AN IN-PROGRESS LOOK AT #FARMHOUSEDIALFANO SHIPLAP / MSTARR DESIGN
Who is ready for an #mstarrxohidesign makeover update? Me me! Jess and I have been knee deep in final design decisions while also executing many of our foundational elements (have you been following my Wallplanks installation on stories?!). Don’t know what the #mstarrxohidesign project even is?! Well I’m designing Jess’ (of Oh I Design) *guest room/temporary office and she’s designing our main bedroom! Catch up on my posts, Jess’ posts, and on Instagram stories here, here, and here!
*When we kicked off our project, I was tackling her guest room which was also serving as a temporary nursery for her son Harvey and then Covid hit so it became an office for her husband Cody. Well...Harvey has officially moved into his sister’s room so we aren’t designing around a crib anymore! However with both she and her husband at home for the foreseeable future, we did have to incorporate a desk setup.
The design process has been a very collaborative effort with Jess. I think we both assumed it would play out like this but it’s been awfully fun for us {and maybe not so fun for our husbands who were roped into some projects they weren’t expecting}! We’re just constantly bouncing ideas off each other with one idea then leading to another...and one dilemma leading to a better solution. We’ve tossed out ideas that seem wayyyy out there, reinforced decisions, and pushed each other to come up with the best possible elements for each of our rooms. Jess and I are super fortunate to be collaborating with so many amazing partners on this project, even more so during a pandemic. Covid has certainly changed things up a bit for us...it’s been a more unconventional design process but has actually allowed us to slow down, to not rush decisions, and offer some overall flexibility. We’ve been sharing smaller reveals rather than just a few big ones however there has been one primary downside…deliveries + installs that are out of “sequence”. For instance, in a non-Covid world it would’ve been ideal to receive the furniture, you know, after the carpet was installed 😂.
Anyways, here goes!
JESS’ GUEST ROOM
Paint
The great thing about Clare is they have plenty of colors to choose from but not so many that you feel overwhelmed. We decided on Snow Day as the primary color which is not too warm, not too cool, and just right for this room. But I also wanted to add some type of color using paint so I threw out the idea of painting the 2 sets of closet doors in Clare’s Set in Stone. Jess was into it in theory but understandably hesitant {I’m not sure I was even sold, ha} so our plan was to paint one of the doors to see what we thought and if it didn’t work, they could always paint it white again. Well, spoiler alert...they turned out GORGEOUS. Set in Stone is a rich grey with blueish undertones and it adds the perfect punch to a wall that would otherwise be unremarkable as it’s almost entirely doors with little room for any decor elements.
Jess and Cody were painting the doors this past weekend and after seeing them painted, we started questioning whether we should paint the trim too. Jess sent a pic and I quickly popped it into Photoshop but we decided to leave the trim white. It feels more polished and let’s the doors truly shine.
Carpet
Jess’ home and her personal aesthetic leans more contemporary but with transitional elements. She is able to curate so well and cut through the clutter, poorly-made pieces, and excess “crap”. So I wanted a carpet that was simple but impactful. A grid-like pattern was at the top of the list so Matt from The Carpet Workroom sent over some samples and were almost immediately sold on the Bellbridge City Block 720-1506. We wanted something that felt nice underfoot but it could be a flat weave since it’s a guest room with less traffic. However, we did do a thicker rug pad so it feels cozier. The design feels fresh and versatile should they ever want to make changes down the line with textiles.
We decided against wall-to-wall but wanted to cover most of the room so had TCW leave 12” of floor showing during installation.
Furniture
Our Chilton furniture was delivered last month and honestly the quality and craftsmanship has exceeded our expectations. These are handcrafted heirloom pieces to last a lifetime, and well worth the investment. And we LOVE that they’re made in New England by artisan woodworkers.
Jess was hoping for a new bed, nightstands, and dresser in the room and so she received! I was smitten with the MS2 bed which has a shaker tape headboard {Queen size}, the Foundation dresser which has unique cutouts instead of hardware, and Acadia nightstands (the style of which we went with for the dresser in my room). Chilton offers most pieces in a variety of different woods so we were able to truly customize these pieces. Overall we wanted the furniture to be light in color but introduce a little contrast so we decided on a rift sawn oak with natural tape for the bed, and a lighter maple for the dresser and nightstands. It’s a truly lovely combination.
PROMO CODE: Working with the Chilton team has been seamless and they’ve been so accommodating at every turn. So much so that they are offering YOU all a special discount on their pieces! Use code MSTARRXOHIDESIGN for 10% off at any time but if you shop now during their End of Summer sale, you’ll receive 15% off! AND if you shop this weekend and live in Massachusetts, you can take advantage of the Mass Sales Tax weekend and pay no tax!
Lighting
There’s a good chance that you’ve seen Hudson Valley lighting without even knowing it. They offer a wide assortment of lighting options that are sold through various retailers and we are thrilled to be partnering with them for this project! We actually went back and forth quite a bit on what type of lighting we wanted in Jess’ room. At first we discussed doing table lamps on the nightstands but they would’ve taken up too much space so in the end, I decided on woven Solana sconces over each nightstand and the Freeman Table Lamp on the dresser. The sconces are SO good, adding an organic but refined element, and the lamp is a showstopper with its black color and large size. Both of our choices offer additional lighting depending on who is in the room and for what purpose.
