I'm so happy you're here at Carriage House Studio! And since you are here, I'm going to guess two things about you.

1. You are busy. The whole design process seems either overwhelming or too time consuming. 2. You want your home to be more beautiful...but you are not quite sure how to do it. Truth be told: it can be overwhelming: Where do I start? How do I pull it all together? What stores should I use? How do I mix my old pieces with new? I don't want to waste money or time on pieces that won't work... I've got you covered my friend. Today I want to share with you the story of Kathy, one of my clients, and three ways she got the most bang for her buck out of the E-Design process. 1. Think Like a V.I.R. : Very Important Room

The idea of decorating your house can seem overwhelming because it can cause the dreaded "domino effect". You think "If I update this room, then I need to update all of my rooms to match the style".  Instead, break it up and focus on only ONE room at a time.  Tackle one room at a time, designing it from top-to-bottom so it is completely done. If you try to do a little bit in every room, nothing feels done.

Meet Kathy.

I want to introduce you to one of my favorite clients named Kathy. She contacted me to design most of the rooms in their house. But we started with her most important room: her Kitchen design. In her open concept floor plan, this room affected a lot of other spaces, and we wanted to set the tone right the first time. We worked solely on her Modern Farmhouse Kitchen to get it just right, so at least one room is totally finished and complete from top-to-bottom. Then we moved on to the next space. I’m always thrilled to work on multiple rooms at the same time with a client: it is the best way to get a polished look that flows through your entire home.

2. Do Like Your Mama Said: Always Plan Ahead

I know some of you are in an existing home that isn’t new to you, so feel free to skip ahead to #3. But a LOT of my clients just purchased a new home, or they are building a home when they reach out to me.

One of the reasons I loved Kathy was because she was a planner! She and her husband were in the beginning stages of building their dream home when she reached out to me. They had their floor plan and construction had already started, but they were still months from moving in. Because she had contacted me so early in the process, she had plenty of time to work through each room-by-room design and make decisions. She had a PLAN, so she didn’t have to make big decisions during the chaos of moving into a new home.

When you have a Master Plan for your room, you don't need to buy everything at once. You can buy items one-by-one because you know what the space is going to look like finished. And you know each item will work into that bigger design plan.

3. Add Your Own Spin

Most of my clients know what they like, but they have a hard time pulling it all together.

What I have found through the years, it is a lot easier to make changes and swap out products when you have something specific to look at. When my client has an actual design in front of them, they feel a lot more confident switching out an item, or adding in some things to make it feel like home. Because they can see the big picture, they feel comfortable making tweaks, instead of trying to pull it all together from scratch.

For Kathy, while she did purchase a lot of what I designed for her, she created her on spin on the room while buying some different items, or adding to the design with items she already had. She could now visualize her new space, so it didn't see so overwhelming.