Jessica’s Living & Dining Room

Hello, friends. If you’re not familiar with “Makeover Takeover, ” it is an attempt for us in the studio to lighten the blog load for Emily while she bonds with her latest creation (an adorable new human by the name of Elliot). It all started way back on September 23, 2015 with Brady’s infamous Sofa Standoff. Sara and Ginny followed suit shortly thereafter. With Emily’s guidance, and hopefully some help from you, we will each overcome our design challenges one post at a time.

If you’re not familiar with me, my name is Jessica and I’ve been lucky enough to shoot photos for Emily and the crew since March of this year. I’ve gotten nice and cozy behind the camera, so I’m kind of stepping outside of my comfort zone here. In short, I recently moved from a small apartment in Silver Lake, Los Angeles to a stand alone house with 4 walls (hey, we’re talking LA here) in Highland Park, with my guy Scotty. Since working with Emily and the team, I’ve seen many an ordinary shelf/bed/room be transformed into a beautifully styled masterpiece before my very eyes. I can only describe it as witchcraft, but hopefully I’ve picked up some useful tips along the way that I can share with you while I makeover our new living/dining room.  If you came here for the tips, feel free to skip these next two super interesting paragraphs about my personal style.

So, as you’ve probably read from such places as this blog, one paragraph ago . . . I’m a photographer. Scotty is a musician. We are both deep in the creative arts so, not only do we tend to appreciate aesthetically eccentric spaces, but we’ve also gotten really good at being on a budget. Fortunately, we both have a serious affinity for thrifting at home and abroad, which has provided us with a variety of fun, interesting pieces that add character to our structurally characterless white box of a living room. It is my goal to carefully edit these piece, add, and transform our boring, narrow common area into a harmonious dining/living room peppered with historical oddities, family heirlooms and lush foliage.

Unfortunately, my prehistoric iPhone could not anticipate my involvement in this makeover series, hence some seriously terrible “before” shots . . . my apologies.

I’ve been a fan of Emily’s since her TV show Secrets of a Stylist because she’s not afraid to embrace weirdness, which I can relate to. However, while there are plenty of designers who appreciate the bizarre and unusual, there’s always been something extra appealing about her designs that I could never quite emulate. Clearly, this wizardry she possesses is something that comes naturally to her, but, just in case some of it is learnable, I’ve been taking lots of mental notes on the design magic that goes on around here. Everyone’s got their own personal style challenges, and I think I’ve learned a bit about my own along the way. Here are a few things I will be considering throughout this makeover:

1. If you collect vintage, you could be toeing the line between attractively eccentric and thrift store chic. 

Crossing that line has put me at serious risk for dropping the “chic” and setting up a donation center on my front porch. As I move forward, I will make sure to incorporate modern elements and hopefully avoid being backed into Sally’s Corner (that was a Salvation Army reference).

my ever-growing pile of hunted treasures…

2. Having an intentional design plan to stick to can help you edit your unruly collection and create a cohesive, pulled together final product. 

Here’s my design inspiration. It’s eclectic but clean with a nice mixture of textures with natural woods, metals, and fabrics. And that green leather. ::heart eyes emoji::

3. Sure, it’s important that a space represents who you are and what you love, but it should also make guests feel comfortable.

There are a few things that are generally appealing to most all human beings, so I will try to consider these when adding the final details to my space. At Emily’s, there is no shortage of smartly styled surfaces that are pleasing to the eye. There’s also always a good supply of soothing candles, attractive lighting options, and, of course, an abundance of comfy throw pillows.

That’s all for now. Needless to say I have my work cut out for me and I’m elated to have some seriously skilled stylists on call while I finally finalize a design plan for my home. Wish me luck and stay tuned!

*all photos, except inspiration photos,  by Jessica Isaac for EHD. Hey — that’s me.

Craving more Makeover Takeover? You can see the beginning of Brady’s living room redo here,  Sara’s intro to her bedroom here and my Ginny’s first two posts here and here.