Favorite Room Feature: Gypsy Soul Interiors

Ok. I am always incredibly excited for each and every favorite room feature, but let's multiply that feeling by 100 today. Today we have Kristen from Gypsy Soul Interiors who I have mentioned before with her amazing Asian inspired eclectic entryway. She is basically a design Einstein and I am pretty much enamored with each and every space in her home. Can we say stalker? That would be me. I am certain Kristen is thankful that I do not live in Dallas because I would be inviting myself over constantly for ideas. Love her and love her space. Wait until you see the spaces, yes spaces, she is sharing with us today! 

Hi Everyone! My name is Kristen Dowd, I am a 30 something mommy from Dallas and I own Gypsy Soul Interiors. Grace Mitchell, who was featured last week on Sadie and Stella is my business partner in the vintage furniture aspect of Gypsy Soul. I am so excited that Lindsay asked me to contribute one of my favorite spaces to her blog series. I have loved reading Sadie and Stella for a while and hope you all will enjoy my spaces. It can be really hard for a designer to chose their "favorite" because, after all, if I designed it, well then I love it. There are two spaces that stand out above all others because they literally were a labor of love (42 weeks and 39.5 weeks respectively). My sweet children's rooms are so special to me and truly the most cherished rooms in our home.

I'll start with my beautiful daughter Cici's room. We overhauled her room before her brother was born. She was 3 1/2 and old enough to understand what was going on, so I wanted her to feel like she had a special new big girl room. I truly let her be a part of the design and implementation. I feel very strongly that if you let your children be a part of anything, be it cooking dinner or decorating a room, they will take ownership and respect the work that went into it. First off, I asked Cici what color she wanted her room to be. Being the most feminine 4 year old of all time, it was no surprise that she chose the color pink. Ok folks, pink paint, es no bueno. I mean, it looks bueno when you finally find the right shade, but finding the right shade is enough to make you lose your mind. We went through 9 sample shades and finally decided on, “Apricot Ice from Valspar”. One would think that having the word “Apricot” in a heading would mean orange, but it was a perfect warm pale pink. Some of you may say a green or a beige would have been easier to match, and yes, maybe it would have been, but it wouldn’t have been “right” for the room or the girl.

I found this gorgeous bedding at Horchow Finale, Ferran Vines, and loved how sophisticated it was while still girly and juvenile. I picked out the bedding completely on a whim, which is also how I work. If I love it, I buy it. I worry about how things will “go together” later. I had an awesome pair of green campaigners at the Gypsy Soul Store and actually had a client who needed to use just one, so I decided to use the mate and the greens were perfect. So I now had bedding, and a nightstand.

Then came the actual furniture situation. I knew I wanted a chaise, or as Cici calls it a “princess chair”. As much as I am done with overly French feeling furniture for main living areas, there is no better place for a curvy elegant French chaise than in a 4 year old’s room. Luckily my super sleuth friend Grace found exactly what I was looking for on Craigslist. So I hoofed up to cattle country Texas and brought home the perfect “Princess Chair”. Actually, I didn’t bring it home, I took it straight to the upholsterer where he did his magic, covering the chair in a tan/ white all weather trellis fabric.   As luck would have it, I found the coolest vintage wicker canopy bed, also from Craigslist. I spent a week sanding and repainting this monster. I did a lead test kit because there was some question as to whether it was manufactured before or after 1978 and then I painted the whole thing with my pregnant a** sitting in the tall grass. At one point I thought to myself, “this grass is pretty tall and our winter has been pretty mild, I hope there are no snakes”. And then after the painting was done when my husband was helping me move said bed, his face turned pale and he said for me and Cici to get inside immediately. Ben doesn’t get worked up about much so I knew there was either a dead body or live snakes under the bed we were moving. It happened to be the latter. Oh well, several dead snakes later, the bed was fully painted and put up in her room.

(Craigslist pic of awesome canopy bed! I could see the potential.)

To round out the room, I used a great antique vanity that my mom had found at Eastbrook Flea Market (shout out to the ‘Gump) in my hometown. Eastbrook is a treasure trove in Montgomery, Alabama and you must hit it up if you happen to be in the area. Hint : Skip the entire main floor of Eastbrook. It sucks. Crappy hot pink and black painted French Provincial pieces and your grandmothers antique washstands are what you will find on the main floor. Head downstairs to where the rent is cheaper and the good “junk” can be found.  I finished out the vanity with a vintage Drexel chair that had the original vintage Waverly ikat fabric on it from the late 1960′s. Chair was an estate sale find about 2 years ago.

