Human Lifestyle

I'm still recovering from the wedding I coordinated this weekend, but I wanted to share with you 2 pieces of really exciting press I received last week. 
#1
Erika & I are featured in the June issue of Atlanta Magazine in discussing our work with Room Service Atlanta!! This has all been very exciting, and I consider it quite an accomplishment for our first time around the block. Special thanks to Sherry Hart of Design Indulgence who put these wheels in motion.

Click here to see more on this feature.

I really want to start working on some before & after tips this week, so hopefully I can rest up enough to start tomorrow off with a bang. In the meantime, enjoy your Memorial Day, & don't forget to take a moment to honor those servicemen & women who've died in pursuit of our freedom!

**ALSO, PLEASE CHECK MY ETSY STORE FOR NEW LISTINGS! I CURRENTLY HAVE A VINTAGE FAUX BAMBOO MIRROR AVAILABLE PLUS A PAIR OF MID-CENTURY MODERN LAMPS. PICK THEM UP BEFORE THEY'RE GONE!**

The party last night was a huge hit. Runaway success. People stayed so long that our manager friends had to cut the lights out to get them to go home. And then we had a mini-after party in the back room with the MG+BW staff that was so funny, I unfortunately can't even share it all with you. To say it simply, my cup runneth over. I'm so grateful to Ben Collins, owner of Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams Atlanta (in addition to MG+BW Dallas & MG+BW Nashville) who enthusiastically partnered with us and his amazing team (Jonathan, Hayley, Claudia, Abby, & Jennifer) who all worked so tirelessly to help make this event a success. The energy was really electric--everyone who came was genuinely impressed with our mission at Room Service Atlanta and blown away by the work we accomplished at the Nicholas House. I'm exhausted & still swamped with work (Can you believe I'm the coordinator for a wedding that's taking place this Friday/Saturday??!), but I wanted to share some pics while this is still fresh on my mind. If you're here in Atlanta and missed the party, you might get sad looking at these. The was one of the most supportive, encouraging party crowds I've seen! And if you've never had a cake pop from Candy Cake Company, I feel bad for you.



Here's a pictorial of our evening:

The day is finally here!! I've been busily working on final details for our Mitchell Gold+Bob Williams party and I'm excited to see all of you tonight! If you're in the Atlanta area, it's still not too late for you to attend. Join us from 5-7pm tonight at the MGBW Atlanta showroom as we celebrate our success with our first Room Service Atlanta project and our new partnership with MGBW Atlanta!! We'll have bites, drinks, and after-work fun, so don't miss it--I'll see you there!

Join us at Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams Atlanta as they host a congratulatory fete for Room Service Atlanta! 

When: May 25th, 5-7pm
Where: Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams, 3081 Peachtree Rd., Atlanta 30305
Why: Come support us as we celebrate our first success with the Nicholas House project   & discuss our plans for the future!


Please make sure to RSVP to: hayley@mgbwatlanta.com. Want to find out how you can partner with RSA? Come hear about our upcoming events for the Fall!

Hope to see you on the 25th!

So 25 hours of hard labor, about $800 dollars, and 8 volunteers turned my view-less room at the Nicholas House into this:

                                                                         ugh--that darn shade...
And I have a secret--I didn't actually come up with this plan until the Saturday before the install began, which was really pushing it. My first plan to have duvets made by my seamstress didn't work out (even though I'd already purchased the fabric!), so I hatched my next one in the aisles of Target's home section. Here's what I used:

paint: SW Proper Grey
duvets: Ikea
sheets: Target
toss pillows: Target & Ikea
desk chair: Ikea
shelving: Ikea
baskets: ikea
storage boxes: Ikea
dresser: Craigslist
headboard: Goodwill
desk: mine (via Goodwill)
rug: Ikea
toy basket: Home Goods
mirror: mine (via Goodwill)
hooks: Ikea
overdoor storage: Lowe's
underbed storage: Ross & Walmart
chandelier: Ikea
bamboo blinds: Overstock
throw blanket: Target


