Baby Got Back Splash

I think one of my favorite parts of remodeling a kitchen is adding some WOW to the backsplash...Alot of times I am working on other parts of a clients house and I see a BORING backsplash and I talk them into adding some WOW like these...

(Before)

(After)

(Before)

(Hmmm this looks nice...)

(I think we have a winner...)

(Just installed, bad phone pic though...)

(Wish I had a better pic of this backsplash, it's gorgeous in person)

The granites remained the same along, with the appliances and cabinetry as well. 

Simple but impactful and usually it doesn't cost alot to tackle something like this either.  I personally like "shiny" ie: glass on a backsplash, they look particularly gorgeous with under cabinet lighting.

What kind of backsplash do you have, boring or WOW?

Learning Thermo

..As in thermostat...

Yawn you say....Well check this out....

This thermostat learns YOU and improves with time.  There is no more programming or constantly changing the temperature, The Nest, that is what it is called, will program itself in a week to keep you comfortable and save energy too.

See that little leaf in the above pic?  Well that appears when you are saving energy....You do know that changing the temperature just one degree can cut your energy use by up to 5% right?  Well if you didn't know that before, now you do...I love a challenge.

Check out the video and admire it's cuteness and ease of use too, which I could use.

Their website is really friendly, right down to their DIY install videos.

Even the "guts" are easy looking....

Can you tell I am sort of digging this new product?  Here it is in its box..Oh and it's $249 each and they are currently sold out, so if you are interested in it, it looks like there is a list you can be added to and they will alert you when they get more in....

I think I am going to add my name to it personally, I need 3 please. :)

Your Life, Your Colors

It never fails...Every one of my clients has a problem choosing colors for their walls.  They know what they like and don't for that matter but the process of looking through a fan deck or looking at all the paint samples in a store overwhelms them...They are afraid of making a mistake and their fear paralyzes them.

Glidden Paint has a blog now called....

My Colortopia provides inspiration, tools, and relatable advice from the Colortopia Team to help their readers build confidence throughout the painting process. This enables visitors to select colors, buy paint, get the paint on the walls and be really proud of and satisfied with the results.  Basically what I do for my clients, BUT this is you doing it for you, how empowering right?

Check out their new quiz, "My Life My Colors" which you can take right here to help steer you in the right direction in painting your walls.  It will help guide you in discovering colors that suit YOUR personality and YOUR lifestyle, plus it's short and sweet and fun to take, here it is.....

So do tell, after taking the quiz...What color selections did you end up with and what do you think of them?  Can't wait to hear! :)

I am partnering with Glidden/Akzo Nobel paints with the My Life My Colors quiz but these are MY Opinions. :)

Color Palette, All Aboard

I am back and for those of you who were wondering where in the world I was, I was on the Society Islands, in the South Pacific.  Anyway, I love it there, and have been 3 times now and it's still not enough...Simply put, it is paradise on earth.

From this blog post, here is that same church taken in Ta'haa 4 years later and with different light...

Since I have a design blog I better add some design to this post right?

Sooo we were on the Paul Gauguin ship.....

Rainbow showed up on Christmas day on the stern of the ship, isn't this magical?

The Paul Gauguin is already a beautiful vessel, but guess what...?  In a week they are going to completely remodel the inside to the following...I took pics of the boards that not everyone got to see on the ship, I had special access and thought I would give you a sneak peek here....

Pool Deck

Promenade Area Deck 6

Le Verandah restaurant

Promenade area, deck 5

L'Etoile Restaurant

Main Cabins

Le Grille Restaurant

Suites

Deck 8 Lounge

Le Grand Salon

Reception Area

More Suites

I am sooo glad to be seeing so much blue and green used in the new deco it really compliments this kind of scenery nicely don't you think?

It will only take them 3 weeks to do the entire ship and they are sailing to Australia with the contractors working the entire time...Isn't that cool and mind blowing too that they can get that much work done in only 3 weeks?  I can tell you the planning took alot more time than that.

Thumbs waaayyy up or what?


In regards to this post...I don't work for the Paul Gauguin or get any incentive (I wish) for mentioning them, I am doing it strictly from the heart which all my blog posts are if you are new to my site.

Where is Marie?

I am on vacation for my Christmas celebration....Can you guess where in the world I am?

Heaven on earth...

I hope you all have a wonderful holiday season. I will be back January 5th, 2012...Oh my gosh 2012 already...Wishing you all a fabulous new year!!!!

Ahhh Spa

A client I have had for a long time was ready to tackle/update her master suite....We decided on a spa blue color and went from there....

First things first....Here was her bedroom before....That Ralph Lauren pattern was soooo popular for sooo long but it was time for it to go....

My client loves toile, so I was very excited when I found this for her...

As you can tell she loved her swags so we kept them just like they were but did them in the spa color.

Then we tackled her loveseat that is in her master bedroom...She said that all her grandkids while they were growing up always slept on this loveseat when they stayed the night.

But now the kids are older and braver to sleep upstairs and so we can do a more adult color on her loveseat....This fabric is sooooo soft and luxurious, I wish you could feel it from your computer monitors.

So the bathroom was all cultured marble and I had a pretty tight budget on this bathroom but we needed to add more than some paint to really make a difference....So the first issue I had to tackle was this SILLY cultured marble area of the floor I guess that was to protect the floors originally...Not sure?

I was told that the floors had to stay BUT of course I couldn't find a perfect match, so I recommended we enlarge the shower and the tub deck and bump it up to the original tile floors...And it worked, they love it!

I was able to find a tile that was close enough for the vertical tiles that bumped up to those floors, can you tell?  None of us could.

Oh and by the way that is an air bath, which my client has already have several baths in and is in love.

Before:  Not horrible, just boring right?

After:  Fresh!

Before: Close up of cultured marble shower

After...See any differences? 

Can you really have enough shower heads and body sprays when building your own spa?

Before: Vanity

After: Vanity...My client repainted and upholstered the vanity chair herself, nice right?

So my client has always loved polished brass but I convinced her to go with the Moen Antique Bronze for a more updated look...She loves it.  

In person it actually has a bit of silvery tones to it, can you tell from my photos?

We got this job done right in time for Thanksgiving and her house full of 25 guests!  She later told me her master suite was a huge hit with the family...My work here is done.

What do you think?

Sit(s) & Stay A While

Today I am being featured on SITS...For those of you who don't know what the heck I am talking about, well SITS in a nutshell is a group of very supportive women, whom I love. :)

If you are new to my site, welcome!  My goal is to share, inspire and guide in all things design, one time a week.  I am heavy on the pictures and less about being overly wordy, because I am not a writer like most of you out there.

I post a lot of my clients' projects.  I also post about design products that I come by, often before they are available to the public.  And I guide....meaning, when I hear the same question over and over from clients I post about getting those answered.

Here are a few more of my blog postings....The ones with lots of "before" and "after" photos.  For the rest of you who follow me already, consider this week an update on some fun past posts.

Here's a clients powder room with the most gorgeous blue...
Powder Room with Pop

Just recently turned a small, underused hall closet into a wine cellar...
Wine Cellar For a Fellar

There is a way to update your staircase, check this out...
This Stairway is Heaven

Here is a really small master bathroom I made feel all sparkly and pretty...

Jewelry Box Bathroom

I love comments.  I love followers.  I love subscribers.  You are what inspires me to continue on this journey.

Well I am honored for you stopping by and reading my blog, thank you for visiting and I hope you come back.