Now for the rug. While conjuring up the design scheme in my head, I absolutely had to have a Madeline Weinrib pink chevron rug. There was no swaying this pregnant lady on what I wanted. Unfortunately for me, my husband controls our bank account and there was no way he was paying for a Weinrib pink chevron. So my wheels started turning. I decided to purchase an ikea rug and paint it (with Cici's help) and it turned out beautifully. There is a full tutorial here if you would like to try something similar for your home. I adore her girly, fanciful and stylish room and it makes me even happier to know that my client is thrilled with the finished product :)

Now, on to my sweet sweet baby boys room... Banks' is his name and he came into our world 9 months ago and completely stole our hearts! His room is so incredibly soothing to me. If you have been following me for a while, you will recognize the crib and glider from Cici's newborn nursery. Since we were keeping the main pieces, I had to find a paint that would make the slightly ornate furniture more masculine. We settled on Delicate Mist by Behr and I absolutely love it.  The piece of furniture in his room that I will always love most of all is the Serena and Lily slipcovered Hayes glider. I nursed Cici for 15 months and Banks for 9 months so far in that chair,  so we've definitely gotten our use out of this purchase. It was one of the more expensive pieces in both their rooms, but I love how the cover is washable and the chair is just about the most comfortable chair I have ever sat in. It was definitely worth the money. I couldn't bear to spend the additional for the gliding ottoman for several reasons. Mainly, because you cant use them again in other rooms. I found a $39.99 cube ottoman at Homegoods and had Sew Jesse make me a slipcover to match the white upholstery. I was lucky enough to find a very similar white fabric at Fabric Yard in Carrollton, Texas. The houndstooth pillow is about 7 years old and from the Storehouse "Going Out of Business Sale" in Atlanta. The silhouette pillow is from Homegoods. Mirror was a Craigslist find, but is Horchow. The "Keep Calm and Cowboy Up" print is from Etsy and the Confederate soldier silhouette is from The Unicorn Shop in Montgomery, Alabama. Lamp and tray are Homegoods, and they are resting on a custom Greek key X bench from Again and Again here in the Big D.

Below is a shot of the wall where Mr. Banks' bed is nestled. Before yall go and get fired up about how he will take that cool a** "b" off the wall when he can sit up, I just put it there for staging the pic :) It usually will be on top of his armoire. Ben found the vintage letter when we were in Austin a few months ago. I think it is so cool and masculine! Next to his crib is my favorite wall lamp eva. It is the White Stingray Sconce from Horchow. I found one with a small crack in at at Horchow Finale about 3 months ago and knew I had to use it in his room. The houndstooth pillow is the same one above and the monogrammed pillow is a case from Pottery Barn outlet and I had my sweet friend Meredith Grabham monogram it.  I wish I knew the name of my crib or the name of the store I bought it at. I do remember it was in Canton, Georgia and I ordered it, but thats all I got. I actually think the manufacturer went out of business.  

It always bugged me that I did not have a place for others to sit in Caroline's old nursery, so I made sure to include a comfy chair for a second adult in Banks' room. Some of you know that I saw this chair at Homegoods, passed it up, and then begged and pleaded for y'all to help me find it again. I was so fortunate that one of you had seen it at a different Homegoods store, so I headed over a picked it up. The art work behind the chair is something that Caroline and I made. It is actually a 5 ft by 5.5.ft bulletin board. We covered the inside with vintage Simon and Garfunkel sheet music using Mod Podge and then stenciled my favorite song lyric on it in black. I wish I had room for the whole verse of "The 59th Street Bridge Song", but alas I didn't. The whole verse is " Got no deeds to do, no promises to keep, Im dappled and drowsy and ready to sleep, let the morning time drop all its petals on me, Life I love you, all is groovy". If you graduated with me from Saint James, you may remember that this was the closing of my baccalaureate address. I just love this song. Garden stool is from Homegoods and the rocking horse is vintage from The White Elephant in Dallas. The rug is from Ballards Backroom in Atlanta.   

