Decorating with Pastels

If anyone knows me by now you will know I love anything Boho  - fashion, home decor and lifestyle. And I also love light colors. So imagine my joy when I happened upon Souraya's beautiful home so beautifully decorated in Boho furniture and pastel colors. Makes me so happy just looking at it that I just had to share it here with you guys. And guess where she lives - Holland - our favorite place on earth! after Canada...........but it comes a close second.  

Let me take you through her eclectic home and show you how she has effortlessly pulled this look together.

I follow other Boho interior designers like Amber Interiors and Flea Market Fab who's work I adore, they use bright eclectic prints and colors to pull the room together, but never have I seen the Bohemian look done in pastels. Never! until sweet Souraya came along. 

Here above I adore the way she uses a collection of small tables in the center as opposed to one big coffee table. This allows for more movement in the room and you can easily relocate the tables if you need a side table option. That rug, those macrame hanging pots and the hexagon mirrors fit in perfectly in this space. 

In her dining room I love the way she has used a trio of chandeliers suspended from a rod, a different look to one big chandelier. The mismatched chairs, the artwork, that bench...............sigh. She is not afraid to mix things up but somehow manages to keep things looking like they belong. 

Doesn't this blue hutch just fit in so perfectly ? And it kinda balances that green accent wall. Using different colors works well when they are all of the same tone and family. And is anyone pining for that cute printed bag hanging from the door! I sure am ! 

Her office looks like a dream to work from and my favorite is that tall cork lined wall, a perfect place to pin your inspiration pics and notes. Love how she has painted one wall green here too to tie the rooms together.

Small details in the bedroom like that rustic bench and her beautiful plants just make the place so cozy and inviting. It seems like Souraya has lovingly chosen each item in her home and styled them so artistically. In addition to being an Interior Designer she is also an accomplished photographer and all above pics have been photographed by her. Check out more of her stunning work on her Instagram account.

Head over to her site Binti Home to see more pics of her home and other spaces she has styled. Souraya if you are reading this then thank you for sharing these photographs of your gorgeous home. They brought a smile to our lips today.

All photography by Souraya Hassan, Binti Home.

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Big Hugs

Lynda

Fenwick Living Room Redecorate

Sometimes life gets so busy that you live in a space for decades and nothing in it changes. This living room was put together 18 years ago and it remained the same till the beginning of this year.

Our client wanted a complete overhaul of her living space that reflected her current lifestyle and wanted to update the room in line with current trends. Since she does crazy shifts, it was important to create a warm and cozy space for her to come home to and be able to relax in. She loves plants so we incorporated botanical prints in the artwork on the walls and the personal touches around the room.

What you can't see here is the popcorn ceiling that we took out and repainted a bright white. The walls were painted a pretty duck egg blue which has a calming effect when you step into the room. It was important to have a flow between the living and kitchen by choosing complimentary colors. The kitchen is done in a light taupe/grey color. 

Before:

After:

Lots of texture and natural elements were used to decorate the room. Coral is very on trend now - the object and the color.

Every room needs flowers and they do not need to be fresh all the time. Here we used dried Hydrangeas from my garden to bring in a rustic element.

This fruit bowl is Nate Berkus for Target, and the perfect piece for the dining table.

Warm knitted throws draped on the armchairs added a textured layer and a creamy color.

This porcelain blue tray from Urban Barn was a beauty.

This Mid Century Modern table was the perfect fit in the room. I wanted something long that pulled the eye in toward the window and something with rounded edges. 

Botanical prints from a vintage book were the perfect fit in this cozy room. I decided to put them on both walls giving it a symmetrical look. And the client was absolutely delighted with them.

Pot lights on dimmers and the light filtering through this burlap lampshade make the room inviting in the evenings.

These pics were taken a couple of weeks later after the fabric blind had arrived and was installed. It provides much needed protection from the direct sunlight during the day and a lovely textured layer to the large window.

The table was set up with matching burlap table mats for the evening.

What made this a wonderful job for us was that the client was super easy to work with and gave us creative freedom. Dhiraj also did her kitchen build  and basement design and remodel. We are so excited for the Home Tour happening on March 28, 2015...............9 sleeps more to go ! 

If you would like to join us for the Home Tour to view the living room, full kitchen remodel, basement design and build, then you can email me at contact@wildenorth.com

Hugs

Lynda

On Popcorn Ceilings.........

A month or so ago, I started work on the Main Floor Living area as Lynda wishes to have it double up as a gallery of sorts for her 'Art Open Houses'. The Living Room had a pelmet or valance on three walls that hid fluorescent lighting that were fairly old and for the best part, did not work.

I pulled those out with minimal damage to the ceiling and discovered that the popcorn (or acoustic) treatment had been installed after the valances had gone up and was not present on the ceiling part behind them. That meant that I would have to build up the treatment to match or remove the popcorn from the entire ceiling.

Since I seem to have a penchant for doing things the hard way, I opted for the latter. Plus I HATE HATE HATE popcorn!!! Popcorn is mainly used by builders because it is so much easier to do than paint. Plus it hides any defects in the mudding and taping of the joints as well as poor workmanship. Did I mention that I hate popcorn??? or for that matter any ceiling treatment?? They seem to be the one thing that instantly date a house. They trap dirt and are generally FUGLY!!!!

So I Googled popcorn removal and the videos and instructions made it look so darned easy. Just spray the ceiling with water and scrape off with a wide trowel. The popcorn drops off and leaving you with a nice smooth ceiling. NOT. My popcorn was mutant!!! I used my floor scraper with a new blade and all that I managed to get off the ceiling was the first few millimeters.

I had to then wait for the ceiling to dry, sand it down with a pole sander with vacuum attachment, skim coat with joint compound, allow to dry, sand, skim coat again and hope that it looks good.

This is a Vacuum Pole Sander that saved my sanity and probably my marriage. The dust gets sucked right into the attached vacuum.

.......and this is the HEPA filter that saved my Shop Vac. Without this, the filter would allow the drywall dust to blow right through and eventually clog. Pricey, but washable and reusable. This is well worth the price.

After all of that work, I've got (half of the surface area at least) a ceiling that is smooth, looks modern and will look amazing painted in Benjamin Moore's 'Decorators White'

However if asked in the future how to deal with Popcorn ceilings, my simple answer would be - Move!! This is not a job for the faint hearted, the lazy or the ones daunted by a Living Room in a mess for the better part of 2 months. Moving just might be less work.