Salon makeover

Usually, I'M the one getting a makeover at a salon so it was such a fun experience to makeover a salon!

The salon owner had been trying for a few months to juggle working a full client load, all the responsibilities that come with being a parent, AND somehow update the look of her salon all at the same time. Friends and clients were even trying to help her stay on track but she lost her steam so they lit the bat signal and I rode into town in my super cool minivan ready to save the world.

As you can see, the salon waiting area was kind of....lifeless. We can be honest about that, right? The salon owner, Kim, is so fun and creative but this room wouldn't give anyone that impression about her.

I think part of the reason the salon redo wasn't going well was because the gray accent color Kim had chosen, had no warmth and drained energy from the rooms instead of bringing energy to the salon. 

The first thing I did was focus on color. Kim wanted the salon to stay mostly white so the wall color wouldn't affect the way hair color appeared but we DID change the accent walls. 

With a new vibrant blue, accented with reds, the waiting room has color and style.

A new custom logo will be going up over the red chair so that wall will  have some color soon!

The room where Kim and her clients spend most of their time was cluttered and boring. It lacked creativity AND function.

We rearranged the work stations, organized, organized, organized and then added the same vibrant blues and reds that we used in the lobby.

Since the salon is divided into four small rooms, we needed to make sure that everything was really organized and streamlined. 

The room with the dryers was crowded and had a stack of decorative items no longer being used.

 We cleared out everything that was unused and Kim even sold one of her dryers so there would be a little more elbow room between chairs. We added photos of her clients to make the space more personal.

I re-purposed one of her mirrors by painting it the same blue as the wall color (I still let some of the metallic shine through) and I brought in more of the same color with storage bins. By repeating the same colors, the rooms are cohesive yet not overpowered.

One more room....

The shampoo room had the same issues as the other three rooms. No color and no function. Our first order of business was to find a storage cabinet that could fit all the shampoos, towels, color tubes/bottles, and all the extra little things that needed a home.

Thanks to Nadeau in Nashville, we found a great cabinet that just needed a little bit of pizzazz. 

We changed the accent wall from light gray to vibrant blue and then added some pizzazz to this, too, by having a custom mural painted. Devon did an amazing job!

The shampoo room now has style and function. 

Remember what the salon looked like originally?

Now it's colorful, organized and inviting.

Staging that makes sense

I have friends who had a precious house they needed to sell so they could move into their dream home. I had helped them with some decorating and picking paint colors but we had never tackled the front room. Another friend of theirs had tried to help them stage the house but it needed a little more attention.

All the area rugs had been removed and the side tables had been put in storage so the furniture seemed like it was floating around haphazardly. I think the first "helper" thought the rugs and tables made things seem crowded but it was really the scale of the furniture, not the accents.

First thing for the room was bringing back a rug so we could define the sitting area. I also brought in smaller scale furniture and even used outdoor wicker chairs! I arranged the sitting area in front of the window so instead of walking through the sitting area, people can now walk around it.

Home buyers get a great first impression when they walk in the door and the room makes sense. Did I mention the house sold already?? Well, it did but I'll still show you more pictures of the rest of the house. Stay tuned!! 

Storage storage storage!

My little baby is not a baby anymore! How did that happen??  Here's what his room looked like 4 1/2 short years ago.

His room looks tiny, doesn't it?? Well, it is. I have friends whose closets are bigger than this bedroom! 

To me, kids rooms can be the hardest rooms to keep up with. Their needs change, their stuff multiplies and a crib can no longer contain their little energetic selves. 

After the baby setup and before I settled on his current bedroom setup, we had a full size bed, an antique dresser and a bookcase in his room. BORING! It was really a better set up for a guest room, which was my main reason for setting it up that way, but when we realized he hated his room, I decided to give him a room he liked and just let guests stay in a hotel. 

My little guy loves green. I mean LOVES green. The first change in his room was the wall color. Yes, it's green.

I found this table herb container and decided it would be perfect for his collection of treasures! Added some hooks and hung it on the wall. The green isn't perfect so I very sweetly asked if I could paint it blue but he adamantly refused. I think he would run away if I painted it so green it stays! 

Almost everything in his room is from craigslist. The bed is a craigslist find that was originally a dark cherry color but it was too dark and heavy for the size of the room. Tried to paint it with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint but it failed me miserably so I ended up spray painting it. 10 cans of spray paint and 20 new holes in the ozone layer and his bed looks great!

My goal with every piece of furniture in his room was to get additional storage. The bed functions as his dresser and even gives us additional toy/book storage. 

The storage cubbies were also a craigslist find. Thankfully Annie Sloan worked for me on the doors, which were changed from neon green to Grecian Blue.

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The storage cubbies are fabulous! They don't take up as much space as the Expedit systems but give us just as much storage. 

My little (big) guy loves his room now so I would say my summer project is a success. 

My final idea requires some help from grandpa. Start with a simple sheet of plywood and transform into a 5 feet tall rocket shaped, magnetic board for the  abundant artwork my little guy creates! What do you think, dad? Feel like pulling out your Skill Saw?