Bedding, Mattress + Pillows
Dear Garnet Hill, I love you. Your bedding is a dream and I was eyeing so many pieces for Jess’ room. We both wanted to keep things neutral but still make a statement and ended up going with Standard Solid Relaxed Linen shams in White, Standard Solid Relaxed Linen pillowcases in White, Queen Solid Relaxed Linen flat sheet and fitted sheet in White, Queen Solid Relaxed Linen duvet cover in Oatmeal and a Double/Queen Eileen Fisher Waves Silk Quilt in Blue Slate to pull out the grey/blue Clare paint we used.
All of this with their new Avocado Green mattress topper and Green pillows, and the setup is so good that Jess is {not-so-secretly} wishing this wasn’t a guest room and in fact her own room!
We’re both fans of Danielle Oakey’s shop and couldn’t wait to incorporate a few pillows into our designs. Not all design decisions work out at first and this was a good example! I originally selected 2 Arbor pillows in the 20 x 20” size, and the Black Woven Stripe in 14 x 20" looking to layer them. However, seeing the lower-profile headboard with the mattress in person, we realized that too many pillows would block too much of it and we wanted to see as much of the beautiful headboard as possible! So we decided on just the stripe pillow on the bed which is actually quite perfect, and will use at least one of the Arbor pillows elsewhere in the room (perhaps on the desk chair).
Window Treatments
Window treatments can really shape how a room comes together and we are starting from scratch in Jess’ room. She wanted shades and curtains for both functional and decorative purposes. Enter Alva. Their mission is to simplify the custom window treatment process...which let’s be honest, is pretty important to everyone especially these days! We are actually waiting on samples but are loving the idea of a darker linen curtain against a lighter roman shade. We are leaning towards unlined pinch pleat drapes in the fog color (with a black french return curtain rod) with blackout flat roman shades in oyster. One of the things I love the most about Alva is they show videos of the actual fabric so you can get a real feel for how it looks.
Make sure you’re following along in stories (here and here) as we’ll be talking samples and the process for ordering these custom window treatments!
Artwork
Do you follow Katie of Halfway Wholelistic? Well she started Collection Prints, offering affordable and accessible art downloads and prints and we are so happy to be working with them on our project! We’re still working through exact placement, sizes and frame options but for Jess’ room I knew I wanted to stick to our contemporary meets transitional vibe. I showed her Patchwork which is a soft watercolor-esque print, Low Tide {which I love for over the bed}, and Knot, an abstract line design. Stay tuned for more on this...
Frames
That beautiful art needs to be displayed beautifully…enter Simply Framed! Like other custom framing services, they offer well-priced framing options in a variety of materials and sizes but they offer something unique that was very helpful for this project: the ability to customize a frame without the artwork in it. We hadn’t finalized our art at the time we ordered our frames so it worked out perfectly (and bonus: we can easily swap out the artwork down the road if we want!).
We chose Gallery Dark Walnut for Low Tide, And Gallery Black frames for Knot and Patchwork.
PROMO CODE: Simply Framed is offering 15% off your first order with code MSTARRXOHIDESIGN15!
Chair and Desk
So as I mentioned earlier in the post, we were able to lose the crib but like so many others, the desk setup is here to stay. Jess recently purchased this CB2 desk so we wanted to incorporate it into the design. It’s simple, on the small size, and the white breaks up all the wood pieces in the room. I did however want to update the chair situation and went gaga over this mink velvet one, also from CB2. Luckily Jess agreed!
MY BEDROOM
Paint + Shiplap
I really wanted some type of treatment to add character to the room and Jess and I both agreed on shiplap, installed vertically to help elongate (our ceilings are under 7’!) and provide a more contemporary feel. You can follow the Wallplanks installation in my stories (there have been some challenges given our uneven walls and ceiling!). The classic shiplap is going up on the wall behind our dresser and bed and I’m absolutely thrilled with how it looks!
We decided on Clare’s Classic as the primary color in the room while doing an accent color on the shiplap behind the dresser in Current Mood, which is legit one of the prettiest colors EVER. It’s a perfect dusty green and is so good that we wanted to incorporate it somewhere else in the room. Our nightstand options were limited given the small space available so I asked Jess what she thought about painting our existing nightstand in Current Mood. Figured it was a no-lose situation because if we didn’t like it, we’d just get a new one. I added new hardware and well, spoiler alert...it’s amazing.
PROMO CODE: Use code MSTARR35 for 35% off your Wallplanks orders
Carpet
Carpet was one of the first decisions we made, really in conjunction with the paint selections. I wanted something soft underfoot, something that felt luxurious. Jess and I agreed that we’d forego anything with a pattern or color since the room is small and didn’t want it to feel overpowered.
Matt at The Carpet Workoom sent a bunch of samples and we ended up going with DMI Poetic in Bone. It’s heaven walking on this carpet! It’s textured, soft without being a very high pile, and has depth in color due to small fibers woven throughout. This addition to the room is perhaps the biggest change in my eyes because we’ve never had a rug that marries the two “sides” of our horizontal room. The room feels cozy and put together now.
Similar to Jess’ room, we skipped wall to wall and instead had TCW leave 5” of floor showing.
Furniture
We’ve touched on this before but there is essentially just one layout for our bedroom given the shape and size. Storage was number one priority for me because our almost 200-year-old home has very little of it. I told Jess that we would need to replace our existing {and old} dresser and armoire. I had my shoes in an over-the-door shoe rack like a college kid for longer than I care to admit so I was very much looking forward to putting them all in the new armoire along with small bags, workout gear + loungewear. The dresser would remain home for socks, underwear + bras, and tees.
We spent a lot of time thinking through what wood tones to go with in my room but Jess honed in on Chilton’s Acadia Dresser and Shaker Wardrobe (which offers both hanging and shelf storage} pretty quickly. Ultimately we decided on the dresser in maple which is a lighter wood and the armoire in a plain sawn white oak. And they are BEAUTIFUL. And so spacious. I had some Anthropologie knobs lying around so I added those to the armoire doors and used the same ring knobs from the nightstand on the drawers!
Because the door opens up right to the bed (we have a King size and despite it being tight, would never go smaller!), our options for a bed frame were very limited. We ultimately decided to stick with our existing wood platform and I purchased this french seam (aka flanged) headboard and it’s truly perfect for the room.
PROMO CODE: Working with the Chilton team has been seamless and they’ve been so accommodating at every turn. So much so that they are offering YOU all a special discount on their pieces! Use code MSTARRXOHIDESIGN for 10% off at any time but if you shop now during their End of Summer sale, you’ll receive 15% off! AND if you shop this weekend and live in Massachusetts, you can take advantage of the Mass Sales Tax weekend and pay no tax!
Lighting
Thankfully we have recessed lighting in our bedroom because decorative lighting options are limited. Wall space is at a premium given the small room has 2 windows, 3 doors, and a built in! We decided on doing a sconce over one side of the bed and because of the shiplap and overall hassle, really wanted a plug-in option. Jess selected the Roslyn sconce in Aged Brass from Hudson Valley and I’m obsessed with it. It’s so nice that the cord is encased in brass!
We also decided on one Calabria PTL1011 table lamp that we’ll put on the dresser next to the arched mirror. I’ve seen this lamp before and love the earthy vibe. It hasn’t arrived yet but it’s going to really pop against the green wall!
Bedding, mattress + pillows
Coming from a very sad bedroom situation, I wanted our bed to be particularly luxurious. Not fancy of course but comfortable, layered, and lush. We liked the idea of linen and timeless stripes and Garnet Hill has no shortage of those options. Jess decided on standard Eileen Fisher solid washed linen pillowcases in Pure White, king Eileen Fisher solid washed linen shams in Pure White, king Eileen Fisher solid washed linen flat sheet in Pure White, king Eileen Fisher solid washed linen fitted sheet in Pure White, king striped relax linen duvet cover in Oatmeal Broad Stripe and an Eileen Fisher gauzy stripe reversible blanket in Quiet Gray for the end of the bed. With our Avocado Green mattress, Green Topper, and Green Pillows, I never want to get out of bed in the morning!
For pillows, it was important to break up all the stripes so when Jess showed me the Felicity (in 22 x 22"), and the Arbor Noir (in 14 x 36”), I was sold.
Window Treatments
We already have beautiful roman shades in our room so we only needed curtains to round out the design. While you don’t need both shades and curtains, it’s a nice layered look. If the samples look how we expect them to, we’re planning on unlined pinch pleat drapes in oyster flax linen, and are between a brass and black curtain rod!
Art
We were both feeling a vintage-inspired piece of art for next to the bed and I love the one Jess chose (Wild Oak). There’s some wall space between a window and the armoire that used to have a full-length mirror but after I stumbled upon this mirror at Target that we put on the dresser, that space is freed up for art! Jess thought stacking Wild Herb I and Wild Herb II would be pretty, and I completely agreed!
Frames
We decided on all dark wood frames from Simply Framed for my room and went with Gallery Walnut for Wild Oak and Gallery Dark Walnut for the two herb prints.
PROMO CODE: Simply Framed is offering 15% off your first order with code MSTARRXOHIDESIGN15!
One last thing I wanted to do was upgrade Bruno’s bed. He’s been sleeping in the same one for far longer than he should. We have one of Design DUA’s beds downstairs so I’m looking at this one for our room!
Phew, you still with me?! I know it’s a lot but we really wanted to share our decisions and how they came to be with you all. We still have some final decor elements to finalize and then of course will be sharing the final reveal! Again, be sure you’re following me on Instagram (and Jess) as we’re showing lots of sneaks over there. Seeing a design vision come to life is always so exciting, and it’s even more so in our own homes!
What do you think? Oh and You can read more about my bedroom design in Jess’ post!
emily
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