My boyfriend Rocky and I have lived in our apartment for a year and the design process has felt a lot like trying to run underwater. I can’t tell you how many photos I’ve pinned or the amount of hours I’ve spent scouring the internet for the right inspiration. After a while, my pinboard became a hodgepodge of styles ranging from minimalist farmhouse to borderline funhouse. To the amateur design hobbyist (aka me) this was disheartening and exhausting. Then last week when Emily #sharedthemic with Shavonda Gardner she said, “Cultivating and creating a home is a marathon, not a sprint.” This validated the slow-motion process I’ve been experiencing and at the same time inspired me to give in to my intuition. My all over the place pinboard started to make sense and our open concept living and dining room plan came together. Naming my and Rocky’s collective style isn’t totally necessary, but it’s really fun. To make it brief, we are going for 70s-cowgirl-meets-eclectic-old-world-Italian-grandma. Coming over to our place will hopefully be like visiting your cool, eclectic grandma’s house but with Drake playing in the background (and Rocky waiting to queue up Jerry Vale). I am so excited to invite you into what our brains came up with but first I’ll show you what we are working with: When you walk into our apartment, the dining room is straight ahead and to the right is the living room. It’s a small space and there is no separation between the two “rooms”. As you can see, we don’t live in a charming LA 1920s bungalow. She’s just an 800 sq ft apartment that has the architectural interest equivalent to that of a refrigerator. This made our initial design plan very daunting (bare bones and cream-colored walls will do that). But slowly this bleak architecture became a canvas to play with all types of styles. Here is where we are at now: Since we last chatted, I purchased that vintage 1970s Azilal rug (!!!), the asymmetrical coffee table, & the blue Morrocan pouf. Once we procured these three items we were able to envision the potential of even more color, more patterns, shapes, and styles. This minimalist became a maximalist overnight. (@CAITLIN are you hearing this??) Now, let’s travel into the dining room (don’t worry, it’s a short walk). Here we are. Do you recognize that bar cabinet? I knew you would It’s the same one Sara has in her dining room! I happened to benefit when tragically this baby was delivered to her home damaged. She was sent a new one and we were fortunate enough to obtain a place to store Rocky’s T-shirts. It also happens to fit perfectly here and became the jumping-off point that we desperately needed for this room. Right now our dining room doubles as my office but we will eventually convert the corner where the windows are into a teeny tiny workspace. This works for me because I tend to hop around the house while I am working anyway. Currently, that corner is home to boxes of clothing and stuff to be donated because a huge procrastinator lives here (me). But one day, I’ll find the right-sized vintage secretary desk for my work computer so we can have a functioning dining table once again. Baby steps, my friends. So that’s our little home currently. But we’ve got BIG plans. Let’s get into it: Living Room Inspiration:Pre-COVID Ryann would have avoided so much color and pattern but something happens to you when you’re home 7 day days a week, almost 24 hours a day. I’ve been craving color (specifically blues and greens – maybe because I miss nature??) and playing with mixing patterns has been a joy. This may be the only positive thing to ever come from a global pandemic. Here’s our current living room plan: Side Table | Pot | Lamp | Sofa | Mirror | Art | Bookcase | Floor Pillow | Rug (similar) | Coffee Table | Pouf | Paint Color First up, let’s talk about the paint color. DID YOU NOTICE IT? I was trying not to give it all way too quick because it’s the best part. YES, IT’S TRUE we are planning on painting both the living and dining room this dark green color by Clare. The sample already looks so good so I’ve been asking Rocky for days when we can order the paint and go for it. I am SO excited. Once we decided on that color the whole concept of our design really fell into place. It is also worth repeating that the Article sofa is so comfortable (important) and really, really stylish (also important). It is also strangely versatile and doesn’t make us feel bogged down to a certain style, and I have about 400 slides of design plans to prove this fact. Dining Room InspirationOur inspiration for the dining room came to us while Rocky was cooking pasta sauce from scratch and listening to Frank Sinatra (as these things often do). While reminiscing about our favorite Italian restaurants that we can’t wait to dine in again and while asking Rocky’s opinion of yet another rug, I suddenly blurted out “What if we made this space feel like one of our favorite restaurants??” When I saw his reaction I knew he understood exactly what I meant. (Pro tip: if you can get your partner to participate in the design process, DO THAT). Here are our two options (bonus points if you can guess which one is my favorite and which one is Rocky’s): Option 1Curtains | Italy Drawing | Flower Painting | Virgin Mary Print | Mirror | Pendant | Seascape | Pot | Bearded Lady Print| Paint Color | Dining Chairs | Table | Rug | Chair | Desk That table is wonderful and I weirdly love it the spindle back chairs. The chairs keep the space feeling modern but not so modern that they don’t make any sense in the design. The rug is basically a done deal in my book and it’s sitting quite comfortable in my shopping cart at the moment. Rocky thinks it looks like a blueberry pie, but I think he is a silly goose. What are your thoughts? Option 2Curtains | taly Drawing | Virgin Mary Print |Mirror | Seascape | Nude Print | Bust| Growing Pains Painting| Bearded Lady Print | Paint Color | Wallpaper | Chairs | Table | Rug | Chair | Desk Okay, this one is definitely more Italian restaurant in the best way. The table and chairs are straight from a charming cafe in Florence (not really) and they would match the cherry wood of our front door quite perfectly. Just for fun, I added this wallpaper that I am playing around with installing in the cutout shelf. The moody green mixed with a B&W nude wallpaper would be fun but maybe not worth it? Would a different color paint have the same effect and be so much easier? You tell me. Lastly, can we talk about curtains? Do you prefer the mustard velvet or the navy blue velvet?? I sincerely cannot decide what I love more. I also think some sort of floral patterned curtain here could be really cool but I could not find one that felt right (if you know of anything that could work, please holler in the comments). Alright friends. That is all from me today. Do you have any advice? Questions? Concerns?? I am all ears. xx The post How Ryann Is Mixing Styles In Her Living and Dining Room appeared first on Emily Henderson. Originally from Emily Henderson https://ift.tt/3dL9YPF
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Today’s post is written by GOOD friend of the blog and EHD alum Emily Bowser. We hope you’ll all join us in giving her a warm welcome back : ) Back towards the start of the year I started sharing the saga of my back patio on Instagram, and the EHD team reached out and asked me to share it with all of you here on the blog. Of course I LIVE to talk on and on and on about renovation woes, so I quickly said yes. Then, the tragic murder of Ahmaud Arbery happened in February, followed by Breonna Taylor’s murder by police in March. And everything was punctuated by the slow, calculated murder of George Floyd in broad daylight, by police, with people filming and crying out for them to stop. To say that a blog post about my patio felt unimportant is a massive understatement. To be completely honest, the experience of the pandemic, combined with the current civil rights movement spearheaded by Black Lives Matter, months away from a very important (also understatement) election, has me re-evaluating every aspect of my life. I know I was asked to write a post about my patio, not social justice, but I simply can’t without first acknowledging the fact that what is happening in the world deserves our complete attention. I am white and have benefitted from systems that are founded in white supremacy, including buying, owning, and renovating a home. These systems include things like generational wealth, bank loans, and real estate practices. I chatted a lot about some of this in the comment section on my first post because a few readers felt that I was flippant in the way I spoke about homeownership (thank you to those who spoke up). Yes, I’ve worked hard, and despite a lot of other odds I was able to buy this house and do these expensive renovations. However, those facts do not negate the hard truth that had I been born with a different color skin, my odds of being a homeowner right now would diminish greatly. So, before I go on to the rest of this post, I wanted it to be clear that all of this is on my mind (and hopefully on all of your minds too). I hope that my story of our small backyard renovation is helpful to those looking to renovate on a budget while enjoying the process. With all of that being said, let’s get into it . . . WHERE WE STARTEDAs a reminder, we own a “2-on-a-lot” (multi-family) property built by a single man in 1930. My husband and I live in the front unit (860 sq feet) and rent out the back house (680 sq feet). The whole lot is a little over 5000 square feet and when we bought it, the lot was all concrete, spare a few small openings for trees. There were 3 lemon trees, 2 apple trees, an orange tree, a clementine tree and a -still- unidentified tree (possibly guava) – where were they getting water with all that concrete?? I talked a bit about this before in my other posts, but it bears repeating – I am a very optimistic person. When I saw both houses on the property they were borderline in shambles. But all I could see was what could be versus the reality. The fact that the two houses were separated by a yard made them each feel a lot more private vs the upstairs/downstairs or side by side duplexes I had looked at. Not only were they separated but they each had their own outside space. I mean, it was nothing to look at, but the square footage was there and it was already mapped out to be a lot more private than any multi-unit property I had seen. I saw these outdoor spaces and I saw nothing but opportunity. LOL. Reality is so annoying TBH. You can read about the very overwhelming financial situation we were in here but the general thing to know is this: We had none monies. We didn’t even have the money to do the things that sort of had to be done in order to make the homes, you know, liveable or whatevs. The outdoor space quickly turned into a “one day later” thing as we put out reno fires for months then retreated into our somewhat-renovated but largely unfurnished home and licked our THIS-close-to-financial-ruin wounds. Here were the few things we did do: We ripped up and replaced the sewage line that led from the back unit to the front. This meant pulling up some concrete and I specifically remember telling my contractor not to bother pouring new concrete over the new sewage line because “we will rip all this up soon.” We cut down the 2 apple trees and one lemon tree on a whim. And finally, we painted the exteriors of both houses. The space between the 2 homes became the dump for the renovation from October-January (as seen above). THEN THE RAIN CAME . . .All I remember about 2017 is a lot of rain, hustling but not having enough money, laughing with my friend Lauren instead of crying (mostly about the “quick and easy refinance” that was proving to be neither) and cuddling my cat Daffy. I noticed some pretty significant cracks in the walls of my bedroom and laundry room at some point in 2017 but tried to ignore them. The house was just settling, right?? RIGHT???? The cracks got progressively worse, and despite the fact that I still owed my contractor like $70,000 – I had him look at the foundation and turrrrrrrns out all that rain had washed its way down our concrete hill and landed right around those steps, soaking in, destroying the back wall of our foundation. Cue me laying in a fetal position and wondering (hoping?) if my bed would just fall into the abyss. My contractor took pity on me, and agreed to do the work knowing I would find some way to pay him. If you want to talk about getting into a codependent relationship with a contractor we can chat more in the comments below. If my backyard is all concrete then what is that mass of green you ask?? OH, THAT’S A MONSTER TOMATO PLANT GROWING OUT OF A CRACK IN THE CONCRETE THAT I DID NOT PLANT OR WATER OR