I am so excited to be part of Schumacher’s “Next Door” Series on Instagram Live with Tori Mellott Wednesday! If you would like to join us, login to Instagram and watch for us to go live on Schumacher’s Instagram (@schumacher1889) at 4PM Eastern/3PM Central. It’s sure to be entertaining!!
Hello Friends!
I am hosting an event with Sub-Zero, Wolf and Cove & Elle Decor! Please join us on February 27th at the Sub-Zero Wolf & Cove Dallas showroom. We will be talking about how I prepare for entertaining and all things appliances.
See the invitation below and don’t forget to RSVP!
I hope to see you there!
XO,
Denise
Happy Holidays my friends!! Today is officially Boxing Day, December 26th and we are enjoying everything that revolves around this time of the year. Last summer, we planned a project in our home called the TEEN LOUNGE in partnership with American Leather, BDI, Truett Carpets and Rugs, Phillip Jeffries and more. The best part about this project, is that this space is perfect for snuggling with the family, noshing on popcorn and watching movies (and a little Netflix too). We started planning the space in April and completed the renovation and installation in July. Our teens love to hang out in here with their friends and it is perfect for sleepovers too.
The reason I am sharing this with you now, is that I am already planning more renovation work for the coming summer months so that we can enjoy them in Fall of 2020!! It is never too early to get started and I thought it would be fun to rewind and take a look back at this family functional space we designed in our home from 2019. Start planning your projects for 2020 and you can look back on how much you accomplished this year too!!
Here is a little look back at what we did::
THE BEFORES::
This space was a collection point for old furniture and a daybed for sleepovers, but all of them had seen better days. It was honestly embarrassing for me to have a space like this in our home, but with it being upstairs, I didn’t go in there nearly as often as I should.
THE AFTERS::
Now we have bold texture on the walls with grasscloth and wood veneered wallpapers from Phillip Jeffries, along with a comfy new sectional. I also took the opportunity to layer on some of my favorite art prints and had the teens choose their fav prints and framed them all to create a space that feels hip and cozy for all members of our family.
We also added a great entertainment console by BDI Furniture below our television. The cord control allows all the wires to be hidden in a column behind the TV and the console in on wheels so it can easily move in and out from the wall. Our teens especially love this when they are hooking up their video games to the TV so they can reach behind the furniture without having to move a heavy piece by themselves.
This room has truly been a favorite place for everyone and we have planned several movie nights here when we have family and friends in town. Scott and I strongly believe in using every room in our home and this was a major goal when planning our renovations for the stage of life we are in with teens.
I hope this inspires you to use all the rooms in your home and work to create spaces that inspire and restore you!!
xo
Denise
NOTE:: This is a sponsored post, which means that I worked in partnership with the brands listed to design this space. They donated items in return for allowing me to design and install it as I saw fit for my lifestyle. I think this is a great way to share with you, my readers, the wonderful products that are available to our clients with the brands we use. It also allows me to share with you authentically how I use these products in my own home. I only write about and share products that I would be willing to use and keep in my own home.
Over the summer I had an opportunity to tackle the renovation of my home office/design studio. I haven’t had a proper space to work from home in many, many years, even though this is the space I used when I launched my interior design firm in 2001. Once we moved the studio out of our home and into a design studio in Dallas, I never really used the room for work. It has been a catch-all for childrens projects, a video gaming room for my son and his friends and basically a dumping ground for old papers, gift-wrapping supplies and the room where the cat box (and the kitty) reside. It is located over our garage and accessed through our gameroom (also known as the TEEN LOUNGE) and had SO much potential. When I decided to partner with BDI Furniture on the “reclaiming” of the space, I wanted function, style and display. They offered it all in spades and I am so proud and excited to share with you this great space!!
I was able to use many of the great pieces of furniture and objects I have collected over the years in this room to truly reflect my design aesthetic. This includes collections, color and original artwork. I am so excited to be able to hang sketches by P. Allen Smith and also street art sketches of my children on a trip to New York many years ago.
Of course, I needed a spot to hang my favorite inspirations and I made sure they were front and center in the space. I love the joy they bring me and you will also find these inspiration boards in our main design studio in Dallas too. I love what they do for the life of a room and I cannot wait to change them out in December for our next round of projects. They help me corral my ideas into a cohesive vision and are so fun to put together.
The glass top desk from BDI is a motorized standing height desk which has been a lifesaver. It helps me maintain my healthy commitments to myself to continue to move when working long hours on project presentations or Skyping with my team and collaborating on new product designs. I also have a great desk chair from BDI as well that keeps me comfortable on long work days and has so many great ergonomic features.
