When one of your best friends in the world has a problem (a new beautiful house with old starter furniture) and you have the skills to solve it, it’s simply too painful to let them suffer for long. Add in the fact that you have kids of very different ages (thus fewer family hangs than you want) and two very demanding jobs (allowing for almost zero weeknight social time). It’s then you realize that maybe the excuse to hang is needed. So now I get to carve out time to hang with Robs and call it work. Backstory – Robyn and I have been best friends since 6th grade and have stayed super close when I lived in New York and LA along with a couple of my other childhood best friends (shout out to Megs and Nic). They are one of the main reasons I wanted to move back to Oregon. Y’all, if they say that the quality of your life is measured by the quality of your relationships, then I have an extremely high-quality life because of these three. If there is anything I could wish for our kids is lifelong deep friendships like Brian and I have with our respective cohorts – my goodness is it both uplifting and grounding to grow into adults and parents with people who knew you during puberty:)
That’s Robs and I 8 years ago when she secretly came down for a Gold Peak Tea ad campaign that was, you know, centered on making memories with loved ones, looking at childhood photos, while drinking iced tea! (one of those “my job is both hilarious and oh-so-fun” days). Last year we finished Robyn’s basement, mudroom, new bathroom, and teen son’s room with the lead design by Priscilla Frost (I moved up when they were 1/2 way done so I mostly just styled and helped get some furniture partnerships for the project, Priscilla handled the renovation). But Priscilla has taken a full-time position (and this current project is just decoration, not renovation), so I felt like I could handle the design work. I mean, I do have a shopping addiction but need nothing for our home so I’ve been able to direct that Saturday morning energy somewhere productive:) In case you are wondering (because everyone asks), no I don’t feel comfortable charging my friends for my design time, but they don’t feel comfortable not paying so we usually land where they cover my team’s time for design assistance and photography/videography and I hope to make money from the ads on the blog post and possibly partnerships should I pitch the project out). But it’s not about money, it’s about having fun with my best friend while getting to do my job, so I consider myself highly lucky. Let’s get into it:
The Living Room
So here’s what we got. Great bones in a vintage house full of old starter furniture (nothing wrong with starter furniture but check out that sun fading on the back of the loveseat on the far right of the photo!!). Robyn has a huge job at Nike and has worked her ass off for decades climbing the corporate ladder in what used to be a pretty dude-bro environment. She wanted a home that reflected her and her family’s current design style and I wanted to give that to her/them. She, like most people I know, wants to love their home more but doesn’t have the time to dedicate to decorating, doesn’t know where to start, and doesn’t have an unlimited budget after moving and upgrading the home (and saving for kid’s colleges). She was just so bummed to walk into her new house that she loves and be disappointed with her 15-year-old $300 sofa set (it worked way better in her old home). She suffered from the ubiquitous “I just want things to be better, but I don’t know how I’ll ever do it” ailment. I got you Robs!!!
Here’s the plan:
- Paint either walls or bookshelves/fireplace (currently planning on bookshelves and fireplace). Maybe both but if we don’t have to then GREAT, which saves on labor.
- New higher quality, heirloom furniture that works for her family of four (two teen boys) and their pup.
- New window treatments (they love the function of these so this will be a whole blog post about how we are giving them the same level of privacy and ease of the shutters, but just not those shutters which feel far too coastal and won’t fit the vibe when we are done).
See how they stick out so far when they are open? We still haven’t figured out what we are going to do, but I’m pushing to ditch the shutters (I like interior shutters at times, for sure).
The living room needs to function as a casual TV room at night, (they have a basement TV teen hang space), so they want this to be comfortable enough but more elevated than a “TV room” (the combination we all want, right?).
It’s also a pass-through living room (not my favorite layout, which I consistently seem to own) so we need to make sure that the layout flows well. There really is only one way to lay it out (main sofa against that wall) so that part is pretty easy.
The Dining Room
In the dining room, they have a really beautiful heirloom table that we are definitely keeping. But the rug will go elsewhere in the house and we are replacing and donating the chandelier (and lowering the new one a few inches). We are hoping to wallpaper in here and ideally leave the built-ins and window trims the creamy white (replacing hardware).
The view out the window is so pretty (you can see Mount Hood) and full of trees so we don’t plan on window treatments in here. The natural light is wonderful so it can handle a deeper color (and/or wallpaper) on the walls. I’m VERY EXCITED.
So What Is The Vibe?
We are going for a cozy and modern library/lodge vibe. It needs color, pattern, texture – all the things – and we want it to feel collected and more historic. Ryan loves deep, even bold colors (blues, greens, and burgundies) while Robyn loves things to be a bit lighter and more calming – blues, greens, and a slightly more curated color palette.
So here’s how it all went down. I have a beautiful leather tufted sofa and two cream swivel chairs – all from Rejuvenation that I couldn’t find the right space for in our home. I was hoarding them because they are awesome and I knew I would find a space for them eventually. They were in storage and I was not only feeling guilty about just hoarding them, but feared that they would get damaged. Since they were all three from Rejuvenation and the lighting that we had already thought about buying was from Rejuvenation, we figured this would be a good pitch to maybe swing a deal. All our partnerships are negotiated individually based on many many things, and for this one, I pitched something that made it a win both for Robyn/Ryan and for Rejuvenation (and I love working with Rejuvenation, love their furniture and lighting and figured that it would not only speed up the project but allow for us to make a better room, which is a win for EHD). Most importantly it just felt appropriate in this home, Rejuvenation is local to Portland and I knew that I could combine their heirloom quality furniture to give that collected yet historic vibe that we were going for.
Here’s Where We Are Headed
This is the rough living room mood board…
and this one is for the dining room.
Now some of this might change, but here is what have selected thus far. Robyn, Ryan, and I went to Rejuvenation on a Saturday for a few hours and looked at every single thing. I got a great sense of what they loved, so afterward I pulled together a plan that I felt confident could work harmoniously. Honestly, because you can customize their pieces so much (more than many other larger brands of their scale) it’s much much much easier to make it look collected and not like a catalog.
Now I know that a sponsored makeover with almost all furniture from the same store might not be relatable to most of you (perhaps not at all) but a lot of the design decisions and problems to solve hopefully will be (like what to do about those shutters, how to choose pieces that “look” collected over time even if they aren’t). Honestly, we all feel so lucky and grateful that we get to do this here together. Ryan is super handy so Brian is getting a buddy to help him build the alpaca shelter this summer 🙂 See? Win/win! Cheers for designing with friends and calling it work:)
More to come soon. xx
THIS POST WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED HERE.
