Rental ReStyle: Transforming a Rental Home Loft Space Into a Studio Office

When searching for a place to rent and live back in October, Jeff and I came across some wonderful places... But none of them had this one space that totally drew me in like the place we ultimately chose to rent. Part of the draw was all the natural light, the open space, the rustic wood textured wallpaper and the wood floors. Although I had originally thought we would have brought our white sofa upstairs, we ended up still using it in our new living room area and it still works (because we had to put buying a sectional on hold). Building upstairs though took a little bit of time, but with some savvy thrifting and re-purposing existing pieces, this past weekend I was able to better pull together a functional office studio. It will continue to evolve - switching out some framed prints, adding a bulletin board, maybe painting the area rug with stripes and eventually getting a TV - But for now it's becoming a refreshed blogging & designing think tank. Here's a sneak peek...

 

Love my floor plan plates I picked up in NYC during our September 11 visit.

And here's a peek at a new thrift find: My tuft & stud barrel chair for my desk - only $10. The leopard lumbar pillow my friend Jose made for me when I was leaving South Florida...

 

Hmmm... What do we have here???

 

Finally have a spot to use this Thomas O' Brien Retro desk lamp 

I got on clearance at Target about 5 years ago for only $12.

 

Even little miss Sephora has a chair here - 

the red one back there is hers :)

 

Vertical lines will help give height to the space...

 

 Empty space when we viewed the home October 2011

 

Low ceilings in space allowing me to reuse some old 84" panels I held onto because I love these stripes!

 

As I've done for table styling, I pull together what I already have...

 

And the pic that is inspiring the refreshed look. 

I spotted this photo in my last months issue of  House Beautiful. I LOVE the light, the stripes, the wood, the B&W, that shade of GREEN of the sofa, and the mix of furniture. I don't have a green sofa, but I also don't like to take inspiration so literal all the time. Just as I did painting my thrifted buffet RED, which was inspired by the Crate & Barrel Fall 2011 catalog with their red sofa... I can try to do the same again with the buffet in the space - but maybe this time - not painting it :)



 

Curious??

 

Original plan was to have the desk at one end of the space...

 

But I am better liking it floating in the center of the room.

So many more possibilities!

Stay tuned and thanks for stopping by!

MY MILO BAUGHMAN CHAIR MAKEOVER

Back from an unplugged and productive weekend! But sadly - the time out from twitter Saturday turned into tragic news Sunday morning. What a SHOCK to hear of Whitney Houston's passing. Jeff and I watched a very nice tribute on the Early Show... Then we had breakfast and I got to working on some projects I've been wanting to do around here - one of which was getting the upstairs loft / office space put together & organized. part of doing that came from finally bringing my thrifted Milo Baughman chairs to a place to get reupholstered. Although I can change a simple seat cushion, these had a boxed cushion and piping which I can not do (yet). 

 

Brought chairs to:

Covers Plus

1727 N Arizona Ave
Suite 3
Chandler, AZ 85225

(480) 310-4029

I had found the chairs at Faith Farm last May, and blogged about them in June (read Thrifty Thursday: Discovering Icon Milo Baughman). Although they were fine with the original cream basket weave fabric, it looked like a cat had attacked the arms. I knew I had wanted to cover them, but I no fabric I would see was inspiring me enough to do it. 

 

The pair of chairs were only $16...

A steal of a deal when compared to 1st Dibs!

 

After we moved here to AZ in November, I went thrifting and spotted some fab fabric and a great price. I placed the fabric on the chairs in the space I was going to put them - the upstairs loft / office space - and I liked the combination of the glen plaid with camel to do for the piping. I looked for a place around here (found: Covers Plus) and got (IMO) a reasonable deal to re-upholster the cushions + arms. I love their new look & great service from Covers Plus...

Now to fix up the rest of the space...

Hope you had a wonderful weekend!

Thanks for stopping by!

