Let's Get This Started...Greetings!

Interior Design has long been a passion of mine. There is just something about design and aesthetics that I cannot seem to get enough of. I love looking at styles, colors, prints and textures and always find myself coming up with ways to liven spaces and keep them looking warm and fresh. I have long tossed around the idea of starting a blog with tips and DIY (do it yourself) ideas for living spaces and believe a little motivation by way of a school project offers me the perfect opportunity in starting this journey. My sister has recently purchased her first home and has enlisted my help, which is where I begin with this blog. To follow me through this design process, please bookmark this blog. Considering that I work in a completely unrelated field by day (hello, boring finance desk job), feedback is not just welcomed, it is extremely necessary and highly considered. While design might be just my hobby, I do not take my passions lightly and endeavor to have the brightest, boldest ideas. Welcome…

First thing’s first, let’s begin by going through the spaces in my sister’s new home. She has recently relocated back to the motherland, where the stars at night are big and bright—that’s right, Texas! While I’m ecstatic that my sister and her husband were able to make this happen, it does add an extra element in the overall implementation of this design process. Namely, she is there, I am here. I say that as a general disclaimer. I am great with ideas. Instructing is a different story! We will work around this as much as possible though via the luxury of the world-wide-web. Now without further ado, let’s cue these pictures up and see what we are working with (I apologize for how small they appear. Cell phone fail!).

 Just because I think the style from the outside should definitely resonate on the inside of the home, this is what we are working with.  Walk under those arches and through that door and this is what you will see...

My sister has opted to take some time and put things up that she actually likes before letting her husband put up old surfing/ocean photos that formely donned their San Jose home walls. Smart move by my sister. Yet, there is much that needs to be done here, especially if the first thing you see when you walk in the door is that tiny Glade Plug-In. Leaves much to be desired, doesn't it?

Nothing is more special about a home than a kitchen with a walk up bar. For people like my sister who enjoy family time and are beginning a little family of their own, I can only imagine that many hours will be spent in this room. For that reason, much attention needs to be paid to making this space a room where many great conversations and meals are to be had -- a place where this family will thrive over the years. This is what her kitchen and dining area currently look like.

Something I love about this kitchen is the tile back splash running under the cabinets. A great little accent.

Poor little table. It definitely is going to need to chomp down on some miracle grow to fill this space. The dining space has tons of potential however and gorgeous plantation shutters with lots of love for light.

 
Here is the formal dining area with another great chandelier. Until this home purchase, I have never envisioned my sister as having a "formal" dining room. Not because she isn't the type (by all means, she is ENTIRELY the type), but more of a matter of, well, age. Coming up with ideas for this room is going to be F-U-N and I think I am going to learn a thing or two about my "grown up" older sister.

The other important area (arguably the best) is the living area. You see tons of wall space here (again, kudos to my sister) and a nice little fire place in the middle of it. The TV was placed in the corner here recently although I thought TV watching privileges were reserved formerly for one room and one room only (read: man cave). (I incidentally also received no pictures for said man cave, er, loft. Guess every man get's his one room?)

There are multiple bedrooms in this house (4 to be exact) but I only have pictures for two of them.

(Master Bedroom)

(Another view of the Master, plus my furry nephew, Ricci. Hi Ricci!)

I'm not entirely sure why the previous owners opted to switch from shutters to blinds and a not so attractive curtain in this guest bedroom. Going to have to do something about this. Definitely.

There is also much to be done with these hall/stair walls. Traditionally people use long stair case walls like this to display photos. I don't see much need to deviate from that and suggest we implement a snazzy photo gallery here with all sorts of frame colors and shapes. This stair well leads to the loft.

Here are pictures from two of their bathrooms. Also needing a touch of life.

Master Bath

As you can see there are plenty of spaces to work with in this house. I generally like to bring life to my living spaces by putting bright, vivid colors into the area. Sometimes it's also nice to keep things neutral and go with just a pop of color in various settings. I've talked about this with the sister and it seems she has a pretty clean palette. She prefers colors to patterns (I also love to intermingle patterns with bold colors to give a room a vibrant feeling). I don't get the sense that she is entirely into florals either but she doesn't seem totally opposed to it either. This leaves lots of room for a little flower print here and there, or silk-floral arrangements sporadically through out the house. I have my work cut out for me though for the moment and lots of discovering to do.