Amber B Design Studio

Interior Design & Decoration for the South Florida region

An Update on #projectclassickitchen !!

by Filed Under: #projectclassickitchen, amber b design, before and after, design, interior design, kitchen, local clients


I am sorry for the long absence on the blog! Time got away from me, but I am happy to return with a local client project update. You may have remembered a post I wrote HERE about #projectclassickitchen. It was a local client project that I was so thrilled to be a part of. The project got its name because my clients contacted me after remodeling their gorgeous traditional and classic kitchen. They live in a 1930’s Georgian brick colonial and the finishes they chose totally work with the era of the home. I was hired to complete the space with: breakfast nook furnishings, wall accessories and window treatments. I recently went over to the house, since we are working on some other rooms on the first floor and decided to snap even more pictures of the kitchen. When I was there last, the drapes had not arrived yet and there were some other items that needed to be hung on the walls. Here is the space now…

And just for fun, let’s do a before and after of the breakfast nook…

Before



After


I can’t wait to show you the design process for the rest of the rooms we are working on!

The Design Plans for #projectvintagegem

by Filed Under: #projectvintagegem, design, interior design, local clients


I am excited to show you the design plans for #projectvintagegem. My client is very happy with the ideas and ordering items has already begun! With this project, we are working on her foyer, living/dining room and master bedroom. To recap, my client is looking for a home that has a vintage, collected style. She loves mixing woods with metals for an industrial look, which is a perfect style for her historic building with exposed brick walls. Here are the plans, via Amber B Design style…

The Foyer


The Living Room


The Dining Room


The Master Bedroom



I am so excited to see this project through to completion! It has been my pleasure coming up with these design plans and I just love the charm and character of this building. I promise to report the progress along the way!

If you would like to work together, either locally or through e-design, I have openings beginning in April!

What is Happening Around Here…

by Filed Under: #projectvintagegem, blog, design, design services, e-decorating, e-design, local clients


Sorry for the lack of posts as of late! I have been happily plugging away on some design projects that I can’t wait to share with you! There is something about this time of year that is so optimistic. The Holiday decorations have been put away, routines are back again and I feel energized to get more accomplished. That’s a great feeling, isn’t it?!? This is always the time of year I start to organize and make changes, both in the decor of my home and in business. If you have stuck around here for quite some time {thanks Mom!}, you may realize that I have had more business name changes than Puff Daddy. Well, maybe it’s the same number of changes. Let’s count… First, there was Puff Daddy, then Puffy, then P Diddy and now- just Diddy. Ok, so he has had four. He does have me beat by one. I went from Simple Dwellings Interiors, to Amber B Interiors and now officially… Amber B Design! I have always wanted to use the name Design for the business. It’s not a big change from Amber B Interiors, but it makes me happy. The links on my sidebar might be broken for a bit, but should be up and running soon. I think I might keep the blog name as Simple Dwellings, since that name does have a special place in my heart and has been around since the beginning. But all of my social media accounts {for the most part} have changed to Amber B Design.

Great, now that’s out of the way… let’s talk design projects. I am currently working on a local design project that I refer to as #projectvintagegem. The apartments in this building have such character and charm. My client has just moved into this apartment, hence the boxes.

Before

Oh, my client’s precious cat!! I am also working on my first commercial project, which is a wine tasting room that is part of their production facility. Here is some inspiration to show you the direction we are headed with that…

Inspiration

It has been a real challenge to push my creativity further with this commercial project. But, I have learned so much and am grateful to have that opportunity to bring myself out of that comfort zone.
In March, I am ecstatic to be working again with a wonderful client. Room by room, she is renovating her 1930’s Georgian Brick colonial. We first completed her daughter’s sweet, delicate nursery…

more on the nursery here
And then we moved onto her eating area in the kitchen…

more on the kitchen here
There is still a full reveal coming soon, since this spot in the kitchen is only about 90% complete. One of the rooms we will be tackling in March is their sun room. Currently, the walls, windows and all trim are wood stained. That look won’t stay that way for long. Here is my inspiration for that space…
via

Deep blue walls were made for her space! For some reason, when a design idea hits me that I know will work so well, I just want to sing in an operatic voice. Is that just me?!? Probably should have kept that one to myself. Needless to say, I can’t wait to show you that reveal. 
Thanks for checking back in! 

I Am Speechless…

by Filed Under: design, personal design style


Happy new year! I hope everyone feels refreshed, energized and excited for the opportunities a new year brings. We had a nice, long break from school and I have to say, the house feels a bit too quiet. It was such a relaxing break and I miss the little fam. But I am ready to jump back into working and see what 2015 has in store! I am thrilled to be writing my first post of the new year about my blog friend Sue, from her popular blog, the Zhush. Her new Connecticut home was featured on Domaine yesterday and is a stunning interpretation of Sue’s chic, coastal style. Sue worked along with designer Lauren Muse of Muse Interiors to make this house a home. Nicole Cohen from the blog Sketch 42 captured the home’s character with her amazing photography. Let’s take a look!