CARE FOR IN ANY WAY. Not only was it growing out of a crack, earlier in the year my mom had sprayed it with weed killer and STEPPED ON IT. Sorry if this is triggering to find out for anyone who is precious about their tomato plants. So there was something good about 2017 – I had more fresh tomatoes than any other person on the planet. Anyways, we had fixed the foundation but how were we going to keep this from happening again? We learned that all the concrete poured over the years was likely an attempt to try to keep the water from doing what it did. Remember the sewage line? Well, ripping that up and not re-pouring the concrete had exasperated the problem. We realized the best option was to pour a sh*t ton more concrete to protect the foundation. So we agreed, but I was like, “yeahhhhhh . . . maybe, pour it into the shape of a patio tho??” In retrospect, I’m an insane person. WHY would I add more to my debt when I was so far in? Probably because it seemed so counterintuitive to ADD more concrete without at least making it functional. Meanwhile, we were already paying to tear and remove some concrete in other parts of the yard, so the ‘ole “welllllll, as long as we’re here . . .” thing happened and we went ahead and removed all the concrete in our backyard (except of course for the new concrete patio we were going to pouring). When they brought over all the machinery to fix the patio, the chain-link fence gate in the front got damaged and I had the genius/insane idea of adding a stucco wall there as well. All in all, I added QUITE a bit to my already existing debt with my contractor (on top of the $2000 I paid to the subcontractor to remove all the concrete). Luckily my husband got a holiday bonus that year and we were able to give our contractor a $5000 check of goodwill. NUMBER REALNESSSpeaking on money, let’s take a quick break to look at the numbers: We bought our home for $600,000, put down only $22,000, were able to pay our contractor $38,000 from a construction loan (that was added to our $600,000 mortgage), got a family loan (aka generational wealth) for $60,000, and scraped together the rest of the money ourselves ($40,000ish). By February 2017 we had paid our contractor $130,000 and still owed him around $70,000. Then the foundation problem happened, and $14,000 got added to the debt. It wouldn’t be until November of 2018 when we finally were able to get our house refinanced and pay him the $84,000 we owed him. I’ve talked about this before but it’s worth noting again – my contractor had quoted me $100,000 for the renovation, so it was 100% over what he said ($214,000 total), which is part of why he was understanding about the delay in payment. Back to the patio . . . THE FANTASY STARTS TO BECOME A REALITYRemember William Hunter’s home? Well, he and his wife Amanda are friends of mine and he just whipped this beauty up for me. It was/is my north star. ALSO, CHECK DAFFY IN THE WINDOW. I came up with the layout of the patio by imagining what size the walkway needed to be to seem comfortable and extending the patio all the way up to that line so there wasn’t any wasted space. I gave myself around 2 feet of depth for planting a hedge against the fence and 4 feet for the walkway. The wall around the patio also created a natural nook for the trashcans to live on the other side without being an eyesore. William and Amanda actually convinced me that I would want one wide step for sitting on and they were SO right. It’s a weird concept, but sitting on the edge of a step is just something humans do I guess? I sit there ALL the time. At this point the foundation was fixed, we had a structure, and all the concrete was gone from this area. There was just the teeny tiny problem of, once again, having absolutely no money but a very unfinished dirt yard. When this was going on, my friend Anne lived in the back unit and I believe she had shoes she would specifically wear to walk through the dirt/mud (because it was still rainy season!) and change shoes when she got to her car. I got to work as fast as possible creating a new walkway to at least fix that problem. Originally I was going to do a pebble path, but I had learned of too many people on hills having a hard time with them washing away with heavy rains. I settled on large pavers and medium-sized stones surrounding them. I did a little (a lot) of googling and watched a ton of old men DIY youtube videos on how to make a path like this and here is what I learned: You have to dig a shallow ditch, the shape of the desired path, about 4 inches deep. Line the ditch with landscape weed barrier, use some kind of edging to keep the earth from falling back into the ditch (I used steel edging at first, replaced later by a stone edging), place pavers where desired and then fill in the rest with the smaller stones. Easy enough, right? FALSE. My dirt is made of clay and rocks, and digging that trench almost killed me. If you want a play by play, I have the whole saga saved in my story highlights (titled Yard Reno 3). It’s RIVETING. We put the hedges in before the walkway so I knew I had enough room for the hedge to fit first. The hedges are Ficus Nitida and I got them from a local place called Planta Nursery. We bought 22 of them and planted them about 3 ft apart. After I finished the hedges and walkway the yard stayed like this for the first half of 2018. We were, again, out of money and I had started working a lot more regularly for Emily, which kept me too busy daily to try any more intense DIYs. Personally, I also like to live with things unfinished for a while so I can figure out what I actually want. We put up lights, used outdoor furniture we had from our former apartment and honestly, despite the dirt yard (you didn’t notice that as much in the dark anyway) we really enjoyed the patio. We played Kubb (google it), sat around a fire pit with our back house tenants (and good friends) almost every night, and started letting our kitties out for supervised outside time (game changer). VEGETATION AT LASTA few months later we had saved enough to pull the trigger on having a landscaper put in a garden, mulch for under the fruit trees, river rocks for the walkway edging, irrigation, and grass. The total for that was about $7000, but we were able to pay in a couple of installments. A good chunk of that was the irrigation system (around $2000), grass (around $1500), and the install of everything ($2300). I can tell you right now, whatever they charged me for install was not enough. After that walkway and the hedges, I have a whole new respect for landscapers. Digging is. So. Hard. During this install, I went to Maryland for a month in June to be with family after an unexpected passing of my aunt’s husband (she’s only a year older than me, it’s a long story, er, confusing story?). And as soon as I got back I jumped on a plane 24 hours later headed to Portland for a Target shoot Emily was doing there and that led right into the Portland Project. Every picture I have of the back yard during these early times of having a yard was of my cats because I would only be home for a day or 2 and then go back to Portland and clearly I missed my cats sooooooo much. I had planned on doing the gardening part myself but when it became clear that I wouldn’t be home for quite awhile, I went ahead and had the landscapers put plants in as well so they could establish themselves before cooler weather. The direction I gave was that I wanted it to feel very natural. I wanted herbs and lots of shades of greens with some dark purples. There’s rosemary, Kangaroo paws, lavender, olive bushes, black rose succulents, and more… My hedges. I could write a love letter to them. They were inexpensive, they grew fast, and they just did their GD job. I always say they are the ONLY thing about this renovation that just all around WORKED. 22 of them + delivery = $350. I planted them myself, so that was free but honestly, I would have paid someone if I could have. 8 months after we planted them they needed to be staked because they were growing so fast and falling all over each other. My landscaper did it, the stakes and ties cost $195, the install was $75 (DEF glad I paid for that) so my total investment was $620 and LOOK AT THEM NOW: I LOVE THEM SO MUCH. They cover the not-so-pretty (because we were looking at the back of it) fence and add so much drama. That picture was taken in May, and since then they’ve actually gotten taller. I surmise these beauties are about 10 feet tall. You can kind of see where the fence is behind them, and that’s a 6-foot fence. Going from zero green, to the green grass and hedges has completely and totally changed this small outdoor space. PAINTING THE PATIO – ONE STEP CLOSER TO DONEWe recently decided after living with the unfinished (read v dirty and stained) concrete patio that we left that way because we couldn’t afford tile for 2 years, to just go ahead and paint it. It was a pretty simple process. I bought an inexpensive power washer (the most exciting part. Fun fact: I like owning all the tools), washed the patio, filled in the cracks with concrete filler and painted it the same color as the house. If you go back to William’s sketch of the dream of the backyard, you will notice it is all white. At the time I was really into that look but figured it was not 100% a great choice as far as keeping it clean. Spoiler alert: It’s not. However, this is just for the short term and very fun nonetheless. You can use a Porch and Patio paint like this one. Then to make sure it would be easy to wash (knowing it would get so dirty) we finished it off with a wet look sealer which makes it way glossier and easier to clean. Probably could be slippery when wet though, just FYI. BEFORE & AFTER (SO FAR)SO, this is where we are now. Mind you, this is all our old furniture and look how sad that couch styling is! But we have BIG DIY plans for this space! Stay tuned, because I’ll be attempting a very large sectional, built with my own 2 hands featuring Ross Alan Reclaimed Wood. Stay at home orders have me itching to do some gardening. I’m going to be fixing up the garden that has grown in so much and needs some love and even more herbs so it becomes even more functional and not just pretty. On the right side of the patio I’m going to attempt my first vegetable garden in a raised bed, and I’m going to make myself. Did anyone else watch Ron Finley’s masterclass?? I’m sure I’ll be talking more about the process and selling things we no longer need (and I’m looking for a perfect table to put in this space!) over on the insider community! Please let’s talk in the comments, love hearing from all of you! Until next time xx The post Bowser’s Backyard Journey – An Unfinished EPIC Adventure appeared first on Emily Henderson. Originally from Emily Henderson https://ift.tt/2YN9uV7 When you are a renter you know that bathrooms tend to be the one area where you feel a little “design helpless” because not many people are able to take it upon themselves to renovate (and landlords are usually VERY wary, if they let you at all). Brady did the classic “ask for forgiveness, not permission method” with his rental bathroom. Risky but I don’t think anyone was mad at him for it because it turned out awesome. But normally with rental bathrooms, tile can be outdated with wild patterns, faucets old and a little molded, and if the walls are anything other than white, you are not in for a treat. My “favorite” though was in college when my best friend had a clear glass vessel sink with “sea life” inside the glass like some kind of insane underwater Jell-O mold. But that was a VERY special and extreme case that hopefully (?) not many people have had to deal with. However, the bright side of such a “bold design element” is least you don’t have to worry about knowing what your design direction is. Under the Sea is the ONLY OPTION. Luckily for me, Julie, Ryann, and Cailtin we don’t have “scary” ocean themed rental bathrooms but they do need a little love in the design/personality department. All of the are more on the “vintage side” and have some “vintage quirks” (read: random architectural moments). So please enjoy our bathrooms and our big rental-friendly plans. PS. I have also just now decided that we each have two months max to complete. Deadlines are CRUCIAL since three out of the four of us are the world’s most indecisive Libras. And if anyone wants to mention the new astrological sign I respectfully think it’s trash. #LibraFOREVER. Ok back to our bathrooms!Heck ya! Julie’s BathroomHey you and come on in! But wait, not all at once cause this bathroom is a small one but has been working great for one so far. A little over a year ago I got to upgrade my room and bath situation in my apartment when one of my roommates moved out – YAY for actual privacy! I think I was just so excited to