This view is probably my favorite and includes the small area under desk drawers on the built-in credenza. It houses the litter box for Angel the cat and keeps the room tidy and also softens the space acoustically. The artwork is a collection of pieces from vintage fashion ads and also a wonderful tapestry that was a gift from a client. I always have fresh flowers and greenery in my office and these ferns are surprisingly easy to care for and happy with the natural daylight that floods the room. The lamps have been with me over 20 years and I changed the shades years ago. I still love them so they got to stay when we re-imagined the space.
Here is the desk and standing height….as well as a view of the wonderful wall units behind me. These great storage boxes hide and store a multitude of collections, children’s artwork and the shelving units give me a space to display our books which I swear continue to multiply.
And here is the desk and desk chair at the seated height. I love the cord tray and cord control hidden underneath the desk and how I feel inspired every time I walk into my home office. I have a 30-45 minute commute to my Dallas Design Studio and having a home workspace on those days when I don’t need to travel has made me so much more productive and I am actually excited to walk upstairs and get to work.
I hope you love this space and are inspired to create a special space for yourself to work and be productive. I can speak from experience that it is truly life changing to have an office that operates so well and is also so incredibly beautiful to me.
All photography by Nathan Schroder.
To read more about BDI and their home office solutions, click HERE.
*This post is sponsored and the items listed from BDI were a gift as part of this sponsorship.
Join Us For A Book Signing with Ronda Carman
Ann Mashburn and myself will welcome author & designer Ronda Carman for a signing of her new book, Entertaining at Home.
Come shop for your fall attire, meet Ronda, Ann and I and get a signed book, bubbles, and light bites. The book is perfect for gift giving this holiday season!
Thursday, November 21
3-6:30pm
Ann Mashburn Dallas
3319 Knox Street
Dallas, TX 75205
Scott and I were lucky enough to do a photoshoot for the book and it even ended up on the cover! We had a garden party celebrating my sister-in-laws birthday and Scott did the cooking. See below for some photos! All photography by Matthew Mead.
Xo,
Denise
XO,
Denise
Hello Friends!
It is almost time again for High Point Furniture Market. If you are planning on being in High Point for market, you will have to stop by the Bienenstock Furniture Library (@bienenstockfurniturelibrary). Located on 1009 N. Main St. in High Point, North Carolina, the library is the largest furniture specialty library. They house over 5,000 furniture and design books. Not only does the library have books published in 1543, but they also have rare drawings and furniture details. If you are a designer, student, architect, or just interested in design you should really check it out!
I was lucky enough to sit down and do an interview about what I love about the Bienenstock Furniture Library and what it adds to the design community. I will be sharing all the fun details on my social media this week and I can’t wait for you to see what I had to say. Here’s a little taste of the soundbites from my video interview.
“The Library is especially valuable for someone who is designing home products or trying to create unique designs that require historical inspiration. Having the Furniture Library here in High Point, where designers can completely research different periods, designs and styles – that’s unheard of and I don’t know another place like it. What’s great about utilizing the many books here at the Bienenstock Furniture Library, is that we can see a design through an author’s eyes and get their point of view, in a detailed and useful way. I’m even inspired by books’ bindings and the patterns chosen to set the color tone for a book. It’s also about the pages and the content, but the books themselves are often just as beautiful.”
The #furniturelibrary is open daily for wine and cheese during market and rare #designbooks tours from 2 to 4pm, during #HPMKT! Learn more HERE!
Xo,
Denise
As you already know, Scott and I are so thrilled with our new master bathroom! We specifically love our steam shower, thanks to Mr. Steam! Thanks to Mr. Steam we were able to have the the very best steam shower around. We love the iTempoPlus Steam Shower Control and the Linear Steam Head. We also are able to control the steam from our SteamLinx Mobile App. Another great part of the Mr. Steam shower is the Audio Home System. We are able to listen to our favorite music in the shower! I can’t forget the aromatherapy option and how we are able to pipe in eucalyptus and lavender at the touch of a button.
Recently I asked Scott how he feels about the new bath::
DENISE:: Talk about the process of creating our home spa, our bathroom was completely overhauled. How did you manage not to “peek” while the construction was going on? What was it like living in the guest room?
SCOTT: Well, you asked me to trust you and not to look until the entire project was installed. It was our bedroom, bathroom and closet. I knew you had some purpose for asking, so I chose to oblige:). I completely trust your ability to design a beautiful space.
