When we staged the house to sell last year I styled it to be more pulled back, reserved, have more mass appeal and be more neutral, and as I’ve said before I secretly liked it the best this way. For someone who previously loved STUFF and COLOR why exactly did I like it so much? What made it feel so good to me? Here’s the answer….  because it’s neutral and calm, but with a lot of warmth, comfort, style, pattern and color. Isn’t that kinda what we all want in life??

Eight months ago we created this post/gif, with tips to getting this look/feel, and I realized I never finished or published it (probably because I felt you had all seen it so much). So here is today’s ‘Drafts we never published’:

Start with neutral furniture. Now, I will admit that some of these pieces of furniture or rug aren’t EXACTLY basic :). Sure they are neutral in tone and gender, but all of them are pretty special (see resources below). But the tips apply to any room that just has neutral pieces of furniture and you can’t go wrong with gray, wood and leather. If you are someone who never wants to change out furniture, then go simple and neutral (like the above) but know that you can definitely layer on style and color and change it out often.

Next choose a couple ‘accent colors’. An all white/neutral living room can be stunning, but one with layered on tones is what I feel is more inviting. In this case that blue and blush (note: that blue was indigo before it was faded by the sun). I like choosing colors on the opposite side of the color wheel to keep it balanced. My go-to combo used to be teal and hot pink and now it’s indigo and blush (SO DIFFERENT YOU GUYS… but seriously I guess it is). Update: I’m pretty into swedish/french gray/blues right now … and yet navy never leaves my life, and nude and blush are still in my house, but far less.

Now comes the part that looks easy but I’ll be honest with you, it can be pretty time consuming – combining the pillows and throws. I knew that for staging to sell a ton of ‘accessories’ wouldn’t be a great idea, but that a lot of pillows and throws makes any space feel inviting. But the right combination can be hard to master – Just remember to mix different sizes, shapes, textures, patterns and styles in the same color palette. A good formula is big (24×24), medium (20×20), and smaller rectangle (16×20) in the same corner (you can do 22×22, 16×16, and 12×16, too if your sofa is smaller). Put smaller patterns near larger ones, and break them up with solids or just a texture to keep it from getting too busy (see below to see details of the pillows).

Lastly as aforementioned, keep table surfaces simple – books, and flowers.

If you want to look super cool you can leave the magazine open to the feature of your own living room. (It was for staging and you bet I left all those magazines open around the house:)) Here’s the same shot without the copy if you want to pin that sucker.

In case you haven’t properly feasted your eyes on that room and miss it like I do, here are some more photos with some additional tips.

What you can’t tell above is that some of the pillows were splurges and some Target. The pillow on that chair was Rebecca Atwood which is high end and while Brian would be like ‘what’s so special?’ even in this shot you can get a sense of the hand stamping through the color and inconsistencies of the pattern. On the bench is a vintage (fringe), two Target pillows and a simple linen pillow that wasn’t particularly expensive.

You’ll notice that the two pinks don’t match at all. It’s totally fine. They all feel very tonal and calm. Had one of them been hot pink it would have been jarring, but they are both calm and the fact that they aren’t an exact solid pantone color is a good thing. You don’t want to look like you tried THAT hard.

I really, really tried to channel what I loved about this last living room and bring it into our new one, but I already failed….. well, not really a fail. I don’t think that our kids can handle anything but a medium to dark sofa right now, so this gray one probably wouldn’t have withstood the flubber, play-doh, banana and well even more disgusting stains that this one didn’t have to endure (since in our current house the living room gets full use where this one was definitely more of ‘the living room’). And I have tried for 8 months now to find a 12×15 vintage Persian style rug in the blue/gray that isn’t $14k, is also beautiful (and can beat out our heriz, which I love) and hides mess. My friends/family/team are all so sick of me saying I want a neutral rug (do you like how I consider blue neutral?) and it’s because I want the feeling of this room, in our new house. It just feels so fresh, big, airy and yet has style.

Anyway, I’m not saying I don’t love my living room, because I do (stay tuned for the reveal!) but someday when I find that 12×15 blue/gray rug that is still kid friendly and under $5k everyone will see what I mean….

If you want to watch a fun gif (set to music) about this living room here you go:

Of course we reposted the get the look with all the items in the room if you are into it. Happy Friday, folks. xx

1. Couch | 2. Brass Chandelier | 3. Coffee Table | 4. Rug | 5. Leather Pouf | 6. Wood Accent Chair | 7. Leather Accent Chair | 8. Side Table | 9. White Lamp | 10. Woven Tray | 11. Turquoise Vase | 12. Coral Stripe Pillow | 13. Green and Gray Pillow | 14. Striped Fringe Throw | 15. Blue Strip Throw | 16. Dash Pillow | 17. Cream Euro Pillow | 18. Blush Pillow | 19. White Handled Vase | 20. Pink Ceramic Vase | 21. Striped Bell with Beads | 22. Moon Phase Bell | 23. Painted Eye Bell

For more reveals from Emily’s Glendale Home: Full House Tour | Family Room & Kitchen Styled to Sell | Elliot’s Room Styled to Sell | Charlie’s Room Styled to Sell | Living Room Styled to Sell | New Master Bedroom Styled to Sell | Office | Guest Bathroom | Master Bedroom | Elliot’s Blush & Green Nursery | Master Bathroom | Charlie’s Circus Themed Nursery | New Guest Bedroom Bed | Good Housekeeping House Tour | Guest Bedroom | Closet

Every family home deserves its own bio-pic, its own biography, its own dramatic memoir, or lifetime achievement award, so this post IS IT. As you all know we sold our first house a couple of months ago, and while I had posted about it 147 times over the last 3 years I wanted to have one big post that documented every single room (or at least linked to everything).

As a mini recap – this house was built in 1964 and when we bought it (3 years ago) it was in pretty darn terrible condition – gross “original” carpet, outdated everything and a lot of painted brown ceilings. It had potential and we fell in love. We knew it wasn’t going to be our forever home, but I loved it so much.

So, let’s go room by room and show you how we transformed the whole house over the 3 years that we lived there.

First up – the living room:

Despite how ugly it is here, when we walked in we only saw potential – the light, space and openness were inarguable.

Eight months later we shot it for Domino Magazine (3 years ago) See the full renovation post HERE:

That was a great deadline to get things done (Domino post here).

Then after Charlie started crawling we wanted to make it more inviting and kid-friendly, so we restyled it, as you can see here with LOTS of soft surfaces:

Then a year later we brought down the bright color and shot it in a more tonal way for Good Housekeeping magazine (I was also pregnant with Elliot at the time):

See that full tour here.

Then over the next year or so we rearranged things differently and shot it every time (as you do):

That photo makes my eyes go glassy every time. It wasn’t set up, we were shooting another room when Tessa caught it with her camera. Charlie is holding his ‘Ah ah’ (blanky with monkey ears) still in diapers, kissing his baby sister in my tummy. Simpler times, full of such happiness.

Then as we went to sell it, we styled it like this (which might have been my favorite, despite it being the least nutty – or maybe precisely because of that).

Onto the dining room. The before was fairly depressing but honestly this room has always been tricky. Despite it being open to the rest of the house it is narrow and proved very hard to shoot.

For Domino we styled it like this:

WAY too much going on. For Styled (The Book) we styled it like so:

Still totally kookie.

And a year later I finally found how it really should look – like this (which was for the Good Housekeeping Shoot):

We even did a pretty darn beautiful easter brunch shoot there (when Elliot was 6 weeks old!):

See that full brunch here.

To stage it to sell, we simplified everything and brought in a plant to add some life to that corner of the house:

Onto the kitchen:

When we bought it we really couldn’t afford a full gut so we painted, replaced the countertops/sink/faucet/appliances and added a backsplash. At first we tried to just refinish the cabinets:

I wish that had worked because I love real wood cabinets (and how ironic is it that now I really wish I had those stools for our new place???)

The bottoms looked ok for a while, but the tops were thrashed because they weren’t real wood and the veneer didn’t fair well with the refinishing. LOOK AT LITTLE 6 MONTH OLD CHARLIE I’M GOING TO CRY SO HARD RIGHT NOW.

We shot it for STYLED next:

And then for Good Housekeeping we painted the bottoms Hague Blue by Farrow and Ball (a year after the first shoot).

Tessa shot it differently which I love and it shows how bright and happy that space was:

The memories. The insanely good, happy, first-home-starting-a-family-memories.

