A visit to SF Design Center

I've just started working with the nicest couple ever, which makes my job a breeze. We are currently working on their living room and dining room, which is being painted and wallpapered as I type! Their two daughters, Samantha and Victoria, are also enjoying the whole design process and when they saw my presentation they said that they can't wait for me to start on their bedroom. How cute is that? So with that in mind, I thought I would take my two new clients to the Design Center to get their input. I also brought along my kids too!

Outside the Design Center

Back row, L to R: Samantha, Jade and Daniel
Front row, L to R: Emily and Victoria

First of all we headed to Osborne & Little, as it's one of my all time favourites and reminds me of my days in London when I would head to their store on the Kings Road most weekends.

As you can see, the kids got straight to it and knew exactly which fabrics they liked.... they even wrote the codes on their sheets in order to get samples.

Daniel decided his room needs a make-over and picked this fabulous wallpaper. Sorry hun, but the client comes first!

Victoria has very expensive taste.... love her style!

Samantha sitting pretty.

Checking out the Benjamin Moore showroom samples.

We had a pit stop and sampled Perry's mint chocolate chip ice cream.

Our final visit was to Restoration Hardware's new showroom, the former Ed Hardy building is stunning.... they loved the fountains:

The sleigh seat was a huge hit with the ladies.


Victoria and Emily wanted this bed and looked so tiny next to it.


Jade sitting on Samantha's knee.... sophisticated ladies, they loved this chair.

In the grand entrance at Restoration Hardware

Heading home with lots of samples!

Staging properties for resale

As part of my design services, I also help property owners stage their homes for resale. I'm not the kind of stager who has a warehouse full of furniture, I actually use existing pieces and purchase smaller items to enhance the space. It turns out to be a lot cheaper than a full blown staging job and the owner walks away with some nice items such as lamps, bedding, etc., which I can always incorporate into their new home.

One of the first things I did for this home was to paint a large chest of drawers red. Here are the before and after shots. The paint colour is called "red velvet". Isn't it lovely? I wanted to make this piece of furniture work in the room as the walls were a dark brown and the curtains had a slight red stripe. I bought new lamps and bedding too.

Before

Before

After

After

After

Take a look at the McGuire website and if you live in San Francisco and are interested then contact Ilonka Edwards:

http://www.29cumberland.com/

Wallpaper

It's great to work with clients who are willing to step out of their comfort zone and it's even better seeing their faces when that idea comes to fruition. For some reason a lot of people are scared of wallpaper! I try to convince clients to go for maybe just one accent wall with wallpaper.... it really can transform a room.

As you know, I love all things British, especially Farrow & Ball. They have an amazing array of paints and wallpapers. They have been making paint in Dorset, one batch at a time, since 1946 and remains one of only a few companies making a full range of traditional and modern paint finishes of the highest quality. Who could resist painting a wall with such colours called "string", "putty" and "pavilion gray". Their wallpapers are quite unique as they are produced using environmentally friendly water based paints and traditional manufacturing methods. Their patterned wallpapers are block printed and their stripes and stries are trough printed. All wallpapers are made to order.

Here's a few examples:

Their "vermicelli" series is one of my all time favourites:

We're about to install the green version in a client's dining room this month: