Studio Tour

Hello! As promised today I’m featuring a tour of the studio above our two car garage. We added this space seven years ago, it has a kitchen, bathroom, laundry room, and walk in closet all contained within 600 square feet. It’s been rented to tenants in the past, used for storage, used for styling my fabrics, and for hosting Matt’s poker night.

My stepdaughter lived here for 1½ years after college, but now she’s moved to San Francisco. We envision renting it out again someday as an AirB&B after we create private access with a new staircase. Until then, it’s used as a library to store many of my books and collected objects, I like to escape here to read a few times a week. It’s also a space for friends and family to stay when they visit.

I redecorated it over the last month, bringing up furnishings and accents that used to live elsewhere in our house but have since been replaced (the rug, club chairs, etc.) I also bought a few new things to make it stylish and cozy (the coffee table, pillows, linens).

You’ll recall several years ago we added the Billys to built in bookshelves, such a smart move for storage on a blank wall! I have plans to add shelves above to take the bookcases up to the ceiling and also install lights (I love the look of Nate’s bookcases) but that will have to wait until next year. I recently painted the backs with Glidden’s Alligator Pear, replacing the deep teal blue with warmer olive green. The entire space has an analogous color medley of navy and olive.

 

On the opposite side is the bedroom where I have two mismatched nightstands, the white paint and ring pulls tie them together. That dresser used to be navy blue, I painted it white again and the rings and fretwork gold. I was forced to hack the bottom four inches of the legs off when I realized the smaller chest on the right I had ordered was shorter (desperate times call for desperate measures) but at least the lamps sit at the same height now – it was bugging me when they weren’t.

The genie lamps are Nicole Miller from HomeGoods I love that the indigo finish is matte not gloss. The little glass knot is from Target, the Greek key trim is from M&J Trimmings, one of my favorite ways to embellish plain linen window panels.

The triptych of art prints I found on Etsy, I framed them with inexpensive frames found at Michaels that I spray painted gold. The green pillows any navy quilt are both from Target, the watercolor floral fabric called ‘Blue Floral Splat’ at Joann’s and sewed a lumbar pillow cover with it.

 

 

The entrance to the kitchen is just off the living room. Years ago I painted the kitchen cabinets white, it still looks the same, view the kitchen here. And there’s that $10 cabinet that is still one of my most popular thrift store makeovers.

I have a wood pedestal table and pair of chairs in here too, there’s a peek of one below. You can see them together here.

With a controlled color palette you can mix patterns and styles with abandon, both traditional and contemporary. The patterned window panels are from West Elm, the loveseat is IKEA Ektorp, I recently bought the gray cover to use instead of the white.

Pillows on the club chairs are also from West Elm, the pillows on the loveseat are from Pier One. The rug I bought at Overstock last year.

Between the loveseat and the French doors there was room for a desk, since our oldest couldn’t fit her desk and chair in her tiny San Francisco apartment she left it here and it works perfectly in this space!

This is a nice little spot to pull out a laptop. The mirror used to hang in our living room above the mantel, I’ve since replaced it so I moved it up here. I love the chain link frame. The lamp is from Target.

I’ll add more links to the products seen (if available) to the Shop page later today. If you have questions about something in particular, just ask. Until then, hope you enjoyed the studio tour!

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