Lastly here is how we styled it to sell:

Simple and clean. I miss that kitchen despite how much I love our new one.

On to the family room:

This room was the most challenging for sure. It took 3 years to really feel good about it, but we shot it a few different ways before that. The first was not meant to be any sort of portfolio piece or reveal – just a ‘how we are living in this room while I’m nursing’ update (thus the white sofa C table – which proved so functional although not the most beautiful).

We shot it for Domino like this (although I didn’t really love the way it was styled out in this pic):

For the book it was styled like this:

Better but still not awesome.

Meanwhile Good Housekeeping shot the other side like this:

Hilariously our kids were way to young to sit on those chairs so we just borrowed them for the shoot. I finally liked it when we styled it to sell. It looked SOOO good compared to before!

See full post here.

Now the master bedroom:

It used to have disgusting carpet, painted beams, and just general grossness when we moved in. Six months later we shot it for Domino:

Then I reminded you that the whole ‘wallpaper in a hot room on one wall was a terrible idea‘ thing when it started to peel up on all the seams:

Then I actually tried to make it a pretty room when we made the custom bed, hung art, sconces and brought in the white shag rug:

Full post here.

Then we toned it down for staging:

The master bathroom was a real renovation story with everything original and “vintage” but such garbage:

Then we renovated it – see full makeover here (this was the renovation that got the most negative feedback by the way, which I understand but thought it was interesting to point out).

Charlie’s room was another bedroom that was less than lovely when we moved in:

First we shot it for Domino:

Then for Styled, the book:

Then Fit Pregnancy shot it:

Nine month old Charlie is so adorable!!! But, not my favorite photo of me (also please note the coffee stain on the floor that was meant to be photoshopped out!)

For staging we took away the ‘baby’ and made it feel a bit more like a big kid’s room:

See full post here.

Up next is Elliot’s room – probably my favorite transformation ever. Here is the before:

At first it was just a simple guest room, that we didn’t over style or do too much to.

Then we redesigned it for Dutch Boy:

Full tour here.

And then when my baby girl came I created my favorite room ever:

For the staging we decided to make it a guest room, but the wallpaper still totally worked:

Full post here.

The guest bathroom took FOREVER to redo. I just couldn’t pull the trigger because renovating is so disruptive to the kids napping schedule. But we finally did it- BECAUSE IT LOOKED LIKE THIS FOR WAY TOO LONG:

And after a 2 month renovation, this was the result:

See full tour HERE.

The guest suite might be the biggest transformation (I know I keep saying that with each room). It started even worse than this but this gives you a general ideal of the disgustingness.

We made it livable here:

Then we shot it for a sponsored post here with Leesa:

We changed things around a bit for this post with Parachute:

Then we shot it again for an update post:

Then we shot it for Framebridge here:

This is another room that wasn’t its best until we styled it to sell:

Such a great room (with a bathroom – which was the real reason we had so many offers on the house – everyone needs a separate bedroom/bath for either work or relatives these days).

On to the exterior deck area:

The before deck was fine, but needed a facelift like the rest of the house.

We shot/styled it for Domino like this:

It’s a bit cuckoo and boho but it gave off a fun vibe.

Then I redid it for a Target makeover:

The next year we refinished the deck for Wood Naturally:

Then of course threw a party for our sponsor, Black Box:

Lastly, the exterior redo – the biggest and most expensive of them all. Here was the before:

The process was long, expensive and brutal:

But worth it:

Read about the whole process HERE.

As you can imagine the whole ‘reliving your first home’ thing is hard but happy for me. We had 3 really amazing years in that house and while our family has changed, grown and moved on from it, I’m SO grateful that we have 1 trillion photos of us in these rooms to document these happy young years of our family.

Four days after moving in we took these (weird) photos:

Then we had Charlie (a day after those photos) – only two months old here, below. STOP THE GROWING AND HERE GO MY TEARS. 

You already saw a bunch of Charlie’s first year here, but then little Elliot joined in:

You may not be crying, understandably, but I am. I remember when adults told us in college that we should enjoy this time because it is the best four years of our lives. I remember distinctively thinking, ‘geez, I hope not’ not because it wasn’t awesome, because it was (I had a wonderful college experience) but because I didn’t want the best four years of my life to be over soon. Well good news. The 7 years after graduation were even better than college and the last 3 years since having a family have been even better. There are times when I look at these photos and I think ‘my God, those were the best years of my life’ but then I remember, that what I’m living right now is actually somehow better. It’s not perfect. We have a million problems – some of which I talk about and some of which I don’t, but regardless – as much as I think that those were the best years of our lives, I know that it’s even better in our new house.

This is the final post about our first home. I loved it so much – WE LOVED IT SO MUCH and wish the new family even more happiness than we felt there – which is A LOT. You have big hearts to fill, and I think you can do it. 🙂

For more reveals from Emily’s Glendale Home: How To Add Style To A Neutral Living Room | Family Room & Kitchen Styled to Sell | Elliot’s Room Styled to Sell | Charlie’s Room Styled to Sell | Living Room Styled to Sell | New Master Bedroom Styled to Sell | Office | Guest Bathroom | Master Bedroom | Elliot’s Blush & Green Nursery | Master Bathroom | Charlie’s Circus Themed Nursery | New Guest Bedroom Bed | Good Housekeeping House Tour | Guest Bedroom | Closet

Well, our first home now belongs to someone else (a VERY lovely family). As you guessed it went really quickly and yes, they bought 80% of the furniture and accessories (very little art or one of a kind accessories that I couldn’t part with). But before we sold it we staged it to sell (and created this video series!!!) which meant for this room, that we really designed it for the very first time.

When we bought it, it looked like this:

We did a lot of updating to it through the years, and even shot it for a few different publications, all styled out.

Here it was in Domino. Geez this looks so dated now.

And here is looking towards the kitchen when it was in Good Housekeeping:

Charlie!!! and little Elliot was in my belly. Simpler days, folks. Simpler days.

And in Styled: 

It was great and looked ok when styled out in pictures but I think the main problem, and why I never loved it, was because of the sectional. It was just too heavy for this small of a space. It was also, so incredibly comfortable and easy to clean. We spent so much time on that beast which is why we always kept it in there.

Turns out it needed a sectional but one of different proportions. Once this exact sectional (borrowed from the lovely ladies of 1000xbetter, although I believe it’s from CB2 and they still sell it) was in there it made so much more sense and the room felt so much better.

It fits perfectly in the corner, keeps the room feeling open and provides almost as much comfortable seating as we had before. Now, our family couldn’t handle a white sectional in our TV room, especially when it’s shared with the kitchen, because we are disgusting animals who shove food in our mouths while watching any sort of garbage TV, but I do love this look so much more. I will say that this sofa is a 6 on the comfort scale – it’s on the firmer side. Although the Article sectional we used in the living room is really, really comfortable (real down) by the way. I was impressed.

Once the sofa was confirmed, I knew exactly how to stage this room so that it highlighted the space and appealed to the widest audience.

1. I kept an open and airy color palette. The sofa and rug make for a neutral backdrop for colorful (but not too colorful) pillows and throws with pattern (but not too much pattern). There are a few big pops (the indigo and the mustard) but mostly they are all pulled from the rug and are quiet and neutral.

We had that Rebecca Atwood piece above the couch commissioned and man, do I love how perfect it looks in this room (we had it custom framed by Framebridge who did such a good job). It’s the absolute perfect scale for the sofa and that large wall. And once we flanked it by those amazing sconces I stood back and said ‘WHY, OH WHY DIDN’T I DO THAT YEARS AGO?’. The truth is that this room was always a disaster because of the kids. The cats ruined our huge pouf, but the kids loved it too much for us to replace it. The sofa was always covered in yogurt (fun fact, I’ve now come to spot clean my furniture much more often and it’s shocking how great it works – turns out I was just super lazy before). I think I just felt like “why invest in this room because it’s just going to look like we were robbed every day anyway?”

Seeing it like this just makes me finally feel proud of it.

Meanwhile on the other side of the room …

This side of the room was previously riddled with toys as it was their play area. Our Saarinen coffee table was their play table and play dough was typically smashed into all surfaces and crevices at any given time. We got rid of all signs of kid when we staged it, and it’s shocking how it instantly became a real room again. We brought over our white credenza to the new house, thinking that we needed it – only to bring it back and sell it to the new owners, ha! We borrowed this piece from the 1000xbetter staging company in the interim (although it’s from West Elm). It was nice that it was a smaller scale, but I loved the white piece back here a lot (I don’t think I ever shot it in there, sorry!).