have a bathtub all to myself again that I didn’t care enough to design it. Now that the rest of my little space is fully designed it has become a bit of a “wahh, wahh” moment – fun fact: just learned how to spell that sound effect for you all today. If this wasn’t a rental there are a few things I would start fresh on – replace or paint the vanity, swap the builder grade mirror for something with a bit more interest, lay new floor tile since as you can see they are already begging to leave/not even attached under my vanity, and start over on the shower surround. But alas, I don’t have the budget or landlord approval for any of the above so a simple refresh it is! Let’s all check out what is inspiring the space… I’ve already established a very strong “old man library” aesthetic in my bedroom so going in a different design direction like post-modernism would be a bit jarring. Luckily, the permanent items in the space like the off-white square/subway tiles and window trim will help me to lean into the vintage style I want easily. But as it is now, it is very neutral which equals safe in my book and that is something I am trying to avoid in my own home. So, I am pulling inspiration from my typical three go-to sources. Ironically none of the photos are of bathrooms but to me, that makes it easier to interpret what I like without a copy and paste design plan. On the far left, the Hoxton Hotel and their curated room designs – that purple paint detail gives makes my heart flutter. One of my favorite Seattle based interior designers, Heidi Caillier, with that moody entry with again a touch of purple and yellow color combo. Lastly, Beata Heuman, who takes such bold risks and is a pro at mixing vintage patterns. Feeling the vibe by now? Take a look at the mood board with me to see how it compares… Hanging Planter | Vintage Mirror (similar) | Light Fixture | Temporary Wallpaper | Peel & Stick Floor Tiles | Vintage Tank Tray (similar) | Trim Paint Color | Vintage Towel Hook (similar) | Towel So here’s the plan. That large builder grade mirror is staying put whether I like it or not. So I decided to search high and low on Etsy for a vintage mirror to overlap it – literally for 6 months – and finally came across the perfect one at a reasonable price point. Next, I’m going to add some pattern to the space without causing permanent damage with a peel & stick floor tile and temporary wallpaper. They were the obvious choices. That blue diamond pattern looked so similar to the hand-painted kitchen floors from Beata Heuman, I was thrilled when I found it and my sample should be arriving any day now! As for the “Stripes Away” wallpaper, I have that marigold color-way above on about 16 of the 42 mood boards – it’s a lot I know but it’s a process. I am also playing around with the blush and ink colors, leaning a bit more towards the blush to keep the space on the lighter, brighter side. But maybe I should do an Ask the Audience post to make it official? I’ve been loving the accent trim trend lately and being a big fan of the right shade of purple, it seems like the time to try it out and if it doesn’t work that’s why primer was made. While in Atlanta, working on the Invitation Homes project, Emily B. and myself shopped at about a dozen vintage stores and I kept gravitating towards Vintage French coat hooks but never bought one. So I splurged on this one from Etsy which will be great to finally replace my current one-towel-bar-and-no-hand-towel-ring setup. And if you’re wondering what that wooden object is at the bottom, it’s a cigar mold cause remember this is still an “old man library” vibe. Caitlin’s BathroomI *love* a vintage bathroom, but you know what I don’t love? BUTTER AND SALMON TILE. If you’re looking at this and thinking, “Hey, this is kinda cute,” I appreciate your optimism — and I will admit that it looks better in photos — but OH GEEZ. Why couldn’t I get a nice aqua tile? Or a mint? Pink and black? This one is just a little weird and wow, it shows age like CRAZY. These photos were taken after the bathroom was deep cleaned, so I think I’ll be spending some time re-grouting these bad boys in the future (so much gray between them, yikes!). A couple key problems: I never bought new towels or bathmats (y’all, I have had the same towels since my freshman year of college, 11 years ago; the bathmats are less old, but from my old bathroom, which clearly did not have such a pastel nightmare scheme), there are about 80 different paint colors going on (yes —that’s a white-ish wall, a cream-ish cabinet, a different white trim, and a greige door (#design), and it’s east-facing with one window that lets in no light. I’ve tried about a million paint samples in here (read: 14 paint samples) and EVERYTHING reads super muddy. Also, I have lived here a year and I don’t have blinds or shades. I know that’s bad. I know it’s a bathroom. AHH. But there are a few good points: my bathroom is enormous. I have a separate tub and (semi-functioning) shower. And maybe most importantly, I have so much storage. As an added bonus, my cabinet doors never shut (#LAapartments) and my cat loves opening them and chilling inside, which is very cute. It has potential! But ol’ girl needs HELP. My inspo is pretty simple. I want to make this tile look intentional. I love these two wallpapered room — both are so well coordinated and really modernize each space — and the navy paint (featured here on EHD!) is SUCH an easy way to upgrade on a budget. Buuuuut since I’m working in the extremely restricted land where my options are defined by a color palette I can only describe as “creamed corn and an old melon,” I’ve done a TON of searching (like, months of searching) and I think I’ve finally found a solution that will work for me. Window Treatment | Light Fixture | Vases | Mirror | Shelf | Bath Mat | Wallpaper | Cabinet Knob | Towel | Stool THOUGHTS? This wallpaper from Work & Sea comes in a temporary option and I think it’s actually the perfect match to make my tile, my cream cabinet, my white trim, and my greige door ALL ~GO~ together. (Also, I’m not allowed to paint those three things! So they have to stay that way — I can only touch the walls! Fun!) The rest is pretty neutral for me, though, which feels like a risk. (I love a bright color palette and an 80s moment!) Anyway, I’m planning to grab a vintage-inspired light fixture (this one echoes the sconces in my living room, which I think is cute!), add a modern stool in the place of that trashcan (for holding my laptop while I watch Netflix and soak), update all the linens (finally), add a wall-mounted shelf and some decor to make it FANCY, and last — but definitely not least — swap in a fun mirror that can run horizontally and balance out that built-in towel rack on the right. But y’all, I’m not a designer (just an enthusiast!), so WHAT DO YOU THINK? Your approval and guidance are both very important to me. Jess’ BathroomWelcome to what I believe is my little bathroom’s BIG blog debut. When I first saw her, my initial thought was, ” YAY no scary tile. I can work with this!” Although I will never understand the insane number of towel bars for this little studio apartment. Three? WHY?? Well, nearly three years later my sweet bathroom still remains not scary but oh so bland (those dark gray towels were a family hand-me-down and while I am grateful to have something, I am sad every time I look at them). I am normally a proponent for keeping your main (and in this case…only) bathroom on the “serene and neutral” side for relaxation purposes. But honestly, I just want to go a little crazy (well my version at least). I don’t have to worry about good lighting for doing my makeup since I have a built-in vanity just on the outside of the bathroom door (even though I don’t think I would care) so why not throw a rust-colored marbled wallpaper on the walls? It’s a rental WHO CARES?? Ok, let’s get into my inspiration… I told you I wanted something different:) My heart skips a beat when I look at these photos and YES I am still obsessed with checkered patterns. The trick though is while I want a bold design in my bathroom, I live in a studio. So it’s important to me to make sure all of the “spaces” feel cohesive (even the one room with a door that shuts). So now let’s talk mood board. Ceiling Paint | Light Fixture | Towel Ring | Shower Curtain | Towel Bar | Towel | Wallpaper | Cabinet Pull | Bath Mat | Toilet Seat Cover The wallpaper was my first “I want that” moment. It’s likely the closest temporary wallpaper option I could find that lives in the same world as my first inspiration photo (my favorite of the three). However, to be honest, I’m a little nervous about having wallpaper in a rental bathroom. BUT guys, it’s SUCH a “moment”. It might be awful (with all white tile) or…amazing. Only time will tell. Then I got real excited about the idea of doing an accent ceiling color. I literally wrote a post about it so my love of this idea has been well documented. Also, cool mint is a super trendy color this year (that feels low risk). How could I not? Actually the mint and red combo has been a favorite of mine for a minute. I think now is the time. The other bathroom trend that I love this year is the mix and match toilet seat. It’s easy, fun, and again what’s the worst that could happen? I change it back. So all in all I think that I have enough “Bunge-approved” design risks (um how cool is that pendant??) to make me feel like I’m pushing myself while still having it look like it all belongs in my home. I would LOVE your thoughts though. See you in the comments:) Ryann’s BathroomWelcome to my beautiful bathroom. HA I am kidding, obviously, and I am painfully aware how boring my bathroom is now that it is on the internet. There is zero joy being sparked here. SAD. But that’s all about to change my friends. I am not playing around or playing it safe because life is too short. In fact, a few months ago I was 100% team neutral but I believe the big Q has changed me into a BIG color-loving gal. It’s very fun and exciting, but I am afraid some pretty crucial things need to be replaced before any painting happens because a few brushstrokes are not going to salvage this bad boy. We need a big rental friendly refresh. But first, here’s my inspo: Yes, two of my inspiration photos are of living rooms and I have no excuse other than these three photos have simply been inspiring me a lot lately. I get very happy when I look at them and they evoke all the right ~feelings~. The bathroom on the right is dreamy, but like I said, right now I have lots of color on the brain. Basically, I want my bathroom to be elegant but fun. Easy enough, no?? We’ll see… Vinyl Floor Tiles | Paint Color | Faucet | Mirror | Shower Curtain | Bath Mat | Cabinet Knob | Portrait |Painting | Towel Ring | Towels Alright. Say hello to my 50s-diner-meets-victorian-drawing-room inspired bathroom. Charmed, I’m sure. I have to tell you that what really started it all was the vinyl tiles. I wasn’t going to even entertain the idea of including tile (so much work!) but my mind quickly changed when I saw this pattern. And then, BOOM. A soft minty green paint color popped into my mind and the rest is history. Now, I didn’t want to go full diner and I love Victorian flair in bathrooms so a portrait painting with a vintage ornate frame was next in line. But I also needed to think about hardware and since I have a matte black curtain rod already, I wanted to bring some more black accents -thus the faucet and cabinet knob. The hardest part was choosing a bath mat and to be honest, I am not sure I love what I have here. I like that the yellow is accented in the painting, but I don’t know if this particular mat is the one. What do you think?? I’d love nothing more to hear your thoughts as this is my very first go at designing a bathroom. So that’s where we are all at. We all want bold and whether that’s from being quarantined for over three months who knows! But all in all, we are pumped. Some things may shift but isn’t that part of the fun? Hope that if you felt more on the hopeless side when it came to designing your rental bathroom, that some of these ideas empowered you. Design is fun, so why not wallpaper? See you back here in 2 months or less:) But as always we want to know what you think! Has anyone put temporary wallpaper in their bathroom? Are you pro bold bathroom design or do you like them “calm”? What has been your favorite bathroom rental upgrade? Let’s talk in the comments. Love you, mean it. Opening Photo Credits: Design and Home of Brady Tolbert | Photo by Zeke Ruelas for EHD | From: Brady Gives a Refresh to His Vintage Bathroom The post Team EHD’s Rental Bathroom Refresh Plans: They Are BIG And BOLD appeared first on Emily Henderson. Originally from Emily Henderson https://ift.tt/2NDNiX0 The Link Up: Another Soapy Teen