Love the vingnette below. The changing table is also from Ballards Backroom in Atlanta. I don't miss much about the ATL, but I do miss the Backroom and obviously Lewis and Sheron. If you live near Atlanta, you must go to Ballards Backroom. The Holcomb Bridge location (exit 7B off Ga400 if I remember correctly), is the one to go to. Its majority scratch and dent and usually there are no scratches or dents and the pieces are deeply discounted. They also have an amazing linen section at this location. I did exchange the knobs for some white glass beauties from Anthropologie. Cute rabbit lamp is one that my parents were getting rid of from their beach place. I love the window dressing in this room. The panels are actually twin matelasse bed coverlets that I had trim sewn on to. They make excellent curtains for a nursery because of how thick and opaque they are. The relaxed roman was made by Sew Jesse here in Dallas. If you need anything custom sewn for you, I highly recommend her. You can see some of her amazing work on her website.  

I hope you all enjoyed a little peek into two of my favorite rooms. I enjoyed working on these two more than any others in my career, because these two clients are my two favorite people in the world!   

Home Sweet Home

Ladies, please accept my sincerest apologies. I am sleep deprived and high on home remodeling chemicals. Fact. So I purchased a house and maybe it just happened to slip my mind to let you in on it. I like to get all of my ducks in a row before I start spouting off pipe dreams. So here is the reason I have not been 100% on top of my blogging game. Just insert a coral door and an antique brass lantern and I can call this place home. 

It is so incredibly cozy. Below you will see the MLS photo of the living room. I suck at capturing before and afters, so thankfully MLS made up for my negligence. I will get better during this process, I promise. 

So what has been done so far? My dad and I buffed the floors at 3:00 am two nights ago. I couldn't bear to live in a house with pecan colored floors. Couldn't do it. Once the floors dry, you will be getting updated pictures of the beautiful walnut finished floors. Let me just tell you, DIY refinished floors are a bitch. Do not let anyone else tell you otherwise. I am not sure my body will ever recover or forgive me. In addition, all of the painting has been done. Disclaimer: this is not the color in this space. Uhhhh no. 

How about a little of the pretty? This fixture will reside in my hallway but obviously not as is. Can I leave anything alone? Seriously. A little rub and buff and metallic gold spray paint to cover the chrome base. 

The new antique brass chandelier to go over my breakfast nook area. Yes. Breakfast nook area. I have one. 

Annnnndddd the true kicker and big finale to this post, the runner. I am finally fulfilling my dream in life. A leopard runner. Insert the bottom left hue of the leopard pattern and there you have it. 

I have been burning the midnight oil the past 72 hours. Today? I am giving my body a break and going to get caught up on work. Like my design aunt Linda with My Crafty Home Life said, I am now part of the house poor club. At least it will be due to a fabulously stylish home. So many ideas and projects are floating around and I will be sure to keep you updated through every single project. Promise. XOXO

Happy President's Day!

Here we are. The day for el presidente. I hope you all are off of work today and not up yet reading this post. I am going to keep it short and sweet today as I am thoroughly exhausted. I have yet to share with you all that I purchased a house and it has been preoccupying 100% of my time. I promise I will share each and every last detail with you all. Cross my heart. For now, know that I am blemished with paint, stain and polyurethane. The glamorous life. For today, I leave you with an iconic picture of a beloved President, JFK.

Breakfast at Yurmans

Let's get presidential. 

George Washington Pillow/Bust/Abe Pop Art

Flower's aren't just for your Grandmama

Flowers. They really aren't just for your grandmama. Just check me out over at The Girls of Lincoln Park proving just this. I wouldn't lie to you and neither would these lovely ladies. Go check it out!

A romantic master bedroom retreat

Well, its Friday baby. Thank. The. Lord. Amirite? Today I am sharing the master bedroom design for a client of mine. The client just so happens to be an entrepreneur of her own and is the co-owner of a fabulous online shop, Tadpole and Lily. If you don't know about it, I suggest you make yourself acquainted. Anyways, my adorable client wanted to revamp her master bedroom into a romantic retreat for herself and the hubs. She loves tufting, soft color palettes and glam elements. To avoid being too girly or frou frou, I decided to add in some more clean lined and masculine pieces. What do you think?

Here is the seating area for the room. As you can tell, the ceiling will be covered in this amazing floral, neutral palette wallpaper. I mean I am jealous at this point. Thinking I might invite myself to move in. 

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. I will miss you like a Paleo dieter misses whole grains and dairy. Loves! XOXO

Feel the love. Aestate Giveaway!