As you know this space is shared with the kitchen and it is ALSO our TV room. We didn’t do much to the kitchen, beyond touching up all the paint, and recaulking the backsplash at the seams. The kitchen was redone only done 2 years ago and it’s held up pretty nicely.

Before you think – my god that TV is up high, you should know that it usually lives 18″ lower. Such a boring story but we had already moved the tv to the other house, and the day we shot the video we were like – gah! we need a TV to fill that spot! The TV down in the guest suite was brought up, but the brackets didn’t match so we essentially just rested it on the bracket rather than totally mounting it to the wall – thus leaving the TV way higher than it was when we lived there.

I forced Tessa to take some pulled back more real estate shots and she complied. I love, love, love being able to see the whole space and while I know that this shot would never be in a magazine I think I’m not alone when I say I appreciate how full of information it is.

That Rejuvenation rug is great by the way. If you are in the market for a neutral that still has some color, it’s a very good one. We sold our framed vintage car photos (framed via Framebridge) to the new owners – but I thought they looked great in this space.

Man, I have such amazing memories there. Such a happy kitchen that definitely felt like ‘me’.

And here’s the second video we put together with Curbed, all about decluttering a room to make it more appealing to potential buyers:

https://www.facebook.com/emilyhendersondesign/videos/1317192438330682/

That’s how we did it. If you are interested in any of the specific items you see in the pics we have pulled together a “get the look” for you below.

1. Sconce | 2. Custom Art (framed by Framebridge in Irvine frame) | 3. End Table | 4. Sofa | 5. White Pillow | 6. Blue Patterned Pillow | 7. Blush Tie Dye Pillow | 8. Blue Striped Throw | 9. Rug | 10. Vintage Art (Framed by Framebridge in Mercer Frame) | 11. Blue Roman Shade | 12. Blue Sham (vintage) | 13. Crackle Print Pillow | 14. Textured Knot Pillow | 15. Blue & White Stripe Pillow | 16. Table Lamp | 17. Mirror | 18. Credenza | 19. Navy Cross Stitch Pillow | 20. Blue Knit Pillow | 21. Fringe Throw | 22. Yellow Round Pillow | 23. Ceramic Bowl | 24. Urchin Box | 25. Cowhide Rug | 26. Woven Basket

But wait, there’s more. One of my biggest style tips is to keep a consistent color palette, so here’s one more quick ‘Style School’ about how to pull together a color palette based on an item in your space:

Let us know if you have any questions below. Check out how we staged the master bedroom, Elliot’s room, charlie’s room and living room, too.

***After Photos by Tessa Neustadt 

For more reveals from Emily’s Glendale Home: How To Add Style To A Neutral Living Room | Full House Tour | Elliot’s Room Styled to Sell | Charlie’s Room Styled to Sell | Living Room Styled to Sell | New Master Bedroom Styled to Sell | Office | Guest Bathroom | Master Bedroom | Elliot’s Blush & Green Nursery | Master Bathroom | Charlie’s Circus Themed Nursery | New Guest Bedroom Bed | Good Housekeeping House Tour | Guest Bedroom | Closet

When we put our house on the market we received advice about how to stage to sell. I wasn’t so much interested in whether or not that vase was too stylish for the coffee table, but more what are the big red flags with the masses. One thing was consistent: we were told emphatically to not have two baby rooms. That made sense as the idea of having two babies at two different stages is horrifying to most people. I get it. I’m well aware that my daily life looks like a backpack full of wrestling cats, and I’m the sucker wearing it, trying to order a cup of hot coffee at a quiet hipster coffee shop. I’m constantly embarrassed of my situation as well as feel like a bad ass that I’m in public despite my situation. We didn’t want our potential buyers to see that as their life. So we turned Elliot’s room into a guest room (Charlie’s room is a bit more ‘baby’ because of the animal wallpaper).

As a reminder, here is what her room looked like before the move. It was my favorite room in our old house:

I will forever remember this room as the one that I snuggled up with infant Elliot and nursed her and cuddled her for hours and hours. This is where we bonded. This is where we had our alone time. I barely remember that time because, well she has grown up so fast, but this room makes me cry because I know that the time was so good.  I will forever be nostalgic of it.

But, it couldn’t stay a baby room so we turned it into a guest room to show future buyers what they could do with the space. I know that you’ll say it was more beautiful as Elliot’s room and you are right. But I think this is a great affordable and easy way to furnish a guest room (to sell or not), so that’s what we did.

Because the wallpaper is a statement piece we kept all the furniture neutral. This was not my time to bring in a tie-dye headboard or some crazy Persian rug. We kept it calm, used neutrals, wood and some black to make sure it felt grounded.

I accented with light pink because, well, even though no baby girl is involved in this space anymore this room longed for a pastel named pink as it paired perfectly with the green in the wallpaper.

We borrowed the tables from 1000xbetter (a local staging company that let us pick from some of their items), but I believe that they bought them from Living Spaces. The rug is Target and simple and white like the original although we brought that one to the new house.

We used symmetry to our favor to make sure that it looked balanced, pulled together and cohesive. If you want a space to look “designed” then symmetry is your friend especially when you have a more graphic element (like the wallpaper) in the room.

We hung the Jane Denton pieces on the wall opposite the bed because they looked so great in here and we didn’t need them in the bedroom anymore. I LOVE them so much in here.

I know that the nursery was gorgeous (in my humble opinion) but I think it transitioned really nicely into this guest room. Stay tuned for a few more style to sell posts (I know that we are late with these but it’s because we have are producing videos with Curbed that had a particular publishing schedule). And here is one of those videos for your viewing pleasure.

https://www.facebook.com/emilyhendersondesign/videos/1306550886061504/

And if you are into the look, here are all the sources for the room:

1. Forest Wallpaper | 2. Headboard | 3. Nightstand | 4. Wooden Mobile | 5. Rug | 6. Innit Chair | 7. White Quilt | 8. Blush Lace Pillow | 9. Blush Linen Bed Set | 10. Bud Vase | 11. Green Throw | 12. Pink Geo Throw | 13. Green and Cream Pillow | 14. Table Lamp | 15. Curtains | 16. Pink X | 17. Pink O | 18. Wood and White Woven Chair | 19. Gold Side Table

And finally, here’s a quick Style School to show you how we styled this room to feel calm, even with that bold wallpaper:

***After Photos by Tessa Neustadt

For more reveals from Emily’s Glendale Home: How To Add Style To A Neutral Living Room | Full House Tour | Family Room & Kitchen Styled to Sell | Charlie’s Room Styled to Sell | Living Room Styled to Sell | New Master Bedroom Styled to Sell | Office | Guest Bathroom | Master Bedroom | Elliot’s Blush & Green Nursery | Master Bathroom | Charlie’s Circus Themed Nursery | New Guest Bedroom Bed | Good Housekeeping House Tour | Guest Bedroom | Closet

Charlie’s room is now a big kids room. And I am now a puddle of ‘mom’. We are moved out of that house, but I am still writing the content, memories flooding in of how wonderful those years were with that wallpaper. Charlie misses it and it motivates me to make his room in our new house super special, too. If you are on the fence about having a really fun wallpaper for your kids and are worried that it will be too stimulating, I’m here to say it’s not and that they love it. Even kids know when something is special.

For selling we styled this room more for a big kid since we needed to bring the crib over to our new house. Plus we were doing this bedding series with Target that would look so much better on a daybed than a crib, obviously, so we switched things up and man it looks good.

Everything is from the Pillowfort collection from Target. It’s just so gosh darn cute. We put in a daybed to help the room look bigger than a twin bed would have.

If only their toys really looked like that for more than 90 seconds after a shoot. Those little animals can really ruin a room pretty darn quickly.

The video gives the best styling tips, better than I could (even though I did it). Plus I was wrangling four kids tonight, making them a dope fort, which took 45 minutes, for them to spend approximately 6 minutes max inside, pretending that they barely liked it. It’s fine because look how pulled together this room is.

On the other side of the room we took the more real estate photo – pulled back and informational.

I love that little babyletto dresser from Target and can you believe that ladder is from there? I could use a blanket ladder in every room. It’s like a good pair of underwear – solves problems without adding bulk. When you start making underwear analogies you may need to just pull the covers over your tired head and call it a night.

