I’m so excited to share my new weekly design resource with you: Steal-a-Style Sheets!
These are streamlined design plans that you can use for inspiration to update your own home, or you can cut and paste the entire thing into your room for a complete refresh.
Each Style Sheet will include links to all of the products on the page. You’ll get early access to the Sheets in my Facebook Group: the busy mama’s Design Club. I’d love to see you there!
This White Bedroom Design is inspired by the versatility and classic style of all white bed linens. When you start with quality foundation pieces in your home design, you can easily and affordably change the style of your entire room by just changing your accessories and accent colors.
I love the idea of a reversible duvet cover as well- it’s like having two sets of bedding for the price of one! In this room, I stuck with black and gold as the accent colors. Metallic pieces can be adapted to MANY spaces, and black and white are always a good idea in my book!
Another key element of these Style Sheets will be that they stick to a strict budget. This entire bedroom refresh can be installed in your space for $300 or less. If you already have window treatments and a duvet- it’s even easier to add personality with a few key pieces.
Need some more help with a room design project? Let me know! Schedule a Design Discovery call today.
A client reached out to me with a dilemma: her two daughters’ rooms are always the last to get any design love in the house, and she had NO idea how to create special spaces for them to call their own. These rooms needed lots of personality, BUT also needed to grow up with the little ladies.
I dove in! My own 5-year-old loves “decorating” her room, and has LOTS of ideas about fashion and design. (Wonder where she gets that?!?!?) What a fun project to dream up not one, but TWO little girl spaces =)
My goal for these rooms was to create a design that would easily grow up with them over the years. Kid rooms do not have to be filled with cartoon characters and “kid furniture.” If you are creating coordinating designs, or designing across several rooms and keeping a theme- follow some simple guidelines.
1) Keep furniture styles cohesive.
I chose basic furniture pieces for each room that were either identical, or could mix-and-match in a different space in the future. If pieces are TOO specific to one room, it’s hard to move them around in a new house (or after the kids rooms get converted into something else!).
2) Use variations on a (color) scheme.
For these rooms, I chose four colors to set my color scheme: Main, Accent, WHITE, and Metallic. This made shopping for decor SO EASY- when you know the colors you are restricted to- it’s much easier to say NO to all of the distracting decor that you see on the shelves! Especially in a kid room- keeping the color scheme simple really ties the room together and makes the design feel sophisticated and intentional.
3) Lean towards the multi-functional.
Kids don’t stay kids forever! I chose furniture, accessories, and accent pieces that could be re-purposed in other adult rooms in future years if necessary. Just because we have to buy our kids new clothes every year- don’t let them grow out of good design, too!
And now what you’ve been waiting for! The Room Designs!
Shared Design Elements
By including several matching items in each room, I wanted to keep the girls’ designs different enough, but still equal (to avoid future fights!). These simple, white, foundational pieces can be updated to countless styles as the girls grow and change their tastes.
Room A: Tranquil Turquoise
My daughter especially loves this room design (and promptly asked me to made a moodboard for her room, too!). I love turquoise as a base color, because it can pair with SO many other accent colors that help it grow up with your little girl. Coral here is a playful and aquatic color pairing that reminds me of mermaids and shells on the beach.
Room B: Pretty in Pink
The second room is a bit more muted with soft pink, gray, and gold metallic accents. Using the same base furniture, I created a entirely new design with a different rug, pillows, and wall art!
Let me know if you have a little girl room to makeover at your place, and share your style with me on Instagram! I’m hanging out over there every day sharing my home design adventures and soaking up inspiration from all over the world! If you won’t to connect, follow me at @alyssaturnercairns and tag your home design shots with #ATChomedesign. See you there!
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Peg, a friend from my neighborhood, asked for some help pulling her master bedroom together this winter. She lives in an old home like I do, so we both know what it is like to navigate some challenges of a house in Michigan built in the 1920’s!
Luckily- she knew EXACTLY the look she wanted for their room, so we dove right in to see how it could translate to her space.
This project was the inspiration for my “Steal-a-Style” design package where I quickly and affordably give my clients a shopping list and plan to create an exact style in your home- pulled directly from your inspiration photo! Quick, easy, custom design that stays on budget and saves you SERIOUS time and effort. Score! Check out this service HERE!
