By Elizabeth Yeager Cross
WV Design Team
Moving into a new home can be quite overwhelming. Believe me, I just moved in to one last week, myself.
Deciding what will move on to the new home with you and what will either become trash or a donation can take months to figure out. And, if you are moving to a larger home, you are now on the hunt for new furniture and accessories to help finish your new spaces.
Sarah Duterte, a fellow new home buyer, was in just that predicament when she stumbled upon Yeager Design & Interiors and began a beautiful new design friendship.
Sarah is a mother of three, as sweet as she is beautiful and ever so stylish. As we began our designer/client relationship, we got down to the specifics of what their family needed and also what she wanted to incorporate into the new home.
Sarah had a clear vision of the eclectic style she wanted to embrace, and we found her incredibly easy to work and communicate with. We addressed each room in her home, its needs and began chipping away at a sizable list.
What we loved most about working with Sarah was her ability to be open minded with our team’s suggestions and being able to try new and old things. She even decided to enroll in our Chalk Paint by Annie Sloan workshops, where she learned the invaluable art of breathing new life into older or undesirably finished furniture pieces.
She quickly tackled all of her master bedroom furniture and various other wooden treasures in her home that would not only make a little more room in her budget by saving money, but also gave new purpose to pieces that were once used and loved before.
Let’s take a room-by-room tour of her downstairs:
Foyer and dining room
For any front-door entry guests, these two spaces were Sarah’s first impression that would set the design tone in her new home.
She chose to use her grandmother’s vintage dry sink as a small entry table, where we placed a colorful lamp, some metallic accents and small pops of color that would be inviting, fun and warm. We paired it with a warn, tufted-leather bench that provided a place to kick off your shoes and look around.
Above your head, we installed a crystal orb pendant that was perfectly placed and hung to be seen in the transom window from the outside.
Directly adjacent to the entry is the Duterte’s dining area. We chose a 118-inch rectangular pine table that would easily fit 10 to 12 people around it.
We chose a pine finish that wouldn’t seem too formal since the dining area is open to the first floor, and instead of using a matching buffet, we chose a gorgeous turquoise piece that would certainly be an attention grabber with the gold quatrefoil mirror hanging above it.
To complete the dining room, we had to create the perfect light fixture. Sarah loved our vintage pendant lights, so we designed a fixture where we gathered five pendants to make one large custom fixture.
Breakfast nook and kitchen
As you continue on in the open floor plan, the kitchen opens up to the right. We replaced three builder-grade “ho hum” pendants with new, gold fixtures that sparkle in the light and bring a glamorous yet playful feel to a traditional cabinet and granite scape.
To outfit their breakfast nook, we chose a 60-inch, round, solid wood table in a greige tone (a color between beige and gray). Sarah was adamant in mixing and matching the side chairs, so we decided to use two kinds of galvanized metal cafe/bistro chairs paired with a more industrial low-back metal option.
A round wood table in a greige stain is offset by the sleek mix of galvanized side chairs in this breakfast nook
But to steal the breakfast show, so to speak, we installed a one-of-a-kind cage light that came from one of our Mediterranean vendors. Its cylindrical style mimicked the round table and made for an amazing area to feed the family.
Off to the side of the nook, Sarah set up a small bar area that we helped her accessorize with personal touches and, of course, gold accents.
Creating little vignettes with personal touches helps make a new house feel like home
Family room
This room felt expansive with its 20-plus-foot ceiling height, transom windows, and massive stone fireplace and mantel.
Upon Sarah’s first visit to our showroom, she fell in love with a vintage set of French doors that had been rescued and attached to an iron frame. This was the first piece chosen for the room and would hang magnificently from the ceiling over the fireplace.
She and her husband had previously ordered a large, black, down sofa sectional. We knew that it would be our job to bring in lightness and color to keep the room from feeling heavy or drab. We chose ultra-colorful wall art that easily transitioned through any seasonal color changes in accessories and filled the large wall behind the sectional.
A black sofa sectional, bringing in white and distressed pieces along with ultra colorful accessories, helps make the room feel eclectic and warm
We then helped her select unique pieces like the chrome-legged railroad tie-topped coffee table, the six-sided giant dice end table and our bow-front, white, distressed chest. These furniture pieces are all eclectic, yet tie together with their finishes and the accessories that adorned them.
To finish the family room, we chose our adorable slipcovered polka-dot chair, Brooke. The black-and-white pattern brought the color scheme together for the room and looked gorgeous with a pop of color from the magenta and yellow oriental silk accent pillow.
Master bedroom
Sarah became a Chalk Paint-wielding artist and completely transformed many pieces in her home. Her bedroom furniture set that had once been dark and overbearing was now romantic and sensual with its new gray hue and gold metallic accents.
We helped her finish the space with tall, silver bedside lamps set against our gauzy metallic linen window panels. We also chose to pump up the glam on her bedding with hand-stitched beading and crystals.
We placed our favorite linen bench at the foot of her bed for an additional amount of elegance and the perfect finishing touch.
Sarah completely transformed her dark and heavy master bedroom pieces into a romantic oasis to escape with soft layers of neutral fabrics and, of course, metallic pillows and accessories
While we realize not everyone can tackle every room of your home (new or old) at the same time, you can truly make a large difference in your home by following a few key rules:
Make a list of your needs, room by room.
Set an overall budget that you and your family feel would be an appropriate amount to part with to fulfill your list of needs.
Find a designer who not only can find you these things, but is also someone you feel you can communicate with and can understand your vision while introducing you to things you may have never considered before.
As always, we hope you enjoyed our latest design installation and feel inspired to start your own.
– To see more pictures of the projects featured in this article: Duterte Home
– To read the full article: www.wvgazettemail.com/life-home
