One Way I Decorate for Clients

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It’s so interesting to me to see all the different styles, tastes and personalities of decorating that I find from home to home. From traditional, Bohemian, French Country, French Chic, Vintage, Eclectic, Farm House, Contemporary, Mid-Century Modern, Industrial, Nautical, Scandinavian (Farm House gone contemporary gone white-chic industrial!! haha!), to Urban Modern to one of my personal favorites that was a huge trend (like the Farm House is today) back in the early 2000’s – 2010 – and is still popular now, but with more of an added contemporary-ness added to it – and that is Shabby Chic.

When a client hires me to shop for and decorate their home, (or an even greater challenge – but one I love to take on – to decorate only 1 room of their home), then I start my “walk” through the home to begin to feel where they are. Where are they as a family. It shows in all the colors, the furniture pieces, who things are placed about, where I see groupings or (what I like to call)…”pretty pretties” that are placed here and there, on tables, shelves, counters, etc.

Then, as I also take inventory of the people who live in the home, I begin to get a clearer picture of what “personal style” they really are wanting.

Then the fun begins….with a given budget, I go and shop! I shop for all the things that we talked about in the consultation. From wall art, to urns, to rugs, small tables, coffee tables, needed chairs and benches, to pillows and throws. When I shop, I have the photos of all the spaces they are wanting me to shop for on my phone. And I study and study and study that entire space from these two angles: 1) what is the flow from room to room 2) what is the function of the space.

So, here’s one example of how this works. For some of my clients, they will give me X number of dollars they want to spend. And I go on a hunt to find the items we discussed within that budget, or better than that…under that budget!  I am paid $55.00 an hour to go and shop for my clients. And I take this so seriously because I want them to have quality options, but with the BEST sticker price I can possibly locate for them. I go from store to store, shop online and do all the leg work. THEN, on the day that I have finalized all the options (at that time) for them to see, I take them to all the stores. This service of escorting them to touch, feel, smell all the furniture or items I had been shopping for,  (instead of sending them there on their own), is $40.00 an hour.

They then decide “yes” or “no.” For example, I found a leather club chair and ottoman for one client and their budget would work better if I found something in a different prize zone. So, I will go back and search further, but everything else they saw, they loved!

Here’s what I mean…

II Client home work in progress

This is a client’s new home. She had some furniture delivered and was ready to start pulling all the open floor plan rooms together. This is a photo of her family room, but the space in the background is her family’s keeping room. In Mississippi, it’s not unusual to find a mini-gathering space with fireplace in the kitchen off to the side. Keeping rooms are generally less formal and designed for comfort. So, I took more photos and plenty of wall and space measurements while I was there. This is her front foyer that is open to her dining space and family room.

II Client home work in progress 2

The next photo is the area for her dining space….got some very unique plans for this area!!

II Client home work in progress 3

But then, I go and gather up options and ideas for all the areas I’ve been hired to decorate, while keeping in mind THEIR personalities and style.

These next photos show you all that I found … but there are some things I didn’t post, like the coffee table for her keeping room, and the piece I picked out for her foyer.  But in this photo, I want to pull in her traditional (although we are painting her dining room table and chairs!!), but her desire for color and she does have a touch of Bohemian and Modern-Urban-Industrial-Chic going on, too! The club chair is a local furniture store in Madison, MS, the super fun coffee table (that would look awesome with just the right “pretty-pretties” on top, came from Homegoods and the art is Homegoods, too.

II Client collage 1

Here, I’m showing how a glass and metal table can be used with colorful art, and with a touch of a wooden (yet faux painted to look like metal) table. It’s all in how you pull it all together. The art and the table are from Hobby Lobby….clearance!

II Client collage 2

The lamp is galvanized and is found at Hobby Lobby…the shade is like linen. Nice and heavy. the artwork is a great find at Homegoods, too!

II Client collage 3

As I took the client to see all these great finds, she will go forward with her husband’s leadership and within the budget, and it is all going to be just beautiful! This is “her and her family’s” tastes…and so much fun to work with!!

But so was this project…I loved helping my client and friend, Sissy Morris, create the new light and bright kitchen space she was longing for!

Sissy's Old Hutch

Before —

Sissy's hutch AFTER

After  – loved how this turned out! Just too much fun…and yes, she now has handles and pulls on her hutch!

Sissy's kitchen BEFORE 2

Sissy's kitchen before front view

Her kitchen BEFORE was just beautiful, but for her, too dark. She wanted a much lighter and brighter space to enjoy…so,

Sissy's BEAUTIFUL kitchen

This is Old White from the Annie Sloan chalk paint line.

Sissy's kitchen front side view

Just too much love, laughter and some CraZy fun that she and I had together in creating this lovely new kitchen!

So, if you want some help in your home, I’d love to help! It’s my passion that I thoroughly enjoy, but we also ALWAYS integrate the real purpose of home and home decorating….we infuse our projects with the Word of God!

Let me  know how I can help you! It would be such a pleasure!!

lisa

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