Freshen up your living space with pillows....

My client wanted a more neutral collection of pillows

for her family room sectional sofa and two chairs.....

Sectionals can be tricky - how many too pillows is too many?

I like to 'mostly' match the arm ends - as you can see I have the same two 

selected with the small leopard thrown in on the left-side for 

some fun!  In the center I selected the large Mongolian Lamb

pillow from West Elm to pair with a sweater pillow the

client had found at Homegoods!  I think this is a great mix

of pattern and texture for a relatively good value.

The splurge in the mix is the Schumacher

Betwixt bolsters for the two chairs in the room.
I couldn't help myself - it's a favorite!

Have a wonderful day!

Blogging and the Emmy's Red Carpet.......

Blogging definitely took a backseat to my planking project this week - see the above

Instagram photo I took yesterday.  Don't let this photo fool you - the project is

far from done - painting and caulking still need to be completed and I would

love to paint the ceiling and replace the pot lights with cute fixtures.......

What I have learned is this - I have no future in adding DIY projects 

to this blog - I will stick with posts focused on decorating and

design, period, end of story.

But in all seriousness, I love how my formerly, very boring hallway with SIX

doors is looking!  This photo was actually taken from the place I

stand in my kitchen, like 6 hours a day it seems.  It's the small

things, like looking down at my planked walls, that make me very happy!

So done or not, I am thrilled!

As I write this I am watching E! Live from the Red Carpet - it's 

my favorite part of the whole award show thing.  I almost never

watch the award show itself, is that weird?  

And finally - the long awaited winner of the LoveFeast giveaway is........
commenter #11 {as chosen by my 11 year old}......

Ashley

**Check your email!

Love Feast Giveaway!

LoveFeast is a sweet online shop with lots of wonderful

 home decor products including these these darling 

velvet pumpkins. Each velvet pumpkin includes a real pumpkin stem so they

look completely organic and so lovely incorporated into your fall decor!

You can check out all their products HERE.

LoveFeast has generously offered to giveaway a trio of the 

velvet pumpkins pictured above to one lucky

Forever*Cottage reader!

To enter, leave a comment telling me what 

you love best about fall, it's as simple as that!

You have until Friday at midnight PST to enter!

Thanks LoveFeast shop for your sponsorship!

Advice for Monday.....

This will be my mantra this week, cause it's a big

photo shoot week - super exciting for me!

I can't wait to tell you more about it.

xo~

Client project, an updated study......

I learned an important lesson when I began

doing this post - I must take more 'before' photos

of the spaces I work on.....

I have just ONE pathetic photo of the study that I worked on for 

a client/friend.  The space is just off the entry of the home,

has a sort of craftsman/mission style vibe and is used by the

family for studying, working and reading. All the 

furniture and the rug had to stay.  What needed to

go was the orangey/red-ish walls.  The painting below

was purchased by the homeowner in Thailand and

was the inspiration behind the new and improved space.

the ONE and only 'before' photo

Below is the design board I did for the client - I loved
the idea of using grasscloth on the walls and was thrilled
when the client did too!  As you will see below - grasscloth
{done in an earthy green} is really the show-stopper in this space!

***********************************

And here is the updated space!

Obviously, I started with a great space already - the desk was

the homeowners grandfather's that they incorporated into the 

built-ins when they built the home, love that!  The client

wanted the rug to stay and of course, that painting is 

really a great focal point above the fireplace.

We updated the space with fretwork lampshades {from Target!}, the 

fun ikat pillow from Ballard Designs and accessories from 

Homegoods, Shop Furbish and Wayfair - some of my

favorite go-to's for finishing a space!

And I am not going to take credit for styling the 

bookcases - my talented client did that all by herself,

along with the gallery wall.

My client/friend has a stationary business called Paper Moon,

so it is fitting that she has the sweet paper wreaths

on the doors leading into the room.

If you would like my help creating a space you love,

email me at jill.hinsondesigns@gmail.com.

 THANKS to my client who trusted me, believed in the design

plan and executed it beautifully!

Reality.......

Indeed!

Happy hump day!

Jamie Shops!

Today I want to highlight a relatively new sponsor of my blog

JamieShop.com.  