The photo Peg shared with me was the peaceful and romantic, farmhouse-inspired bedroom designed by Liz at Love Grows Wild. Liz’s home improvement and design inspiration on her site are such a delight! If you don’t know her already, check her out at www.lovegrowswild.com, or follow her amazing feed at instagram.com/lizlovegrowswild
Based on Peg’s inspiration and the layout of her room- we put together a Design Guide for her new Master Bedroom. Photos are examples of products, and are not mine.
When a client asks for a “Steal-a-Style” package, we start the project with a phone call or video chat to discuss the space she wants to design, as well as narrow down her inspiration photo.
The best part of Steal-a-Style is that the client has NOTHING more to do after that call! I take the inspiration photo, the client’s budget, and the dimensions of the room, and get to work. I put together a shopping list of as many design elements as possible and get back to the client with an implementation guide and the list. We might email a few times to make sure it all goes as planned- but it’s that simple!
For Peg’s Master Bedroom, I found the major furniture pieces, linens, and a few decorative touches to complete the transformation of her space. She and her husband found some awesome pieces at local antique shops and boutiques, and it was fun seeing how they worked these into the room.
Click each product photo for more information. This round-up includes affiliate links that help support my business at no additional cost to my clients or my audience. Thank you for your support! =)
We are working on the finishing styling details of this room later this month, so stay tuned for the reveal of this sweet farmhouse master bedroom!
This month, I have had the privilege of working with my friend Michelle to design her basement. The process has involved digging into how her family uses the basement, what items need to remain in the space, and how she wants the space to feel when they are using the room as a family.
Originally, the basement was a large space, with finished walls and lighting- but no purpose or personality! It turned into a dumping ground for toys, and housed a comfy sofa and television, but was not the favorite destination for anyone in the family. This photo is a panoramic view of the space.
When designing a new space, start with FUNCTION. In this basement design, the room needed to serve three functions:
Family room where they lounge, watch movies, and socialize together
Playroom for her 2-year-old son so he has a dedicated space for toys while mom is working around the corner
Office space for her husband to have his computer, a great office chair, and storage for books, games, and personal items.
Next, take INVENTORY of the items that must stay in the space. In this project, the sectional sofa is new and non-negotiable. The TV also is staying in the room, as well as the toys.
LAYOUT is the most important component for me when I start designing a space. The layout of the room helps direct the people in it towards the areas they need to go. Layout can create social areas, work areas, and play areas- simply through the placement of furniture.
In this room, I knew we needed to add a desk and position the couch in a way that separated the room into smaller spaces. By putting the couch next to the support post (a feature in SO many basements!) we effectively have created two separate “rooms” within the large room.
I use a 3D room planning software to plan the layout of the room with accurate dimensions so it is easy to visualize furniture in the space (before you haul it across the house!).
This is layout proposal #2. The sofa fits perfectly in this layout, and still divides the room effectively.The first layout proposal for the sectional sofa. In reality, this didn’t fit like we wanted, so it was time for version #2!
It took two attempts to get the layout for this basement right- but the final layout is great. The sectional sofa fits on the right-hand side of the room, creating a designated space for lounging and movie-watching. The playroom space is visible from anywhere in the room, yet kids will know exactly where they toys go (and where they don’t!). The desk is tucked in around the corner to the left, creating a distraction-free work space with room for a bookcase and office supplies, but it is still integrated with the flow of the room.
Michelle and I had a great time working on the design scheme for this space, and now that the layout is finalized- it’s time to go SHOPPING!
In my Complete Room Design services, I offer layout, design scheme and mood board creation, and shopping list services that set you up for a successful design implementation (that stays IN YOUR BUDGET!). We start by discussing your needs, brainstorming a plan, and then you approve the layout and design scheme before I send you the final shopping list.
The Mood Board for this design was inspired by an old Coca-Cola sign that Michelle has, as well as her collection of cool items to feature in the design: an old saxophone, a candle holder from her wedding, and toy storage pieces for her son.
Using the Coca-Cola sign as a jumping off point, and wanting to tie in the current red paint on the staircase wall leading down to the basement, we landed on a navy/cream/brown color palette with accents of red. Keeping the red limited to accents in the room will prevent the space from feeling like an American flag!
Michelle likes rustic, farmhouse inspired design touches, so those will be brought in through pillows, wall art, and accessories.
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