As with all of the rooms, there was a serious storage problem, so the bulk of my money went to solving that problem. I bought 5 soft plastic underbed storage bags from places like Ross & Walmart and used those to store shoes, out of season items, and old comforters. The family also had some of their own storage bags, so I packed as much as I could into them and stored everything away under the beds. Wall baskets were reserved for daily items, pajamas, & underwear. 10 Hooks behind the door and 4 on the wall (next to the beds) now hold book bags, hanging clothes & towels, and the white storage boxes above the bed hold cleaning products, laundry items, bedding & towels. To brighten up the grey, I painted the bunkbed white (with the help of my fabulous volunteers) and did the same with the dresser, desk and headboard. The final result is rather simple, clean & relaxing and I'm really, really pleased with the way with my room turned out (especially given the spatial & financial constraints).


I know this is a long post--I have to say, I'm so proud of this group that Erika & I have put together and felt so inspired by the work that all of the designers came together to accomplish! We've had an incredible amount of positive feedback about our efforts and so many designers have already asked to sign on for our next project which we're already brainstorming about! We're happy to announce that Room Service Atlanta will be a twice per year venture and we're shooting for the stars. I left the shelter Friday feeling very emotionally overwhelmed after hearing the feedback from some of the residents and reading a beautiful note that Sherry's residents left for her. This project really helped to put things into perspective for  me, but I think I speak for everyone else here, too.  It's easy to forget that some people really do have it worse--like living 6 (or in Julie & Anisa's case, 10!) to a room that's about the size of a shoebox with a lot of personal items in a small space (or in some cases, very few personal items at all). So many people are really struggling right now, and it's really been fulfilling to be able to give back of a gift we've all been blessed with. There were definitely some challenges along the way, but everyone carried themselves with grace & humility throughout it. Julie & Anisa probably got it the worst--they arrived at the shelter Monday expecting to makeover a room for 3, only to find that the resident didn't want her room touched. They immediately signed on to do the largest room (housing a family of 10!!) on the spot, returning the new bed they'd purchased (for the other resident) and used that money for new bedding in the larger room. Now THAT's the perfect illustration of the type of team we had on board!


I know I've said it before, but thank you so much to those of you who donated to these efforts, whether it was specially to me or another designer involved with RSA. We ABSOLUTELY COULD NOT have done it without the financial contribution and hands-on volunteer support, and every little bit truly helped. By donating an hour of your time or $25 from your wallet, you helped us let 12 families know that they're important & valued by their community. Sincerely, thank you for everything.

I am happy to say that the RSA installation at Nicholas House has been a great success so far! All of the Participating Designers showed up ready to work on Monday, and everyone has been diligently working their plans!  I have seen some really amazing transformations taking place in the rooms, and I'm excited for you all to get a look at what our group has accomplished. As for me, I've been lucky to have some great volunteers on hand every day! Monday Tiffany Scales of Savor Home showed up to help me kick the week off, and we got off to a great start! Tiffany, who I met early last year while working at Restoration Hardware, was one of the first people who reached out to me about volunteering when we started RSA, and I was happy to have a chance to connect with her again! We started out by scrubbing the walls and baseboards (using some Mrs Meyers Lemon Verbena which smells amazing!) and applied a coat of SW Proper Grey to the walls, the color I selected for my plan.

I've finally got a design plan that I'm 99% sure of! My room houses a mother and 2 children, so my main goal was to create a plan that was clean, relaxing, and neutral enough that the family that comes in after the current residents could still feel at home.  Here's another look at my room, Room 5:



My room is the only one in this 108 year-old house that doesn't have an exterior window (only a window that faces a hallway--very weird) which kind of sucked. My original plan was to do a wall of drapery to cover the "window" situation, but we're unfortunately not allowed to use drapery due to the City of Atlanta fire code. This last minute info threw a wrench into my plan, but I came up with an alternative that I'm very pleased with!