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!!

ANOTHER DAY IN THE LIFE...OF INTERIOR DESIGN

I LOVE MY JOB...MOST OF THE TIME!
SUMMER IS A LITTLE CHALLENGING TRYING TO JUGGLE KIDS AND CAREER FROM MY HOME OFFICE...BUT TODAY WAS A GREAT DAY...GOT LOTS ACCOMPLISHED AND AM VERY PLEASED WITH THE PROGRESS OF MY STUFF!
MY "PREPPY YOUNG CUSTOMER" JUST RECEIVED THIS CUSTOM OTTOMAN FIRST THING THIS MORNING. HAVEN'T SEEN IT IN HER HOUSE YET AND I'M DYING! BUT SHE SEEMS VERY PLEASED SO I AM PSYCHED!
http://lucywilliamsinteriordesign.blogspot.com/search?q=PREPPY+YOUNG+CUSTOMER

THEN I WENT TO CHECK ON ANOTHER CUSTOMER'S KITCHEN REMODEL....CABINETS LOOK AMAZING-YAY! GRANITE COMES NEXT WEEK AND THEN WE ARE INSTALLING THE "2 X 6" TILE IN A HARRINGBONE DESIGN...FINISHED PRODUCT PICS SOON TO COME!

THEN I GOT TO COME HOME TO MY OFFICE IN TRANSITION....ITS STILL HIDEOUS BUT AT LEAST I MOVED EVERYTHING FROM THE OLD TINY CAVE OFFICE WITH MY HANDY MAN, WHO IS A SAINT!...AND NOW IM IN THE BIGGER SPACE-WAY WAY WAY BETTER TO WORK IN...ALTHOUGH MY BUILT INS ARENT YET AND THE AESTHETICS ARENT THERE EITHER.....BUT ITS A START....

NEW PILLOWS I JUST PICKED UP FROM THE WORKROOM FOR MY NEW AUSTRALIAN CUSTOMER-LOVE HER STYLE AND CANT WAIT TO GET THESE IN HER LIVING ROOM!

THANK GOD FOR LEGOS.....WHILE I GET STUFF DONE DOWNSTAIRS, KIDS GETTING THEIR OWN PROJECTS FINISHED. FUTURE ARCHITECTS?? HERE'S H'S DREAM HOUSE.

UGH...............

OH MY.... NEED NEW OFFICE NOW!!!

MY OFFICE IS AND HAS ALWAYS BEEN..... TOTALLY NEGLECTED....
I CAN'T BELIEVE I AM ACTUALLY PUTTING IT ON DISPLAY IN THIS BLOG. IT'S PROOF THAT EVEN INTERIOR DESIGNERS HAVE HORRIBLE ROOMS IN THEIR OWN HOMES.....OR MAYBE IT'S JUST ME..??
I HATE THIS SPACE. IT'S DARK.  HARDLY ANY STORAGE. NO WORK SPACE (UNLESS YOU COUNT THE FLOOR .....WHICH I DO).THE OUTLETS HARDLY WORK AND I MAY BE VERY CLOSE TO ELECTRICUTING MYSELF UNLESS GET HELP NOW!!
I USE AN OFFICE MAX FOLDABLE TABLE WITH A PAINT DROP CLOTH AS THE TABLE COVER-NICE, RIGHT? UGH!
I DO LOVE MY BLACK DESK......AND THAT'S ABOUT IT.

SO HERE'S MY GUEST ROOM-IT'S RIGHT NEXT DOOR TO MY OFFICE. SORRY GUESTS, BUT YALL ARE MOVING TO THE CAVE NEXT DOOR.... I AM SWAPPING SPACES!!

THE PLAN?? CREATING "PRETTY" AND FUNCTION. I REALLY WANT BUILT-INS ON EITHER SIDE OF THIS WINDOW AND A LARGE SURFACE AREA IN BETWEEN.....HERE ARE MY THOUGHTS....

 MY EXISTING BLACK DESK WILL MOVE THAT ONTO THE INTERIOR WALL AND USE IT FOR ALL MY PAPERWORK.....

AND THANKS TO PINTEREST, I HAVE BEAUTIFUL IMAGES OF INSPIRATION!

"AFTER" PICTURES IN A COUPLE OF MONTHS-STAY TUNED!