Alright, gather 'round, folks! I've got a juicy story to spill about this E-Design "Dare to Dream" client project that went from snoozeville to party central. Picture this: a home stuck in the greyscale era, and a couple hungry for a change (the wife maybe a little more than the husband haha). Cue the virtual high-fives because we turned their space into a color happy modern maximalists dream, filled with colors, patterns, and all-around good vibes! Let's dive into the e-design adventure where we transformed the 'meh' into 'heck yeah!'
What is the Dare to Dream E-Design Package?
In order for me to walk through this project, it's first important for you to know what EXACTLY I was hired to do!
This client wanted to purchase items for their home gradually and enjoy the process of searching for pieces themselves, but really wanted to see an inspirational design plan of their home to know WHAT to look for and how they would be painting and styling their place.
That's why the Dare to Dream package was the perfect fit them! This package is where I design a 3D virtual makeover of their home based off of their design needs, taste, and budget, but it is up to them to bring the design to life in their own way and source the real items that they want to use. Essentially - I give them an inspirational plan, they do the actual shopping and implementing. Not only is this great for people that need a visual plan of their home, but it is also half the price of my traditional e-design package!
Now let's walk through this client's journey and see how I was able to envision their playfully chic new abode!
The Inspiration
One of the most important parts of my E-Design process is the Zoom call and detailed questionnaire, which goes through everything from the client's needs, likes, dislikes, all the way to DIY capabilities. As part of this questionnaire, I ask for them to share 3-5 inspiration photos, noting what they like AND dislike about the photos.
Based off of their inspiration photos and questionnaire, what I gathered was that...
THE WIFE:
- Loves color pops and subtle pattern mixing, but likes to keep an overall clean aesthetic with a touch of eclectic and art deco glam.
- Does not want to get rid of all of her white walls, but rather create fun accents and vignettes within the space.
- Likes art deco floral wallpapers or boho geometrics.
- Likes unique and playful touches like disco balls.
- Prefers globe lighting.
- Wants to keep or up-cycle as much of their old furniture as possible.
- Wants to incorporate wallpaper somewhere in the space.
- Loves greens and pinks.
- Wants to upgrade their home with new floors and countertops, but wants to try to keep the kitchen cabinets for affordability.
THE HUSBAND:
- Doesn't want the space to feel too busy.
- Wants to fit a wine fridge somewhere.
- Doesn't want to be overwhelmed by pink.
- Loves blue.
The Color Palette
I decided to go with a combination of warm and cool colors featuring both muted tones and dark color pops. This created the right balance around the space to keep it from being too overwhelming, even though we are using several color variations!
Now let's get to the fun stuff...
The Living Room
As you can see, their home was VERY white and neutral, however they do have a few great pieces to work with!
Some of the keeps:
- Vintage floor lamp
- Brass book shelf
- Tessellated stone coffee table
- Media cabinet (has a good base for up-cycling)
The Plan
Keeping in line with the color pop idea, I decided to keep the majority of the living room white walls, and then adding special accents of color in the doors, furniture, and a painted arch behind the sofa.
I also saw the opportunity to convert the empty back corner to be a built-in bar and HIDDEN wine fridge! (I was pretty proud of that idea) A corner cabinet would be built around the wine fridge, as seen in the plans above, and then fluted paneling would be attached to the front of the doors to bring in texture and match another element of the dining room! I also wanted to incorporate some of her boho geometric modern patterns with a tile backdrop that she could either DIY paint white square tiles or source the tiles that she wanted. This was a great way to add a pattern pop without overwhelming the space as well.
And OBVI we had to incorporate some disco balls and a mirrored side table!
The Dining Room
The dining room already had most of the furniture that she needed, so my task was creating it into its own vignette with a statement wall, that also balances with the rest of the space!
Some of the keeps:
- Dining Table
- Sideboard (for up-cycling)
The Plan
One of her requests was to add brass and glass bistro shelves over the sideboard. She also really loved the dining room inspiration and wallpaper that was shown in her inspo, so we really ran with that vibe for this space.
As you can see, we really focused on the back wall as the primary focal point of the space! I also thought it was important to add her statement globe chandelier and even MORE disco balls over her bar (since she does not have lights over the bar already) and who doesn't love a good disco party at dinner?
We did a simple DIY upgrade to her sideboard and pulled in the mint color of her sofa into the scalloped rug. Since we already have a patterned wallpaper and a patterned rug in the living room, I thought it was really important to keep the rug in the dining room simple but still interesting. Hence this perfect scalloped rug!
Like I mentioned in the wine bar area of the living room, we added fluted paneling to the front of her bar for texture!
The Kitchen
Her kitchen had decent bones but really needed a cosmetic facelift with lighting, paint, countertops and modern hardware.
The Plan
One of the things that she specifically mentioned for her kitchen was her coffee mug collection and how she wanted to have them out on display!
I originally thought about doing the entire kitchen in the dark teal, but it just felt too dark in the space. However, the mint color by itself just didn't match the vibe. So I chose to go with a two toned look! I also wanted to keep the countertops and backsplash sleek and minimalist with all quartz. Seeing the kitchen in the flow of the entire space, the quartz backsplash instead of a color or pattern helped keep it from feeling too busy overall.
However, I couldn't NOT do SOMETHING interesting in this space! For her coffee cup collection, I went with a statement squiggle wall that frames out the coffee cup racks. Now they are PART of the design as a piece of art, and not just a basic storage piece.
The Entryway and Hallway
The entry way was a total blank space! We knew they needed new lighting, paint, and for SURE a statement wallpaper wall!
The Plan
This space is a bit more separated from the rest of the home, so we had more free reign from a color and "simplicity" standpoint. I wanted to incorporate blue in this area since the husband really loves that color and it was lacking elsewhere. I also wanted to add a little more direct pattern mixing than the rest of the home since we could be a little more "busy" in this area!
I really love adding statement vignettes in an unexpected way. So instead of a traditional wallpapered entry way, I decided to do an ARCHED wallpaper section. This would be either on a separate board that is mounted to the wall, or put directly on the wall with a flexible trim piece lining the wallpaper edge.
The pink door was a little surprise for the wife (the husband was not as excited, but was eventually overruled. He did get the blue wall, soooo, compromises).
Instead of more painted walls for the hallway, I opted for fun art to pull in color to the space. I also LOVED the idea of adding a fun painted scalloped wall frame around a large eclectic piece of art. It's an unexpected detail that adds a little more playfulness to the space, and breaks up the white without taking over!
Visualized in Real Life!
Here you can see how the space can really look with this design in person! I have to say, I'm super happy with how this turned out (and so is the client!). Now we just have to wait and see how the client brings this to life over time!
Shop some of this design!
Although items are not sourced as part of the Dare to Dream package, some pieces for this design were inspired by real items that I already loved!
Living Room
Pink Moroccan Pillow - $34.99
Ivory Wool Tufted Pillow - $16.99
Rug - 9x12 $759
Dining Room
Rug - $789
Wallpaper - $248
Kitchen
Pink Ceiling Lights - $236
Entry & Hallway
Wallpaper - $120
Disco Venus Art - $49.99
Want to see how I would
transform your OWN space?
And don't forget! if you ever have any questions about my services or which package option is right for you, I offer a FREE 1:1 discovery zoom call where we can figure out how to best work together!