It’s a pretty darn great room. That wallpaper made the rest of the room so easy to design. It had enough negative space that it still felt so bright and happy even though it was a bold paper.

Here’s how you can get that look:

1. Animal Wallpaper | 2. Dresser | 3. Gold Round Lamp | 4. Blue Dash Pillow | 5. Yellow Stripe Tassel Pillow | 6. Multi Color Tassel Pillow | 7. Yellow Striped Pillow | 8. Coral Fringe Pillow | 9. Panda Face Pillow | 10. Circle Knot Pillow | 11. Jane Denton Art | 12. Tassel Canopy | 13. Daybed | 14. Peach Pouf | 15. Rug | 16. Turquoise Sham Set | 17. Pom Pom Comforter Set | 18. Yellow Cactus Sheet Set | 19. Pink Throw | 20. Brass Table Lamp | 21. Blue Throw | 22. Wood Ladder | 23. Pink Swiss Cross Throw 24. Striped Fabric Bin | 25. Polar Bear Rocker | 26. Unicorn Toy | 27. Wooden Robot Toy | 28. Small Bookcase | 29. Pink Flaming Toy

Now the real question is – how am I going to make Charlie’s room 2.0 better than this one?

***Photos by Tessa Neustadt

For more reveals from Emily’s Glendale Home: How To Add Style To A Neutral Living Room | Full House Tour | Family Room & Kitchen Styled to Sell | Elliot’s Room Styled to Sell | Living Room Styled to Sell | New Master Bedroom Styled to Sell | Office | Guest Bathroom | Master Bedroom | Elliot’s Blush & Green Nursery | Master Bathroom | Charlie’s Circus Themed Nursery | New Guest Bedroom Bed | Good Housekeeping House Tour | Guest Bedroom | Closet

As you might know at this point our house is on the market. I’ve decorated it a few different ways over the years – at some points loving it more or less, but never taking advantage of that light and the bright airiness the living room has. It’s a beautiful room with an insane view and so much light all day long. When we moved we needed our sofa, so we had to restyle it to sell. This is the ‘How we styled the living room to sell’ post.

I wanted to show off the light and space, so everything we did was with that goal in mind. Since we moved our sofa to the new house we needed to replace it with something for staging and selling. Around that time Article reached out to say ‘hey, we just finished shooting some sofas in LA for the catalogue, do you want to borrow for the staging and potentially sell it with the house?’ I looked at the sectional in question and said, YES.

Now that this sectional is in here, man this room is prettier and more inviting than ever. It simplified the seating area and is the kind of sofa that goes with so many different styles of houses – so I knew it would appeal to so many different buyers. I was extremely impressed with it and we all commented how it just worked so much better than the awesome leather strapping sofa I had. Of course because this is linen (and not sunbrella like my white sofa was) I wouldn’t have felt as confidant buying it with two toddlers, but seeing it in here really made me think ‘this is what this room wanted the whole time’.

Remember when it looked like this?

One of the major changes was the removal of the tree. Visually I missed it SO MUCH but the pot was rotting, the leaves were dropping sap, ruining furniture, flooring, rugs, etc. (It was healthy and new in that photo). Walking over there was like walking on a fly trap. But it was so big and daunting (and expensive) so figuring out how to best solve the situation was so hard. Ultimately we knew we couldn’t have an open house with the sap. So we gave it away to a friend (after trying to sell it for 1/5 what I paid for it), and did a light refinishing of the flooring around it. At different points it was a GORGEOUS tree, but when it was sick it really caused me more stress than any other thing in my house. And then I would talk about it like that in front of it which I think made it more sick. It wasn’t properly potted in the first place. UGH. I’m so glad it’s gone and off to a better place.

Since my eye knows it was there I miss it, but looking at these photos makes me think – it doesn’t matter, that room is so lovely without it and it really does look so big and airy. We bought a $100 fig tree instead. Done. And yes, I thought about bringing the old tree to my new house, but when my friend Tessa said that she wanted to plant it in her back yard and that she would LOVE to love it properly, I said – maybe that’s just best. Brian grew to hate that tree so maybe it’s just best to move on and cut our losses. It was in three magazines, it did its job for my portfolio. Time to move on.

I was very worried about how to style this room to sell, and yet be full of enough personality to represent me. Brian kept telling me to stop and that it was good enough and I kept joking dramatically, ‘this is my life’s work!’ So I kept all the color and pattern in the textiles, and used a (what I like to think) universally loved color palette of gray, blue, navy, white, wood, with some hints of lighter toned pinks as an accent. I didn’t want it to be boring. I took your advice from my master bedroom staging and decided to leave more style/stuff than I was advised from others. Hopefully I was right. The pillows are a mix of ones that I already owned, vintage fabric I had made (that are available on the flea) and Target (most are linked up below).

I took off the more neutral bench covers along the fireplace and revealed the vintage indigo (that has been brightened from the sun) instead. It added a nice pop of color (and if you are the buyer, of course you can keep both covers).

I brought back that awesome table with the sadly cracked marble top (that you can barely tell). I coudln’t have it with the kids (it was extremely easy to knock over) but it looked amzing here.

One thing that you may or may not notice is that the two sconces up on the second level don’t match. It’s ALWAYS bugged me (in photos, HA). The order came in wrong, but it was right when we were shooting the laundry room post so I just installed it for the shoot. They are so affordable and I should have replaced it, but I didn’t because that sounds like a super boring way to spend time and money, especially since it was already shot. 🙂 In person it didn’t really bother me and most people didn’t notice it (one is gold and one is white, both the same style).

We paired back the shelving (stay tuned for a video/post on that as part of our ‘staging to sell’ series with Curbed). I brought in one of my saddle chairs for the shoot. It looks small here, but looked great in the room. I actually brought that one (and the lamp) home before the open house because I wanted them in this house so bad. We kept the color palette calm, with these pops of teals and blues.

That is the view from the dining room and it’s a REALLY really good one.

Not sure if you guys watched the Facebook live but in it I talked about how everything is for sale to the new buyer, but then retracted almost immediately saying ‘well not that, and not that, and definitely not that’. One person asked what would be the one thing I would save from a fire, and I answered that would be the blimp painting. Most everything else I can buy again or find a version of which I love. I would definitely re-buy those ceramic bells, that pouf (it looks so good in birdie’s room), that throw (which is so expensive but man, it has looked good every place I’ve styled it) and some of the Rebecca Atwood pillows. And that black Jonathan Adler pot (that I got at the flea market for $20!) I’m hoping the new owner wants to buy the sectional, that dresser, the saddle chair (pair … even though they aren’t there right now), the coffee table (I LOVE it but it’s too heavy for us to move for our fort-making in the new house) and the rug – because those pieces don’t have a place in the new house as of right now.

The dining table and chairs also don’t work in the new house size-wise (and since our countertops are marble it would be weird to have marble next to marble) so I’m hoping the new buyer wants to buy that table and chairs, too (If not, you KNOW that I’ll be doing a big instagram sale so stay tuned).

Well, there she is. I’m going to do a big ‘Glendale house Biography’ post, putting all versions of all rooms in one post (with links to them), with all befores/progress and afters so that you can see everything in one post, all together. That’s mostly for my own reference, but I figured you guys might like it, too.

I have to say that I really do love this more than how we had it before. It’s making me question not having a sectional in every room, if possible (we put one in the family room, too and it looks so good). They are just so inviting, cozy and in a way a sectional makes designing the rest of the room easier – just add a club chair and you are good to go. I love the slim arms of this sectional so much, by the way – it maximizes the seat area without it being too bulky.

So here is a get the look for the last and final Glendale home living room. Hopefully the new owners want ‘the look’ so much that it he/she buys it all (except for the things mentioned above :)) WISH US LUCK.

1. Couch | 2. Brass Chandelier | 3. Coffee Table | 4. Rug | 5. Leather Pouf | 6. Wood Accent Chair | 7. Leather Accent Chair | 8. Side Table | 9. White Lamp | 10. Woven Tray | 11. Turquoise Vase | 12. Coral Stripe Pillow | 13. Green and Gray Pillow | 14. Navy Fringe Throw | 15. Blue Strip Throw | 16. Dash Pillow | 17. Cream Euro Pillow | 18. Blush Pillow | 19. White Handled Vase | 20. Pink Ceramic Vase | 21. Striped Bell with Beads | 22. Moon Phase Bell | 23. Painted Eye Bell

Do you like it better than how we had it? Or am I alone in that?

