Design Insights and Inspiration

{E-Design Before and After} The Home’s Exterior

October 23, 2013 by Amber Filed Under: before and after, design, e-decorating, e-design

When I receive after photos from a client, I get all giddy inside! These before and afters are amazing, since the homeowners did a wonderful job putting the plan into action. This was a new one for me, since it was the first time working on the client’s exterior of the home. I was excited and ready for the challenge! Here are the before shots of their home…

Before

The clients were deciding whether or not to paint the brick. I loved the idea and showed them some options, but we also considered waiting a while and just working on new accent colors, landscaping and some accessories. My clients ended up staying with the brick as is, which worked out great! Here is the plan I came up with…

The Design Plan

With some design boards, a picture speaks louder than words. When my blog friend Jane posted about her friend’s house that was for sale, I knew this would be the perfect inspiration for my client’s home. The image I am referring to is on the top right corner of the design board. You should also check out the rest of the post… great before and afters!! The landscaping and welcoming feel were just right and conveyed what we were trying to achieve in this project. And here are the amazing afters…

After

They did a fabulous job! New paint and a few key accessories truly can take a space to the next level. I am so proud of them for their hard work and executing the plan so well. A special thanks to my clients for allowing me to share these photos with you! 🙂

I am happy to announce that I am featured on the Anthology House blog today, in a customer spotlight post. Amy and Alyse run the amazing etsy shop, Anthology House and they are featuring my design business today. They are my sponsors and friends and I would love for you to stop by and say hello!

Our Quick Solution for Board Game Clutter

October 16, 2013 by Amber Filed Under: design, family room, kids and design, organize, shelf styling

If you’re a parent, chances are you have loads of toys! When creative, easy organizing tips come along to store those toys, I become a happy camper! A long while back, my blog friend Courtney posted about an easy solution for all of the puzzles and games we can accumulate. By using small mesh bags that are primarily used to machine wash delicates, you can throw away the bulky boxes and just keep the game with directions. This has been a life saver for storage! So, here is our shelving unit where this solution was used…

The top half of the shelves holds my fun accessories and books, while the bottom shelves are for the kiddos. But when the games are tucked away in cute burlap bins, it doesn’t scream out: KIDS TOYS HERE!! With the mesh bags, I have been able to fit so many more puzzles and games than before. We still keep some of the games in boxes, but storing half in bags cuts the bulk down a lot.

I found our mesh bags at Target and they sell for about $1.50 each. They were in the same aisle with the irons.

Do you have any creative solutions for storing kid’s toys?? Please share!!

Instacraft: A Must Have Book for Simple, Fun DIY Projects

October 14, 2013 by Amber Filed Under: design, DIY

Just like my cooking, I like to keep design projects simple, easy and to a minimum of four steps or less! So when I was recently contacted to take part in a book review of this amazing new book that handles crafting in a similar format, I was all for it! Instacraft is a new book that shows us quick, stylish craft projects for the crafter at heart, right on down to those of us without an artistic bone in our body (the latter is more like me!!) The book was written by Alison Caporimo, writer and crafter that introduces us to projects that are attainable and quick, for those of us on the go! The projects she featured made me realize they would be great starter crafts for kids and a wonderful way to bond together through art. The amazing photography throughout the book was done by Meera Lee Patel, who is able to capture the projects beautifully and in a way that makes you want to try it yourself.

The book’s set up is very user friendly and breaks the crafts down into fun project categories: Spray, Cut and Hang, Write and Paint, Pin and Fold, Tape and Glue and Dip and Stamp.

For each project, the picture is on one page, while the materials and simple directions are on the other. I can definitely handle this type of craft book! Let’s get to some of my favorites…

Farm to Table Butter Dish (Spray Section)

You may already have some of these items on hand, such as a glass butter dish, plastic farm animal, strong glue and spray paint. By spraying everything white and attaching the animal with strong glue, you have a vintage looking butter dish that would be perfect at any farmhouse table!

Gold Pencil Holder (Spray Section)

By simply spray painting a ball of twine with gold spray paint, you can have a chic new pencil holder for your desk!

Sneaky Holiday Storage (Cut and Hang Section)

This is my favorite and will definitely be our new Christmas/New Year’s decoration this year! Have an empty frame lying around your house? Paint a festive message on the outside with a paint pen and fill the frame with fancy gold garland. I could also see this as an amazing birthday decoration, too!

Color Me Thumbtacks (Write and Paint Section)

When it’s time to redo my office and add a new bulletin board, you bet I’m borrowing this idea! If you have thumbtacks and nail polish, you can tackle this project!

Stocking Flowerpot (Cut and Hang Section)

Did you get a run in your stylish stockings? Don’t throw them away… use them for this adorable craft project. This project only requires stockings, a flowerpot and some scissors. I will definitely have to give this one a try!

