Little Pieces

First off- I have to mention how AMAZING it was to be able to help out with Room Service Atlanta, whose co-founder is one of my dearest friends Miss Dayka Robinson. This is a wonderful organization that designs new and fresh interiors for Atlanta's homeless shelters and transitional homes. The Nicholas house, in a cute Grant Park neighborhood, was the first of their ventures and I'm so proud to say I was invited to volunteer my time to help! The execution of the entire makeover was flawless (well, as flawless as possible when it comes to design!), and it was a beautiful thing to see designers and volunteers alike come together to really make a difference in the community. Here's a photo of the room, belonging to Dayka, that I worked on. Isn't it beautiful? It really goes to show that a small budget, tiny space, and tight time constraints can't slow great designers down! Inspiring! I encourage you to take a look at the Room Service Atlanta blog, check out the designers that helped, and track down the pictures of their rooms on their blogs. Needless to say, they were all absolutely amazing.

Before

During (untangling, maybe?)

After

So fresh, so clean. Love!

So, back to the title of the blog, "Little Pieces." I am right in the middle of the facelift of my apartment. I have applied a fresh coat of paint in the living room, dining room, and bedroom with the help of my sidekick bestie Liz Ballard. It looks great, as long as you don't look at the line of paint closest to the ceiling. That darn popcorn ceiling (yuck) makes it nearly impossible to make a clean, nice line of paint beside the ceiling. I am scheduling a date to get all the carpet professionally cleaned (sigh of relief!), therefore I cannot move my furniture into my "new" bedroom yet. I will have to move it all into the sunroom the day the carpets are done so they are able to get to all the carpet. There are major budget concerns involved with the redesign, so I am trying to repurpose what I already have with fresh coats of paint. And then there's thrift stores and dumpster diving. Oops. By dumpster diving, I onlyyyyy mean something beside the dumpster, not in it. Promise! I have seriously had some of my best, not to mention free, finds in things that other people think are trash. So wrong! I was coined the "Dumpster Diva" at work, and I totally go with it now.

One of my main problems in this house (not yet a home) is my lack of pictures. I have always loved to take pictures, but I have been so super lazy here and haven't gone to get any printed. That's a goal for me to accomplish next week. My family is at the closest thirty minutes away and at the farthest in Guam, and some friends are as far away as Japan, so why not have pictures of them right here in my little living room??

I have some beautiful frames, wall decor, and accessories that have not been able to really shine due to the aforementioned yucky white walls. With my new grey and chartreuse walls, they will pop! Another obstacle I've run into is my furniture. Some of it, especially my bedroom furniture, would look stunning if they were sprayed another color. I still don't think I'm ready to commit to one color. I considered a deep, navy blue with a lacquer finish- but I'm nowhere near ready to pin that down yet. So for now, brown it is!

I want to utilize floating wall shelves, probably from IKEA or Craigslist, to display accessories and add interest to my walls (definitely in bedroom and dining room.) I'm also on the search for a sideboard/console/dresser for my dining room for extra storage and a surface to put two buffet lamps.

I am a very organized person (some may call it OCD, that's fine with me!)- so my commitment through this process is to become even more organized than I have been previously. The main areas that I have opportunity in are the kitchen, my desk area in the sunroom, and my closet. Wait, let me rant about my closet for a second! I have a double walk in closet (with two doors....eeeeeeek!). I die. Deep breath, long sentence to follow. Room for all my shoes by type, work clothes (neutrals) on one side with fun and colorful clothes on the other side, purses and bags on top shelf, a built-in shelf with room for my accessories and belts, laundry basket space, middle bar between two closets for clothes yet to be organized/to wear the next day. And I still haven't filled all the shelves.

I have no idea when I'll be "done" with the transformation, but for now- I just want to show pieces of my design. I actually don't think I'll ever be done- but I'm nowhere near yet.

"Little Pieces" of my design:

color inspiration in my scarves

before

closet space

newest color

compliments of "Dumpster Diva" (with a little paint and TLC!)

this tray matched my turquoise perfectly, and that frame is serious (note the missing picture from the frame..ha!)

corbel bookend from Restoration Hardware

desk chair (so comfy- and I love the color and lines of the chair)

mid-century teak chairs

A little inspiration from someone special :)

charcoal silk

turquoise+pattern+weave

intricate stitching

kidney chair passed down in my family

DIY?

white+grey

linens

black lacquer

grey layers

details

from Shuffle

stuffs



 Marley added himself into the photos this evening....

Happy Wednesday!