Show Emily Loves Saras New Candle Obsession & A Great $20 Dress6/28/2020 Happy Sunday folks. HAVE YOU HEARD ABOUT OUR LATEST AND GREATEST NEWS?? Sorry for yelling, but we are very excited. On Friday we launched the EHD Insider Community and y’all, we couldn’t be more thrilled to interact with you all such more personal levels. Head here to read all about what it is and here to sign up for a FREE two-week trial. See you there! Alright now that we’ve settled down a bit let’s get into this week’s link up: Today’s home tour is the home of the extremely talented David A. Land who started Corner & Compass, a project aimed at increasing representation in the design world. Head here to read his interview on diversity in design and to drool over his utterly vibrant and exciting home. From Emily: I’m all out of teen soapy shows so I was PSYCHED when the second season of Roswell (the reboot, not the original although I loved the original) came out this week on Netflix. Sure it deals with an alien/human love but it also has a really diverse cast and is set in New Mexico and has great conversation about immigration. So ya, alien sex and progressive politics, which I guess is my jam (?). Also from Emily: I know it’s a splurge but this swimsuit is still my favorite (although I love my red one from last year that is no longer available). I posted the black one last year but since I like the color I got (sapphire blue) this year and LOVE IT, I wanted to talk about it again. Here’s why: The double layer on the front hides dimples and the diagonal seams are very flattering. The thighs don’t cut it AT ALL. In fact, it’s a tiny bit cheeky, FYI and most importantly it has support for the ladies (with adjustable straps). I can be active with my kids but still feels cute. I think it’s especially great for ladies with larger ladies. From Sara: I bought this honeysuckle and jasmine candle from the Cedar Street Candle’s and I’m obsessed with it. It’s the perfect summer scent. Y’all KNOW I love a candle. Plus this is small, independent candle company, which I love. Next up I want to order Eucalyptus and Sage. From Mallory: If you’re like me and you’ve struggled with finding women’s deodorant that ACTUALLY works, look no further than this lil blurb. I found a scent of Old Spice that smells deliciously gender-neutral (while simultaneously making me feel like a lady) and it lasts for hours. Bye B.O. see you never! This was a hot topic between Arlyn, Veronica, and I, and if you signed up for Arlyn’s weekly newsletter (which if not, you should!) she wrote about her deodorant journey a few weeks back. They particularly love this natural deodorant, which I’ve found hasn’t worked as well for me personally, but if you want to go the natural route (which is probably better for everyone if it works), then this is the brand to go with! Have you guys had as much trouble finding a deodorant that works for you?? If yes, let’s chat in the comments, I think this is so crazy that it’s this hard! From Ryann: Every week I ask my boyfriend, “What do you think I should put in the link-up?” and his response is, “you should put in Dr. Disrespect” who is a hilarious video game streamer that he watches CONSTANTLY. I always have to lovingly remind him that although I enjoy watching it too (this is coming from someone who’s never played a single video game), I don’t think our demographic would care for a guy who plays Call Of Duty for a living and makes jokes. BUT I’VE BEEN WRONG BEFORE SO WHAT THE HECK. Maybe your boyfriend or husband plays video games and it is super boring to watch. Next time, suggest watching Dr. Disrespect’s streams and you will enjoy the experience of watching video games 100000x more. From Caitlin: I’m very excited because I think I have finally decided on colors for my living room and dining room! I thiiiiiiink I’m going to go with this for the former and with this for the latter (yes, it is going to look like I’m throwing a baby shower, and yes, I’m into it anyway). But y’all, I picked up these samples (+15 others) in MARCH and it’s been tough trying to narrow it down because they’re all good. If you haven’t tried Clare yet, I swear that it lives up to the hype AND the swatches stay sticky even though I’ve moved them around about 8,000 times in every room of my house. Get a sample, love it, order paint, and get everything you need (including tools!) shipped to your door. (This isn’t sponsored but I wish it was. PS. Emily posted a sneak peek of Clare paint in a new bathroom project over on the community and it’s gonna be so good.) From Jess: Here is a website to help support Breonna Taylor and here is an Instagram account that gives a ton of info on how to help Elijah McClain. We have to keep pushing. Also from Jess: Like most everyone dealing with the summer heat, I have been looking for affordable, cute, and relatively modest clothing that is light and works for summer. So I ordered this shirtdress and I really love it. It’s not the kind of dress I would wear on a date (Dates? Who knows when those will be a real thing again). But it’s a comfortable dress that is breezy AND has pockets. Plus I really love the burgundy color:) That is it for this Sunday’s link-up. Hope that you have a good rest of your weekend and take a moment to take some action. See you tomorrow and can’t wait to talk about all things design in The EHD Insider Community. Opener Image Credit: Photo by David A. Land | Via Domino The post The Link Up: Another Soapy Teen Show Emily Loves, Sara’s New Candle Obsession & A Great $20 Dress appeared first on Emily Henderson. Originally from Emily Henderson https://ift.tt/3dK0gNj Summer is here, at least in LA. And it’s just as hot as I thought it would be. I’m personally a big fan of extra-long evenings, when the ground is still warm from a day of sunshine and the air heavy with the smell of Jasmine that’s blooming everywhere. But when it comes to summer, I’m switching up my beauty and skincare needs. My skin isn’t as dry as it is in the winter, I’m sweating a whole lot more, and I’m craving light, fresh options in my routine. Anyone else with me? I have a lot of recommendations, but I know that I’m just one person with a specific set of likes and needs. So I begged the rest of the EHD team to share some of their favorite summer essentials too. I even convinced two beloved EHD alums to share a few picks – Arlyn, my accomplice in skincare obsession (who also happens to be launching a blog of her very own soon, make sure you’re subscribed to her newsletter to stay in the loop), and Veronica, a lady with the best taste in eyeliner this side of the universe. Let’s get into it . . . Bath & Body1. From Sara – LARO Perfume: If you’ve gotten to know me over the years here at EHD then you know I’m a SUCKER for anything olfactory. And perfume is at the top of that list. I love perfume too much to stick to one signature scent. I recently discovered LARO, and immediately ordered their Discovery Set, which comes with mini rollerballs of 11 unique scents (it’s also beautifully packaged, and comes with a 20% coupon for a full-size perfume once you decide what you like). My favorite scents are Stargazer Lily, Chanteuse, and Big Sur. 2. From Caitlin – Fur Body Fuller Frontal Set: Fur is truly for everyone with body hair – whether you shave, wax, or let it grow all-natural. Or maybe, like Sara, you’re a summer shaver and winter grower (her words, not mine, haha). I swear by this 4 piece kit: The scrub and ingrown oil is a lifesaver (and the ingrown oil comes with a little mitt, the size of your finger, to help you scrub off dead skin before you apply!), the lotion keeps your hair growing in soft (not prickly! Or at least, less prickly), and the signature fur oil keeps the body hair you do have feeling soft while moisturizing the skin underneath. This kit is my holy grail product and it lasts forever. It’s been a quarantine lifesaver. 3. From Arlyn – VERB Hydrating Shampoo & Conditioner: My hair is both greasy and dry. I’m a medical marvel! I received a sample of this with my Sephora points and let it sit in my shower for weeks until I remembered to use it one day. Then I was mad I hadn’t used it sooner so I could buy the full-size bottles. It left my hair smelling so good, my strands were soft, shiny, and not weighed down. My ends felt hydrated, my scalp didn’t feel greasy. Complicated hair panacea! 4. From Sara – Each & Every Natural Deodorant: I’ve been on the natural deodorant train for a while, and always love trying out a new brand. I came across Each & Every and was super excited to give them a try. BUT they had too many good scents to choose from, so I ordered their “Choose 4 Minis” option and got citrus & vetiver, cedar & spice, sandalwood & black pepper (my favorite so far), and coconut & lime (which is perfect for summer). Skincare1. From Emily – PCA Nutrient Toner: I ran out of this a couple of months ago and went 6 weeks without it. The whole time I was trying to figure out why my skin was so unhappy. But once I got my refill and started using it again my skin brightened up pretty quickly and absorbed my moisturizer so much better. I’m a true devotee of this toner. Also ditto on their Hyaluronic Acid Serum. 2. From Arlyn – Saturday Skin Pore Clarifying Toner 10% Glycolic Acid + Pore Control Complex: When I read a product description and it makes big promises about “smoothing and refining your skin’s appearance,” I typically follow with a swift “yeah right.” NOT THIS TIME. This toner has been everything I hoped it would be. I use it every other day, and within the week, I 100% noticed my skin transforming before my eyes. I have big juicy pores that are now tighter and generally, my skin texture is smoother. 3. From Sara – Versed Reusable Cotton Pads: I love a toner, and use one every morning and night. Which meant I was going through a lot of cotton pads. But, in an attempt to make small eco-friendly switches in my daily life, I ordered these reusable pads. They come 14 to a set, and I double the length of their use by using both sides. That means one set lasts me a whole month before I have to wash them! 4. From Mallory – Coola Organic Face Sunscreen: I only wear foundation or powder on occasion, but no matter what I’m always slapping this sunscreen on. I’ve been told it’s the most important thing you can do for your skin all year round, but especially during in the summer when we’re spending a little more time outdoors. This formula is super lightweight and smells amazing, but in a really natural way. It’s just the best! 5. From Caitlin – The Volition Must-Haves Set: I’ve asked about skincare before on the site because it’s such a BROAD and confusing topic for me, the kind of person who is only now slowly readjusting to a regular bathing schedule. I discovered Volition while researching for a post and decided to order this kit of 6 products because like, hey, they did all the hard work for me. It had a nearly perfect rating and 1,400 reviews so it must be good, right? IT IS. If you have dry or dull skin (I do), then this is literally everything you need to start a clean skincare routine. I LOVE. 6. From Arlyn – Paula’s Choice Water-Infusing Electrolyte Moisturizer: Paula’s Choice skincare products don’t get the internet fame they deserve. They are solid, affordable, and unfussy. My skin was feeling very dry lately and I read about this moisturizer in several places and decided to try it. I’ve only been using it about two weeks but my face feels so much better already, and no signs of new-product-induced breakouts. It’s really light making it great for summer wear, absorbs quickly, but fully quenches my thirsty skin without a mid-day oil slick in my T-zone. 7. From Sara – Living Libation’s Best Skin Ever Seabuckthorn Oil (as both a cleanser and moisturizer): I bought this oil after Emily’s friend wrote this post, and highly recommended it. And I have to say, I’m equally convinced by this oil. I use it as both a facial cleanser AND moisturizer. It’s light, herb-y, and doesn’t irritate my eyes (which is a huge issue for me). It’s all over my face constantly. 8. From Jess – Shani Darden Texture Reform: Friends, I am in really in love with this gentle retinol serum. I have talked about it before but now that I have been using it for over a month I can give you my full review. I feel like my skin looks brighter and fresher, thus making me feel better overall (I know it’s shallow, but I’m human). I am also relieved that, as someone with fairly sensitive skin, I’ve had zero problems with irritation. YES! I just made sure to follow the gradual use instructions : ) I can’t wait to see more benefits as time goes on. 5 STARS! 