Confessions of an Interior Designer

Julie Ann's first Halloween Weekend

2011-11-01T20:57:00.022-05:00

These days my schedule revolves around my number 1 priority, sweet Julie Ann. Its a nice change of pace from back to back client meetings, last minute "pull a trick out of your hat" request from the boss, long weeks of running as hard as I can go, and constantly feeling like sweet moments with my baby girl are pushed to the back burner.

Now that I'm at home I get 3 mornings a week, a few hours by myself to take care of business. I started this Halloween weekend with the glam job of mopping floors….then a quick visit to a new place that has "struck my interest" the last few times we have driven to the zoo (coliseum blvd. off atlanta hwy).

Friday visit to "Attic Treasures" across from Eastbrook Fleamarket

There wasn't much to look at unless you are willing to dig (didn't have time) but I did run run into this old man! I have been looking for one of these for years, to go in my kitchen.

I love an old wooden, painter's ladder! The gray patina of the wood is perfect!

Saturday we went to the Farmer's Market: Since my sweet husband works most Saturday's, little Jules and I find ourselves trucking around town scouting out the goods just the two of us…here we are on a hunt for pumpkins, boiled peanuts and a pastry of some sort.

Stopping to touch the mums :)

The annual Montgomery Greek Food Festival at the local Greek Orthodox Church and since Mtown doesn't have greek fare like Birmingham we didn't miss the

chance to take a taste!

(Disclaimer to why food is on my plate at home: Julie Ann had an "it's the end of the world moment" over the loud greek music so we ended up leaving John's parents hangin' with mid fork o' food and mommy ate her food "late night" in usual fashion)

*The food is Greek Lasagna, spicy green beans, & a cheesy Baklava thing*

Sunday we drove the beautiful drive to Dream Fields Farm in Union Springs, so much fun!!

JA remembered feeding the animals at the fair a few weeks before, so she signed "more" to the farm hand to give her the corn and stuck her little out. I am so amazed at her.

Monday was Halloween: Trick or Treating as a Lady Bug

Happy Halloween, Julie Ann! You didn't miss a piece of candy crazy lady (signing "more" for a Hersey's chocolate bar)!

One King's Lane

2011-07-14T20:58:00.016-05:00

We are getting settled into the new house, here are a few before/during pics of the remodeling :)
Sooo have you ever moved into a new house and nothing works the way it did in the old house? And now it feels like everything needs to be recovered and re-purposed...well in my book it does, yippie, I get to re-design!! With our little fams busy schedule I have found my self wishing there was a "Shop it to me" for home interiors! I recently ran across this site: One Kings Lane Have you guys heard about this website!?!? It is an online "sample" sales from actual interior designers and designer lines such as Archipelago, Smith & Co., Karma Living. It's available to anyone, you don't have to be a designer, the website updates new sales daily AND will send you an email telling you when the new sample sale begins! And it's free, even better!

Now we just need a website that you type in your design style and it will automatically send you any ticking striped Ballard, and Dash and Albert rug that are on sale this weekend!

When a newly moved in house is a mixed CHAOS like ours (see before den pictures to left) of remodeling, boxes and mismatched furniture you wished you'd tossed before you moved. I crave the need to make one small frequently used space (like a bathroom) feel clean and finished, it gives me a great sense of accomplishment, especially if I don't have alot of time or resources to do a larger area...so I'm working on Julie Ann's bathroom (the hall bathroom).
I found the perfect bright yellow Lily Pultizer bathroom rug on Garnet Hill for $38!
It seemed to be my design fix for the day but I missed it by 20 mins!! It was available when I got on the website and when I went to check out a message read "removed" from your cart! No fair!
I hope to finish my bathroom spruce this weekend, but I gotta have a yellow rug! I'd love to know if anyone has seen one similar recently?

My favorite part about our new hardwoods (thank you Katherine Tranthom at Gardner Carpet!!) is the painted shoe mold instead of stained...I'll send you a close up. I love how a small detail makes all the difference AND that I got to tell the contractor "I told you so" ;)

"Marked Time"

2011-06-07T22:18:00.007-05:00

Our little family had been so busy the last few weeks & months that I am feeling the details of our life slipping away at a rapid speed and it is kinda of scary…it has made me think twice about blogging. But when I think about blogging I get overwhelmed with the pressure of the idea that it would need to be this perfect design blog because of what I do for my day job and so many of my friends have amazing blogs!

I have decided to get over my fear of perfection and just blog for goodness sakes! Because after all this is the best form of scrap-booking and I'm just NOT going to scrapbook, but most importantly I want to "Mark" our time as a family and so our sweet friends and family know what were up to during the crazy times….and if I have great design to post even better!!

Julie Ann and I with Aunt Jennifer and little cousin Amelia at the Botanical Gardens in Birmingham.Our sweet family at the Botanical Gardens visiting the swing dedicated in John's Grandmother's honor "Drew Lucille Graham Ingram".

Our Sweet Julie Ann!!

2010-04-26T18:57:00.000-05:00

Since finding out we were pregnant last September and welcoming our sweet baby girl into the world a few weeks ago (Thursday, April 8th 2010) our lives were crazier than ever....

Our number one priority of getting ready for the baby
Renovating our house to welcome Julie Ann into a home and not a construction zone!
I started studying for, took and passed the NCIDQ
My crazy, endless, nagging job at GMC
John's crazy 12 hour a day job, not to mention being thrown into a full time management position 3 months before JA was born.....

which is why I sadly feel off the blogging and facebook "face of the planet" for the last 8 months!