***Update: Due to last weeks executive actions I have decided that 100% of the net profits from The FLEA will be donated to the ACLU until March (or until it’s sold out). Regardless of politics, America is a country founded by immigrants, and our moral standing is in question right now as we are rejecting those in need out of unsubstantiated fear. We, the people, define what being “American” means, and I say it means freedom for all and acceptance of everyone – (yes, with vetting, protocol and proper paperwork). Also I’m taking suggestions on where to donate, if anyone knows any organizations that are better at promoting love and fighting for civil rights, then please leave in the comments.

For more reveals from Emily’s Glendale Home: How To Add Style To A Neutral Living Room | Full House Tour | Family Room & Kitchen Styled to Sell | Elliot’s Room Styled to Sell | Charlie’s Room Styled to Sell | New Master Bedroom Styled to Sell | Office | Guest Bathroom | Master Bedroom | Elliot’s Blush & Green Nursery | Master Bathroom | Charlie’s Circus Themed Nursery | New Guest Bedroom Bed | Good Housekeeping House Tour | Guest Bedroom | Closet

Fun fact – interior designers notoriously have a hard time selling their own homes. You see, they/we think their style, and how they’ve decorated is great for everyone and that they wouldn’t need to change a thing for an open house. But – that is not always the case which is why people hire staging companies. But, hiring a staging company seemed insane for me to do since I have a lot of great pieces myself, and have even more access to great pieces locally, so I thought, surely I can stage my own home to sell, right? We’ve already moved, so what we are staging with is a combination of pieces that won’t work in the new house and new pieces that we either purchased or borrowed for the month. I know that some of our things were too quirky, too personal and frankly too much for most people to really be able to envision their lives in their new home.

Thus we are launching this ‘How We Styled Our House To sell’ series.

My goal is to make the house feel big, airy and beautiful but in a really simple more approachable way. We, like most people, want top dollar for this beauty and so it needs to appeal to as many people as possible.

Let’s start with the bedrooms – today, the master. Previously it looked like this:

And while I loved it, it’s definitely a strong look for most people. I try to take risks with my house because well, my job is a content creator, but we needed to calm this lady down for staging.

Meanwhile I pitched the idea of a bed styling video to Target (per your one million requests) and they supported it, so everything in the new master bedroom besides the rug, and two vintage dressers are new and available both online and in stores from Target.

It’s really beautiful bedding and after styling the room differently, I of course am so desperate to finish our new house (we don’t even have a bed yet). If you want to see this bed (and see two other rooms not yet revealed on the blog) in action watch this video (that I made with Propeller Digital – Brian’s company).

It’s all about how to help your family sleep better, in style (I styled a kid’s bedroom, too).

With out much further ado, here is our newly staged, simplified and yet totally still appealing (hopefully) master bedroom (in a more pulled back real estate type angle).

Man. I’m going to miss it. I like our new one, sure, but this room is magical to wake up to every day. We spent most morning reading with the kids in bed, drinking coffee, looking at the view. It’s just a really, really good one – and will definitely be missed.

We kept the furniture mid-century inspired, but neutral. Then we brought some contrast and pop in with the bedding and lamps. Yes, those lamps are new from Target. So insane. The bed is from Nate’s collection and I just love every single thing on there. The rug is from Rejuvenation (it was in the family room but we moved it up here after having it cleaned – and it will probably come to our new house after we sell this house).

The linen striped duvet is an absolute favorite of mine because it’s just so classic and simple, so it was perfect to mix with the other patterns. For the staging photos we are too pulled back to see the family photos and for the open houses we aren’t going to have them there, obviously. We want people to be able to envision their lives here, not see my kids.

It doesn’t look like we mixed too many patterns or colors but we we kinda did. We kept it in the blue, white, gray, flax, cream world and then played a lot with tonal patterns of different scales and textures. The only one that really pops is the blue diamond sheet set – which is a perfect place to pop in a pattern if you are scared of them normally.

I feel like a broken record but there are so many pieces in the new bedding and home line that we LOVED (and you”ll see the guest room decked out in it, too, next week).

To help it feel big and airy we worked with symmetry – because while it can feel boring sometimes, symmetry always makes a room feel bigger and is so easy on your eye. Those two graphic lamps on those simple nightstands are pretty striking, while being relatively simple.

This house is a 1964 post and beam, so yes, we are embracing the mid-century-ness and not trying to make it all of a sudden traditional, but not going too retro either. I think the person who buys this will want mid-century style so we definitely wanted to make sure to have that vibe.

On the other side of the room we have …

Our two dressers don’t match but are perfectly coordinating (and will be for sale – soon). We got rid of the TV (duh) so you could see the view from all three windows, and reduced the accessories to a simple lamp, tray with a candle, frame and plant.

Now seeing this I kinda wished that I hadn’t kept that pink painting there but in the room it looks so pretty (and we aren’t going to put all of these photos on the MLS, just a few per room to get people to come and view it in person).

Overall we kept it simple and calm, but with enough happening to still look interesting.

What do you think? I have a very strong suspicion that many of you might like the staged bedroom even more than how it was before, but I’d love to hear your opinions. If you are into it, we pulled together this get the look with all the new pieces we brought in:

Bed | Nightstand | Brass Lamp | Rug | Navy Pillowcases | Quilted Sham | Blue Patterned Sheets | Navy Quilt | Brown Decorative Pillow | Gray Striped Duvet | Ivory Decorative Pillow | The Rug | Double Gourd Lamp | Linen Lampshade | Campaign Dresser | Brass Round Mirror | Mid Century Succulent Planter | Wooden Bird | Abstract Art

*My dress was a christmas present to myself that I got at Finn + Willow in Pasadena (I couldn’t find it online but i’ll keep looking and link it up – it is made by Tylho).

For more reveals from Emily’s Glendale Home: How to Add Style to a Neutral Living Room | Full House Tour | Family Room & Kitchen Styled to Sell | Elliot’s Room Styled to Sell | Charlie’s Room Styled to Sell | Living Room Styled to Sell | Office | Guest Bathroom | Master Bedroom | Elliot’s Blush & Green Nursery | Master Bathroom | Charlie’s Circus Themed Nursery | New Guest Bedroom Bed | Good Housekeeping House Tour | Guest Bedroom | Closet

As you know Brian works out of a separate guest/office suite downstairs. It has previously doubled as a storage room for leftover EVERYTHING which makes him surprisingly less bummed than I would be. So we are slowly making it a proper place for him to work out of.

A year ago we emptied out this room and handed it over to him but half of the space still needed to function as a working guest room as we do have his parents come into town every so often for visits. This is how it looked once we divided the spaces and cleaned it out.

I wanted the design to be more traditional/dude than the rest of the house so we had the desk custom built, the walls lime-washed and then it sat in that state for months, as it wasn’t at the top of the priority list.

So when Framebridge reached out and were interested in a sponsored post I figured it was the perfect excuse to infuse the space with some personality and art by custom framing some of my pieces through their services and finally finish it up for him. For those of you not familiar with Framebridge, you should be, we love them and have used them ALL THE TIME in projects where we want fast, affordable and pretty frames that are custom sizes. Ginny framed a lot of her art with Framebridge, Brady framed his two huge living room pieces with Framebridge, and I have art scattered all throughout my house that they have framed. In short they are an online company that custom frames basically anything to your specifications with their huge selection of over 40 styles – which is a game changer as custom framing up to this point has been expensive and intimidating, and these guys have so many good options at a much more affordable price point.

So, lets get into what we did down there to turn the space from neglected to perfected. The desk space really is a working desk space for Brian every single day so we wanted to keep it pretty clear of too much that he didn’t really need access to every single day, but I still wanted it to be interesting and engaging so that when we did have guests over they didn’t feel like they were sharing a space with an empty and uninspiring office area. We had a HUGE wall above the desk that sat empty for way too long as I debated what I wanted to do with it. I offered a bulletin, white or magnet board and he said ‘meh’ to any of them. As a reminder this is what it used to look like:

I had toyed around with the idea of a large gallery wall but that felt too predictable and could look busy, and I also thought of possibly putting one large piece of art there, but that could end up being too expensive and wasn’t the best place for large scale art what with the two library lights we had installed in the space, so then I realized that this was the perfect space for some art ledges. The reason being it would allow Brian/Me to display art, accessories, books on one large surface and easily swap it out to our hearts content – which is perfect for me as I seem to change things up on the daily – like the total design schitzophrenic I am.

