tink makes art

via Keke

I’ve been seeing traditional oil portraits hung in interior spaces all over the web recently in lookbooks, Pinterest boards, and interior blog posts.They’re everywhere! Do you remember this post where I questioned the saleability of my own artwork? Well, apparently portrait art as home decor is coming back as a modern trend. Hooray!

In case you were thinking of hopping on this trend bandwagon, I do work on commission. Wink wink. Contact me!

via FRYD + DESIGN

Matchbook Magazine via decor8

A month ago, I helped Ellie Snow of Mint and Hello Tenfold plan out her studio space at Golden Belt. You can check out my original post to read about the design challenges and view the final selections. Ellie, with the help of her husband Brendan Ward, finished the studio this week, and it. looks. GREAT! They did a superb job actualizing the plan and improvising as needed. Read Ellie’s post about the process and outcome here.

Before:

After:

Photos by Ellie Snow

You can certainly find decorative letters and symbols for your walls at Urban Outfitters and West Elm, but how about supporting some independent artisans on Etsy? When browsing Etsy for a recent project, I ran across Edie’s Lab based in Houston, Texas. This design duo met in design school and are now married and making art! They create letters, symbols, and furniture in all sort of styles using eco-friendly materials including non-toxic paint.

In this office

wearing this jacket

and these glasses

with this hairstyle

The Challenge: Turn a 235 s.f. rented studio apartment into a bedroom, living room, breakfast nook, and office.
The Challenger: Physician Assistant who recently moved to NYC
The Contestants: Stephanie Pons, Interior Designer, and Rachel Freeman, Interior Decorator
The Style:  Shabby chic mixed with global influence
The Needs: A desk and more color
The Biggest Design Challenge: Unmovable cable TV outlet
The Entry:

(Click image for a larger view.)

(Click image for a larger view.)

(Click image for a larger view.)

The Results: “OMG!!!!! I love it. You guys really did a great job. You have real talent and are a good team.”
Take-Home Designer Tip: Resist your instinct to push furniture to the walls leaving the center of the room empty! Rather, use the furniture – a sofa, a desk, or, in this instance, a bookcase and pair of curtains – to divide the space. Moving furniture off the walls will help create a room in a room (rather than one big, boring, rectangular room), making things feel much more complete and, yes, even bigger!

See the complete shopping list after the jump…

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Last week, I helped friend, blogger, and stationary designer, Ellie Snow of Mint and Hello Tenfold, plan out her studio space at Golden Belt. The biggest design dilemmas were 1) providing a floor plan to open up the small space while creating several “areas,” 2) creating a space that functioned as an office, a store, and a meeting place for clients; and 3) assessing the dire need for additional storage.  Knowing heavy patterns and lots of color get old quickly, Ellie wanted to keep the space mostly neutral with slight nods to an existing red cabinet. To keep the budget low – and to add some fun personality! – DIY projects were welcomed.

The above photo was my design inspiration. See what design solutions I came up with and what furnishings I selected after the jump…

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Jillian and I moved into a cute, little bungalow last November, and I am finally getting around to telling you about it! It is the most adorable house you’ve ever seen with a full basement and full attic, large front and backyards, original wood floors, and a sweet retro kitchen. We love it! Jillian and I are both artists, so, of course, our house is full of artwork (both our own and our friends). Our styles fit nicely together creating a mid-century modern meets bohemian style meets rustic farmhouse. Maybe? Ha.

See more photos of the living room, breakfast area, and kitchen after the jump. I’ll save my bedroom for a future post…

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