As an interior designer I work with clients in many different ways. I can be in on the planning phase of a new construction or remodeled home, decorate the rooms after the house has been built, design a revamp for a few rooms, develop a longterm plan for fixing up a home to being an advisor while the client handles the implementation of the design. Everyone has different needs and it's my job to be flexible in how we get to the end goal of turning their house into a comfortable beautiful home.

In the Garden Oaks project I worked with the sweetest family to revamp and pull together some rooms in their home. They had some great pieces and a great start, I came in to refine it and get the rooms finished.  

I started in the dining room. They already had the table, chairs, a pedestal that they won at a charity auction and a beautiful platter they picked up during their travels in Turkey. We also kept the builder grade chandelier, for now. Design is about compromise. ;) Here's the room when we started... 

As you can see the chairs are great. I love that they're a color and not a matching set with the table. The existing rug is too small. The art is too old for them. They're a young fun family. The idea was to keep the space traditional but still young and fresh. The first thing we did was paint the walls. I based the wall color on the blue in the hand painted platter they already had. 

See how perfect the dining chairs are with the platter!? I love when design pieces just fall into place, and by fall I mean it seems like it but so much thought is put into every detail. I talked them into painting the ceiling a 50% mix of the wall color. That's my ceiling go to. I get the heeby jeebies when I see dark walls with a white ceiling, like the ceiling isn't part of the room. To be honest people rarely even notice once the ceiling is painted, it feels like the walls are simply reflecting their color onto the ceiling. Another seemingly falling into place design miracle. ;)

I found the most perfect drapery fabric. It had all of the right colors in it with the main design being similar to the design in the platter. There's also a beautiful ribbon embroidery detail in the fabric, subtle but classy. The draperies pull together all of the elements in the room including the creamy background color picking up the trim color. We did not paint any of the trim because it's completely open to the rest of the house and then we're get into repainting everything and they just weren't ready for such a large task. If I got everything I want I'd also put up woven shades under the drapery rod instead of the wood blinds.

We went through quite a few options for the mirror wall. The idea of a mirror instead of art is to keep the focus on the platter and to make this relatively small dining room feel more spacious. We really wanted to do something like this Kelly Wearstler installation and may still but ultimately we both fell in love with this mirror that also reflects a similar pattern to drapery and platter designs. 

I know from the pictures it looks like I stuff their fabulous platter in the corner, but really it's in that specific corner due to it's size and also it's seen from the entrance. These colors are used in different amounts throughout the rest of their house to create a sense of flow.  

If you'd like help creating a home you absolutely love contact me to learn more about Jamie House Design services.