Once we had the ledges up on the wall it came time to select art and the even more fun part – the frames and matting for all of them. Like I mentioned earlier,  Framebridge really has changed the game when it comes to custom framing options. They have over 40 styles and can basically frame anything both large and small, digital or original. They also have complimentary design consultation services where if you aren’t quite sure what frame/option may work for your art their trusted professionals can help you select one or all of your frames. This is especially helpful if you are planning a large gallery wall, or have a lot of pieces that you want to feel cohesive. For the frames in this space I wanted an eclectic collection of pieces, colors, and styles so that once it was all installed it felt thoughtful and collected.

One of my favorite aspects of Framebridge is that you really can customize anything to be framed the way that you want. Once you select your art that you want to frame, their site walks you through the process of picking out the frame and specifying exactly how you want it framed. You have the option of either mailing in your pieces which is what we did for the original art, or uploading your digital prints which they will professionally print out for you and then frame. For our space this is what we did: I had a few original photos from my family’s performing days (far left) that I loved the worn edges on, so with that one as well as the original black and white art right below it we went with their simple Mercer Slim Frame and used the float mount option which elevates the art/picture slightly off the matt and slightly below the glass so it essentially floats in between. This is perfect for art or images that have natural edges or with anything that you are wanting to create a slight drop shadow with to add some drama. For the digital prints (like the color one of Brian on his bike) we used a simple white mat and their Bali frame. You may also notice that the picture on the left has a square frame and larger mat than the others. Their online process allows you to customize them any way you want so you can let them know if you want to add extra inches of matt to create a larger overall finished piece or if you want to go with their recommendations. The sky really is the limit and they can customize it to any specifics you have. The process takes about 2 weeks start to finish from the time you select all your frames to the time that they arrive back at your door. It is so easy and customizable, and not one piece we framed was over $139. Once we had it all back it was time to play.

Now there are a few rules when it comes to art ledges.

1.) Select a variety of sizes to keep the collection visually interesting

2.) Use at least 2-3 different styles of frames to keep the collection from feeling generic or store bought. My rule is to frame for the art and not for the space – so when it comes to selecting the frame for the art consider what would look best for the art rather than just throwing all your art in the same style of frames. Framebridge’s design services can also help with this, and can recommend the best combo of matted vs full bleed vs float mounted.

3.) Don’t overcrowd the shelves with art or clutter. Just as you wouldn’t fill every space in a bookshelf when you are styling it out, you will want to leave some breathing room in between art, or on either side of the ledge so that your eye has room to move around and it doesn’t start feeling too heavy.

4.) Have fun with it – the beauty of an art ledge is that you can move things around in different combos as much as you want without damaging your walls or creating holes like you would with a gallery wall install.

The space is essentially divided into two workspaces now. One for Brian with the desktop computer and one for Chandler who works with him/or me if I am down there working. It is so great to finally have this corner of the room finished and another place for me to display some of my favorite art pieces. Speaking of favorite pieces, one of Brian’s only conditions on me redoing this little office area of his is that his “drunk man painting” HAD to be included in the new design/space. We bought this together when we were 22 at a flea market in New York.

We both loved it because he is clearly a jolly drunk dude with a secret and a goose, and that was somehow worthy of someone’s talent, time and effort. I’m so happy that he is finally framed in such a beautiful way and that despite my un-attraction to him that I kept him the last 15 years.

That nook is coming along and that desk is looking mighty fine. A few quick notes to those of you who are style sleuths; 1. that rug was pulled in for the shoot because it’s awesome but no, we don’t have a chair 1/2 on, 1/2 off the rug:) and 2. We need to put the plates our on outlets but haven’t in months because that is a really boring thing to do. Meanwhile those curtains from Loom are great, the desk chairs are from Target ($60!) and we switched out the black sconce shades for the new green ones, which we love.

Brian just loves resting his glasses in a footed dish 🙂

Last but not least we pulled in this credenza (below) to live right under the window because well… there is no such thing as too much storage especially when it comes to an office space with camera equipment. Hidden storage is always a bonus and this piece has plenty of space for Brian to keep all of his videography goods so that he has easy access to it when they have to shoot.

So what do you think? Have we convinced you that art ledges are the new gallery wall? In case you are still on the fence, our lovely friends over at Framebridge have passed along the promo code EMHENDERSON15 to save you 15% on their first Framebridge purchase. The code is valid through 1/31/2017 so head on over and try them out. With the holidays coming up, they are a perfect gift option for that boyfriend, husband, sister, mother, grandma, boss, or stranger that you just can’t seem to find the right gift for as no one EVER has ever said they don’t love getting a picture of someone they love. Here are a few of my favorites to get you started:

1. Irvine Slim | 2. Madrid | 3. Olympia | 4. Chelsea | 5. Bali | 6. Palermo | 7. Marin | 8. Brentwood | 9. Cairo | 10. Seabrook | 11. Mercer Slim | 12. Potomac

***Photography by Tessa Neustadt, Styling by Brady Tolbert for EHD, writing by Me. 

 

The horror that was this bathroom (before renovation) was intense and I was in denial. Sure I knew it was TERRIBLE and apologized to any newcomer that came over, but for a couple years I was unable to really tackle it – emotionally, physically and financially.
Here’s  how it looked when we first moved in:

Why would I let that room exist in my house for 2 1/2 years? We were renovating the house one project at a time and after we had Elliot (our second tiny child) opting to do construction in a bathroom right next to two napping children’s room is a hard trigger to pull. Last spring we finally tackled it. We had it demo’d while we were out of town so that helped with one week of it and this bathroom really only took a month so it wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be.

We started by creating the design plan. I wanted it to feel fresh and clean, with a midcentury vibe and with enough uniqueness to be portfolio worthy, but also work with the style of the house. While I love my master bathroom I made a couple decisions on the design that made it feel too traditional (for the house) so I wanted this one to feel distinctively mid-century inspired modern, without living in a time warp.

We started the process – demo, plumbing updates, drywall repair, flooring prep, bathtub install, tiling, toilet/vanity install, plumbing fixtures finished, paint and decor. DONE.

The floor tile is from Erin Adams and this was what I was waiting for to really pull the trigger on everything else. I love that it’s graphic but still detailed, and has a variety of colors all of which I love. It’s a cement tile which is certainly on trend – see a whole round up of hundreds of cement tiles here. I have a couple updates on cement tile, by the way for you. It has to be REALLY REALLY sealed in order for it not to take on stain or coloring. It’s porous so by nature, yes, it can get discolored. We recently had another client have to reseal their tile as it wasn’t sealed enough the first time and they might even have to replace a couple tiles. My advice – be ok with the aging or don’t go with cement. As we think about our next house I’m thinking about cement tile in the courtyard and while the aging looks bad at first, I’m confidant that once it becomes evenly aged then it will look great and integrious to the house. But if you are looking for something to stay new and shiny forever, skip this type of tile.

I however, don’t mind this aging and I LOVE this tile so very very much. We chose navy blue grout to help hide that dirt (not the case in the master and before we move we are going to have to probably re-grout to give it a fresh look again). I just love this tile, so much so that we didn’t want to put a bathroom rug in here.

The surround tile is from the Chaine Homme pattern from Fireclay and while it’s white on white, it has such a good texture and catches the light so beautifully. The tiles vary a little bit in color and thickness which gives it such good texture and takes it from looking standard to extra special (the pattern doesn’t hurt).  We’ve recently had a couple issues with ‘bright white’ grout looking beige. This is mostly because around the base of the tile, by the tub they want to add grout that has sand in it to make sure it sticks to the cast iron or the vinyl. What we ended up doing is using that then going over it with the white grout. In our master they didn’t use that adhesive sand colored grout and it has cracked at the base. So it’s kind of a lose, lose but not that big of a deal if you just don’t mind either doing a quick re-grout or if you went with beige grout in the first place.

The vanity was found at the flea market about a year ago. It was exactly what I was looking for stylistically and was only 2 inches off (which I didn’t care about). It was a $180 nightstand/dresser and we retrofitted it to be the vanity.

It has storage because both drawers still work, they just cut that square hole for the plumbing. We sealed it with a clear matte sealant that has held up soooo well. I’m sure at some point a toothpaste smudge won’t get cleaned up in time, but I think it would just take a quick wipe down with oil and another sealant. But for now, it looks brand new despite Charlie’s disgusting toddler-teeth-brushing habits.