9. From Sara – Ayele Pumpkin Vitamin Mask: Now that I’m working from home, a hobby is the workday face mask. If I’m starting to get antsy I’ll pop up and slather one on, do a little dance, set a timer, sit down and work, and then go wash it off. It’s a great mental break, and my skin is loving it. This pumpkin mask is currently a favorite in my rotation. It smells so good, and legit leaves my skin brighter afterwards. Makeup1. From Veronica – Steve Laurant Precision Tip Eyeliner: This black eyeliner make it super easy to get a nice cat eye wing, and it’s super smooth! 2. From Sara – 786 Cosmetics Nail Polish in “Chefchaouen”: I’m not a big manicure person, but I always love having polish on my toes. I’ve curated a small selection of polish colors for at-home pedis, and this denim color is summer perfection. 3. From Jess – Tan Luxe The Face Illuminating Self-Tan Drops: Fewer physical things make me feel more confident than a good tan. It’s THE summer/life essential for me personally (blame my mother). I mentioned wanting these tanning face drops in this post (no it didn’t go on sale, I just caved), to avoid needing to lay out in the sun and damage my skin. My review? Another 5 star purchase! Now I will say, that I let my ego get the best of me – I bought the darker shade because in my mind I tan easily and have more of an olive tone (just a really pale olive tone) and that is what the site recommended. I think that the color looks great but since my skin hasn’t seen the sun in practically a year I have to be VERY careful with the amount I use. I’ve decided 1.5 drops is my absolute max for a light natural-looking glow. My greatest fear is looking like a cast member from Jersey Shore. Next time I might try the lighter one just to see the difference. 4. From Sara – Ere Perez Rice Powder Blush & Bronzer in “Roma”: Like Jess, I love a little warmth on my skin during the summer. But it can get way too dark, way too fast really quickly for me. This organic bronzer blush hits the perfect balance of warm, but natural for my pinky skin. I prefer my bronzer shimmer-less, but they also have a version with the classic shimmer bronzer. 5. From Mallory – Ilia Limitless Mascara: This is THE ultimate mascara. It has a dual brush with one side that kinda combs through your lashes and the other that volumizes so those puppies (aka your lashes) just end up sky-rocketing and looking longer than ever. 10/10 recommend this! 6. From Veronica – NYX Eye Liner: Colored eyeliner is super fun and I have so many different colors that I can quite literally match my eyeliner to any outfit. Spices up my day a bit! (Trust V on this, her bright and bold eyeliners were always the envy of the office.) 7. From Sara – Glossier Skywash Eyeshadow: My lids are super narrow, and get real oily. Because of that I’ve always really struggled with eye shadow. But these cream-to-powder eyeshadows are like watercolors for your lid. They can be built up or kept super sheer, and they last all day. My favorite shades are Palm, Pool, and Pebble. 8. From Jess – Uoma Beauty Brow-Fro Blow Out: I’m not someone that wears a lot of makeup, but I am someone who loves a good brow. And I really love this brow gel! I like Boy Brow from Glossier, but I always feel like it vanishes off my face halfway through the day. Brow-Fro stays on the whole day! It’s a bit thicker than Boy Brow so you if you want a natural look you should use a lighter touch : ) 9. From Mallory – NYX Brow Gel: Speaking of brows, I ended up grabbing this once at the grocery store just out of sheer convenience since I needed some brow stuff. It was a real shot in the dark guess and now I literally can’t live without it. It keeps all those lil pesky eyebrow hairs in place! 10. From Jess – Uoma Beauty Double Take Contour Stick: I am still pretty new to the contouring world (again not a big heavy makeup person) but a little contouring goes a long way if you ask me. I love how simple this double-sided stick is to use and gives me the perfect, slightly more sculpted glow I am always looking for! I say “slightly” because I don’t go full out, but you totally can if you want! I can throw it on and just go. 11. From Sara – NOTO Multi-Bene Stain Stick in Ono Ono: I AM OBSESSED WITH THIS. I got it after Caitlin recommended this brand in this post, and I honestly cannot believe I’ve lived so long without it. This is the perfect brick orange-red color, which is saying a lot because I have super pink skin, and generally have an awful time with red lipsticks. It can be built up for a super saturated look, but also lightly applied for more of a natural “popsicle stain” lewk. Plus, it can be used on both my cheeks and lips. A little CC cream with SPF, some brow gel, and this is all I need for everyday wear. 12. From Emily – Supergoop Glowscreen: So far this summer I’ve mostly just worn this with, a little bit of concealer. It feels super smooth and light, and makes my skin look just a little glow-y. I feel like I’m checking the box of SPF, foundation, and highlighter all at once. Alright, that’s it for our summer essentials (it’s a long list, I know, but we each have different priorities and ideas about what is “essential”). Now I want to know how all of your beauty routines change when it gets warmer out. Any stand out favorites you’re coveting this summer? The post Dressed Down Beauty Essentials We’re Loving This Summer appeared first on Emily Henderson. Originally from Emily Henderson https://ift.tt/2CPn7ut It’s launch day. A whole new chapter at EHD, one that I didn’t predict happening and yet have secretly always dreamt of. I could NOT be more excited. It’s not a rug line or a candle collection (sorry, Sara – she LOVES a scented candle). It’s better and bigger, and yet smaller and more impactful. WHAT IS IT??? This video will give you a little taste but then read the post to get the WHOLE scoop: Working in digital media you don’t have a 5-year plan, despite the cultural need to say that you do. My lack of future planning is partly because I love what I’m currently doing so much that why would I try to do other stuff? “Growing” for the sake of having a big company (an “EM-pire” GET IT? I HATE MYSELF) – has never been my goal (and a huge lesson I learned last year). But mostly I don’t plan too far in advance because I run a blog on the internet and play the part of an “influencer” in social media, which means my proverbial address is “I have zero long-term guarantees” on a very loud and crowded internet Main Street, in the middle of the frankly kinda unstable Wild West – DIGITAL MEDIA. Digital media is a very exciting world to be in – extremely fast-paced, producing daily content amid constant changes, with no real guidance, handbook, or leadership to tell us how to do it. Meanwhile the landscape, climate, and audience changes every day, sometimes hourly. New platforms are introduced monthly. New algorithms tank different parts of business often. We have to check numbers on all platforms a few times a day and when they are up we are UP, when down we are trying to figure out why, rarely finding an answer. It’s like the wall street trading floor in the ’80s – people trying to wave papers higher and yell louder in an attempt to be heard. To “cut the noise” or the other buzz word of the year – to “disrupt.” Unlike Wall Street, our business has a different “product.” We don’t really sell anything (nor do I want to), and there is no tangible transaction. Our business model relies on readers coming to our platforms and engaging in the content, in pursuit of ad revenue and partnerships based on two things: traffic and engagement. Don’t bother buying a book on how to do it – its already dated (but I’ll tell you far more on the new platform:)). Working in this field forces you to stay creative and innovative, you feel young and full of energy as you get these endorphin hits based on immediate feedback and traffic surges. It has so much potential for success, fame even. But the business model also makes it heavily reliant on advertising and the volatility of the market (when the economy is down, the same ads are worth far less even if traffic is much higher. FUN!). That’s right – you could be more “popular” than ever with more people “buying” your product and yet revenue could be plummeting. So we are making a shift and taking more control of our revenue, with you – a tighter, safer, enthusiastic, loyal yet totally inclusive community. Why not forego the unpredictability, stop chasing empty likes, fighting so hard for new eyeballs, and instead spend more time honing in on YOU, the readers we have here, and who really engage and contribute? SO WHAT IS THIS NEW SECRET TRANSFORMATIVE BUSINESS MODEL??I’M SO EXCITED!!!!! And you know I conserve my use of exclamation points to only EXTREME excitement!!!! Welcome to “The EHD Insider Community”, a NEW program, that we are launching TODAY in addition to the current site and our years of archives for members who want to pay $9.99/month to go deeper. Don’t worry, everything is staying the same HERE, for free. But if you become an EHD community insider you get every new post (ad-free) and so much more. Nothing is actually changing hereInstead, we have created a space for those of you who want MORE. It’s a design enthusiast insiders forum. We want to create a more meaningful inclusive community while giving you a backstage pass to our conversations and process. It’s a safe place I can really let loose (think me, circa 2014). If you want, you can skip all the rest of this post and just go check it out here (first two weeks are free with an easy opt-out). The goal is high quality, daily connection with those who want to go deeper (or just watch us go deeper), so you can be a part of the process, and to facilitate conversations between our readers. We want to cultivate an ecosystem of creative people obsessed with all things design, style, and blog/media in a fun, unpretentious, less filtered, and exciting way. On this platform, there are 6 major things you’ll get (for now, we’ll be adding more as we navigate what you guys want). DAILY BLOG POSTS – NO ADSGet ready to read like it’s 2010 with 2020 quality content. We heard you (and we agree, believe me). No more ads for you insiders. We aren’t the first to try to buck this system, many sites have paywalls (a certain amount of articles for free a month, then a subscription) but we might be the first design blog to do this which is kinda terrifying and yet totally empowering. But . . . we know that only a small percentage of our readers will move to this platform based on ad-free blog posts alone (and that’s ok) – so keep reading. THE GARAGE SALEOH GOODY. This is a forum for us AND YOU to sell gently used furniture and decor, locally. This is not an e-commerce site, we don’t take a cut, nor will it be searchable or curated by us. It’s a design-centric Craigslist, with less spam and hopefully less risk. Insiders will be able to sell their furniture/decor to other members. I’m of course launching it with 12 pieces (adding more actually) that I need to sell – some vintage, some gently used from shoots, all awesome. And I’ll be adding to it every week. This is not 1st Dibs pricing, I have a bench going for $60 and a sofa for $450. I just don’t want to deal with Craigslist and want to keep it within The EHD Community, to give these pieces to good homes with all of you (any of the money I make on sales will be going towards our current feel-good flash makeovers). But anyone in the community can sell pieces. It’s super easy – you post a photo and some details, then other members contact you directly through the platform and you coordinate the sale directly. We have nothing to do with it, we are just creating the forum, not facilitating the sale or taking a cut. I’m really hoping that all my favorite flea market dealers will post their goods there because I’m desperate for some local vintage. I’d love for estate sale companies to post their sales links here, or pickers to upload what they scored in Palm Springs over the weekend. But it can also be a 3-month-old Ikea dresser in good condition that was too big for your wall (but like, not your 5-year-old toaster, if you know what I mean). WE ARE VERY EXCITED ABOUT THIS. I’m also nervous that it’s going to crash the site, but again IT’S THE WILD WEST. Yeehaw. READER DESIGN AGONY GROUP CHATThis is a forum where YOU (and us) can post your design questions with a photo and all the other members can help weigh-in, recommend pieces, or just give a thumbs up. Our comment section is always full of incredible advice from you all to each other and we wanted a proper place for this to live with an easier way to communicate. It can be, “Help! Is this vintage lamp awesome or ugly?” or “Does anyone know of a bookshelf that would fit in this corner?” Literally any agony that you or WE have, gets posted here and we help each other out. BEHIND THE SCENES –Get ready to watch the messy process in real-time. Sometimes I’m not ready to show 900k people