entirely. At first I physically went shopping for some additional pieces but I did not find a thing! That turned out to be good news! I decided to use what I had in the house and refresh it on my own.
Time to glam up your luxury coffee table people!
Before (top) & Bottom (bottom) I have always love this coffee table made of marble.
Here are the keys to refreshing a luxury coffee table
Create more contrast – Before I used about half of the table to decorate but this time around I decided to use the entire surface of the table to switch it up a bit.
Added new shapes – I was using a round tray but decided to remove it completely and focus on placing more rectangular shaped coffee books instead. The table to me actually looks bigger since we used more space this time for decorating.
Balance – even though both sides of the table are not identical, I still made sure to visually have the same amount of visual weight on each side. Basically making sure both sides are balanced visually.
Styled the coffee books differently – I wanted to showcase some of the beautiful pages within my Alexander McQueen book. So having a book open gives the floor texture/dimension.
Always important use all of your space at times to switch up the look of your luxury coffee table.
Loved how this turned out! Refresh 2022!! Shop some of the exact items as well as some dupes.
Shop the look & see how you can shop with me more often!
I am in the mist of refreshing our master bedroom and I wanted a monochromatic DIY painting in the corner of my bedroom. Check out how I did it!
Affiliate links are used in this article
Instead of trying to buy one and paying at least $300 dollars for it, I decided to paint it myself. I am really liking the textured paint abstract art pieces these days but I also wanted to put my own spin on it as well. Here is how I made it happen:
Michael’s – I found all my art supplies at Michael’s. I love the store, it has everything you need. If you do not have a Michael’s any art store will do.
Textured metallic paint – I love metallic because it gives a great shine to a piece and it makes your art piece look even more interesting.
Putty Knife – easy to use and can control thicker paint to brush back and forth.
Canva 36″ x 48″ – I prefer a thicker Canva since texture paint is thicker.
Have fun – There are no rules on how to create a texture abstract masterpiece!
I had the opportunity to shadow an actual interior designer for a bit since I am very passionate about this career. For people that think interior designers do nothing but pick out tiles and paint colors are very wrong.
At the office of the interior designer I shadowed. Such a great space that shows off her personality as well as professionalism.
Here are some of the key things I learned while shadowing:
You do not need an actual degree or certification in interior design today – Yes I know this is mind blowing but it is true. You could identify yourself as the principal designer or work as a home decorator and still have your hands in the interior part. However, you still need to outsource your work or have a certified interior designer or architect in house to check your work. It is very important to have this so you can work with contractors and have a smooth working environment for yourself and your client.
It takes more psychology and relationship skills than design 60% of the time – As I was shadowing, one of the clients were upset with a contractor and Michele, who I was shadowing, had to calm them down and come up with solutions vs dwelling on the negative. It takes people skills when you are working with clients. They are emotionally attached to the project and they should be, so always remember this. Michele really did a great job to steer the conversation into becoming actionable vs a complaining session. It took a lot of patience.
Moodboards are everything in interior design. A great way to create a theme for a room or entire home/space.
Flat rates don’t work – meaning having a client pay a flat rate for your services will not benefit you in the end. In order for people to respect your time, charging hourly on extra consultations or time is needed. If not, clients will keep adding things they want to add or change and you will never be able to work on another project. That was extremely enlightening for me.
Follow-up is everything – When you do full service interior design you are working with vendors, contractors, clients and much more. This means that the follow-up and communication is key. When you are dealing with construction and contractors at times they are not on top of things (from my own experience with renovation I get it) and you as the interior designer need to follow up at all times. Then the second part is to update your clients at all times, this shows reliability and trust. It goes such a long way.
Neutral furniture can go a long way – If you buy pieces for your client that are neutral you can always update your space with a touch of colorful accessories and smaller pieces. I now live by that. Buying the bigger pieces in more subdue color palettes will make your furniture everlasting as you can use them for years to come. This is a great way to get a client to commit to something that is not over the top.
Respect the vision & budget – If you have a client with a specific vision do your best to bring it to life through mood boards and mobile design. However, if the partnership is not working do not be offended. Let the client move on. Also, respect the budget and ask what the budget is from the beginning. You do not want any surprises at. all.
I have now just a new found respect for interior designers. It’s not easy and everyone cannot do it. What piece of advice really struck you?
