Our Home Projects Archives - Satori Design for Living

Finally Kicking Off Outdoor Living

May

2013

Happy Friday! Yesterday the sun was shining in full force and it looks like the weekend is going to be gorgeous too. We’ve had our patio furniture stored in the garage all winter long, and the plan is to finally pull it out tomorrow and start enjoying outdoor living. This summer I’m dreaming of an outdoor oasis where I can kick back and relax or have some friends over for an afternoon cocktail. Are you with me?

{via}

Last fall my husband and I were out shopping for furniture for our newly finished basement when we came across a going-out-of-business sale on outdoor furniture. It’s always so unfortunate when businesses fail, but it was nice to be able to score two loungers made by Mountain House Furniture. We have wanted a pair since we completed the deck addition a couple years ago, but found they were either cheap looking or very expensive. I’m sure many of you know what I’m talking about. These ones are beautifully constructed in high quality virofiber with solid mechanisms, and heavy enough they won’t blow away in a voracious wind. They’re very similar to this black one, but in a multi-toned coffee color. (I’ll snap some photos this weekend once we pull them out).

{via}

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Gardening & Outdoor, Our Home Projects Tagged With: Furniture, Outdoor Decorating

Our Entryway Design Plan

Apr

2013

10 Comments

I mentioned at the beginning of April that I ordered a new blue ombre rug for our entryway. It finally arrived, and I’m feeling relieved because the bold color is exactly what I wanted to wake up the space. Like many makeover projects, the rug is only the jumping off point. Sometimes new accessories are all you need to refresh a space, but in this case, our entryway design plan requires a whole lot more to create a welcoming first impression.

If all goes well in regards to timeframe and budget, these are the steps I believe we need to take in order to give our entryway an updated look:

Remove the linoleum and replace with tile.

From the moment we moved into this home I have despised the flooring. Not only is it lifting, but the pattern and colors are terrible. I don’t care how beautiful an area rug is, it’s never going to camouflage this ugliness.

Although I haven’t finalized the tile, I’m leaning towards a charcoal slate floor.

Bold Rug Choice for Our Front Entrance

Apr

2013

12 Comments

How was your Easter weekend? We celebrated my son’s 18th birthday (still can’t believe he’s that old already!), caught up on a few things around the house, and did a little shopping. With the changing seasons, our wardrobes all needed a little freshening. Unfortunately I came up empty-handed for myself, but it means I have a little more money to go towards our front entrance makeover that has been put off for far too long.

I haven’t finalized the design details for the space yet, but I’m using this blue ombre rug I found on HomeSav as the jumping off point. A bold choice for me perhaps, but I’m craving color after the long winter we’ve had. I’m thinking light and airy on the walls, dark grey tile on the floor, and pops of blue and green in the artwork and accessories. HomeSav is a member’s only site where you can purchase home decor and furniture at a discount, and shipping is often free. If you want to check it out, here’s a personal invitation from me (I earn a reward for every member I refer, and you can too!).

Styling Your Home With Vacation Keepsakes

Mar

2013

3 Comments

Last week I showed you some of my favorite projects for displaying vacation mementos and mentioned that I’d be sharing snapshots of some of the travel keepsakes we currently have throughout our home. I’m so glad the weather finally turned around as I was starting to worry whether I’d finally get enough light to take photos. Thankfully the sun came out yesterday!

When displaying vacation keepsakes, I always think about how they can become integrated within our everyday decor. I like it best when they don’t scream souvenir like “look at those sombreros and maracas!” Instead, I like a subtle mix.

We’ve been on several beach vacations and have collected many shells and pieces of coral along the way. We have some of these in a glass cylinder in the family room. I also mixed in some faux shells from Pottery Barn to add a little color. Some of the larger pieces were placed on the bookshelf.
[Read more...]

Filed Under: Decorating, Our Home Projects Tagged With: Collecting, Decorative Accessories, Styling, Vacation

Ottoman Considerations

Jan

2013

7 Comments

Did you have a good weekend? I think the busyness of the holidays and client projects caught up with me, and I found myself with less energy than normal. I’m not a big fan of lazy weekends, but I guess occasionally doesn’t much matter.