the fact that I might be considering a vintage blue toilet in our basement bathroom, or maybe I’m not quite ready to reveal our new sofa to the masses, but there will be safety in this community because we know that trolls rarely want to pay to hate-read (nor will that be accepted, in any form – BYE!). We will likely post some of our insta-stories here as well, but they’ll stay permanent not disappearing in 24 hours like over on Instagram. It might be the EHD team on set, me trying out patterned curtains in the dining room (true story), or Julie and I trying to make that canopy work in the kid’s bedroom, or Sara playing with art in her hallway. Real-time design process, unfiltered that might not be ready for the blog or make sense on social media. I know I would LOVE to see my favorite designer’s messy process, so it’s a place to show you ours. DESIGN ROUND TABLEAll the stuff we are talking about internally. Consider this design news – upcoming trends, noteworthy design collaboration or launches, amazing home tours – all things current in our design zeitgeist. This could be where we crowdsource what the next kitchen trends are before we write about them. And it’s not just us, it’s coming from you, too. We want it to be juicy, newsworthy, and to feel more insider-y than just what is published around the interwebs. Let’s talk about what we can’t stop talking about, which will likely help inform our content, too, in a good way. JOIN THE BRAINSTORMThis is where you can tell us what YOU want on the blog and read our real-time internal pitches to each other. We might pitch you our editorial ideas and based on your feedback we can pursue it, shift the angle, or scrap it altogether. And you can give suggestions – less “where can I get a bookshelf?” (that would be more in the design agony section), and more like my recent pitch which was “Why are some rooms so hard to design and others so easy???” We usually get this in the comment section on the blog, but this will give these requests a proper place and platform for editorial discussion. Pitch away, or if you are an editor at another site, come get a peek at our editorial calendar. HELPING HANDSI’m so excited about this. This is all things “FEEL GOOD” within our now extended and inclusive community with the simple goal of helping those in need near us. It’s like one of those pinboards at a community center. This could be as simple as, “Does anyone in LA have an extra crib for a family on our street who was hit hard financially by the pandemic?” or “I have a ton of extra gently used girls toddler clothes I’d love to give away – does anyone know where I can donate, either family or shelter?” One of Jess’ friends, who is a social worker and works with the homeless in Boston, has a totally undecorated office. She reached out to Jess asking about rug advice (because she needs one), and that’s the exact type of stuff we want to know about (and of course we want to step in and help as much as we can, virtually – our next Feel-Good makeover!). Maybe it’s just to fulfill a shopping wishlist for a family that is struggling, or volunteer to come to help paint a public school. So many of my friends have expressed wanting to help others but not knowing how or where besides donating money, so I’m hoping this would be that destination. Real readers helping each other, near each other. This is also a great place to pitch Feel-Good makeovers and perhaps even some of our readers who are designers themselves would want to take it on if we don’t have the band-width. It’s a real dream and puts us in direct contact with those who need help, in a meaningful actionable way. So those are the ‘Topics” we are launching with, and if you go over to Discovery you’ll see examples of all of these. Question: What is this exactly? A new social media platform? A new website?Answer: It’s a platform that looks like a feed, with topics that you can opt-in and out of, and easily upload, comment and interact with each other. It is on your phone as well as your desktop and all links will be active, photos will transfer over, etc. It’s like a blog meets the best part of every social media platform. Question: Will I get the whole blog archives there?Answer: No. It’s not a resource site like this site is designed to be. The daily blog posts will be published over there, but you really can’t search for say “medicine cabinets” like you can on this site. Question – Any other perks I should know about?Answer: Connecting with each other, making friends, meeting your customers, getting more potential readers – in short, dare I say “networking”? With many of us feeling more isolated, connecting in new ways feels even more important. You can make friends near you (if you want to share your location), share business problems, ideas, and collaborate. You, our dedicated readers, are creative, progressive, generally so lovely and nice – we know this from every in-person event. Our reader event up at the mountain house was the best testament of this with every person being someone I would be friends with in real life. And while this isn’t going to be a place for self-promotion, necessarily, of course there are ways to share your product/service if it answers a question or pertains to what we are talking about (carefully). Whether you are bloggers, designers, editors, marketing directors, social media experts or anybody pursuing a creative field – our platform will allow you to know who is interested in the same things as you, who is near you even, and then you can connect and build that relationship. Question: Who do we want to join ‘The EHD Community”?Answer: EVERYONE . . . We obviously want this to be a WILDY inclusive community, full of design enthusiasts, editors, bloggers, designers, marketing, anybody pursuing a creative career in design or media, and those of you who want more access to our process. We want this to be a safe, inspiring space full of real design talk. At $9.99/month I know it might feel like a risk, but the first two weeks are free so if you’re interested please go check it out. If it turns out that you aren’t into it, opt-out and come back to this site. On the other hand, if you are excited by this new site and truly want to join, but $9.99/month isn’t in your budget, just email us in 2 weeks (when your free trial is over) and someone from my team will send you a link to join for free. While this is a business (and I’m putting my trust in everyone), we do NOT want finances to stand in the way of you being a part of this community. And hey creative industry folk – you can certainly write it off as creative research or ask your boss to pay for it like a magazine subscription. If you are in the blog/media/influencer/design industry I think you’ll want to check it out – niche communities are what’s next, folks (or so we hope, HA). Does this mean less sponsored posts?Yes. Listen, I love the products and companies we work with – they are all good products or I would NOT endorse them, full stop. This new platform, with its paid subscription, will allow us to do less of these and make space in this world for other awesome design bloggers to have more of these opportunities. Sponsored posts have been a huge part of growing our business. I know how important partnerships can be to a career, and I’ll be actively recommending and advocating for other bloggers/influencers to the brands that reach out to us. We’ll always do the partnerships that align with projects we are already doing or that align easily with the brand. Wanna sponsor a feel-good flash makeover? Email us The Time Feels RightIt’s meaningful growth, strengthening what we have and love already, instead of scrambling to “grow” by expanding our audience to be larger but less engaged. It’s impossible to connect on every platform with every reader, so this is where our small team will prioritize more of our time with our smaller, tighter, community. It’s a place where we can be a little less filtered because we are friends and a little messier because you know it’s not the final reveal. You’ll learn more about the business, and see how things get run from a closer point of view. We can crowdsource solutions to problems and use each other as a not-random focus group. We can Style, Play, Every Day with our real design family. So consider this place – the EHD Insider community – the welcoming town hall of the Wild West. Everyone is invited, but trolls will be asked to leave. There will be NO meanness allowed, while of course welcoming constructive feedback. Head over and check it out. Again, the first two weeks are FREE and then you can opt-out if you aren’t into it and just want to keep reading the blog here like you do now. So folks, got a design agony you need help with? Want to see what I’m selling out of my garage? Dying to see my newly upholstered floral vintage chaise? Want to know what kitchen trends we are predicting before we post here? Or simply curious if this new business model is going to be a success or a totally fail??? Because I AM CLICK HERE. Become an Insider. We’ll see you over there, and THANK YOU. The post NEW EXCITING LAUNCH: Welcome to Our EHD Insider Community appeared first on Emily Henderson. Originally from Emily Henderson https://ift.tt/386IgMe Well, it’s been 105 days (yes, I took the time and counted) since the start of EHD no longer working in a office together as a team. As many of you saw in yesterday’s post, Emily made the announcement about the official closing of our LA office doors. That’s right our temporary WFH set ups that we showed you back in March have now become permanent for the foreseeable future. (I miss you all!) But we are not alone, many small businesses and some larger companies are reducing their office size or letting employees who can, work remotely. Which brought up the question in our weekly ‘EHD Happy Hour Zoom Meeting’ with so many of us now home throughout the work week, for who knows how long, will this shift our living needs and make some permanent changes to how we will design a home’s functionality for the future? While helping to design the Mountain House last year we decided that the loft would be the perfect space to set up Emily’s office (we were so cute and innocent back then). And while it looked great in photos she quickly found out that functionally, with two kids and without a door to shut closed, little to no work could get done during the day. Soon after Emily moved her office into the downstairs guest room which is conveniently closer to the WiFi router and most importantly has a door. Doesn’t ‘Instagram Emily’ look so productive writing in her peaceful mountain retreat office? Meanwhile, ‘Reality Emily’ is laughing out loud at that photo while Birdie and Charlie make a mom sandwich. Side Note: It is pretty cute, on our end at least, to watch them sneak into the guest room during a team Zoom call to surprise her. We know that Emily isn’t the only parent or person craving a little privacy during the day. Over the past few months, I’ve lived in four different places with 2-5 roommates at a time and upwards of 7 animals at once. It can get noisy, smelly and for a more introverted than not person, very overwhelming most days. The only time I didn’t dream of living in a home where every room was separated and could be closed off by a door was at Emily’s LA house, granted it was just myself and my boyfriend so there was enough space to pretend that the other person didn’t exist for a couple of hours during the day. (thank you, thank you, thank you again to Emily & Brian. We appreciated our time there more than words can say.) So, does this mean we are finally ready to say goodbye to the open concept floor plan trend and trade it in for a more traditional layout? An open concept home has been popular for the past 30 something years and for a good reason. It’s a layout made for entertaining, if your home is on the smaller side it opens up the space making your rooms feel brighter, and for growing families it helps with multi-tasking like cooking dinner and keeping an eye on your children. But then again it means that everything is open and what if you have a Zoom call and your partner ‘absolutely needs to get in their work out’ while the kids are in a virtual classroom. Then, what? One option if you like your open concept would be to transform your garage into a more useable space which Jess showed us some very pretty examples of the other day including the one above. Unfortunately, we know that this is more of a weather permitting option but it got me thinking about the idea of a flex room that would meet all of your functional needs. Now that both of my roommates and myself are working from home I find myself spending 90% of my time in my room. Sleeping, working, eating, exercising all in my 10’x12′ bedroom and am highly considering a