This summer has been equal parts fulfilling and busy – workwise. We have so many incredible design projects that all have the same deadlines, which means we are slammed, and yet all of them have so much creative freedom and autonomy that my team is buzzing with fun. And I’m not just talking about the guest cottage or my daughter’s purple room. Nay. We have jobs for clients that are so fun, etc. Let’s jump right on in…

Design Projects: A Tiny House

Talk about a dream project. This is for Velux, our skylight partner, and they’ve hired us to design a tiny house that will move around to different design events and show off their skylights so more people can experience them IRL. We have so much creative freedom, and I’ve worked with them for so many years that they trust me, and I them. Gretchen and I are doing it together and so while our design team is so small (just the two of us), we are having so much fun doing all the creative work in the ways that we work best. Its being built in California, by Joshua and Shelley of Tiny House Basics, and they are moving so fast, so we have to be on top of all the decisions so we don’t hold them up. But since the scale of it is smaller (just 4 small rooms), it is easier to execute, and we also know that we can do a lot of magic with styling. Its designed in a ‘contemporary cottage’ style which I think will be a sweet take on the Tiny House. Done by end of September so hopefully you’ll see it published in October.

Design Projects: My Sister’s Kitchen

My sister lives in NE Portland and had the perfect project for us to help on. This one has been going on in the background and we are holding the content to release it all closer together (sometimes when we spread out the projects in real time we lose people amongst all the noise of the other projects and followers get overwhelmed – ha, me too). We started it in March, and we are shooting it all finished in August. It’s with a sponsor, Lowes, that has made things so easy, TBH, and while it has still taken 100s of hours, it’s been pretty streamlined where a lot of the decisions came really naturally and fast and working with all their installers has made it so streamlined.

Design Projects: A Fall Dining Room/Entertaining Makeover

You’ve seen our upstairs “meeting room” being painted (a more accurate work than an “office”, as we are mostly WFH). We are transforming it this week into a dining room for a partner. This didn’t create stress per se (we have our systems for partnerships and they work really well due to my dialed-in team), but we did want to paint the walls and floors a fun pattern (and electrify the room, literally so we have lights and plugs). And we wanted to do the floors ourselves (again), so that took a few days, which doesn’t sound like a lot but it meant we were neglecting the other projects. I’m excited to show you how it looks!

Design Projects: Beth’s Makeover

This is another makeover for Velux that I’m so excited about. Beth has macular degeneration and her living room is so dark, so our job is to redesign and brighten it up. There has been a real stall with this one due to some roof construction that is out of our control timing-wise (we are vaulting the ceilings, changing out some electrical, etc). All the furniture is ready to go, so we are just waiting for the skylights to get installed then we’ll tile, paint, decorate and shoot! You can read about the project and why our wonderful client was chosen here🙂

Design Projects: The Guest Cottage

Like I’ve said all summer, this project had to get placed back on the back burner due to all of the above as well as parenting and enjoying time with my kids while they still live with me. I owe you an update, but things are moving now, and a little too fast for me to keep up with. So many questions are being thrown my way that I just don’t have answers for, which is frustrating for everyone. I really want the game room to be ready to shoot holiday content this year, and I think that can happen. But we are behind on the bathroom with some not-so-fun plumbing hiccups, with a heavy dose of side-eye from our plumbers when they see my vintage fixtures. So yes, there have been some very sad shifts away from some of those that I’m not ready to talk about (still mourning them) as we move into more practical choices. Cue your schaudenfraude – because yes, many of you were “right”. Stay tuned on that. Meanwhile, the fridge and range are supposed to arrive next week, the last-minute windows I ordered just arrived, and the wall and floor paneling are 1/2 way done. It’s so dusty and full of construction stuff right now that as soon as we get some time to clear it out, I’ll take some photos to show you the progress. The good news: six months ago, I prioritized the stained glass colors for the vintage doors to the water closet! LOL. It’s go time on the important stuff, and no, I wasn’t totally ready. More to come obviously.

Design Projects: Elliot And Charlie’s Rooms

Coming in last on the priority list, but still fun to think about on the weekends, are my kids’ rooms and the upstairs landing. II’ve squeezed in some fun shopping time with Elliot and I still work on it at night and on the weekends because it’s fun and easy and low stress. But its been deprioritized for now during the week.

Juggling all the design projects and staying on top of the day-to-day (blog/social) with the kids around has been wild – Fun and chaotic. Thank god for Brian, who has put down his writing for a lot of the summer to take over the Substack more and continue lead-parenting so I can support us. Also three cheers for my team who has leaned in when people have gone on vacations (yay!) and has had to deal with my scrambling slacks that even I am trying to decifer.

This fall you are going to get a lot of fun reveals. Most of the above should be done by the end of September. Oh, and we have another renovation coaching client who is almost done with their project (another awesome custom IKEA kitchen makeover). It’s been a year on this one, and it’s turning out so beautiful. Anyway, thanks so much for being here. If you are juggling a lot this summer, you are not alone. But I’m honestly so grateful for the work and to be able to do it with my team and for you all. xx