I received an email from Christine last week mentioning she was expecting a baby girl, and hoping for a few suggestions for their guest room turned nursery.  Christine caught me at a weak moment because I’ve been thinking about designing a girl’s nursery lately.  No I’m not expecting, nor do I plan to have any more babies, I think it’s simply the fact that I just sent my baby boy off to Kindergarten and the oldest leaves again for college in September.  I declare it’s that emptier nest that has me thinking about nurseries!

Christine writes:

“We are having our first baby girl and I love the color gray, so I’ve already painted the room in Behr’s ‘Dolphin Fin’.  I really love owls and I’m looking for something pretty and whimsical with modern clean lines, nothing too babyish or cookie cutter.

I have a crib and dresser in white and the Serena & Lily bedding already. As you can see from my inspiration images, I have a modern style, love the feel of the woods, and don’t want any farm animals or butterflies.”

Then she sent me this picture of her blank canvas.  Christine has already removed the bed and the window panels, stained the floors dark, and painted the walls gray.  Amen sister, I’m liking this so far.  

Christine sent along these inspiration images and a few comments about what she loves so much about these spaces.

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Happy Friday all!  Yesterday was the airing of my design plan for Tamika and Jamaal on The Nate Berkus Show.  It’s surreal watching yourself on television, but what an honor to be given the task of designing a space for a wonderful family.  For those of you who missed it, here’s a bit of background.  Tamika and Jamaal are a happily married couple with two young children.  They were not feeling ‘House Proud’ so they submitted their family room dilemma to Nate.  The Nate Show called me and asked if I would put together a new design plan for Tamika and Jamaal to suit their lifestyle and personality.

Tamika and Jamaal were looking to add comfort and style to their bland family room space.  Tamika has been busy pursuing her masters degree so she hasn’t had the time or energy to create the colorful welcoming family room of her dreams.  If you saw the opening segment yesterday, what was clear was their room suffered from two design dilemmas: disproportionate furnishings and lack of color.

Before:

In the questionnaire submitted to the show, Tamika’s revealed her favorite colors were orange and pink, so that became the starting point for adding color to the new space.  As much as Jamaal loved his huge TV, Tamika envisioned a comfortable space that would serve more than just TV viewing.  She wanted a space where her family could gather for not only movie nights, but also a room where she could entertain.

We were in a time crunch because the segment and room design came together mere days before the show was filmed so I had to work with readily available décor, nothing custom or special order this time.  Big props to The Nate Show for their ability to grab these home furnishings in a quick turnaround!

Here’s a clip from the show talking about the new ‘After’ design:

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