I think it’s safe to say that I am a little obsessed with this book! I could go on and on about the wonderful ideas, but you really should have one of your own to flip through and enjoy. Seeing these easy crafts photographed so beautifully is a real treat in person! A cool little extra about this book… the author decided to make the book even more fun, by including some great songs to listen to while crafting and a quick recipe to try while your project dries. How sweet is that?!? I think what I appreciate most about this book, is that the author wants you to recycle and use items you already have on hand. There is no long supply list needed for these projects, and I love that! To get started on a new project, order your copy HERE at an amazing price!!

I can’t wait to see which project you try, first!!

Happy Crafting!!

* a special thanks to Beth and the PR team for gifting this incredible book to me!!

Designing a Room Around Inspiring Art

October 9, 2013 by Amber Filed Under: art, design, e-decorating, e-design

When I begin with a room design, I don’t necessarily start the same way, every time. The client might already have that one special piece to build the room around. Maybe I become inspired by fabric and design the room around that. When one of my recent clients came to me to help design her teen daughter’s room, I found some great art pieces that helped pull the room together. After that, the rest was history! Here are the inspiring art pieces that helped make this room complete…

via

Can these art pieces be more beautiful and whimsical?? I am in awe of each of these artist’s talents! Not only are the prints lovely, they each hold special meaning in some way, to the client. They also pull the room’s color palette together and help to bring the client a stylish place to create. I am feeling inspired and hope she will, too!

Creative Ways to Use Leftover Pieces of Fabric

October 3, 2013 by Amber Filed Under: design, DIY, fabric, fall colors, seasons

I recently entered a contest through Tonic Living, in which I made a project using leftover pieces of fabric. You could take the contest literally or come up with a creative use for the fabric scraps. Let’s get this little disclaimer out of the way, right now… I am not a DIY expert by any stretch of the imagination. I have always been in the camp of If I can do it, anyone can!! So I am here to show you my super simple and fun ways to use those leftover pieces of fabric you have.

Fabric Wrapped Pumpkins

For this project, I used an artificial pumpkin. {That’s important, so the decoration can be used year after year.} I just plopped the pumpkin in the middle of the fabric and started gathering up the sides to the stem. I used one of my pony tail holders I had laying around the house to keep the fabric pulled at the top. The fabric ended up being a little short on the sides. Not to worry, since it’s pretty easy to hide that with some tucking and folding. You will most likely get some bulging of the fabric in spots. I just took some sewing needles and pinned down the bulging sections, to get it to lay more flat. At first, it looks very messy. Don’t give up just yet… you can smooth the fabric down and display the side that looks prettier! I cut off some of the leftover fabric on top and used some brown grosgrain ribbon, to hide my pony tail holder. {I know I will be looking for that one morning, when I have a bad hair day!} All in the name of DIY, I guess. 🙂

Onto the next project… fabric wrapped canvas.

Fabric Wrapped Canvas

* Both fabric samples provided by Tonic Living *

At first, I had no idea how to tackle this one, since I don’t own a staple gun. I bought some spray fabric adhesive, but didn’t end up using it. I bought an 8×8 canvas board from a local fabric store and then got to work. I followed this tutorial HERE but used small nails instead of the staple gun. I just hammered the nails in the back.

-The key is to make sure the nails are very short, so they don’t poke through the canvas.

-You also must make sure you iron your fabric first, so you don’t have a wrinkly canvas art piece.

-You must also pull the fabric tight as you go along, so it ends up looking as if it was always a part of the canvas.

I thought that I had centered the fabric, but it’s a bit off. I told you I was no DIY expert!! The new canvas piece adds some texture, color and pattern to the back of the shelf.

So there you have it… about an hour of my time for two new accessories!

Have you crafted something recently?? Would love to hear about it!

Touches of Fall in Our Home

September 30, 2013 by Amber Filed Under: design, fall colors, seasons

With the exception of Christmas, I like to make subtle seasonal and holiday changes in our home’s decor. Whether it’s a pretty pumpkin on our mantel or a leaf plate on the table, I like to keep things simple and easy. For me, I will be much more likely to repeat the decor the following year, if it is this way! Here are the very subtle touches of fall in our home…

I love the look of white pumpkins! I may have to pick up some more and add personal touches to them. More on that in another post! So from our house to yours…

Happy Fall !!

What I Took Away from Blog Podium

September 26, 2013 by Amber Filed Under: blog podium, blogging, design, personal

It’s almost a week since I was at blog podium and I am still brimming with inspiration and ideas! I was so happy I decided to attend my first blogging conference. The friendships made and the connections from the event will last a long time. Whoever says you cannot make solid, lasting connections on line is wrong! I was so happy to find out that the blog friends I only chatted with on line, were just as sweet and wonderful in person! Saturday was a day packed with information on how to grow your blog and business, the ins and outs of social media, how to create balance and so much more! Going to Sarah’s Design Studio the day before allowed me the opportunity to meet bloggers before the event. So a bunch of us decided to have dinner Friday night and break the ice before blog podium…

Top row, left: Amy, Laura, Jill, Julie Bottom row, left: Melissa, Emma and me

They were such a fun group of ladies! Definitely check out their blogs! Once I arrived at the event the next day, I knew I was in for a lot of pretty. Jennifer Flores and her team pulled out all the stops and made this a truly memorable event. Every last detail was so beautiful and well thought out. It was a very inspiring day!