It is Valentine's Day and the lovely Jessica from the Aestate decided to break the hiatus of giveaways on S+S and show you some love. I told Jessica you all were spoiled but she made me consider otherwise. I am just kidding, y'all. You know I love you and think you deserve the world and back on this day filled with laarrrrrveeee. Cupid is totally going to hit you up with some amazing artwork by way of the Aestate. One very lucky and very loved reader will win their choice of  an 8" x 10" print of their choice from The Aestate Etsy Shop. Oooooh and ahhhhhhh. Just look at the amazing prints you can choose from. 

Zebra

Lips

Skull

To enter:

You MUST be a follower of S+S {if you already are, thanks! If not, just click the little follow button over near the top right column} Visit the Aestate and come back here to comment, leave your email address and let me know what your favorite piece is in Jessica's shop.

For additional entries you can:

• Favorite the Aestate on Etsy
• Like Sadie + Stella on Facebook
• Follow the Aestate on Twitter
• Follow Sadie + Stella on Twitter
• Pin your favorite piece on Pinterest
• Tell your Facebook friends about the giveaway and link to this post
• Blog about the giveaway and link back to this post 
• You can also tweet about the giveaway, mentioning @sadieandstella and link to this post in your tweet!

*Be sure to leave a comment each time you do one of the above! 

This giveaway ends Thursday February 21st, at midnight. Good luck!

Favorite Room Feature: AStoried Style

Hello dahhhlings. Today we have an incredibly special guest who is not afraid of some major color and pattern up in her space. Chaaa-ching. You know I am always bout it bout it. I came across Grace's blog, AStoriedStyle after performing some search on the interwebs for "Designer's Guild Orangerie fabric" and up popped the most amazing space. Lucky for you, it just so happens to be Grace's favorite space that she is going to share with you today. Get ready for it. 

Hello everyone, my name is Grace Mitchell, and I blog daily at AStoriedStyle , my home design/DIY blog. I live in Fort Worth, Texas with my hubby and four little ones. I own and operate an interior design business, sell vintage furniture, and love to work on renovating my historical 1921 home. Thank you so much to Lindsay for allowing me to be here today! When Lindsay asked me to do the Favorite Room feature, I had a hard time choosing! After some pondering, I chose a room I believe can be very tricky in a home - the multi-purpose room. You know, the home office/guest bedroom/storage room. The room where the same stuff has been sitting for like two years. Oh wait, am I the only one that has this issue? Sabrina Gebhardt, my sweet client, who I had worked with before, (see her lovely transformations here and here), asked me to turn her self-deemed "hot mess of a room" into a functional home office and guest bedroom. She is a busy photographer and mother of two (shameless plug - check out her lovely work here!) and desperately needed a room to work in that was beautiful and inspiring. Not to mention a room that would be warm and inviting for guests. Sabrina loves color, so I knew immediately what I wanted the inspiration fabric to be! Get ready to swoon. Designer's Guild "Orangerie Rose". I had been dying to use it for years, and I was sure she would love it! After scoring a few yards for a mega steal on Ebay, and basing my room design on the fabric, I presented her with this inspiration board.

She was thrilled, and we moved forward. By plowing through Craigslist, scoring some estate sale finds, repurposing items, and utilizing reliable Ebay sellers, Sabrina's home office/guest room was created. I love how bright and happy it feels, yet soothing. The freshness of the colors and the simplicity of the design came together so beautifully, and I am so excited to show you. Therefore, without further adieu, welcome to the Gebhardt's home office/guest room. This photo is one of my favorites of the space. I love how you get this little sneak peek of the room from the hallway, and it draws you in.

