Decor Savvy Client + Why Blog?

I sometimes question the time I spend blogging (which I know has been minimal this summer, by the way) and wonder if it is time well-spent.  However, I love researching and writing posts and my hope is that others will connect to what I have written or what inspires me. 

Receiving an email that begins with “It was my lucky day when I found your website and blog! I love the samples of your beautiful work and all the posts about what inspires you” confirms that yes, this is time well spent.  As a decorator who blogs, I would be lying if I said I blog simply because I love it.  Blogging is a way of marketing yourself to potential clients who read your blog. 

Alison, the author of the lovely email above,  said she had searched online for two full days for a decorator and I was the only one who had a blog.  She said she loved my tagline and what I had written about how a home should make you feel. 

I met with her this week and her inspiration file of images clipped from magazines contained a number of the same images that I had posted on the blog.  We have similar design sensibilities which makes for an easy decorator/client relationship going forward.

Not only is Alison cute-as-a-button and as nice as her email would suggest, but her sense of style is impeccable.  She contacted me to help with her living room and tweak some other areas in her downtown loft. 

I asked if I could snap some photos of her home for the blog and she was quite surprised that I would want to.  (I’m not the greatest photographer so these photos don’t really do her home justice.)

This is the first room/space you see as you enter her home.  It’s used as an office on occasion.  I thought she did an excellent job of styling the bookcase.  She asked if I had any suggestions and I didn’t really as I think it is just perfect!  Closed storage boxes, baskets, books (displayed horizontally and vertically), teacups and teapots – all make for one stylish bookcase.  Wouldn’t you agree?

Her home is filled with affordable and creative art.  In the kitchen, the framed cheery quote from Etsy adds a graphic and fun element.

 

Would you believe these framed prints are actually $5 sheets of wrapping paper from The Papery in Toronto?  This area in her home was one of the reasons she contacted me so it is a work in progress. 

This is her bedroom furnished with an Ikea bed and dresser and bedding from HomeSense.  Again, the framed maps are actually wrapping paper but you would never know – they look like vintage maps.  I love the dark gray wall colour she chose.

The previous owner of the loft was a costume designer and Alison was so smitten with his sketches on the chalkboard sliding door that she left them.

In the hallway, she framed inexpensive postcards she bought in Japan. 

I love how she styled this.  The books, the rustic bench and a lantern she bought in Japan create visual interest.

This beautiful painting was done by a friend of Alison’s, who paints as a hobby, during the blackout in 2003.  What a great way to wile away those long hours in the dark.

Again, framed graphic wrapping paper over a pretty desk paired with a Ghost chair.

This print was purchased at a fundraiser and leans casually on the diminutive fireplace mantel.

In her bathroom, she framed old photos of her aunts and uncle when they were young.  I’m sure she smiles whenever she sees them.

I hope you enjoyed this tour of Alison’s home as much as I did.  She has such a great eye and good design instincts and it will be fun to work together on making her home a place that will make her happy.

And if you are a designer or decorator, maybe this will prompt you to start your own blog!