The vessel on top contrasted in shape, although a square would have worked in this case, too. I love how simple it is and by being a circle it provided slightly more surface area.

I reached out to Rejuvenation about their tub/shower suite because I just think it’s perfect in every way. We ended up getting everything because once you start with one style/finish it is best to keep it consistent. I didn’t with the master because it wasn’t possible as Kohler didn’t sell any sconces that I thought would be right and the different finish doesn’t bother me one bit, but I love how these all match – especially for such a small bathroom that needs to feel as pulled together and big as possible. The finish of the gold gets drip marks on it so I just polished it with Brasso and it got a bit shinier and lighter which I liked, but if you are obsessed with it staying a dark brass, like when its brand-new and unused, you might want to know that. I love how it looks now, even more actually.  It’s a matte brass and just looks and feels so solid. You’ll also notice that beautiful teak and brass tray that I have at the back of the bathtub. I bought it at Garde last year (available online here) and it is currently in the bathroom and it houses as few little accessories and brought in the wood tones, and warmth that I wanted although I can’t promise the longevity of having something like that in the bathroom as it is wood and raw brass. But – with that said, it is a beauty and I love having it in there to house a few products and keep things tidy at the edge of the bathtub.

The leather mirror is perfect as I wanted a different finish than the gold, and not white, and not silver, and there wasn’t any black in there at that point (we painted the handles of the dresser black the day before the shoot). I had a round one there (one that is now in the master bedroom) and while it fit, it was circle overload. I love that this is a rectangle with softer edges and it brings in that caramel leather that I apparently can’t live without in every room, including the bathroom.

For all of you Bathroom P.I.’s out there, you might notice that there isn’t a shower curtain or door. Indeed. Here’s the deal – we think that this bathroom wants a glass door, not just a curtain. But with two tiny children bathing in there, we need full accessibility to them. So our plan was to not put it in until they were older – say 4 and 6 (when can kids bathe themselves without you having panic attacks??). Now that we are selling the house I asked our realtor if that is something that he recommended us installing before we put on the market and he said that we probably wouldn’t recoup that price in the sale. It would cost about $2k for the glass and labor and we aren’t motivated to do it while we live here and doing it for someone else doesn’t seem like a very fun way to spend money. There are way too many other things to fix before we move. We put up a white extendable rod and a curtain for the shoot but it really cheapened the bathroom so I took it down.

We added some art and pretty things to help warm it up a bit. I’m a huge fan of art in the bathroom. These pieces have been floating around my house but the last place the dog landed was up in the shelving too high to really appreciate. So I found some pieces to replace them with that still look good, and these officially live here now. We finished the space off with some pretty soaps, tooth brushes, etc – all editorial style.

We live more like this – ON  A CLEAN DAY.

The stylist in me needs to show you the editorial version, but the reader in me knows that you , know I have kids. The only thing that is missing here is the little potty thing on top of the toilet and a mat for our knees while we are bathing them … and one million toys and tupperware containers.

There you have it – Our guest/kids bathroom. It’s so pretty I hate to use it, but those dirty kids need bathing, and that is what we’ll do in here … until we move and I have to design 3 new bathrooms and potentially build an additional one ….. WHAT?!?
Meanwhile, get this look if you are into it. I can honestly say that I have no regrets. I think because there was no real deadline and I was able to really take my time and make any adjustments along the way – how we do it with our clients.

1. Tolson Toilet Paper Bar | 2. Duravit Toilet & Bowl | 3. Erin Adams Designs Lee Tile | 4. Vintage Midcentury Dresser (similar) | 5. Graydon Sconce | 6. Higgins Mirror | 7. Tolson Double Towel Bar | 8. Tolson Towel Ring | 9. Chaine Homme Tile | 10. Tolson Thermostatic Tub Shower Suite & Shower Head | 11. Mirabelle Tub | 12. Tolson Wall Mount Faucet | 13. Duravit Vessel | 14. Stripe Bath Towels | 15. Wooden Tray | 16. Soap Pump | 17. Ceramic Tray | 18. Teak Step Stool

A huge thanks to Golan for executing in a friendly, timely and high quality manner. If you are in LA and need a contractor I do recommend him (and no, this was not a trade with him …)

**Thanks to all the vendors that gifted or discounted product for this bathroom design and post – check out the get the look for all the links and sources, or comment below if you want to know more. They are all brands and products that I sought out because I genuinely love them. I realize I am extremely lucky and will continue to use the influence of this blog to help fund the product of pro bono projects like this or this.

***Photos by Tessa Neustadt

Check out more posts from my home: Our Master Bathroom – Finally, Our New House – Ask the Audience, Master Bathroom Reveal.

For more reveals from Emily’s Glendale Home: How to Add Style to a Neutral Living Room | Full House Tour | Family Room & Kitchen Styled to Sell | Elliot’s Room Styled to Sell | Charlie’s Room Styled to Sell | Living Room Styled to Sell | New Master Bedroom Styled to Sell | Office | Master Bedroom | Elliot’s Blush & Green Nursery | Master Bathroom | Charlie’s Circus Themed Nursery | New Guest Bedroom Bed | Good Housekeeping House Tour | Guest Bedroom | Closet

It only took 3 years for me to finish our bedroom design. Perfect timing for our move – hilarious, I know. And, when I say “hilarious” I mean, why didn’t I prioritize this sooner? It is probably due to the fact that I’m so busy designing/styling/shooting everyone else’s homes and having two babies of my own to take care of. But, excuses aside… a popular belief is that designer’s homes are perfect. When in reality the more accurate statement would be that people who have hired a designer have perfect homes. Even as I’m now designing our new home (and trying to do it in a way that starts me off on the right foot from the day we move in) I know that it is going to take YEARS to really finish it and along the process good and bad things are going to happen. It is as exciting as it is daunting. The thing with clients is that you get all the information of functional needs and stylistic wants up front when you first meet with them and then you must set aside time every week, 15 – 20 hours to plan and execute a cohesive design plan for them. You not only do all the work, but you provide support to pull triggers which is 1/2 the battle. Once you have pulled the triggers then comes the install, which can so laborious. Do you know how long it takes to measure, pick out, order, and install the right curtains? Hours… 4 hours if you are buying online and 12 – 20 hours if you are doing something custom. Those hours and that time spent are just for curtains in one room!

Back to me: I obviously try to do the same thing for myself and certainly as my job consists of creating content this helps the design process go a bit faster. But, I know that this new house is going to take 3 years to finish it to the point of where I’m proud enough to have it “revealed” much like the last one.

Three years – this is all to say our master bedroom is FINALLY done. Now let’s take a look at what it looked like when we started this process. Here is what it looked like when we first moved in:

When we moved into the house we brought along our tufted blue headboard, which I still love and we used for a while in this house, but it was time for a new one. We also didn’t have quite the right nightstands, dresser, rug, and a few other pieces, but we lived with it because well, life.

A year later it looked like this:

It was good, but I wasn’t totally happy with it. I always hated that I chose to install that custom wallpaper we designed on just one wall. Well, I was until I saw that this had happened – read about the whole thing here. 

In short the wallpaper started peeling up at the seams for unknown reasons and it did not look good. I languished with it like this for a while then committed to properly designing the room. In this process we ditched most of the furniture, and started over with the room like I should have done 3 years ago. Not because you always need to start over to make it right, but because I never really designed it in the first place. I figured before I left I should make this a room that I was proud to photograph and have in my portfolio and not just an “OK” room with good furniture.

We started over by designed the custom bed, which I love and you can read the whole process here. Let me warn you, it was quite the process.

Once we had the bed in there it was time to get it finished and pull it together for all of you to see. So here you are folks, our master bedroom finally finished with only a couple little tiny regrets. GAH I LOVE IT SO VERY, VERY, VERY MUCH.

My goals with the room were to:

1. Do something that is a statement (I have a reputation to protect, after all). So while it would have been easy and totally beautiful to do a simple upholstered and more affordable headboard than the one that is in there, I chose to go balls to the wall headboard and create that custom bed. If you want the full story on it click through here, but the short version is that the amazing marble blue fabric is from Rebecca Atwood and we custom designed the piece for the space.

2. However, I didn’t want an insane bedroom. I still wanted everything to be calm, soft, and the type of environment to support cuddling and the hilarious fantasy of a lot of sleep. So the rest of the room needed to be quieter – with whites, leathers, woods, and no other dominant pattern or anything too bold due to the pattern and boldness of the bed. The bed is the true star of the room, everything else in there need to be the supporting cast.

