Attic Inspiration

We all have that space in our home that we wonder what to do with.  For some it’s a guest bedroom, for some it’s a basement and for some it’s an attic.  Well, get out your pen and paper because you definitely need to take some notes on this space. 

[photo credit – Christina Wedge]

[photo credit – Christina Wedge]

Believe it or not this stunning attic space used to look like this…

[photo credit – Christina Wedge]

The plain white attic was in a charming 1940’s home on the East side of Atlanta.  The owner of the home, interiors photographer Christina Wedge, was looking to spruce up the empty space.  Designer and stylist Alexandra Hernandez stepped in, worked her magic and completely transformed the space into a luxurious retreat with high style on a small budget.  It worked out great for Alexandra in the end because she was actually able to rent the attic space.

[photo credits – Christina Wedge]

Alexandra is currently working with me on the new show for HGTV [details to come soon!] and she’s incredibly talented.  I was blown away when I saw the pictures of her attic abode in an article that Brian Patrick Flynn wrote for HGTVremodels.com.  I knew you all would be blown away too so I just had to share!

To add some interest to the plain Jane window wall Alex came up with a pretty clever and inexpensive solution.  She covered the entire wall with inexpensive burlap wrapped and secured around small pieces of foam.  She also covered her headboard with the same burlap. 

[photo credit – Christina Wedge]

[photo credit – Christina Wedge]

A great way to save pennies while decorating a space is buying flea market finds and freshening them up.  For the one of a kind storage below Alex purchased a $10 thrift store chest.  She gave it a fresh coat of paint and purchased decorative pulls from Anthropologie. 

[photo credit – Christina Wedge]

I love how she layered old frames on top of the mirror.  The rustic wood gives the space such a comfortable feeling.  Laying the mirror and frames on the floor is a subtle reminder that the space is still an attic.

[photo credit – Christina Wedge]

Since there is very little storage space in the room Alex’s Expidit shelf unit from IKEA doubles as extra clothes storage.

[photo credit – Christina Wedge]

[photo credit – Christina Wedge]

If you have been stumped on what to do with your extra undecorated space hopefully this space gave you a little inspiration. 

LiveJournal Tags: HGTVremodels.com,Brian Patrick Flynn,Attic,IKEA,Burlap

A Winner + Lovely Bedding

How was everyone’s Thanksgiving?  I hope it was filled with love.  I know mine was.  It was wonderful to gather with my family and spend precious time with my little one…who is getting very big way too quickly.  He turned 6 months old today. My how time has flown.  He’s going to be a year old before I can blink!

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A Winner

Thanks to all of you who entered my Shabby Apple dress giveaway last week.  The winner of the dress is Andrea Mickelson.  Andrea please send me an email as soon as you can.  Thanks!

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And on a totally random note I’m digging this mismatched bedding from Furbish.  Love this store.  I Wish I lived a little closer to Raleigh so I could visit.  Maybe I’ll have to take a trip one of these days.  I’ll have to add it to my never ending list of things to do.

LiveJournal Tags: furbish,giveaway,chase

Giveaway – Shabby Apple

I’m so excited to bring you my newest giveaway from Shabby Apple.  If you aren’t familiar with Shabby Apple please head over to their website and look around.  They have some of the most beautiful women's dresses and killer accessories. Many of their dresses have the look of vintage dresses and are just precious.  I wish I had known about their maternity dresses when I was pregnant.  They have some adorable ones. 

Here’s a small sampling of some of my favorites at shabby apple right now.

They even carry adorable little girl’s dresses.

Lucky for you Shabby Apple is giving away this Da Vinci dress to one of my readers.  It could be you! 

To enter to win this Shabby Apple dress "like" Shabby Apple on Facebook and then leave me a comment saying you did so.  To get an extra entry tweet about the giveaway on Twitter and then come back and leave an additional comment saying you did.

I’ll be accepting entries for the giveaway until Friday night, November 25th, at midnight and I’ll announce the winner of the giveaway on Monday, November 28th.

Shabby Apple is also giving all of my readers 10% off of their apparel and accessories.  All you need to do is enter CHARMHOMEDESIGN10OFF at checkout.  The coupon code is good for 30 days from the date of this post so get shopping!

**To enter this giveaway you must have a US shipping address.  There will be no exchanges for the winning dress.

Good Luck Ladies!!

LiveJournal Tags: giveaway,shabby apple,womens dresses

A Winner and the Reveal

The winner of the lovely pillows from The Taylor Galen Workroom is EKL Designs.  I don’t have your email address though so please send me an email at charmhomedesign[at]gmail[dot]com.

There was also another winner…US!  We won the viewer’s choice for the best window display from Window’s on Design.  Here’s a look at our window design.  We can finally reveal it on the blog.  A few of you may have seen it last week when I briefly revealed it then took it down.  Whoopsy…I didn’t realize I wasn’t supposed to reveal it until after it was down. 

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-Only a few more weeks until I start shooting the regular season of my new show on HGTV.  I’ve been crazy busy with the team designing, planning and purchasing for this season…hence, the lack of posting lately.  I can’t wait to tell you all more details about it!! 

xo, Cristi

LiveJournal Tags: giveaway,windows on design,hgtv

Windows on Design + A Giveaway

For the last few months I’ve been working with Taylor Galen to create a window display for Regalo Antiques.  Design Collective Atlanta is sponsoring an event called Windows On Design which pairs showrooms and Designers together to create a one-of-a-kind window display.  Taylor Galen from the Taylor Galen Workroom and I were paired with Regalo for the event.  This year’s theme is “Celebrating Atlanta” and we had such a fun time collaborating and coming up with a theme.  There are six other windows being created by various designers and showrooms and each has a different theme centered around our wonderful city. 

Here is a little sneak peek of our design at Regalo.  I’ll share the rest of the design later this week after it has been revealed in the showroom…

 

Windows on Design opens on November 1, 2001 and runs through November 16, 2011.  It is self-guided and can be spread over the two weeks or easily done in a day.  There is a passport to guide you through each display.  You can pick up your “passport” at any location  I encourage you to get the passport stamped at each location because a drawing will be held and one lucky person will win an Atlanta Staycation.  Your stamped passport will be your ticket to win.  For more info about Windows on Design please Click Here.

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GIVEAWAY!!

Taylor and I thought it would be fun to do a giveaway with a little piece of our display.  We are giving away two 18x18 pillow covers that we are using in the display. 

 

These pink and citrine trellis pillow covers were custom made by the Taylor Galen Workroom and would be beautiful in a guest room or a little girl’s room. 

You have until midnight on Wednesday,November 16th to enter the giveaway.  We will draw the winner on Friday, November 18th.  

There are a few ways to enter the giveaway.  If you do all 4 you will have 4 times the chance of winning…

1.  Leave a comment on this post. 

2.  Visit Taylor’s Blog and leave a comment on her blog. 

3.  Visit our display at Regalo Antiques and leave your name and email address at the showroom with the manager.

4.  Tweet about our giveaway.

Good luck!

LiveJournal Tags: design collective atlanta,taylor galen workroom,regalo antiques,window on design

10 Things I believe

Today I’m over at Capella’s blog sharing 10 things I believe in on her new Monday series, “10 Things I Believe.” Click Here to see the post.

Thanks for having me Capella!

LiveJournal Tags: guest post,Capella kincheloe,A Curated Lifestyle

The Do’s & Do’s of Gallery Walls

Nope, you didn’t read that wrong. I did mean to say “do’s and do’s”. After I posted my blog post on Monday about gallery walls I got so many emails with questions about them. Most were asking if there are any rules to creating a gallery wall. I’m here to gladly say that there really are no rules to gallery walls. The only “don’t” that I can think of is “don’t” be afraid to experiment and think outside the box.

Gallery walls tend to be very scary to the general public because there are no true guidelines to them. I’m hoping that for those of you who are intimidated by them, this post will help you out a little.

Do #1: Mix and Match Frame Styles

Don’t feel confined to using one style of frame. You can pretty much use any style and size you want. This is the perfect time to mix traditional with modern, square with round and framed with unframed. 

[image via Decorator Dozen]

Do #2: Feel Free to Use the Same Frame Color

To give your gallery wall a more crisp look you can use the same color frames. When using the same color you can do two different arrangements…1.) All the same shape in a more structured pattern, or 2.) Different shapes in a more loose and scattered pattern. 

[image via Elements of Style]

[image – yhl]

Do #3: The More the Merrier

When doing a gallery wall make sure you go all out. Don’t just stop at 3 pieces. Go big! Feel free to fill up an entire wall. It will make for a truly interesting conversation piece in your home. Don’t feel like you have to achieve this overnight though. You can start small, and then add on as you collect new pieces.

[image via Elements of Style]

[image via I Suwannee]

[image via Kentucky Mama]

Do #4: Mix and Match Art Styles

Combine abstract art and still lifes, portraits and line drawings, watercolors and Crayola masterpieces(…from the kiddos). They will all become one big happy family once they are hung together.

[i^mage]

[image – kate spade]

[image via Rusty Hinges]

Do #5: Have Fun! 

Gallery walls are the perfect way to tell a story about your life as well as let your personal style shine through. So, have fun with it. If the spacing between each piece isn’t exactly the same don’t sweat it. Add some quirky pieces in just for the fun of it.

[image – kate spade]

Designer Tips…

Here’s a great tip for creating your gallery wall. Arrange all of your artwork out on the floor prior to hanging. By arranging your artwork on the floor you can see how it all works together, and you can move pieces around to create that perfect arrangement.  It’s much easier than hanging the art on the wall and having to patch a lot of holes when you need to change the arrangement. 

Another tip that I got from John and Sherry is hanging newspaper on the wall in the shape of the artwork first to make sure you hang the arrangement in the correct location.  I used this technique when I hung the gallery wall in my son’s room and it worked wonderfully.

Happy Hanging!

LiveJournal Tags: gallery wall,kate spade,elements of style blog,art

4 Months

It’s hard to believe that today my favorite little man is 4 months old.  My how time flies and my heart grows.  Every day I fall deeper in love… 

**Photos by Angela Wilson Photography.