Jamieshop.com is a online buying service for 'to the trade' only

interior design elements - think the fabrics, lighting and accessories that

you drool over in Elle Decor, Architectural Digest and House Beautiful!

The brainchild of nationally renowned interior designer, Jaime Herzlinger, 

the service allows regular folks like us access to beautiful fabrics

without having to work with an interior designer.  Using a buying service

allows you to avoid the designer mark-up and time billed that most 

interior designers charge for sourcing.

Jamieshop.com is an easy to navigate site that allows you

to search manufacturers and request price quotes right online - 

super convenient!

Go check it out and let me know what you think!

D.i.y. dilemmas....

I had hoped to share a d.i.y. project with you all this week.....

a sort of "hey, look at me with my kids all back in

school, clients taken care of, laundry done AND 

my walls freshly planked".  It was going to be EPIC,

cause, let's face it.....around here at the Forever*Cottage you get

a lot of decorating but not much d.i.y. - I leave that to 

other bloggers who are far better at it than me......Hey,

I don't even know if officially I need to put periods between

d.i.y. or do I just say diy, which my Mac does not

like and tries to tell me is a misspelled word.

But instead I am sharing a photo of my new/vintage French

hat rack that I finally got around to hanging in my entry....

which by the way is looking better these days.....

And take a guess what I am doing this weekend?

That's right, finishing my d.i.y. planking project.....

cause nothing ever goes as planned.....that's what

all you expert d.i.y.-ers would tell me, huh?

Oh, and I have an entire soccer team and their

parents coming over for a meeting/dinner tomorrow

night......better get planking {so much better than twerking right?}.....

{sorry I couldn't resist}

Styling bookshelves.....

Well hello..............

Are we all back-to-school coffee'd out? Are the little darlings

happily immersed in their schedules, routines, lessons, practices,

etc....?  I feel like this year has been a whole new chapter in our back-to-school,

with a high school freshman and a very independent middle schooler it's as

if I am hardly needed and eh, I skip the back-to-school coffee's - it's official

I.AM.THAT.OLD.MOM.   But that's a whole different post....today

we are going to talk about book shelf styling.

My design business really kept me busy this summer - which

was awesome!  {Awesome, but quite the juggle with kids home.}

I worked with many of you via email, which is super fun but I

also worked with many local clients on fluffing and feathering

their nests LIVE and in PERSON - which is great but also means I have

to get showered and dressed!  

Let's just say,it was the summer of bookshelves - styling that is!

What I have discovered is you all are afraid of the bookshelf -

and I am here to tell you, don't be afraid of the bookself!

Bookshelves are there to let your personality and collections

shine in your home!

The photos above and below are from my Pinterest board "Shelves and Vignettes" -

both are beautiful examples of well styled bookshelves {in my humble opinion}.

I love that they include books {duh!}, and collections, art, organic materials,

boxes, frames and quirky items too!

I am working with an eDesign client on bookshelf styling - which can

be tricky, what I wouldn't give for cheap airline tickets and be able to show

up on your door step sort of like Publisher's Clearinghouse Giveaway but

without the big check and balloons but with lots of fun stuff to style

your bookshelves like nobody's business.

But since I haven't gotten the call from Delta Airlines

to sponsor my eDesign business, a design board

and a detailed email had to suffice.

Above is the design board I quickly put together that represented

some of my favorite bookshelf styling items. 

And this photo is of a recently styled bookshelf in a client's home using

items the client already had!

And above is my bookshelves in my great room - about 4 bookshelf stylings ago!

{I might have a problem!}

And finally, the photo above is also from a client project - pay no attention to 

the upper left corner - needs something, huh?  Well I am posting this photo

to demonstrate how important balance is.  I actually broke the 

client's daughter's clay figure that we were going to include 

in the book shelf - YES, I did!  Well, good thing for me we were able

to glue the masterpiece back together, but it needed to dry so therefore was

not photo-ready in time for this picture.  

The moral of today's story......if you are local, I will come dressed

and showered and ready to style your bookcases.....however,

I may break your precious child's clay masterpiece......

And to Delta Airlines....call me, maybe?