design | the furniture finder

i am hardly a design expert.

i just play until i think it looks good and when it’s to my liking, i call it a day.

lately, i’ve had a few people ask me for help or advice on how to style shelves, layout a room, or pick paint colors, so it got me thinking…maybe it would be fun (and helpful?) to do a design series on the blog of some of these topics?

ya know, kinda like design diy.

we can pretend this is trading spaces circa 2001. and i’ll pretend i’m Paige Davis!

what do ya think?

okay…here it goes.

welcome, to design 101: how to style a hutch.

i, unfortunately, did not get a before picture. i’m quite bummed about it. truly, i am. (i think i’m already fired from trading spaces. oops). however, imagine a built-in hutch, in a kitchen, filled with only crystal goblets. when my client called me for immediate help on how to make her hutch pretty for the holidays, i headed right over.

this is what we came up with:

first, we pulled everything out of her cabinets (the bottom cabinets, too! that’s where i found most of the dishes, platters, and pitchers.)

then we slowly worked from the bottom section and worked our way up.

i found her big platters and leaned them against the back wall of the cabinet. then, i stacked all of her plates to give the pitchers, teapots, and creamers some height.

we had to move the bottom glass shelf up to allow room for the big platters, which left us with a tiny shelf space.

that’s when i noticed her set of tea/coffee cups. the tiny shelf space allowed just enough space to showcase each cup.

on the next shelf, we added the leftover dinner and salad plates. i wanted each shelf to be a little symmetrical, but i tried to add some interest in the middle section by adding the teapot and creamer to offset the dishes a little.

we then added the crystal goblets to the top shelf from tallest to shortest to give it a little uniform. this also let the light from the cabinet shine through the crystal and on to the lower shelves.

and there you have it. styling a hutch never looked easier, right?! just remember height, layers, symmetry, with a bit of asymmetry thrown in, group like kinds and you’re good to go.

now, all you have to do is pull all of those plates out and serve up the pumpkin pie. 😉

wishing you all a very Happy Thanksgiving! xo

i am so excited to show you all this house!

i spotted it a couple of years ago when i was taking my son for a walk. there were cute little buntings hanging in the windows and i somehow just knew i would hit it off with the mama of the house.

fast forward to this last weekend and i finally got to meet that mama and her sweet family. they were having a yard sale and had the most adorable old farmhouse chair in the sale that i couldn’t pass up. (side note: we had our own garage sale that morning and after ours was done, i hopped on my bike to see what the neighborhood sales had to offer. it’s a sickness i tell you. i’m addicted to old furniture and junk).

so, after a few minutes of chatting and bonding over our love of decor/diy blogs, i got to take a tour of their cute old house.

there are so many fun, amazing details of the inside that i think i became speechless. (which if you know me, does not happen often!) 😉

like this giant pendant lamp that they made (they MADE! oh.my.gosh!). i want one now, too!

or the cute artwork that she just “threw together.” (M, i want to order some artwork for my house!)

and pieces of art that she used potatoes to stamp pops of color onto.

my favorite art piece in her house was this little saying that she did freehand with a pen. (SO cute! and i LOVE its message!)

there is so much eye candy it’s hard to have a favorite.

and then before i knew it, i was onto another room. mesmerized by the furniture.

like this old french iron bed that her parents’ found in Northern California. (swoooooon!)

and this adorable old keyhole dresser.

and oh! the details in the kids’ room!

like a baby mobile made out of twigs and fabric birds that gently sways from the ceiling.

and look at the artwork, my new friend made for her daughters’ room that she once again, “just quickly threw together.”

and just when i thought it couldn’t get any better….

we headed into the dining room and as i turned the corner i noticed….

this beacon of light coming from the next room.

the light was coming from a light fixture that the man of the house created (i nearly died).

everything in the space is just perfect.

from the antlers on the wall,

to the shelves made out of wood and old thrifted belts,

and a mini statue made out of old wire hangers.

and, of course, another intriguing piece of art that she “quickly threw together.” (M, please throw one together for me! i love it!)

as i was walking to the front door…i caught a little glimpse of her kitchen (they’re wanting to remodel it, so it’s not quite ready for its reveal). her lovely collection of pyrex was playfully calling my name. i love the pop of color it brings to their space.

i also love that i made a new friend. (and a creative one at that!)

can’t wait to hang out, M, and make something cool out of hangers or wire or something. thanks for the inspiration!