Category: Scheming

Scheming: Not Too Feminine Floral Bedroom by Thiara Borges

I used to chat with Thiara Borges when she worked for designer Kate Maloney. Borges has since gone out on her own under the name Studio Borges Interior Design and her work is beautiful. I love how this bedroom combines femininity, sumptuous fabrics, natural materials, unexpected color pops, and a vintage element all in one cohesive scheme.

Last summer, I wrote about this bedroom in Boston Globe Magazine.  Borges designed the bedroom for a woman in the South End of Boston whose style she describes as “cool and eclectic; modern and traditional.” It was the last room in the condo they tackled, and while the client wanted to retain her personal vibe, she also wanted the room to feel calm and soothing.

Borges achieved her goal by choosing wallpaper in a softly-colored, painterly botanical, Designers Guild Delft Flower Grande Tuberose, then layering in texture, color, and shine.

“I tend to emulate a client’s personal style by echoing accessories they might wear; she always has a cool piece of jewelry on,” Borges says. “The bed, the lampshade, and the pillows are an extension of her polished, but cool, eclectic look.”

Bedroom With Floral Wallpaper And Blue Velvet BedPhoto by Michael J. Lee 

You can pull together a bedroom scheme that balances femininity, glamour, and a global sensibility with these carefully curated furnishings, accessories and artwork that I scoped out on StyleCarrot partner sites:

Bedroom Scheme With Blue Velvet Bed And Floral Wallpaper

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Kelly Wearstler teaches interior design >

Scheming: Dining Room Drama with Kelly Wearstler’s Graffito Wallpaper

With vaccine life on the horizon, I’m thinking that dining rooms might need sprucing up. Throw the kids and their laptops back to their bedrooms and classrooms, and reclaim your entertaining space. I’m sure you practiced plenty of recipes during lockdown. It’s almost time to put them to use for friends.

I love this dining room for its fearlessness. I’ve seen other dining rooms with Kelly Wearstler Graffito wallpaper and adore them. This one by designer Martha O’Hara takes it to another level by pairing an equally busy, but geometric rather than organic, pattern on the floor. Then, O’Hara prettifies it with a floral chandelier and goes for color with green velvet head chairs.

Although Martha O’Hara Interiors is based in Minneapolis, she and her colleague Emily Anderson designed this room for O’Hara’s son in Norwell, Massachusetts. I wrote about it for the Boston Globe Magazine.

Kelly Wearstler's Graffito Wallpaper

Photo by Joyelle West 

If you’re daring, go for a patterned dining room. It’s an easy look to pull off with the pieces I sourced for you from StyleCarrot partners, based on O’Hara’s design.

Kelly Wearstler's Graffito Wallpaper

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Scheming: Canopy Bedroom Makeover by Jenn O’Brien

I wrote about this bedroom in Boxford, Massachusetts designed by Jenn O’Brien of Jenn O’Brien Interiors for Boston Globe Magazine at the end of last summer. It’s a great example of clean, transitional bedroom design that incorporates a canopy bed.

O’Brien used the Driftwood canopy bed  from StyleCarrot partner Crate & Barrel which gives the room a stately feel thanks to its architectural lines. She also used it to create symmetry in the room by centering it on the window.

Since the clients wanted the bedroom to feel soothing, O’Brien employed a subdued palette, but punched it up with hits of black and sumptuous pattern underfoot. She actually painted the abstract artwork herself; I think it really makes the room!

Wood Canopy Bed Transitional Bedroom By Designer Jenn O'Brien In MassachusettsPhoto by Jared Kuzia

You can pull together a similar look for a transitional bedroom with exact and similar matches to the ones used by the designer. I perused StyleCarrot partner sites to find them for you.

Transitional Bedroom Furniture Modern Canopy Bed

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Shop Serena & Lily for wallpaper, lighting, bedding & more >Serena & Lily Wallpaper Rattan Mirror Brass Sconces

Scheming: Cozy Sitting Room With Shearling Lounge Chairs By Holly Gagne

Interior designer Holly Gagne is one of the loveliest designers I know, her style is fresh, natural but still sophisticated, and her taste is impeccable.

I’ve had the pleasure of working with Holly a few times now, from our Covid Zoom with tips and tricks to bring harmony into your home (it’s recorded, you should check it out), to a kitchen with a supersized island in Boston Globe Magazine, to this Gloucester home with zellige tiles, a sliding glass bar door, and Scandi style wood stove; the story just dropped in the Winter issue of Boston Home magazine.

Sitting Room With Shearling Lounge Chairs And BookshelvesPhoto by Jared Kuzia

Holly channeled hygge -meets-tailored in this sitting room just off the open living room. While there’s no wall between the two spaces, it feels private. The owners use it to read, drink morning coffee, and entertain with cocktails.

Faux shearling and iron lounge chairs nestle around a rattan coffee table that speaks to the coastal locale. Holly lined to backs of the custom built-ins with grasscloth for additional texture. “It’s all about being cozy,” Gagne says. The abstract painting is by local artist Nicole Sayour Botto.

Get the look of this cozy winter chic library designed by Holly Gagne with similarly styled furnishings,  plus the faux shearling and iron lounge chairs. Sitting Room Decor Shearling Lounge Chairs Bookshelves

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Scheming: Stylish Home Office by Realm Interiors

A separate home office space is probably the most coveted space of 2020. I wrote about this office in the Boston Globe Magazine in the fall. Realm Interiors designed the office for a mom when they re-thought the open layout on the first floor of the family’s Winchester, Massachusetts. home. With three kids and a puppy, she really cherishes this chic space.

Office For a Woman With Writing DeskPhoto by Joyelle West  / Styling by Kaylei McGaw

The small room off the entry had been an eyesore of a playroom before Liza Kugeler and Laura Ogden of Realm Interiors made it over as  a stylish office with dark, saturated walls painted Farrow & Ball Studio Green.

A sculptural, wire-brushed, bleached oak desk from CB2 sits center stage atop a graphic black and white rug, and Serena & Lily’s capiz honeycomb chandelier hangs above. The Serena & Lily woven rattan armchair adds an element of breezy while  tongue-in-cheek Kate Moss poster, “Life Is a Joke” by photographer Craig McDean reflects the homeowner’s interest in fashion. She loves that it feels so much like her.

Get the look of this stylish office by Realm Interiors:
Stylish Home Office For Women

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Fancy yourself a decorator? Kelly Wearstler can up your game >