Hopefully during my 10 weeks of maternity leave I can attempt to caught up on all the memories and post several blogs that I wished I had posted while we were going through such a great time in our lives of making and growing a beautiful child!

Inspiring Find of the Week!

2009-12-02T20:38:00.000-06:00

I wanted to share my find of the week....the newest and probably one of the best new shelter magazines since Cottage Living (Awe, I still have a sigh of sadness when I see an old one lying around the house)

LONNY MAGAZINE! Take a peek, they have a great website.

I first read about the new magazine in Vanity Fair while waiting at the baby doctor, here are a few fun facts:

-The magazine was started with something like $7000!

-The Editor and contributors all work during the day and print this mag at night! (WOW...great quality for moonlighters)

-The Editor is an ex-domino assistant and she's only 26, kuddos Michelle Adams!

This is a fun mix of all the magazines we have seen close up shop this year....Domino, Cottage Living, and Country Living. I so respect this young Editor for having the guts to follow her dreams and for showcasing all the young designers, and artist out there who never get published in the big shelter magazines due only to the fact they aren't old and over traditional!

There is a great showcase on Eddie Ross, the decorator I was telling you guys about last week, he has a great blog and etsy shop.

When I read this I could still hear my late Aunt Shirley telling me the importance of writing a good Thank You Note, she would be oh so disappointed to know I'm not alway's on top of them as I should be! Take heart dear friends I'm making a New Year's Resolution to embrace Thank You's again!

Love the punch of orange, wish I had it in every room of our house!

Hope you enjoy as much as I did!

The sunporch on Woodward

2009-08-11T21:11:00.000-05:00

The beginnings of my latest project at the Woodward Cottage: transforming our sunporch into my studio space because I'm really tired of this......

And this........

I am normally an abnormally clean, tidy person but since I have started working a few residential clients in the afternoon's, which I really love, our house looks like a fabric store and magazines exploded in our dining and breakfast rooms. I can't believe John hasn't told me I can't say anything about his crumpled receipts laying EVERYWHERE. =) Let's see if I can get his one done by the end of the weekend!

Friends....

2009-08-10T21:53:00.000-05:00

A person with whom one is allied in a struggle or cause; a comrade

It doesn't feel right to move on without writing about is weekend....John and I wouldn't be the people we are without our wonderful friends, our Monday night bible study. Words can't describe what God has put together in our group of friends! Most of the couples (us most definitely included) are made of boys who needed to move to Montgomery for jobs and girls who kicked and screamed all the way here =) But you couldn't pry us away from each other now or Montgomery no matter what or who comes a calling! In the last two years (which feels like 10 years) we have helped each other through deaths of family members, new marriages, first pregnancies, first borns, finding the right church, buying our "forever" houses, but this weekend we walked through the biggest hardship we have experience so far, the lose of Ashley and Barrett's twins girls, Reed and McAdory. We love you, and are constantly thinking of and praying for you!

The McIntyre House: Before

Jeff and Rebecca, are part of this great group of friends, and are two of the most giving people. They truly deserve the blessing of their new house....a 1960 Mod house in a great neighborhood here in Montgomery. After stumbling on this perfect house on lazy Saturday afternoon, they have patently waited for several months to sell their adorable but small cottage so they could start growing as a young family in a bigger home. Now the time has come to move and start remodeling, and Rebecca has been so excited she has made me want to buy a house all over again! I have had the honor and pleasure to help Jeff and Rebecca as they begin the task of transforming this house into their home. It is a perfect, comfortable house for Rebecca's style of mixing modern/traditional! Here is sneak peak at a few of my favorite areas of their new house....

Dining Room: Great Crystal and Brass Chandelier (don't worry Rebecca already kicked the shades =) Anyone want them? Pleated silk?

Den/Fireplace: this room opens to a great patio, can't wait for the saturday football parties!

Kitchen: it is getting paint for now, the real facelift will happen in about 6 months. (opens to den and dining room!)

The painting prep began today, hopefully we will have pictures by the weekend to show the transformation! Thank you Jeff and Rebecca for letting me be a part of this!

The Perfect Post or not....

2009-08-05T20:29:00.000-05:00

My sweet and wonderful friends, whose blog's I adore, have been asking "when are you going to start your blog" well.....it's like a newly painted room, what do you hang or place first? I am having designers block with this newly painted room or blog, whichever! I have been asking myself these questions for weeks: How do you make a "perfect" blog? What to title thy blog? Do I want this to be personal or professional? If you have something to journal or share this should be easy?! But my problem has not really been any of the above, it has been the anxiety about what is the "perfect first post", is there a perfect post? Isn't the point of a blog, to be candid and honest about who you are no matters whose reading? Well...not when your an Interior Designer, it is our inherit nature to be a perfectionist.

Two months ago, a great friend, Ashley, introduced me to blogs, Urban Grace to be exact. It was my first blog addiction. After long, long, hard days at the commercial design firm where I work, I found laughs and and encouragement reading Erica's blog. (I'm kinda embarrassed to say I read her whole blog in a week). Her blog lead me to so many other "perfect" Interior Design blogs soooo the pressure grew.....well here I am in my "unperfection" starting my blog.

Our Heavenly Father is teaching me a life lesson through my work, life isn't "perfect" and our earthly work doesn't matter. What does matter is that I live my life, daily, to build my beautiful newly painted room.....in Heaven.

But while we're here, its a great blessing to have a job as an interior designer! Stay posted for beautiful things to come....