Antique Plates Wall Gallery

I am super excited to show you an antique plate wall gallery that my mom and I just put together in her living room this morning.  We have been working on this room for a few months now (thankfully, she is very patient and understanding of my crazy schedule).  Remember this post on navy and green?  Well, the fabrics at the bottom were what inspired this entire room and it is finally coming together!

This is only one area of the room, but I just couldn't wait to show it off.  I am really please with the way it turned out and I think my mom is too.  She has the coolest family pieces and what better way to display them?  I love the vintage and eclectic feel.  I kept the inside of the china cabinet full of antiques as well - they are just so unique!

Here is another clue on what we used the trellis fabric for!   I can't wait to reveal the whole room - I am hoping to have it done before Thanksgiving :)

Have you created any unique wall galleries out of anything other than pictures?  Please share!

Animals with Antlers

I received a hilarious email from my girlfriend in Utah claiming she had a "designer's nightmare" on her hands.  Her husband hung an animal head with antlers on the wall while she was out of town against her wishes.  I had to laugh, but only because I could almost picture her (or myself) kicking and screaming and refusing to accept it inside the house.

Personally, this is an issue I won't ever have to deal with because my husband has never even been hunting and I am a vegetarian.  However, he is an avid collector of sports memorabilia and I had to find a way to incorporate all of his prized possessions without our home looking like the Hall of Fame.

Hopefully not to my friend's disgust, I told her it is possible to incorporate this animal head into her decor and hopefully not allow it to be the focal point by distracting your eye with other layers of decor.  Because animal heads are so trendy right now, it was easy to find examples of how this can be achieved.  I am assuming her animal head is real and can probably not be spray painted white, but here goes nothing.  I hope her husband doesn't read this and say I told you so.  Love you, Michelle!

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I realize most people are using faux animal heads or just the antlers, but I almost think the real thing is a little more authentic out west.  What do you think?  Do you think she can incorporate this in the study without feeling creeped out every time she walks by?  Would you dare put an animal head on your wall?  

Go Big or Go Home

When I am designing a space, I am committed to seeing that every detail is thought about before considering the job done (this is probably why I never consider any of my own rooms in our home complete).  One of the many intimidators for homeowners is space.  As in, spacial relationships.  There is nothing I can't stand more than seeing a dinky little light hanging in a two story foyer or a tiny picture frame on a huge wall.  In my mind, if you don't have the funds to fill the space, let it be.  I would much rather save my money and buy the perfect piece than waste money on a "temporary" filler that will look horrible and probably never get changed out.  Let's see what you think...

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TWO STORY FOYER LIGHT

GO BIG

GO HOME

GALLERY WALL

  GO BIG

GO HOME

WALL ART

GO BIG

GO HOME

*Love the letters and the life preservers, but they may have looked less like they were "floating" if the preservers were much closer on either side of the name or on the top and bottom to create a more unified look.

Clearly, I am not all-knowing or the writer of all rules design.  I actually don't believe there are many "rules" to follow when designing.  I simply have a few pet peeves that I think can be majorly avoided if you are not scared to go out on a limb and go with your gut, rather than what your neighbor is doing in her home.  Most of the time, when in doubt, I usually go larger.  Don't be afraid to take a leap of faith and trust your instinct!  

Do you have any nail-biting spacial issues you just can't get over?  Or just any decorating pet peeves you care to share?

PHOTOGRAPHY: the best decorative investment you can make

I am a huge fan of creative photography and a firm believer that you should invest in it.  As cliche as it may sound, times passes us all by so quickly and I love being able to reflect back on those precious memories captured by a lens.  My parents have always been big into taking pictures and videos, and I followed suite by asking for a camera for my birthday in second grade.  I quickly became the go-to for my friends when in high school and college because I take pictures of everything.


It wasn't until I got married and mistakenly hired a photographer without much experience that I realized it is truly something you need to invest in for those special moments you can't ever recapture.  We really thought we were hiring a "photojournalistic" style photographer, but the shots just weren't up to par in my mind once we received the prints.  Don't get me wrong, my parents definitely forked out some cash, but with no prior wedding planning experience I really didn't know what to look for in a photographer.

Six years later and pregnant with twins, we knew this was the opportunity to seize the moment and find a photographer we love.  Enter our girl, Ashley Glasco.  I actually grew up with her husband, but didn't really get to personally know her until over the past year.  We hit it off immediately and fell more in love with her work each session.  We decided to do a maternity shoot and then follow up with a session every three months after they were born.  At first, I thought every three months may be a little overkill, but after seeing how much they have changed and how gorgeous the pictures are, I have no regrets.


We use photographs all over the house and they are the most important and my favorite personal touch.  From gallery walls to canvases to table top frames, I really love them in all forms.  Displaying photographs of your family, friends, children, and pets are the most personal and intimate touches you can add to make your house a home.  Here are some of the pictures from our three month session up close and personal.

Three month session

Ashley Glasco Photography

I am no expert, but based on my experiences, here is what I looked for in a photographer, and happened to find in Ashley.

• The style of the photographer reflects your own personal taste.  Our photographer is an on location natural light photographer.  She specializes in taking pictures outdoors and truly captures reality.  I fell in love with her vintage, rustic vibe.  Being that we live on a farm, this fit our family perfectly!
• Your personalities mesh and you feel a personal connection with your photographer.  We clicked right away personality wise and she is able to handle my husband's humor.  I really did not want our pictures to look forced and because she keeps us at ease and we are comfortable, she is able to capture our true personalities.
• The photographer has multiple examples of their work for you to view or references for you to contact.  This is the mistake we made with our wedding photographer.  He only had two weddings for us to reference, one of which was a friend's wedding.  Our bad.  We should have continued to do more research.  Our new photographer has dozens of sessions on her website, blog, and Facebook page.
• Know what to expect up front and call him on it if he doesn't deliver.  Our wedding photographer promised us "beautiful leather bound albums," which actually turned out to be the pleather albums you slide snapshots into from Target.  Unfortunately, I was young and at a loss for words when he handed them over.  Thankfully, our new photographer, Ashley, helped Jeremy by re-editing our pictures so he could put together a professional album using our wedding negatives for my Christmas gift last year (better late than never, right?).  When communicating with her for the baby sessions, she gave us every last detail for our package and delivered everything as promised every time.

Six Month Session

If you live in the Richmond, VA area and are looking for a photographer, check out our latest session with Ashley on her new blog!