Murphy bed to open up some space while still holding onto some sweet, sweet privacy. Now those two ideas are smaller privacy solutions but let’s again talk about the potential extinction of the open concept home. Are you/we craving permanent privacy that bad? Jess brought up an interesting idea. Would closing off open-plan layouts potentially lead to spending less time together as a family when things gradually go back to normal? Or will we cherish the time spent together and be more in the moment? I am very curious as to what your take on this is and if you are actually reconsidering your open floor plan for your current or future home? One thing I think we will see a rise in is the return of the front porch cause I literally saw someone sitting on a beach chair in the small patch of grass outside their apartment on my walk the other day. Anybody else wanting to add-on a porch or just that guy? Let’s talk about it below, see you there. Opening Photo Credits: Photo by Sara Ligorria-Tramp | From: The Portland Dining Room Reveal + How to Create A Room That Is Interesting Yet Sophisticated The post Are We Done With Open Concept Layouts? Is Privacy Now The Top Priority?? appeared first on Emily Henderson. Originally from Emily Henderson https://ift.tt/2NtP1ht This week I was asked to be a part of #ShareTheMicNow campaign, Home Edition on Instagram. The answer was an overwhelming YES. If you don’t know what that is, it’s a day to amplify Black designer voices to expand their reach, share their message, and show off their talent with a takeover on Non-Black designer’s Instagram accounts. We need to keep pushing to make sure the momentum rises and campaigns like this are essential. So can you guess who is taking over my account?? Needless to say, I was pretty darn happy when I was matched with Shavonda Gardner. If you don’t know who she is then today is your lucky day. She is a designer, blogger, mother, wife, and all-around wonderful person which is evident in watching her Instastories. I love how she refers to her followers as friends and even more, I love her bold and beautiful designs. Shavonda has been in the process of making over her backyard for a while and chose to tackle her entertaining and lounge area for this season’s One Room Challenge. I wanted to share the very beginning of this project from her blog because she is about to REVEAL it and seeing all her hard work is insanely inspiring. So head to my stories to catch Shavonda’s takeover, follow her if you aren’t already and enjoy this post she wrote about her backyard. ALSO, just to tease because it’s fun, you can expect and EHD x SGS collaboration coming this year and I CAN’T WAIT:) Shavonda take it away xx Hi Everyone! Happy Thursday friends and Happy One Room Challenge kick off week! I don’t think I’m alone in feeling like this year ORC feels even more special and necessary than all the years past, not only for our homes but also for ourselves. The impact of the global pandemic has left so many feeling isolated and full of fear and anxiety. ORC has always been a powerful way to bring people together virtually all over the world through our collective love of design. It’s been a wonderful community building tool and right now I get the sense we would all love to feel as connected as possible during our distance from one another. What better way to do that than by cheering each other on as we tackle a project in our homes. I’m so excited to be joining One Room Challenge as a guest participant this round. I’m back for my third One Room Challenge friends and this time I’m taking on a project I’ve been looking forward to tackling for FIVE years…our backyard! At the top of my home goals list this year was to get our outdoor spaces all the way together and the time has come to get it done. This project is a BIG task but one I’m more than excited to see through to the finish line. I figured participating in ORC would be a great way for me to be accountable to actually do it. There are several components to this makeover, but first I want to give to a little flashback and history of the evolution of our backyard over the years since we moved in. Be prepared for photo overload: This is what things looked like when we first moved in: Yikes, right! Ya’ll it was a whole mess. I could see the potential in this space but it was going to need A LOT of work. Like…A WHOLE LOT. Over the next few years we slowly chipped away at just getting the area to the point where we had a fairly clean slate to work with. We started by removing misplaced trees, tore down the rickety dilapidated pergola, ripped out the death trap of a deck, replaced the fence and built entry gates, removed the shed, replaced exterior doors, rewired the garage, added electrical, and had the house painted. That got us to the place we were at the beginning of this year. I mean it still looks all kinds of crazy, but it’s a vast improvement from where we started. With a clean slate and a plan in place, we went into 2020 with a clear goal to get this whole situation in order and to transform this space into something beautiful, functional, and special for our family. I mentioned earlier the makeover has several major components, one of which being the addition and construction of a large L-shaped floating deck off the bedroom and back landing which will visually connect the house to the detached garage. This was a major project that we decided to hire out because of the technical aspects needed to build it properly for our property. Our house sits quite a bit higher than our garage, we have drainage issues that need to be addressed, and I wanted it built on two levels. This was going to take quite a bit of time so we had the deck built in February/March so we would be ready to take on the rest of the project at the start of ORC this spring with that major part done. If you follow me on Instagram you will have seen the project through to its completion in real time via my daily stories. I saved everything to a highlight in case you want to go back and see the whole process:) For the deck build we hired local landscape contractor Charles Shipman and his team at Shipshape Landscape. They were phenomenal and did an incredible job. This was not an easy project in the slightest and they really knocked it out of the park. It started with them having to dig a 3-4 foot deep trench 100 ft across the yard and adding a french drain near the house to address our issues with drainage and the garage flooding when it rains. At this point, Naomi was sure I had completely lost my mind and she was pretty convinced she was out of her mind for letting me rope her into buying this fixer-upper of a house! The woman deserves a medal to be honest, lol! After the drainage was dealt with they got the deck built. There are literally no words to describe how in love with it we are. It’s very big at around 500 sqft and this extra space is a game-changer for our family AND our home. I’ll be writing an in-depth post all about the deck after ORC, but for now here are the main specifics: we used redwood for the material, I wanted two levels with the boards laid in different directions so it would create interest and serve to define spaces (more on that next week), none of this was sponsored and we saved for a long time to pay for it, we will be staining it in a few months after its had time to dry out a bit, did I mention I’m obsessed with it?! And that brings us to where we are today. Next week I’ll be sharing the overall design plan, mood board, and to-do list as well as my inspiration for pulling it all together. We have so much work to do still to make this our dream outdoor space and I’m looking forward to tackling it over the next 7 weeks. I’m also really looking forward to following along with all the other guest participant projects and seeing what magic the featured designers make this season! Make sure you check out the other participants here. And if you have a space you’d like to tackle I encourage you to join as well. There’s still plenty of time and we have 2 extra weeks this time too! Until next time friends….. Em again. That deck is SO beautiful and if you’ve been following her stories you know how much more beautiful its become. I want to thank Shavonda for letting us republish this post and so graciously being my partner in the #ShareTheMicNow campaign. Can’t wait to do more together:) The post A VERY Exciting One Room Challenge Project Intro From The One And Only Shavonda Gardner appeared first on Emily Henderson. Originally from Emily Henderson https://ift.tt/2NoTBO6 Over the weekend I posted a riveting story about laundry detergent as I Vanna White’d our TOP LOADING stacking washer and dryer closet on the bedroom floor upstairs (if you are renovating right now DO THIS). We still haven’t started building the more proper laundry closet downstairs (nor have we purchased the appliances) so this is the only way we clean our clothes these days (but I can wear the same clothes FOR DAYS without cleaning – it’s a real gift). After that story we got a lot of DMs with some questions we thought I’d answer – mostly about my feelings towards this tall little lady. First off, I think we need to address the top loading versus front loading situation. I didn’t know this was a “thing” till we ran into a mold problem inside our front-loading washer in this laundry room. We were baffled, perplexed, so annoyed and then when we had a plumber come he said this happens ALL THE TIME with front loaders. Now I think that you can avoid this by A. Using way less liquid detergent so it makes it easier to dry out and B. leaving the door open all the time (cool). But essentially for whatever reasons, front loaders don’t drain as well and yes, mold often forms and especially in the rubber part where the door closes. Then it makes your clothes reak of mold and you hope that putting them in the dryer, your dryer balls will kill the smell and they do, or maybe you just get used to the smell – I DON’T KNOW ANYTHING ANYMORE. So why “front load” in the first place? Well, without giving you a report on the history of the washer and when the “change” happened, it’s to save space – so you can fold clothes or add storage on on top of your front loader that you obviously can’t with your top loader. So when we were planning this house was when we were dealing with the mold. Out of fear that this would happen again I went top load with this unit without hesitation. Now there MIGHT be non-molding front loading stackable units, I’m not saying they ALL have drainage issues. But the plumber that we hired assured me that this is TRUE – front loaders are prone to mold, top loaders are not. This is what we bought and have in the mountain house. So how do I feel about this little unit? PRETTY good … So far, but it’s only been a year and a half. This weekend was the first time that I’ve felt motivated to get the larger unit/closet going downstairs because as you can imagine there is less capacity in the smaller one so it takes so much longer to do the laundry unless you stay on top of it every day – which we were for most of quarantine but have gotten lazier. So just this morning I was saying to my MIL – “I wish I had a bigger washer/dryer right now” and then Mallory said everyone was asking about my thoughts on my current one. So I figured I’d bore you with a whole post about it. So far so good for small loads. I will say this – I’m not a really picky appliance person – like I’m not INTO appliances and I mostly want them to be super simple with as few settings as possible so I don’t mess them up. Sometimes I feel like the old fashioned dial and the “press start” button is all we need and not ones with wifi settings that speak a foreign language and a dryer that talks to your microwave. So there you go. If you want to see our “plan” for our downstairs laundry closet (still small, but bigger) go here, or check out our laundry room HERE. OH but seriously (and pardon me if I’ve asked this before) as I’m shopping for the downstairs set – I’d LOVE to know what you have that you love. By the way, this is why I love Good Housekeeping magazine – because they do real reviews after like many many months of using, but I actually think that your recommendations would be crazy valuable to a lot of us. For instance – I can recommend that stacking set, how about you?? The post Front Loading Versus Top Loading Stacked Washer/Dryers + What I Have at Home appeared first on Emily Henderson. Originally from Emily Henderson https://ift.tt/3i5c5kX It’s been over 10 years since I started the blog, and documenting the growth and massive shifts we’ve gone through would be enough for a book (quite literally, and maybe will be). Many of you might have missed the announcement via my weekly Saturday newsletter (that I started and then stopped because properly putting my feelings into words was HARD) but here it is – We are permanently giving up the EHD office. At least this office. It was a no-brainer, a bitter-sweet no-brainer that requires a lot of back story information. So today we are going to revisit the last 10 years of the “EHD office spaces” and you’ll see where we landed the last two years and why I’m giving the brick and mortar up. 2011Right after Design Star Brian and I moved into this house that had a cute added sunroom that would be my WFH office. It was bright, had its own entrance, and was certainly enough space. That’s when it was just Orlando and I. Then we brought on Bonnie (now the Director Of Brand Marketing at Zillow) and a couple of interns and freelancers for shoots (the very talented Tessa Neustadt and Monica Wang – how fun is that?). It didn’t cost anything as it was just part of our rent (I think the rent was crazy expensive, though, like $3000 for two bedrooms + this room). Soon Orlando moved on to do his own client work and blogging (have you seen his new show?) and Ginny came aboard (have you seen her new line with Lulu and Georgia? We just ordered this bed for one of our makeovers). We mostly just shopped in person and did on-site visits for the Fig House or our residential clients, so we didn’t really use the office so much on a day to day basis. Everyone was hired hourly and often worked from home, or we met up at coffee shops. Then we had a baby named Charlie and we bought our first house, 7 years ago. GEEZ, I might actually cry because A.) It’s all going so fast, and B.) Life was so much simpler and easier then – guys this was basically PRE-Instagram, PRE-“influencer” stuff – how crazy is that? This home had a basement that we worked out of, but only for like 9 months. This is the ONLY picture I could find of it below – obviously NOT designed but I do appreciate the organized “paper towel” styling. 