Today I’m back at it with a trip planned into the city to check on the progress of a client’s renovation project, and then I’ll be swinging by a few furniture and accessory stores to source items for our basement. Luckily our sectional sofa has been ordered and our ottoman fabric has been chosen in a couple shades darker with textural woven pattern. Now I just need to decide on the style. Because the sectional is the same length on either side, I’m leaning toward a large square ottoman with storage for blankets, pillows and whatever else we want to tuck away (too much storage is never a problem).

Ryley Ottoman- Whittaker The difficulty lies in finding a large square storage ottoman with some kind of detailing. I don’t want it to look like a large lump in the middle of the room, yet it needs to be comfortable and serve as a cocktail table (equipped with a tray) while entertaining. I really like the look of button-tufting, but adding it is a substantial upgrade, and I’m trying to convince myself it’s worth it.

Square Tufted Storage Ottoman- Ballard
{via}

Family-friendly Upholstery Fabrics + Basement Sectional Update

Nov

2012

2 Comments

As soon as we were able to clean and organize everything in the basement after our renovation, I turned my focus on a few other projects around the house. Do you ever get tired of focusing on one area of your home for so long that you’re happy to put it on the back burner for a while and tackle something else?

That’s not to say we haven’t enjoyed spending time down there. In fact, our basement family room is used on a daily basis and we’re really appreciating the flexibility it has given us while entertaining, as well as being the perfect solution when I just don’t want to watch another football game and can retreat to our upstairs family room instead.

Now that I’ve had some time to look at the basement with fresh eyes, I’m ready to push forward and make the final decisions for furniture and window treatments. You may remember that I wrote a post way back about some of the sectional sofas we were considering. Well, I discovered a few downsides to some of the fabrics we were looking at, like not being able to spot-clean them or having a tendency to pill quite bad. I had to go back to the drawing board and find a balance between design and function.

At the moment we have it narrowed down to two sectional styles- one with a roll arm by Stylus and another with a square arm by Whittaker Designs. The roll arm is definitely the most comfortable choice, but the square is a nice clean-lined look.

Satori Office Update {Rococo Chalkboard}

Oct

2012

6 Comments

I was excited when a package from Wall Candy Arts arrived at my door! I’ve had my eye on their rococo chalkboard decal for a while now, thinking it would be a fun and functional addition to my office.

A couple years ago, I painted my office Benjamin Moore’s Creamy White to keep it light and airy. The plan was to add drapery, artwork, and accessories to liven up an otherwise neutral palette of white, cream, grey and espresso. To tell you the truth, after working in my office for a while, I really didn’t miss color per se, and I decided to keep it monochromatic until my feelings changed. However, I always felt like I needed to add some character, and the rococo chalkboard seemed like it would do just that.

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Decorating, Fab Finds, Our Home Projects Tagged With: Chalkboard, Home Office Decor

Storage Rooms + Why I Need to Put Thrifting On Hold

Sep

2012

6 Comments

Is it just me or did this week seem to fly by? Now that I’ve put my outdoor projects to rest for a while, I thought I’d turn my focus to organizing our basement storage rooms. I thought it seemed like the perfect opportunity before our media room gets filled with new furniture and I’m left with little room to pull everything out, get rid of the drywall dust from our basement renovation, and put it all back a little more organized than it was in the first place. If you’ve lived through a renovation, you know that dust and debris gets everywhere. Although I covered as much stuff as possible with plastic, the mess that was left when the dust finally settled (sorry, couldn’t resist), was a just a little overwhelming.

Although we still have a full day of work before our storage rooms are complete, I wanted to show you some of the progress we’ve made. Remember those double shaker style doors we installed for ease of moving items in and out of the side room (predominantly the treadmill)? It’s one of the best decisions we made.

It works really well to swing the doors wide open and easily retrieve storage tubs or whatever else we’re needing at the time. It also prevents the narrow room from feeling too tight.