Living in the guest room was a different challenge. You know that wasn’t easy. All of our clothes were on rolling racks in the living room and dining room. It’s not a lot of fun getting dressed in front of huge open windows every morning. That lasted about 90 days. Luckily we survived the chaos of a renovation.
DENISE:: Obviously, I know you extremely well! Talk about which of your favorite bath preferences that I took into account when creating the space.
SCOTT: I had no idea that you were putting a steam shower from Mr. Steam into our shower. You kept telling me you had one really big surprise for me. I was curious, but I didn’t go nosing around. With running my own business, managing the schedules of our family and everything else we have going on, I don’t have a lot of time to be nosy:)
You do know I love a great soak in the tub. You installed a deep Japanese style soaking tub as well, which makes me happy! Because we have traveled together often and enjoyed spas all over the world, you know I am a fan of a perfect bathroom. The steam shower was a huge surprise and I love it.
DENISE:: How does the renovated bath fit into our lifestyle? Are there aspects of it that have improved your quality of life?
SCOTT:: One of my favorite technology features is the ability to open an app on my iphone and turn on the steam shower. I can program the perfect temperature and the length I plan for my steam before I ever leave our bed. I also forgot to mention the Bluetooth sound system that you included in the shower. I love being able to connect to the speakers and play music from my phone while I shower or soak! Starting each day with a steam and your favorite music is perfection:)
DENISE:: According to the Kitchen & Bath article, you were uncharacteristically silent during the reveal. It’s true!! Now that you’ve had a chance to get used to the bathroom, what would you have liked to say at that time?
SCOTT:: I am laughing as I hear your question. If you know me, I am rarely at a loss for words. But I was truly overwhelmed at everything you designed. I completely understand the television reveal process and the emotions that come with it. You completely transformed our bedroom, bathroom and closet. I am not embarrassed to say that I was overcome with grateful emotion.
Now that I have been able to live in our new environment and appreciate all the perfect details that you created, I would love to say thank you so much, darling. I love you, and thank you for taking the time to make our home as perfect as you do so many other client’s homes on a daily basis. I am blessed to be married to such a talented and gifted lady.
I swear I didn’t pay him to say those things!! But being able to share my design talents with those I love makes all of the late nights and trips away from home completely worth it all. Thank you Mr. Steam for transforming our lives with healthy steam and a home spa. WE LOVE IT!!
If you have been following along, you know that we embarked upon a full master suite remodel in April of 2018. When Luxe Magazine published the bath in their 2019 issue we were ecstatic! But there is more that you haven’t seen yet!
When we had the major shower leak, it destroyed our master closet and the wall to wall seagrass carpet we had installed. In addition to remodeling the bath, we needed to take a long, hard look at our closet. IT WAS A COMPLETE WRECK.
I am going to admit my problem here publicly…..I am a horrible closet organizer. While I love creating beautiful interiors for my clients, my closet is often a jumble of handbags, suitcases, shoes and more. It is a complete reflection of the chaotic schedule I keep. My poor husband suffers the most as he really does keep a neat side in his closet. My side however is atrocious.
Enter Staci Ferber from ReOrgit. I seriously could not have tackled this project without her and when we had to move our entire contents of our closet into our living and dining room, it became evident what a horrible problem we had. I needed help!!
Staci helped me tackle this huge project while our bath was being renovated and we met several times during the process to achieve our goals. The first two times we met, we completely emptied the closet into our living room on rolling racks, folding tables and the floor. It was completely embarrassing to see everything I owned in broad daylight. Staci assured me this was run of the mill for most of her clients and helped me sort through what to donate, what to toss and how to think about organizing it all once we were done.
Then we set about making a plan for the space and we installed a proper closet system. Staci helped me get designer items to the proper channels for selling online (I made money….but don’t tell Scott), as well as donating items I no longer wanted.
She also worked with me to design the storage we needed and we used lots of great storage from The Container Store. She picked them all up and showed up at my door ready to organize.
Staci folded, hung and installed every inch of our closet. I seriously could not have done this without her help in addition to everything else I was managing at work and during our remodel. Below are the results of her hard work and the result of my daily JOY when I walk into my closet.
It is time to have her out again this season to help me get it looking in tip-top shape and I can honestly tell you that when your life and your closet are completely organized you feel 50 pounds lighter.
Thank you Staci!!
If you want to learn more about how Staci works or call her for a consultation, just contact her HERE. She does much more than just closets, so make sure you tell her I sent you!!