2013At this point my team consisted of Ginny, and then of course Brady came aboard when Charlie was 3 months old. Once it was the three of us, working out of my home started to feel weird for them (they never said anything) and us, even though we were so close and had so much fun together. We had to climb the stairs into my house to go to the bathroom and kitchen and with napping baby and me breastfeeding I think you could call it “unprofessional”. But we were also slowly renovating and decorating that house so we kinda needed to be there and shoot a lot. Before we moved we were able to shoot the space for Matchbook Magazine – remember that? 2014Oh geez. Nostalgia is a wildly powerful feeling, guys. This post was meant to be easy and it’s turning very emotional. But shoots like that totally disrupted all the workflow and we realized we needed a space not in my house to work and shoot – somewhere with enough white wall space + good natural light. So over one weekend, I found this space in Eagle Rock, like 7 minutes from my house. It was $1200 a month (at first) and 1000 square feet, which was big enough for desks and a space to shoot. I still remember surprising Brady and Ginny with it, telling them I was taking them to coffee then walking them into the space – we were all giddy. 2015This started a new phase in the business – when we went from “blogging” to “content creation.” It was a shift that happened slowly, then all at once. With this studio, we were able to shoot sponsored posts (this was in the early years of partnerships) and we really transformed the space weekly. One side had desks on wheels, the other had shelving full of props that I hoarded for shoots (and life). Yep, about 3-5 times a month we would transform a side of it into a shoot space for the blog. We shot this post for those window stickers above and the below post for Devine Color (temporary wallpaper). We also shot so many original posts for fun editorial content like “1 Credenza 4 Ways” or “1 Dresser Styled 4 Different Ways” or “1 Bed 4 Ways” because we REALLY liked showing you how to style one thing four ways. But as I was doing the math (which I rarely did) I realized that these shoots were costing about $2500 in time and material and we certainly weren’t making that much on them. So while we did still shoot here, it was always super messy and the shoots made working there really disruptive and chaotic. The wallpaper panels were taken down early on to shoot and never put back up so it went from totally designed, to super messy really fast. At this point, I think I had 3 full-time salaried employees – Brady, Ginny and Sara, and a few hourly employees (Mel, Bowser, Erik, Jess, amongst others). We needed to have a real office with designated desks and less photoshoots. Around that time we got a big partnership with Wood Naturally which provided the perfect excuse (and resources) to invest in designing the office more for function (and client work) and less for photoshoots. 2016Oh man. I loved that space – it felt so pretty and pulled together. We had all our samples organized, and even had that copper ladder made for my favorite vintage fabrics. It was a pretty great space. Then the back office opened up and we used it for storage (another $1100) and so we were able to keep this one more organized with more room for people. We fit here pretty nicely, so why the change? Well, there are a few reasons I chose to move offices: 1. Location. My family had moved to Los Feliz and my commute now was 25 – 30 minutes. That commute along with having 2 young kids and breastfeeding felt like A LOT. The rest of my team lived even further away. 2. Privacy. I found myself not coming into the office because I didn’t have my own enclosed space to write and I would basically just talk about the Bachelor all day and distract everyone. So I thought that getting an office with my own room would help me come in more often. 3. We didn’t need a shoot space. At this point, we also made a shift in our content to shoot in real homes with unique architecture (not a blank sterile photo studio wall). We started moving all posts to be in locations either in my home, our team’s homes (hello MOTO), and friends and families homes. 4. We stopped doing client work so we didn’t need the extensive library of samples (we still have a ton, but they are in storage so that when we need them we can go get them). So I started looking, and perhaps got a bit hasty and signed a new lease on our current space (the one we are giving up). The new studio was smaller, had less storage, and was TWICE as expensive (I think $3400 + parking + storage unit). Seems like an odd business choice, right? Looking back, it probably was not the best financial move but these are lessons I get to learn along the way. I chose it because it was central (East Hollywood on Fountain by the big Scientology center), the building itself was SO PRETTY (restored by Manola Studio), I got a beautiful office to myself so my dreams of coming in every day and writing were about to come true (ha, more on that below), plus there were multiple restaurants nearby – something we lacked in Eagle Rock. There was a restaurant “about” to open right beneath us (5Leaves) that took over a year to open but the promise of happy hours with artisanal cocktails right below our office was a temptation I couldn’t pass up. Here she was when we first found it… 2017Look how pretty it is! The inside was raw, more industrial than the outside, but still good elements. Now that I’m looking at it it feels underwhelming compared to the light bright spaces before, but it was really pretty – brick, wood, and black steel windows. I also was in the “stay small, don’t grow” phase. I think we were at 5 employees and we fit nicely here. But very quickly, with the production of my second book, the Portland project, Mountain house, and a billion shoots, we shot up to at one point to 13 people between freelance and full-time. We were packed together with 2 people to a desk and it became clear that I had created (or accepted) too much work for us to “stay small” – a real gift of mine. We had to rent a storage unit and everyone was working on top of each other to a point that I had to give up my office to Arlyn and Sara because we had run out of space in the main area (and I wasn’t coming in as much as I thought I would anyway – always out shooting). That’s right, I didn’t have an office in my office. HA. I realized we were too big for this space which prevented us from ever properly “designing” it. I think I knew for a while that it was not the right fit, but looking for a new bigger place was so daunting (and expensive). We’d likely have to go to the valley which would add a huge commute for everyone and selfishly I just didn’t want to add an hour of driving to my life. So we remained in this state of limbo for a while. Then the team shrank and we had fewer full-time employees coming into the office. Why? I realized that the business could not support 13 employees (10 full-time on salary), so I had to make some tough decisions to A.) Layoff two people due to my idiotic over-hiring (I’ll forever be sorry to Chandler and Carolina), and then B.) Once we wrapped up the Portland project, mountain house, and book shoots we didn’t have enough full-time production work. So the production team, Velinda and Bowser, went freelance (read more about that here – and hire them!). So right before the pandemic, we were down to 7 full-time salaried employees which technically fit in this office space again. Note: A few people have asked in the comments about Veronica, our second photographer and photo assistant. A few months ago, when production had slowed way down on our end, she decided she was ready to look for the next step in her photography career. She is quite possibly one of my favorite people in the world with so much kindness, talent, and hard work. She shot all of the fashion posts, helped me have fun when I was uncomfortable in front of a camera, and has a real eye. So if you need a fashion, product, or interior photographer I can personally highly recommend her (and we have some jobs booked with her this summer already, so act fast). Also fun fact, she is currently working a lot with Monica Wang (my former photo intern from 2013) who owns The Revery. I love a former EHD collab. So why give up the office??? Well, turns out we simply didn’t need it. We continued to not have any photoshoots there – almost all on location, and we run a digital business that exists mostly online. Plus as our partnerships and ad revenue were hit by the pandemic so I had to make some financial cuts and I didn’t want any of them to be team members. Once I made the decision to give up the office, a huge weight was lifted. At the time almost everyone on my team was loving/thankful to be working from home (months later I think we all really miss having co-workers). What now? Well, we don’t know. I think the future for everyone – world-wide – is uncertain, which does give us a latent collective anxiety, but also some new opportunities and even more shifts and pivots (the buzz words of 2020) that we are excited about. Speaking of which – we have a VERY EXCITING BUSINESS shift that we are announcing on Friday, one that I’ve wanted to explore for YEARS but it never felt like the right time. And now. It. Is. So stay tuned for that. But for today we are just all working remotely, from our homes. Maybe we’ll end up doing one of those shared workspaces, rent out conference rooms, or even just meet every day for breakfast and lunch when we aren’t shooting (if we ever get back to having photoshoots). It’s so easy to get wrapped up in things that you think you need as a small business, and some of them are so important to “grow.” But your needs change and it’s a good exercise to consistently analyze the business and really hone in on what you NEED versus what is cool to have, or worse – what you are used to having. Like a lot of things in our life, the Pandemic really shined a light on what is essential, and has helped me, at least, let go of a lot. So stay tuned for what’s next – announced on Friday (barring any major life “shifts”). 2020 will be the year of focused change, clear intention, and focus on meaningful growth. Let’s hope it works. xx P.S. Design of the Merrick Building by Manola Studio and if you are interested in the office space email [email protected]. Also, we are selling all those dining tables (that we used as a desk) starting Friday for $200 each – all going towards our next feel good flash makeover. The post The Current EHD LA Office Is Officially Closed (With A Quick Tour – Finally) And A Walk Down Our Office Memory Lane appeared first on Emily Henderson. Originally from Emily Henderson https://ift.tt/3fTzFPv |
Author Kimberly ReedDesign Consultant at Furnishing Knowledge:KI Archives
April 2023
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