phdesign: tile disaster

We are going to take a bit of a detour from Market Trends today and focus on a project-gone-wrong as promised on instagram. As I've mentioned in previous posts the design center that we used to build our home did not have many of the upgrades we were looking for. The most frustrating: white tile. You can always paint a wall or even replace kitchen countertops (which, as you know, we did) but changing flooring after the fact can be tricky. To maintain mass appeal for eventual sale we wanted to keep our bathrooms and laundry room neutral. We hired a third party to come as we were handed the keys to our home and had them pull up the hideous plastic flooring and replace it with this hexagon white tile from home depot. Since we were embarking on this project in a non-conventional way we decided to save money by purcashing tile in bulk ourselves and simply paying for installation. Sounds like a great idea, right? 

Wrong. This project took over 6 months to complete. Why would a project that seemed so simple take so long you ask? We were two boxes of tile short in the guest bath and could not find a matching box to save our lives. Home Depot was still stocking the tile from our original order (same item # and everything) but when it showed up it was two shades off. We went through at least 5 re-orders, including two that came directly from the original tile manufacturer, and each time it was the wrong color. Infuriating. 

Finally, about a month ago, my husband had the brilliant idea to order this tile and simply replace the black hexagons with white ones. The boxes arrived and the color matched! Just in time for 8 guests to show up at our house, thank god. 

In the six months that we waited to complete the guest bathroom we also had time for a few new additions: shutters for the master, a wall-mounted drying rack in our laundry room and new mirrors in the guest bath.  

The Master Bath

The Laundry Room

The Guest Bath

I am thrilled to call this update complete. If I can impart any wisdom upon DIY flooring projects it is this: order more material than you think you need. In fact, order a few units more than even the salesperson or your tradesman suggests. As long as the company you are working with has a decent return policy it's so much easier to take things back than it is to track down an exact match after the fact. Trust me.

Hope my mistake can help your project run smoothly! 

product profile: black and white sofa

Aaaaaand we're back!

What an incredible week. We covered miles upon miles of showroom floor but it was worth every blister. From traditional to modern to mid-century we saw and sat in it all. It was the perfect boost of inspiration that I was looking for and I'm overflowing with new things to share. Instead of revealing everything at once I am going to highlight my favorite market trends individually throughout my posts this week.

The first and almost unanimous trend at market this years was: black and white. Used mostly in fun, fresh patterns here are a few of my favorite vignettes as well as a very exciting custom project that we are working on.

 Love this trend in a side table! It's the perfect amount of fun for any family room.

A throw is a simple, inexpensive way to try out a trend or color combo. 

Although chevron is still huge, nothing says class to me like a black and white stripe...especially combined with a traditional chair silhouette. Love! 

It's always fascinating to see how other people combine these colors, but to me nothing beats placing a custom order yourself. Aiming for something a little more traditional we were able to put together a classic yet fresh black and cream custom sofa, complete with an exposed wood frame and nickel nailhead trim. Oh, and that awesome throw pillow pattern is actually made with ribbon! I can't wait for this beauty to show up. 

Happy Monday! 

furniture market

For the next week I will be one busy bee. It will be me and 75,000 other furniture + design obsessed professionals taking in 11.5 million square feet of showroom space in 7 days. The High Point Furniture Market comes around twice a year and is the perfect opportunity to see new product, try out upcoming trends and learn from the best. I will be "shopping" exclusively for Copper + Walnut and can't wait to share it all with you upon my return.     

It will be business as usual Monday, April 29th and you won't want to miss it, we'll be bursting with inspiration! 

sending thoughts and prayers to boston

phdesign: twin guest room {update}

The finished product! 

You might remember this post when I asked for help designing our second guest bedroom. After the floral pattern was declared the winner I immediately got to work. I used a few high end inspiration pictures to come up with this design concept but ultimately wanted to keep the total under $500. We already owned the mattresses and were able to negotiate a very reasonable deal for both, so that cost was not included in my design budget. 

Here is the breakdown: 

Paper: $26

Mirror: $20, Garden Ridge (not online, sorry)

Lamp: $40, Garden Ridge

Boards for the Paper: $12 (similar) 

Gold Spray Paint: $6 

Nightstand: This was a piece we already owned and repurposed with these pulls, $5 each

Sheets: $35 per set 

Bedskirt: $25 each 

Blankets: $36 each (in full/queen size)

Monogram Pillowcases: $10 each on clearance (no longer available in celery) 

Grand Design Total: $326 

Even though fully furnishing this room isn't in our budget, it doesn't mean I want our future guests to feel slighted. I want our home to be stylish and inviting so taking a little extra time and energy to complete this project was the perfect solution. Friends have told me that when presented with a blank canvas they often don't know where to begin. Here are a few tips:

• Choose a color scheme or pattern to begin with and build from there (for me, it was the green and orange floral paper). 
• Focus your budget on high impact items like linens and pillows, your guests will remember and appreciate this.
• Don't ever be afraid to repurpose or re-imagine furniture you already own, new is not always better. 
• Find magazine spreads or photos online that inspire you and use them as a guide. 

To quote one of my favorite guilty pleasures {The Real Housewives} "money can't buy you class" and it certainly isn't a requirement for style either.

product profile: wall urchin

{coming soon via Copper + Walnut} 

Original artwork is expensive and there are only so many photographs of your engagement + wedding that we a couple can have in their home without coming across as complete narcissists. Fun typographic or hand drawn prints can be fun for kids rooms or a personal office but, in my opinion, can't hold their own in terms of impact and sophistication in main living spaces. Enter the wall urchin. Although small these unique pieces add visual interest to any room and can blend with all styles:


{modern bedroom}

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{traditional bedroom}

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{bathroom}

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Happy Monday! 

lust list: furniture market fashion

I don't typically blog about clothing unless I see a clear and direct link to design. The Furniture Market in North Carolina is coming up next week and talk about the perfect stage for a fashion-meets-interior-design fusion. Thousands of creative men and women come together to talk about the world of design, showcase their gorgeous products and schmooze. I couldn't be more excited.

You will see everything here, although I plan to walk a fine line between fun/trendy and business lady. Just like my interior philosophy I invest in staples and then bargain hunt for the rest, so here are a few budget friendly trends that I'm lusting after:


Black and White

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Floral 

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via {on sale}

Green

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Geometric 

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*all interior images via