{I spy a Target Threshold ottoman above!!}

I love Sue’s effortless and chic style! Enjoy your gorgeous new home with your family, Sue!
Home of: Sue De Chiara
Designed in collaboration with: Muse Interiors
Photography by: Nicole Cohen
Seen on: Domaine

Our Holiday Home Tour

by Filed Under: design, holiday


I have finally put together a little Holiday home tour for the blog. Better late than never, right? This year’s tour has more little snippets of our home, instead of full room reveals. Less is sometimes more, I guess! Let’s get right to it, starting with our tree…

We also have a wreath on most windows, but my camera skills are not very good when taking pictures into the sunlight. Our fridge is full of sweet treats and festive food and we are ready for this year’s Holiday season!

Wishing you a safe and Happy Holiday!!

Before and After: A Mini Reveal of #projectclassickitchen !!

by Filed Under: #projectclassickitchen, central new york design, interior design, kitchen, local clients


I am thrilled to reveal a local project I have been working on! I first started working with these clients with #projectdelicatenursery and we have since began working on other areas of their home. I am so fortunate that my clients found me… they have been wonderful to work with. They just completed a major renovation of their gorgeous kitchen and needed my help with dining furniture, wall accessories and just pulling the eating area together. Let’s get right to the pictures!! Here is the dining area after the renovation and before we started working together on the space…

Before


In these before pictures, the kitchen renovation was almost complete. They were just waiting on the counters to arrive and some finishing touches. The kitchen area is now complete and is fabulous! They can also check the eating area off their list of finishing touches!

After


To say that I am thrilled with the space would be an understatement! I am so lucky to have trusting clients that allowed me to show them an eclectic mix of furnishings for the space and try something that was a little out of their comfort zone. Luckily, they loved it all when it was complete and my client said she was just speechless when she saw the reveal! That truly made my day!  🙂 We went with an upholstered banquette that has a very durable, family friendly fabric. The brass nailhead trim is the icing on the cake! My clients had a wonderful collection of photos from their travels, which made the gallery wall meaningful and special to them. We are waiting on a few elements, before this room has the full reveal. The wall space to the left of the gallery wall will have a message station. That will hold mail, keys and even has a small shelf for a pretty picture frame. That is why the gallery wall might look like it stops too early right now. Don’t worry… more to come! The windows will be dressed in roman shades in this fabric…

They are on their way as we speak and I cannot wait to see them in the room! The wall to the opposite of the dining nook (near the fridge) will have this old school style clock…

And the before and after {because I know we all love them} just one more time…

Before


After


Thank you so much to my amazing clients for allowing me to share their home here on my blog. 🙂
If you would like to work together, I am now booking for the spring! Please e-mail at [email protected] for more information

Happy Holidays!!

Jump Start Your Decorating With a Pinterest Board… A Local Client’s Lake House Project

by Filed Under: interior design, local clients, pinterest


I recently had the privilege of meeting with a client who is going through a major gut renovation of her cottage lake house. Her home is nestled on the bay of a beautiful lake. I can just imagine looking out of the windows during the changing of the seasons! What a treat! She hired me to come in and give her a jump start on ideas for her home, so she can hit the ground running. She took advantage of a new local design package that I offer for clients… it’s a style session complete with a pinterest board! We had our initial meeting at the cottage and brainstormed ideas. She came ready with all of her questions and we started to get to solving them right away. Then, I came home and began work on a pinterest board just for her. This board will help her get a start on the decorating process and is complete with specific ideas and inspirations for her to complete her cottage herself, over time. She can click on the product links to take her directly to the site for purchase. I also made specific comments under each image, so she can go back and know exactly why the image was pinned to her board. This is a great design package if you are looking for a designer’s advice, but you primarily want to accomplish the work yourself over time. My client told me she wanted to hear that her ideas were valid and also wanted the answers to some of the questions that had puzzled her about her home. Here is what the cottage looked like when I visited…

Cottage Lake House

The main entrance is the door to the right

This is an antique mantel that will be used

There will be built ins on either side of the fireplace

Amidst all of the renovation, there sits a little potted plant I brought to give to my client. I always like to come with a small gift in hand.  🙂  

This will be the serving counter and dining area 

I love all of the windows and natural light!

This was my first time seeing a project from the ground up like this and I was so excited! The part that made me the most excited was the fact that I could envision this cottage complete. That was such an amazing feeling to walk around and tell her where the furniture should go and how the layout will flow throughout the main floor. This visit, we tackled everything from a wall color scheme to furniture placement, counter finishes, etc. We covered so much during that session. I then came home and got to work on the pinterest board.
Since my client wanted to tackle this project herself over time, this style session/pinterest board design package was perfect for her. It gave her a start on the process and encouragement to move forward with some of her ideas and many new ones from myself. Here is a glimpse into her pinterest board and the direction we will take with this cottage lake house…
The Plan via her Pinterest board