A GameChanger For Designers & Manufacturers: Using Olioboard + Pinterest

THANK YOU Leslie Carothers - CEO of Kaleidoscope Partnership (a social media agency for the furniture and interior design industry) for all the amazing and thoughtful compliments + recognition you've given to me - via Facebook & Twitter - since you've  joined forces with Olioboard this year! Tonite, I took a look back at both my first year of building my online social network in 2010 (read My Social Networking Milestones) plus looking back at my first post here on the blog after first using Olioboard (read Creating Moodboards With Olioboard.com)... and it was fun to see the evolution. Although I would share boards here on the blog, occasionally share on Facebook, plus post to various other sites like Design Stories Network and my BeHance portfolio (also connected to LinkedIn), no other social connection quite made the impact such as Pinterest.

By using Olioboard, I'm able to design a project - from concept to completion, and then use my work to better market myself.

Last summer, when reading my blog stats, I had noticed a good majority of my blog traffic was coming from Pinterest. I don't recall who sent the invite to join, but when I did - it opened the door or better yet a Pandora's box of opportunity to share information & inspiration. Earlier this month when the news broke on Mashable about "Pinterest having more traffic than Google + YouTube + LinkedIn"... I said - That's how I can show people what I can do for them - I gotta pin my boards to Pinterest! And since you can also add your pins to Olioboard, it all just made good sense to do, as Leslie has recognized - especially if you are in the design or even retail industry and looking to better brand yourself. Here's some of what Leslie had to say about what I've started doing:

"This is truly brilliant, Lynda Quintero-Davids. You are leading the way with cross promoting your design work using both of these tools in a very sophisticated way. Even if Olioboard were not a client, I would be in awe of how you are understanding and acting on how you can use these social media tools to create business for yourself." ~LC

CLIENT PROJECT: FL Living Room Consultation - An empty room was a blank canvas of possibilities. The homeowner was wanting a blue & white palette. Along with drawing up furniture plans, I shared as inspiration images from Elle Decor, sourced the furnishings, and put together this one of three variations for her space.



"Take a peek at what Lynda Quintero-Davids created. First she did a 3D room on @olioboard, added the fashion w/a 2D module and then created a Pinterest board for her and shared it back onto her FB Timeline. Imagine those possibilities for Fashion + Decor." ~LC

When pinning my above lifestyle board from Olio to Pinterest, I also tweeted it with:

"Add color to board presentations using NEW Text Tool IN Color + Color Schemes @Olioboard"

@nyclq

"This is just an incredible use of Pinterest + Oliboard, Lynda Quintero-Davids (@nyclq ).Fashion + 3D Olioboards REPINNED onto Pinterest. Now, too, you can share this on your Facebook Timeline with Facebook's announcement today that Pinterest is an app in their OPEN GRAPH." ~LC

"This is a gamechanger for every designer and manufacturer."

Leslie Carothers - CEO of Kaleidoscope Partners

Thank you so much Leslie!

After having worked in retail for 25 years, to teaching myself what I know about social marketing during the past two years (through trial & error) - I'm grateful, humbled and completely honored by your recognition! 

And thank you too for stopping by!

EXPRESSING HERSELF: MADONNA

It wasn't a mirage - It was MADGE. Once again, as Madonna's been doing for decades, Madonna rocked a house, touched hearts, and inspired her critics to speak out. Say what you want, but could YOU pull off a well thought out production, execute choreographed routines and wardrobe changes - not only in a stadium in a matter of minutes, but playing in millions of Americans homes across the nation?? Yeah - I didn't think so. Haters gonna hate - But that ain't me. I appreciate her attention to detail, her style, her sound, her lyrics, and her artistry. I have been, for decades - since dancing to "Everybody" in jr. high, trying to mimic her MTV video "Lucky Star", adding peroxide + mouse + black bows to my hair, to feeling sexy during her "Immaculate Collection", saddened during "Bedtime Stories", touched by "Ray of Light" and Frozen"... to finally getting to see her in concert back in November 2009 for her Sticky & Sweet Tour... I've watched her evolve, transform and blossom into a women I wish I could be half as talented as....

 

"What are YOU looking at?"

