Scandinavian Chic and none-too-Shabby

Design Plan for: Living and Dining Rooms (Open Concept)
Clients:  Viv and Bernd

(click to enlarge)
Dining Room

Living Room

My most recent client Design plan is for a vivacious modern couple and their three growing boys. This family will soon be completely re-modeling their living and dining rooms with fresh new walls, floors and design aesthetic. They asked me to help them determine their decor preferences, select a new color palette, textiles and some furniture pieces to transform their home into a stylish, classic and cozy space.  Inspired by pictures of the idyllic natural settings of the city this family calls home -  Bergen, Noway - I went to work creating a design I call Scandinavian Chic.

Using feedback from Viv and her husband, I began with determining a color palette for these spaces.  I chose colors that were neutral but not boring, a cohesive combination of pale grays and whites, set off by royal and navy blues and charcoal as accents, which worked beautifully with some of their already-existing warm wood furniture pieces for an earthy contrast.  I wanted to combine their existing furniture pieces that are contemporary in nature, with some vintage-inspired pieces for an added layer of softness and visual interest. Finally, I chose textiles such as the curtains, rugs, and runner in interesting Herringbone and Chevron patterns with a modern color twist.

I built the design plan around the following fundamentals:

1) Three basic paint colors for the walls of these two rooms:  an overall pale gray to tie and unify the space and two gorgeous accent walls, one for the dining, one for the living that will set all the other elements beautifully;  Benjamin Moore's Titanium, Sherwin Wiliam's Loyal Blue and Valspar's Ocean Storm. 

2) Classic, Contemporary and Vintage inspired furniture pieces. That are both stylish and functional.

3) Textile and fabric patterns that bring interest, contrast and layered texture all while keeping with a neutral color palette.

4) Accessories that are light, functional, organic and vintage inspired. For artwork- I suggested framed family portraits which are always meaningful and personalized, or unique and original photography black&white or sepia toned prints found in my C'est La Vie Art Shop. 

Viv and her husband were incredibly pleased with the design concepts and cannot wait to begin the big re-model. I cannot wait to see pictures of the final result!!!

Here are some Before pics:

In need of transforming your own space on a budget? Please fill out my Design and Style Evaluation here or email me @ cestlavie.events@gmail.com.

My Design Picks - Falabella Argentina

This post has been a long time in the making. While on Holiday this past August in Argentina, I had a serendipitous encounter with a fabulous home decor department store in Buenos Aires called Falabella.
 I excitedly convinced the hubs to accompany me on a little exploration through their design department properly called Decohogar.  I found so many covet-able accessories at amazingly discounted prices that had it not been for the need to have to wear clothing through the remainder of our trip, I would of dumped out said clothes and stuffed my luggage with these gorgeous and whimsical finds that I will share below.

First a little history on Falabella via Wikipedia, for anyone interested:

"Falabella department stores can be found in Argentina, Chile, Colombia and Peru.  Falabella Department stores sell a wide variety of merchandise including apparel, home furnishings, electronics and sporting goods.
The company was founded by Salvatore Falabella, an Italian Chilean immigrant, in 1889. In its original form, it was a tailor shop but today has become one of the largest retailers in South America."

And now for the goodies and some of my personal design picks.
(excuse the poor quality of the pictures, all were taken with my Blackberry.)

These vintage, Parisian inspired dress forms had me at "hello." So many incredible possibilities for these in master bedroom  (the organic color is is gender-neutral), a shabby-chic inspired living or dining room or even a large bathroom. Divine. Simply Divine.

I then found these patterned dress forms that are admittedly very feminine and soft, and would make the perfect accessory for a girl's room, or a soft and soothing bachelorete pad.

and as if you I wasn't already in-love with the above dress-forms and trying to conceive ideas on how to stuff them into my carry-on-size luggage, I found color-coded groupings of even more delicious mini-forms and other whimsical accessories at amazingly low prices ($15 U.S. and below.)

More Yuminess, in soft nuetral whites and grays....

and vintage blues and browns (my enthusiasm is palatable at this point by this blurry pic, I was walking around in awe just snapping away without much thought:)

next up,  I found some lovely dinnerware and table accessories that I very vocally drooled about. This cake stand is divine and could be used far beyond the Dining room or kitchen.

loved these dainty French-Country inspired dinnerware sets....

as well as these art-deco inspired cups and saucers in a lovely pale green and gold trimmed combo...

And for the more contemporary, avant-garde tastes there was a plethora of colorful artwork and accessories as well.

This is just a sampling of all of the adorable items found in this department store, that was a fusion of Pier One Imports, Home Goods at Ikea Prices. They are located in Argentina, Chile and Colombia, if any of you happen to be traveling there anytime soon, but I recently found out they also deliver internationally. Go check their website out, if nothing but to oogle eye-candy:)

Hope you enjoyed this version of my Design Picks,  I will be back with plenty of more blog content very soon.

P.S. Looking for beautiful, one-of-a-kind original art-work?  Then Please stop by my Fine Art ETSY shop and browse the more than 40 listings, you might find the perfect print for that empty wall or as the ideal unique  present for a loved-one.  Click here, or select theBlog tab labeled - Shop with us C'est La Vie Art.

Merci Mon Amis...