Renovation

Wed - June 7, 2006

The Renovation is Complete!

I could not be more excited if I actually moved. My office remodeling and house renovation are complete!!

First of all I have to give MAJOR props to my designer, Amy Lenahan of design-i-interiors. I started this project because I wanted an office space that was separate from my home, a place where I could have clients come over and yet one that did not over take my home. I wanted to be able to "leave" work and have a personal space that was all at once inviting, chic and personalized. Oh and did I mention that I am a pack rat of epic proportions??

Amy is fantastic. She is so good at coming up with a concept and execution plan that uses a combination of readily available furniture and decor (Pottery Barn, Restoration Hardware, etc.) and custom pieces to really give it a personalized feel. She is a veritable wealth of ideas, someone who really listened to me, working tirelessly to incorporate my taste with good design. Besides which Amy is simply one of the most charming and entertaining people I have had the pleasure of working with! How Amy didn't laugh herself to death when she saw my green and pink bathroom is totally beyond me, but in any case, thank you Amy for everything. You are worth your weight in gold!!!

Check her out at design-i-interiors!

Here is Amy (from some head shots I did for her):

As I have learned from watching hours of Trading Spaces, you always lead with the "before" shots in order to have the dramatic "reveal" at the end. So, here for your viewing horror are some before shots.

And NOW....

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the After!!!!

My living room

Love my Burberry chair...

Amy has an eye for little details to finish the place. (Let me be clear -- I would NEVER think of these things. This is yet another reason she is so awesome!)

My office where my assistant Caitlin and I work...

My beautiful chocolate brown and pink bathroom. This is a truly remarkable use of pink tile -- to save the cost of retiling Amy paired chocolate brown (one of my favorite colors) with the pink and added lots of white and chrome accents to make it feminine yet not too "girly".

Again, Amy helped me pick out little custom details to personalize everything...

And used little pink, chrome and white accents to round out the look.

The bedroom just makes me so happy!!

It was really important to me that my bedroom not look like something out of Laura Ashley. But neither did I want and hard masculine feel. I wanted something that was modern, but classic. I love how Amy used colors I already had and paired it with the feminine touches.

And finally my favorite spot in the whole house... My shoe showcase!! ('cause you know I love my shoes!!)

Posted at 05:24 PM Read More

Sun - March 19, 2006

I miss Jonas

This is Jonas and I in California a few weeks ago (photo by my uber-talented friend, Jessica Claire!)...

Jonas is in Whistler, skiing with his dad right now, which is good for him, and I don't wish to start any conspiracy theories, but I think it is pretty convenient that he is skiing THIS week -- the same week that I have 1100 pounds of IKEA furniture being delivered to my office, in need of assembly.

So I have decided that this week, my new boyfriend is Mike, Ikea assembly guy.

Jonas did promise to bring me back a snow bunny, so I will probably forgive him... ;-)

(As a matter of fairness, I should note that Jonas has been heroic all throughout my IKEA acquisition quest -- coming with me all the way out to the IKEA in Schaumburg, lugging hundreds of pounds of boxes of compressed particle board, and even eating at the IKEA cafe. And God bless his city-loving ass, he didn't complain once!) xoxo.

Posted at 02:02 PM Read More

Mon - January 2, 2006

The Renovation -- Before

So I have embarked on a quest redo my home. In addition to the fact that it has never really been decorated with anything that you could call a coherent style, I felt that I needed to get back a portion of my home, since my business has taken over nearly every corner of my home!

So here are the before shots:

My disastrous closet which is practically EMPTY because....