'Tis the season, friends! Today I am sharing my first in-home design install with you. I love interior design and admit that it is truly my weakness. I am way more likely to splurge on home decor than fashion any day. My Mom has been heavy into interior design as far back as I can remember. I typically credit my career with teaching me all the tricks to styling, but it really started with her. Whether it was everyday details or holiday decor, she always put thought into it and watching it give her so much joy ended up giving me joy and maybe that is why I fell so hard for it myself. She always made (and still does!) sure to have touches around for every holiday and that has always stuck with me. It is such an easy way to bring good cheer to your everyday.
Audrey came across my instagram and reached out to me for some design help. She had recently moved to the Indianapolis area (with her now hubby-to-be!) from NYC/NJ because her NFL beau signed with the Colts. I was so excited to have another East Cost transplant in my life here! Audrey had me over and we could of chatted all day. Her and Johnathan are incredibly kind people and have become not just clients, but friends. How lucky am I that such wonderful people keep finding me?!
Audrey has great taste and that was evident by her home. She was looking for me to do some fresh and fun decor for the holidays, as well as, florals for a holiday event she was hosting for some of the other wives. I decided to bring my friend Sheena Birt from A Color Story Studio on board to help with the install. If you aren't familiar with her work then you need to check her out! Installs and handmade props are kind of her thing - just ask her client Anthropologie (that's right - rock star!) or any of the local businesses ( Kindred Boheme, Lilly & Sparrow, Tinker House Events, + more!) she does stunning work for. We had some design meetings and Sheena served as a great sounding board for me while also offering great ideas for color and install. She was onsite to help with the below and I am so grateful she was on board for this project!
Let's start with the front door. Audrey knew she wanted a lush entrance and fresh greens. I put together a pinterest board that Sheena, Audrey, and myself all added to. This helped guide the scope of the project and I was able to pull elements from all different photos to inspire my own. Audrey is also a foodie and I wanted to incorporate that with all of the fun fruit decor options for Christmas so this wreath was the perfect detail for her front door. I added this beautiful brass bell I got from my favorite local store, Shine Design HOME, and found the geometric scarlet and gold ribbon at Lowe's. I wanted to add light as an understated element, not a focal point. I found these rattan string lights at World Market and loved the texture against the soft light. This was only 1 strand! Sheena made the most perfect bows to accent the exterior lights and I made the garland from mixed cedar. I love how it turned out!
I also did two pretty amazing planters for the front door with a mix of fresh cedar, berries and champagne sparkle branches. I forgot to take a "real" photo and have only this crappy photo of one of them. I have had a lot of forgetfulness lately and swear I am going to trademark the term "wedding brain". It feels like it is at it's max capacity and there just is not enough room for much else!
Let's move on to the inside! Audrey has an amazing 9 ft Balsam Hill tree. She already had a mix of cream and mercury glass ornaments and also mentioned loving a pop of scarlet. I love the modern Christmas decor that is all the rage right now, but I agree with Audrey that there is just something about keeping with some traditional elements, like a pop of red, to make the space feel warm and festive. We started with another fresh garland. I did a mix of cedar and fur and then added in pops of eucalyptus for a modern touch and because it dries so well. The gold bead garland was another World Market find and the geometric ornaments were a steal from Homegoods. The birch bundles I found at a local greenhouse. HOW CUTE ARE THEY?!
How amazing are those speckled glass ornaments?? I also found those at Shine Design HOME. The fun paper ones are from West Elm + the mercury glass is from Tuesday Morning. You know how I feel about Tuesday Morning! In whatever I design, I try to include some element special to the client. A grandmother's favorite color, a flower from the client's home state, and something that feels personal to me. I feel like that is how I organically make my work my own. I found this double face velvet from the infamous MOOD fabrics in NYC. I used to wander the aisles at MOOD and buy all kinds of leather, tassels, fabric, etc that I did not know why I needed, but just knew that one day I would. The texture of this felt like drinking the biggest ice cold Gatorade. Is that weird? It just felt so refreshing and full. I absolutely love it. I used the velvet to bring in the scarlet that Audrey wanted and to accent these AMAZING chai bells I found, again, at Shine Design HOME ( see why I am obsessed?? Read my post about them here.) Sunshine, one of the lovely owners of HOME, told me these were authentic chai tea cups used on the streets of other countries. You can find these in a cup version here. Obsessed. The bells were on a thick natural rope and the clapper (clapper: (noun) the small object inside a bell that hits against the bell to make it ring) was made of wood. How special are these??
Audrey already had some of her own holiday stuff decor that I incorporated here. I mixed her pine cone trees and jingle bells in with fresh cedar, an assortment of bottle brush trees from Target and Shine Design HOME, and some fun tree candles from Crate & Barrel.
I made a festive arrangement for their holiday party and added some little brass terrariums with votive candles and twinkle lights for a fun table display. I love that it looks like the cedar is pouring out of the vase. I mixed in some garden roses, peonies, berries and dusty miller for the perfect vibrant, wintery look. Gallery Pastry Shop made a custom Colts cake for the party and it turned out so cute - and delicious!
I had so much fun with this project and loved being able to combine all my favorite parts of design for a custom interior project. It all came together beautifully and I am thrilled that my clients loved it so much!
