Color Me in Orange!

I decided to do a COLOR SERIES for the blog this week. Putting together different rooms that reflect a single color.

When designing, adding color is exciting and scary. Finding a way to incorporate a bright color in your living room can be overwhelming. After a long days work we crave relaxation, and it is mostly done sitting in our living room. Adding a pop of color allows us to put the days stresses to rest.

This week I wanted to bring you the color ORANGE. I thought I’d share a board I put together showing you how you can add pops of orange in ways of furniture and accessories. These items can be purchased online with the links below.

Would you add ORANGE to your living room?

Bella Casa Mountain Pillows

Jacob End Table

Coffee Table

Table Lamp

Pittsburgh Pennsylvania Skyline

3 Amigos Vases

Retro Orange Ida Loveseat

Staging for Friendsgiving

So it has been a minute. My apologies. I assure you it is worth the time-lapse. Make sure to check out Instagram and Twitter feeds for some of my personal designs! @bundleithome

I thought I’d step away from a custom design project and talk about staging for a holiday event. Staging is used in every situation we come across. It can be staging your home on a daily basis. Look at your office where everything is perfectly placed to start your day. Walking into the grocery store or even a boutique shop where items are placed to draw you in. We are completely surrounded by staging especially when looking to buy or sell a home or an apartment for rent. We have even seen it in stores, for example. Who hasn’t seen an IKEA store? The visual of seeing objects furniture and color all together allows people to understand and frankly place themselves in that environment.

Bundleithome recently hosted a Friends-Giving and the biggest accomplishment was…yes the turkey but making the home feel perfectly staged for my guests and my soul. As a designer, my home represents my passion, the details of where the record player is placed, the staging of the presentation table, what rug to place where. I relocated furniture, chairs and switched out artwork for wreaths and a cute hand-made sign as I welcomed friends and family.  I dimmed the lights, lite candles and had a children’s play-area.

I knew I would have about 18 people and children in my home. Now, my home is not very large but the layout is extremely welcoming for parties because it flows from kitchen to dining to living room. With the kitchen appliances away from the high traffic area it allows for cooking, cleaning and preparing meals so much easier. This allows guests to hang out at the island and not ever feel “in the way”. One of the biggest purchases I love to buy before having guests is having fresh flowers throughout the house. I place them on the kitchen windowsill, on the table, near the bar and in the bathrooms. Basically anywhere I can find a place I will. A few years back I purchased a table from a local design shop, I had eyed it the 1st time I walked in. It was the owner’s worktable and her husband built it. It’s a 30”x 96” wood table (3 planks) supported by plumbing pipes. It has marks; grooves, dried paint, glue and everything else that makes the table tell a story. I decided to push it against the wall and stage everything I could on there for a welcoming, modern, personal thanksgiving design. We pre-heated the food and placed for serving. Aside from this joyous occasion of welcoming people into my home, I had to cook my 1st turkey. After 6 hours of cooking, basting the turkey on the hour. The red popper did its job and the presentation of the golden turkey, stuffed vegetables, and seasoned with fresh rosemary. It looked like design to me. The rule of Friends-Giving was that whomever is invite would need to make a side to go with the turkey. Previously for a week I sent emails and we all confirmed who was going to bring what. Take a look at my day in photos and have a wonderful, safe, thankful Thanksgiving meal.

office zen

I recently decided to redesign my office that replaced the brightly colored walls with a rosy pink palette and a single stripe of blue-gray paint. I still called this my office when I first moved in, but it doubled as a music room. It had chalkboard paint on the walls, my piano, my guitar and black shelfs for accessories I wasn’t ready to get rid of. That went out the window when I decided to purge everything one day and nicely wrote free stuff and placed it all on my street. Hoping my old design furniture would be someone’s treasure.  I wanted to create an area that design-wise was different than any room in my house. As I explore with writing this blog, I will start to showcase more rooms in my home that encompass my love of bright colors, multiple prints and accessories that make you question the story behind them. I didn’t want to limit myself as a designer with just showing you one style because its few and far between that would truly have the colors that I would have in my home. With my new office and my future of bundleithome I wanted this room to be filled with design magazines, interior samples and when I walked in, it felt Zen.

When I finalized the color of the room I decided to drag my wood desk out to the yard and spray paint it white. After some sanding and a few bottles of paint I finally covered it and was on a mission to find a desk chair. I decided on a single armless tall back chair from home goods. I bought a few rugs to add some depth but because I already have carpet in there I decided that it was better without. I wanted to add a sitting chair and a rack of magazines. As I continually flag pages and place sticky notes for a design project or inspiration. The sitting chair I placed in the room was from my living room. I had to take down the door, turn it on its side and pray that it would go through. I think if I decide to move it again, I may need some help. I was able to find a bookcase that could easy showcase my architecture books and catalogs. I don’t typically print a lot but when I do I would always have to bring out the printer, plug it in and find a place to sit. With the bookcase I placed it on top, design wise it doesn’t go, but functionally it’s exactly what I needed. I’ve played around with adding some accessories to my desk. If I’m working in there I always end up placing a coaster with a glass of water. If I had the choice I wouldn’t have any window treatments or blinds. But I am close to my neighbors so privacy is a good thing. I decided to go with a silver-gray sheer so I was able to find a happy medium between privacy and openness. Plus the sheers plays well with the rosy walls and the sitting chair. 

My wall behind my chair is where I decided to add a stripe of a paint running down the wall. I was working on a law firm and in one of their previous offices they had these strips. I just loved it, plus buying a $5.00 sample paint is all you need and a straight edge with painters tape. I wanted to create a wall focused on feminine artwork and empowerment that would cover parts of the painted stripe. I came across the flower print months prior to doing my office over and I knew I wanted it. When it was time to start looking it was still in the store. Sold. I added a few other prints and I keep exploring to find the perfect ones that represent me and my company. Almost 10 years after graduating college my mother so kindly surprised me with my framed diploma. She knew of my redesign and asked for my color concept and I decided to place this above my sitting chair. It nice to walk in and see your college diploma, you forget sometimes how far you’ve come and that there is no stopping now.

check out house beautiful

check out elledecor