Ship Lap on the ceiling throughout the main level
pin via
Four club chairs facing each other, by the wall of windows
pin via
Coastal accents
pin via
A basket for cozy blankets
pin via
A window seat to lounge and watch the water
pin via
An overall cozy design aesthetic with slipcovered furniture pieces
pin via
A warm and rustic, yet modern style with hints of green accents
pin via
My client is excited to move forward and is so happy about the design vision. She is also a pinner to this board, so she can add and edit the board over time. To see the rest of the board, visit my pinterest page HERE.
Would you feel at home with a cottage like this??
To see this new local design package and other packages I offer, visit my design services page HERE!
Have a wonderful and happy Thanksgiving!!  🙂

Featured in Chatelaine

by Filed Under: chevron, design, foyer, magazine feature, mom's inspiration


I am excited to announce that my mom’s popular stair redo has become even more famous, with international notoriety! My mom’s chevron painted stairs that I first blogged about HERE was part of an article Chatelaine put together for how to style your staircase. Chatelaine is a leading Canadian lifestyle magazine and web site. Here it is on their amazing web site…

Congratulations, mom! Her stunning stair transformation first made major publication news when it was featured in Woman’s World magazine. If you missed that, I blogged about it HERE. I just keep telling her she’s going to need to start a blog of her own with these great projects! If you want to see more stylish ways to transform your stairs, make sure you check out the article!

Shelf Styling is a Process

by Filed Under: design, family room, interior design, local clients, shelf styling, styling


I recently stopped over my client’s house to begin styling her shelves in her family room. I wrote about the progress of her room in this post and after this most recent visit, we both feel that the finish point is near! And that’s definitely an exciting thing to see. All of the room’s elements have been on the design board and it is now so rewarding to get to see the results in action. Shelf styling is definitely a process, though. Every designer approaches it differently, but for me, I have some tried and true methods when I work…

1. Start from scratch. The shelves should start with a clean slate, i.e. empty. My client was amazing and already spread out everything she had, so we could see what we had to work with. That’s so refreshing and helpful, so you can get right to it.

Where we started…

Today, I styled the shelves seen behind the sectional. There is my empty slate.

2. Find all of the hard cover books you can use and remove the book jackets. You will be amazed at how they all of a sudden look like bound collector’s books.

3. Before placing items on the shelves, I hung a trio of sunburst mirrors on the wall. I made sure I did that first, so I had the mirrors right where I wanted. Then, I styled around them. Hanging mirrors on the walls behind your shelves gives the furniture piece depth and interest. You could also hang small pieces of artwork or family photos.

4. Start placing the items on the shelves to see how they will work together. This can be a long process. And it may even change from today to the next styling visit. I like to take pictures and study them, to see if the shelves are how I like them. This can involve a lot of editing, but it is really worth it and the true fun part of the room!

This was how I had the shelves styled in phase one…

Like I said earlier, the three mirrors were hung first. I then started styling around them. But this first phase seemed a bit too cluttered to us. I made a few more changes…

This was how I had the shelves styled in phase two…

I removed some of the books on the top shelf, but the globe still didn’t look right in that spot and it all felt cluttered and busy.

And this was how I styled the shelves in the final phase…

5. Editing, editing and more editing! I think it is almost impossible to get it 100% right the first time. Stepping back to see the changes you have made is a great way to finalize your shelves.

Do you like the changes? I moved the globe to the top shelf, removed some of the glass bottles and added a blue and white bowl to the small stack of blue books. We are both excited about the transformation of these shelves. And we were happy to be able to use so much of what my client already had! I know adding those personal items will be meaningful to the overall design. We are now on the lookout for two more storage bins for the bottom left shelves. I won’t necessarily match them, but find coordinating bins in a similar size. We will also add another detail to the wall space next to the globe. This room has a very high angled slope to its ceiling, so we will add a wall clock to visually draw your eye up and to also help make that tall wall feel useful.

So stay tuned… we will be having much more fun in this space in the coming months! 

In Love With… Sarah Style

by Filed Under: blog review, design, interior design, sarah richardson


I have been a long time fan of the design work of Sarah Richardson. I was thrilled to be able to meet her and tour her Toronto design studio last fall. She has that perfect blend of traditional with modern, new with vintage. It is always a treat to watch her television shows and see what projects her and her team are up to next. So when Anneliese from Simon and Schuster Canada contacted me about receiving a copy of Sarah’s new book, Sarah Style, I jumped at the chance.

I have loved going through this book page by page and studying the rooms she has designed. I also really like the way this book is written… Sarah takes us through the book by room type, showing various ways to make each space in your home unique and personal to your style. I also love the tips along the way, giving us a glimpse into her thought process when she designs a room. I was even surprised to find out that some of the spaces I have long admired were her designs. She is literally a design genius! Let’s take a glimpse into the decorating goodness you will find in this book…

Amazing, right?!? And these images just scratch the surface. There is so much more in the book, including foyers, bathrooms and kid’s spaces! To order your copy, visit HERE.
Thank you so much to Anneliese and the people over at Simon and Schuster Canada for this book!