3. Have it feel cohesive with a house that is Mid-Century inspired in a 2016 (and hopefully) timeless way. By that I mean the colors in our house don’t have to be the same in every room, but there is a consistent theme of clean, fresh, and soft throughout each space with a heavy dose of happiness.

That was the plan for the room, now here is how I implemented it:

The nightstands – These are my spirit nightstands. They are leather and have storage, but were the right size for the room as once we got that huge bed in there as we didn’t have more than 20” on each side of the bed. They are from Made Goods which is to the trade only, but you can purchase them online here. And yes, the reason they have to be so close to the bed is so the door can fully open.

The lights – I originally bought both of these for Elliot’s nursery, but then we only ended up using one, and I realized we rarely even used it. Flash back to when we were pulling this room together and I tried SOOO many lamps. I knew that I needed something with a curvy shape since the bed is so boxy. Then it became quite a challenge to find one that was both big enough for the bed but not too oversized for the nightstand. Anything too tall and skinny felt weird, as did too short and fat. Once I held one of these up above the nightstand and next tot he bed I was like, “UGH … SO PERFECT”. I love the diffused light it gives off, the accessibility of the pull switch on each of them, how it freed up the surface of the nightstand, and the texture of the paper shade is quiet but still interesting. I LOVE these sconces – classic Mid-Century.

Wait, I almost forgot about the other lamps on the opposite side of the room. I’ve been a fan of these lamps forever for one solid reason – they have a round shape in a non-boring finish and a non-generic gourd shape. I can’t tell you how hard it is to find a simple lamp, with a rounded shape that does something interesting. The glass and wood combo is pretty and that blue shade… YES.

The bench –  When I first posted about our new bed I said, “it’s been hard to find the perfect bench” and lo and behold Katy Skelton reached out and said, “lady, I got your bench.” She sent through a photo of the bench and I said, “Dear God you are right.” It’s super simple (anything with tufting would look too busy) and is the just the right scale. It’s not too chunky, but not too dinky to hold it’s weight against that bed. The only downside is that since we are moving and I’m not sure where it would go in the new house, I decided not to splurge on it (it retails for $2, 000). Now, in case you are thinking that 2K is a lot for a bench, it is if it were mass manufactured by a large factory and distributed by a large company, etc. But, she designs and makes these benches and all of her items in New York, and that cushion was so soft, the fabric so high quality and the base so refined. I’m sure there will be some cheaper knock-offs happening starting … tomorrow…for good and bad. But Katy, this simple design is too good and cannot be replicated. My friend Scott wanted to buy it for a project he was working on, so I shot it in the room, thought about it for a week or two, obsessed over it, then ultimately decided that he could buy it for his project. The only reason being that I had promised myself that I wouldn’t buy anything right now that doesn’t have a perfect spot in the new house. And I was also afraid that my cats would claw it to it’s ugly/beautiful death. Anyway, if you are in the market, I highly recommend this beauty. It comes in a few different fabric and leather colors and is stunning in person.

The dressers – both are vintage and have been refinished/lacquered. I love these, although in the new house I kinda wanted to go in a different direction … something more wood and soft. But I do love how these make the room feel bigger and how they work together but aren’t all matchy.

The window treatments – We worked with Decorview on the window treatments when we first moved in and they are still awesome. We did a combination of roman shades and then on those triangle transom windows we used this double sided honey comb shade to keep the light out.

The bedding – I rotate the bedding often, but typically stick to blush or white with some extra texture here and there. I love these blush sheets from Target that are on it now and then the quilt, which is from Parachute. I normally have a duvet on there which looks great, but the texture of this quilt won out when I went to style it. Also, in case you are wondering those pillows were in Elliot’s room and while I really tried not to steal things from other rooms, they just look so darn good in here. Round pillows are underrated and I think that they are probably about to start flooding the market (we are having some made right now), despite the fact that they cost a lot more to produce.

Accessories – I kept it pared back with a couple trays (those nightstands can’t handle my nighttime water addiction without a tray or coasters).

The curtains for the closet – We made those from a pretty vintage bedspread I bought in Spain that I had cut and split into two panels (so the fringe goes down the middle as well as the bottom). In my mind it looked a lot cooler than it actually does in person, but I still like it in person enough to keep it there. The closet originally had a pocket door that couldn’t be repaired without a bunch of custom work which sounded like a really boring way to spend money. Especially since most the time it would be hidden in the wall. So I did this instead and I like it. I think if the rest of the room felt a little more bohemian, I would love it, but it does feel a little too boho for the room.

I just realized that the tray is from Katy Skelton, too. The jewelry stand and accessories are from target and that tiny pink vase is from ABC home (all linked below).

The Rug – Oh the most comfortable, luxurious rug ever (which I stole from Elliot’s room). It’s so thick it’s like a piece of furniture. You might be wondering how a white rug is going to survive near a door to the deck? It’s not. We removed it right after the shoot and put it back in her room. I designed and prepped for this reveal after we knew we were moving. I RACKED my brain on what the perfect rug is for the photo, and then realized that this rug was it – and we already had it. It works because anything too dark would make the room look smaller and could make the bed look even bigger. Anything too flat would feel strangely out of proportion with the chunkiness of the bed (I learned that after doing it in the family room – low chunky furniture wants a higher pile rug). And we obviously couldn’t have another pattern. So I said to myself, if I’m designing this for portfolio work, not for my real life (since we are moving) I wanted that rug in there.

It’s so pretty in there. For those two days we had it in the room, I smiled every time I went to bed or woke up.  As far as durability goes, I’d say you should be a “no shoes” household to have any bright white rug like this. We try hard in Elliot’s room to not have shoes on it, so it’s really maintained its brightness, but I’m sure we’ll need to get it cleaned in a year (at its two year mark) which isn’t really that unusual for a lighter colored rug.

Now you might ask yourself what I would put in this room if we weren’t moving? I think it would be a really light sisal with some small organically shaped sheepskin rugs on both sides of the bed. I think that would be durable and work design wise just as nicely as the big white shag rug.

The artwork – The artwork above the bed was originally for our master bedroom, then when we were shooting Elliot’s room I put them in there last minute and loved them and vowed to keep them in there. But, nothing worked above this big bed, like those two pieces did. We needed something quiet to compete with the headboard, with a graphic pattern to offset the organic movement of the bed. We needed a horizontal piece that was to scale. Finding one piece that did all of that would have been difficult, but two square pieces that had texture and were graphic ended up being perfect.

And, just because you know we love a good before and after – here you go.

I love it. If I could go back in time I would have designed the bed to be smaller, width-wise. The scale of it made the whole thing harder to manage, but thank God it came together.

I’m going to be so sad to leave this room. Our new bedroom is smaller and not flooded with so much happy light. There is no perfect house and our new house has so much to offer, but the “master” can’t hold a candle to this one space and light -wise. We have three more months of enjoying this room before we move.

And I will.

1. X Embroidered Art & O Embroidered Art | 2. Pink Magnolia Candle | 3. White & Gold Ring Dish | 4. Pink Seed Vase | 5. Brass Circle Mirror | 6. Table Lamp | 7. White Lumbar Pillow | 8. Patterned Small Lumbar Pillow | 9. Pink Circle Pillow | 10. White Campaign Dresser | 11. White Shag Rug | 12. Tall Lingerie Chest | 13. Necklace Display | 14. Small Pink Dish | 15. Marble Tray | 16. Ball Light Wall Sconce | 17. Leather Nightstand | 18. Bedframe Fabric | 19. Blush Sheet Set | 20. White Essential Quilt | 21. Safari Bench | 22. Ceramic Cup | 23. Pink Ceramic Bud Vase | 24. White Picture Frame

See more posts from my house: Giving New Life to Our Old Wood Deck, Our New Master Bed Design, Guest Bathroom Sneak Peak, Guest Suite/ Home Office Progress.

**Photography by Tessa Neustadt 

For more reveals from Emily’s Glendale Home: How To Add Style To A Neutral Living Room | Full House Tour | Family Room & Kitchen Styled to Sell | Elliot’s Room Styled to Sell | Charlie’s Room Styled to Sell | Living Room Styled to Sell | New Master Bedroom Styled to Sell | Office | Guest Bathroom | Elliot’s Blush & Green Nursery | Master Bathroom | Charlie’s Circus Themed Nursery | New Guest Bedroom Bed | Good Housekeeping House Tour | Guest Bedroom | Closet