(The following bunch of photos were taken by Anna With Love Photography)…

The amazing and talented Jennifer Flores

This was such a creative way to display our business cards!

All of the decorations were done by the amazing Minted. I loved every single detail!

Lunch was delicious! I love the gold glittery accent at the bottom of the menu!

Sarah Richardson was the keynote speaker and delivered a wonderful speech that was inspiring and fun to listen to!

The sponsors had beautifully decorated vignettes. I could move right in!

Hearing Stephanie Sterjovski speak on Blog to Business was great! Just reading the quote on the screen alone, was inspiring.

Photos from the amazing and talented Anna With Love

I even won a table saw with stand, which then got traded to a saw, which then got traded to a mirror! Quite an adventure. We knew the mirror would fit in the trunk on the way home and clear customs without a problem! 🙂 Looking forward to showing you the mirror in our home. Thanks, Home Depot!

And of course, I met amazing people and had a blast with them!

Christine was so wonderful and sweet! A big congrats to her and her sweet little one for their nursery feature in Style at Home magazine!!

Brittany was amazing to meet and is such a talent!

Photobooth images by Snapshot Photo Booth

Friends in the photo booth I didn’t already mentioned and loved meeting include: Annika, Lindsey, Allison, Thalita and Tiffany. I didn’t get a chance to take pictures with so many other amazing bloggers, like Elyse, Lynsey, Kathleen, Christine, Victoria and Alexandra but soo loved meeting them, too! To wrap up this very long post, I just want to mention that if you’re ever thinking of attending a blog conference, go for it! You will be so inspired, meet so many creative, fun people and walk away feeling ready to take your blog and business further! I was so nervous going, but more than happy that I went for it. 🙂

My Tea Experience with Sarah Richardson

September 24, 2013 by Amber Filed Under: blog podium, design, HGTV, sarah richardson

Wow, to be able to write that title still amazes me. You may have remembered my post about winning a pinterest design contest and having the opportunity to meet Sarah Richardson in her design studio. That just happened last Friday and the experience was one I will never forget! Not only is her work truly inspiring and beautiful, Sarah is down to earth, fun and just as warm in person as on her HGTV shows. Her office space is gorgeous and just what I would expect from a designer who has amazing shows on HGTV, a new fabric line for Kravet and a design book in the works! I was a little nervous {ok, very nervous} about this experience, but once I met her, I felt like I have known her for years. Let’s back track a bit, as I show you what I decided to wear for this event…

{still very nervous at this point!!}

And here are all of the photos from the event…

{Our fun group and the lovely Sarah, of course! We are standing behind her new fabric line for Kravet!}

My name tag made with Sarah’s fabric!

Her design studio is made up of gorgeous living room vignettes, with a mix of antiques, her fabrics and items from her furniture line. I could literally move right in!!

During the tea, we mingled throughout the space. As you can see in one of the above pictures, there is a full kitchen with all appliances! I was speaking with Kate, a lead designer on Sarah’s team, and she said they buy groceries and cook there for lunch, while they work! It seems like such a family type atmosphere. I wouldn’t want to leave that space to go out for lunch!

The photos above show the work spaces. Through the doorway is Sarah’s office! Ahhh, so inspiring! The photo directly above shows all of the fabrics in her line that made the cut! They are stunning in person. I love all of the colorways.

{Yes, this actually happened! Pinch me!!}

With Natalie and Kate, lead designers on Sarah’s team. They were so nice!!

We even received gifts before leaving! The above photo shows my new tote bag made with Sarah’s new fabric! I had an amazing time and it just flew by. I was able to meet amazing bloggers the day before blog podium, which was so fun! I wish I could rewind it all and do it again. While we were there, we had tea from Pluck Teas, which was so delicious! We were even able to go home with some Earl Grey Cream Tea, which was amazing!

{Sarah’s favorite drink and I can definitely see why! Loved it!}

Our last picture before we left, holding our new bags. Sarah’s design studio is the gray building on the right! Notice the stunning chandelier!!

As all amazing adventures, the time flew by! This experience inspired me to move my blog and design business further. I walked away with so much knowledge and insight, that I am ready to make things happen for Amber B Interiors! I am so thankful to blog podium for this experience. And I think I will continue to pinch myself as I look back at these photos!

I will be back later this week, for a recap of the events at blog podium!

Watch Sarah Tonight!

September 19, 2013 by Amber Filed Under: blog podium, design, personal, sarah richardson

The weather is beautiful here! We are soaking up those beautiful summer/fall days before we get hit with the cold weather! 🙂 I wanted to check in and remind you to watch Sarah Richardson’s show, Real Potential, tonight! It makes its debut on HGTV Canada at 9pm EST with back to back shows. For those of us who don’t live in Canada, you can watch it HERE!

I am signing off until next week, since I am soon headed to blog podium. I will keep you updated with all of the events on instagram (amberbinteriors). You can also follow everyone who’s there under the hashtag #blogpodium

Wish Me Luck !!!