Sophisticated Boys Bedroom Design

Recently I was contacted by a mother who was needing help designing her 12 year old son's room. He plays the saxophone and is into theater and art and has an extensive hat collection. She knew he wouldn't be into the usual sports themed rooms we so often see. She asked him what he wanted his room to look like and she got the usual "I don't know...." (Haven't all us parents heard this one before?) She showed him pictures of room designs to see if he liked any of them but he was still non-commital. 

The only thing he said he liked was this picture of Charlie Chaplain-

So she came to me for help. We knew he needed a new bed, desk, bookshelf, rug, and something that would make his room stand out.

Here is the mood board I came up with that they both loved:

Modern Farmhouse Design

So it's been a while right? Summer was happening- no time for blogging. I took the kiddos home to Louisiana for a few weeks, we went to OKC, and did some other fun summer stuff. And my Big Boy Con-Man started Kindergarten last week!!! OMG how did he get so big?! More on that later-

For now I am excited to share a farmhouse design I completed for a client who is buying land in Pennsylvania. They hired me to design a garage apartment. Their desire was to build an apartment they and their two girls would live in until their final dream home would be designed and built. They wanted the apartment have the same look as the home they would one day build- so it's a pretty awesome garage apartment. 

It's complete with 2 bedrooms, playroom, living and kitchen area, and dining room. The exterior has dormer windows, a pergola, and cupola complete with weather vein! Not to shabby for a garage-

I was also excited to be able to use SketchUp to render a 3D of the home. I have used SketchUp in the past but am trying to further my skills and this client was willing to let me go the extra mile for them. So grateful!

Pretty cool right!? 

Right now the couple is still looking for the perfect plot of land - hoping they are able to complete their dream home (and garage) soon!

Workspace/ Retail Progress

OMG I am ready for the weekend. This has been a hectic week! I've been coaching Con-Man's soccer practices (Alone I may add since the head coach has been out of town), been a woodworking bad @ss, and just been kicking butt in general. ;)

I've also been working on the Retail/Workspace project I have talked about before. SInce this is something I am working on solo, mainly to grow my portfolio, it's been hard to get motivated to put time in on it when I'd rather just veg out and watch TV. I've refined the floor plan, drew up some preliminary elevations, and working on my SketchUp skills. For those who don't know SketchUp is a 3D modeling program. Check it out!

Here is an overall view of the space looking down from above:

On the left hand side of the picture is the "work area". Where artisans can come and build and design their products to sell. There are large work tables along the exterior of the space and a high top table for computer or office type work. There is a conference room, break room, office, and storage as well. There is still a lot to be added- shelving, detail, color, and other furniture.

The more interesting part of the space right now is the retail area on the right hand side. This area is designed for the artisans to sell their wares to the public. Basically they built and create their products to sell in the work area then sell it in the front!

I still need to add more furniture for display but for now I've started designing the check out counter, the large wooden columns that separate the retail area from the display window, and a large display wall wit built in shelving. Here's a closer look:

Here's an elevation view of the display wall. It is covered in sough wood slats, has display shelving popping out of the wall for small sale items, and large shelves built into the wall for large sale items.

And finally an exterior view looking in through the large glass windows:

I'm no SketchUp expert but I've been having fun practicing and honing my skills. What do you think so far? Do you ever work on things just for fun or for practice?