V O G U E

Why such the strong connection? I don't know - but possibly it's because we're BOTH Leo, born 10 years and 10 days apart. I hope when I'm 53, I can at least be as fit as she is and demonstrated at the Super Bowl Halftime show yesterday!! Stairs, stilettos, and cartwheels in Givenchey... Which seems to be her go to designer for much of her stage attire the past three years....

 

Above - Givenchy sketches for Sticky & Sweet...

Bellow - Givenchy sketches for the 2012 Super Bowl Half Time Show

 

 Nina Garcia shared and tweeted yesterday just after the half-time show: "Here, Givenchy's sketches for Madonna's trio of haute-couture looks for her #SuperBowl halftime performance ..."

Congrats Madonna on once again still giving the public something to talk about - love, hate, admire & inspire. What I adore about her the most is : her strength + courage + creativity she expresses in the midst of adversity :) Happy to have Pinterest now as a place to catalog my fave clippings & images of Madonna plus share them here on the blog with you... For more Madonna images I've saved, visit my board MAGNIFICENT M at Pinterest...

 Thanks for stopping by!

Spirit of Sports, More Mancave Style & A Contest @Olioboard!

Last week, I shared with you "How To Make Your Man A Mancave" - but with a sophisticated approach. For the flip side of that mancave styling, here are two more casual mancave moodboards I recently created for a NEW Moodboard Challenge happening now at Olioboard - The Spirit of Sports Mancave Challenge. You've come through before, and thanks to your votes, I've been able to place in the top 3 for the contests I've entered. This time though - the winning 2 boards from the challenge will be featured on the TODAY SHOW airing February 17 - with design expert & Today Show contributor Susanna Salk representing Olioboard!! (not to mention also generous gift cards to purchase Spirit of Sports art!) Multiple boards can be entered, so I've been testing my testosterone, and here are my latest two mancave roomboards...

VOTE HERE FOR: DIESEL DEN

Diesel Den was created for the man who loves tinkering with old trucks, gears, gizmos, and riding his horse Thunder. He appreciates his past with a nod to mid century - but living out west, he's drawn to rustic finishes. He just wanted a space to kick back with his buddies to watch the game in comfort. He had his Spirit of Sports art customized to be a cover for the wall mounted flat screen TV. Since several of his fave sports players through the years have been named "The Diesel" - hence, here is the Diesel Den.

For the man who isn't into as into TV & sports, but would rather seclude himself into a cocooned room filled with his rare book collection to read a novel or get lost in a mystery - Here's a mantuary just for him too...

Vote here for: The Literary Mantuary

No fluff - Just Books, lighting, leather, and art - with a special piece as the focal point: SWIFT - A stunning Spirit Of Sports wall art reminder of his college days when he was on the rowing team. He lounges and puts his feet up on rich worn leather, from the versatile coffee table / ottoman, to the chair he picked (think American Pickers) to his fave Milo Baughman chair he acquired from his father.

 

Since not all mancaves need to be in a garage, basement, or separate room - he needs a place to sleep too - here is an additional man space in sophisticated style inspired by his love and admiration for roadsters...

Read: How To Make Your Man A Mancave

Susan Rapp, the VP of Community Management at Kalidescope and representative at Olioboard, posted a fantastic write up about the contest on the Olioboard Blog. Sue said, "The ManCave Movement is all about creating a hideaway lounge where the home decor reflects his favorite things, his passion for sports and his hobbies & collectibles. In celebration of Super Bowl XLVI this Sunday on Feb 5th, Olioboard is taking a look at some ManCave Moodboards." Stop by to read the rest of the rules, inspirations, and post... where I am grateful to Sue for including my board in her post - ManCave Moodboards, Contests and great Prizes! Thanks Susan!

VOTE HERE FOR: DIESEL DEN

The contest began yesterday and is running now through February 22. So far, as of today, I made it into the top 3 of 58+ entries! THANK YOU!!! Please vote on my rustic 3D MANCAVE Board - The Diesel Den ... and while at Olioboard, check out the other challenges happening or sign up and try Olioboard for yourself.

Thanks again for your votes and thanks for stopping by!