The gorgeous campaign dresser is a Scout Design Studio find, and we painted it in Rustoleum’s Safety Red, a high gloss orangey-red hue. One of Sabrina’s main storage requests was somewhere to put all of her kraft paper boxes she uses for presentation of her client’s photos. This long but narrow depth dresser fit the bill perfectly. How can you go wrong with inset brass hardware? The dresser was styled with sentimental wine corks, books, and some pretty water and glasses for guests to feel right at home. In each room I design, I try to incorporate an original idea to keep the space feeling unique and innovative. My favorite feature of this room, besides the fabric, is this interchangeable art/photography wall. Using vintage frames Sabrina already owned, plus a few purchased from a local salvage store, we fashioned this interesting collection by nailing large metal bulldog clips into the center of each frame. It is so easy to alter the photos and artwork as desired, and gives you a ton of impact on a budget. How awesome are these vintage bamboo chairs? They are a Gypsy Soul Interiors find, and we had the seats upholstered in the Orangerie fabric. I am so so happy with how they turned out. The green and white flocked trellis pillow is from Etsy. The vintage round ottoman was a CraigsList purchase. Since the best place for the bed (opposite the door) was in front of the pretty windows, I didn’t want to cover too much sunshine. Therefore, I searched for an iron bed until I found this one (originally from Pottery Barn) at an estate sale for $150. We sprayed it in Rustoleum’s John Deere Green - I love this green and also used it in this room makeover. (Do you spot a little cutie in footed pj's?) The bench at the end of the bed looked like this before. Snooze. Using some not-being-used-by-me-anymore World Market gray velvet curtains I had edged in white linen, we had it reupholstered and tufted. I always knew I had a little Maria Von Trapp in me! The beautiful Orangerie fabric was used for long pillows for the bed and a bolster for the bench. Yellow silk fabric was used for piping. Are you loving the rug as much as I am?! There is nothing like an old rug to bring a wonderful sense of age and character to a space. Found on Ebay from this seller whom I have used many a time and highly recommend, it really aids in giving the room a collected vibe. Sabrina had previously purchased this curvy shaped Ethan Allen chair for a great price off of CraigsList, and we had it reupholstered in this crisscross gray fabric (“Hector” from Cutting Corners). The pillow is another Etsy find. (Pillows from Etsy are the greatest!) Little details are really what make a room feel special. Like pretty trim on lampshades. And curtains. For printer and office supply storage, this bamboo shelving unit was purchased off of CraigsList and painted. I love to make useful items display nicely so they can be out and easily within reach. The desk turned out so great! Another CraigsList find, we painted it in Benjamin Moore’s Wedgewood Gray reduced 50% and added the dainty brass knobs. The corkboard was purchased at Home Goods, and Sabrina painted the frame gold, and added the chevron fabric (Premier Prints) and red trim. Light, bright, and beautiful! Is there anything better than having a stunning AND functional space? Thank you so much for reading - I hope to see you over at AStoriedStyle.com! And thank you again to sweet Lindsay for having me!

** Special thanks to Sabrina Gebhardt Photography for all of the amazing images in this post.**

What's been up

My dear darlings. I know you love a glimpse into my daily life, so that is what you shall get. Here was my week, last week. Coffee with one of my besties with my Valentine's Day mani inspired by THE foxy Holly at Glamourmash. I admitted it to her and I will admit it to you. It took me a solid 32 times to cut the heart exactly right. Maybe I am not so crafty after all. 

Finally received my antelope carpet samples from Myers Carpet. I am having a ginormous runner (try 24 feet) installed in a client's home and with the remnants of that, a large rug will be made for little ol' me. 

So I have decided that my bedroom is getting a makeover and all inspired by this pillow that I snatched up off of Etsy. Lots of pattern mixing and such will be happening. Rest assured. 

These lamps will be residing in the same space. I had to have the perfect chartreuse hue to go with that fabulous pillow. How could I have it any other way? For those of you interested, the color is Valspar New Avocado.

This is the bedding I have selected for the space. Although I adore white bedding, I am so over the constant maintenance of it. My dogs have destroyed it with their itty bitty paws. Even though this bedding has a white background, I am certain that the subtle pink pattern will distract the eye from puppy paws damage. 

Jacquard Leaf Duvet

Out with the old, and in with the new. These consoles are going to be used as my nightstands. Super glam glam (thank you Martin Lawrence Bullard). 

Mirrored Console

A little DIY I threw together this week. I had a piece of coral that I got in the Outer Banks last year that I had to use somewhere. I decided why not frame it in a shadow box with some gorgeous fabric? Done and done. Super easy DIY aside from me having to cut part of the bottom of the sea fan to fit into the frame. Let me tell ya, they don't make the sea fare strong for nothing. Had to drill through that baby. 

A close up for Mr. Demille. 

This is what the girls have been up to. Guard dogging. This will forever be their favorite spot. Tenacious Duo, I tell you. 

Aaaaannnnddd lastly but certainly not least, this is what is happening in the CVS parking lot. On my way out from picking up the essentials, Hot Buns and fake eyelashes, I spotted this gem and knew it would be criminal to not share it with the world. I mean, dead or alive here folks? She was out cold. I have decided that from now on I will be sharing a funny picture from my week with you all. Why not, I say?