Merry Christmas Eve

Merry Christmas

-J

7 days to 32

This has been crazy busy, emotionally draining, exciting year. I will be 32 next week; December 16. I don't make too much of a fuss about my birthday. I've gotten over the malicious competition of my birthday and Christmas; Christmas wins! If friend's and family want to do something for me, great, if not, I'm okay with that too. Reflecting over these last 12 months I've grown a lot! I am wow'd by my own strength and my accomplishments. I worked my behind off with: decor, going to school, my day job, dealing with personal issues, being financially drained and exhausted, oddly enough 31 turned out great! 

I am really focusing on J.G.W. Decor.  I've been looking into events and workshops to help broaden my knowledge about interior design.  I'm going to a huge networking event in Las Vegas next month for interior designers, builders, and architects. I'm investing in myself and my business. I want more exposure and bigger projects! 

With all that said, I look forward to being a year older, wiser and brighter.  I think for my birthday I may treat myself to a day of girlish luxuries and a new wrist accessory. 

-J

Official Logo

I am so excited to share my official logo for J.G.W. Decor.  I did some research and asking around about who should design my logo and how much I should invest. The best advice I got was to do my logo myself; free of charge! Who better than to design it myself? I knew what I wanted so I just started drafting and playing around with fonts and here it is. 

I was so excited I ordered logo stickers =)  Branding is everything! 

- J 

*Updated!* Cover Girl [Before Pictures Added]

I had the pleasure of working with a friend of mine on her entire first floor of her lovely condo nestled in the Oakland Hills. We first started talking about me doing her place Spring of last year (I think) just discussing ideas about how she wanted her place to look and feel. My client is a very beautiful woman and when you see her she's very well put together - she has a great sense of style and a very sweet personality; hence the title of her space "Cover Girl". 

This was the biggest project I've done thus far. I was a little intimidated by the size of the space and number of rooms; It took an entire weekend to complete.  Thankfully I had my buddy Daniel by my side and Contractor Elliot to help bring this all together.  I cannot do this alone!!

We love how the colors came together with the blues and subtle pops of green in the accent pillows. The walls are painted in a grey color by Sherwin Williams. I convinced my client to take a risk by choosing  dark colors for the wall and painting her doors black with a luster. Later I will post the before photos as you'll see how I made the space more modern traditional with tan and red walls! SOOOOO early 2000's! I'm so over the deep reds and neutral tan walls (make it stop!).

Sorry I haven't blogged since April. A lot has changed and I had not made the time to sit down and write. I hope to post more. Thank you so much for reading!

- J 

Before Photos 

                                                

  

Craigslist Treasure: Retro Chairs

This past weekend I was searching for furniture pieces online and decided to search on Craigslist. I was recently at a client's house who had all these incredible finds from Craigslist! I've always been afraid to shop from Craigslist because I've heard so many horror stories: "Man meets seller from Craigslist and was robbed at gun point" and then there was the lovely Lifetime Movie Craigslist Killer. I have valid reasons to never want to buy anything from anyone through Craigslist, but I can't be successful at my job by being afraid and passing up good finds for cheap: I had to get over it quick!

I suggested to my buddy/client that he add two side by side chairs for his living room. I came across these two retro leather chairs on Craigslist: only $30 for both! Way less than these matching chairs we were considering at Ikea for a total of $180! I'm all about saving my client's money, I don't want you to spend more than you have to.  That's $150 back in his pocket to sit on. 

So here's how it went with the seller; it was a bit funny, I had every single guard up. My friend had to be the one to play it cool and act like the trusting happy buyer (which he was). The seller wanted us to come up to his storage to see the chairs (In my mind I'm thinking, that's where he wants to rob and kill us!) but the seller was a nice guy, totally cool. He helped us get the chairs into my car and even waited to make sure they would fit. I guess not everyone on Craigslist is crazy, but I still don't trust it completely.  

I'm so happy my buddy has his new chairs, they really complete the space.  He rearranged the living room all by himself, I can't take credit for that. 

I am looking forward to his next get together so we can all sit around the living room and mingle in his "new" space.

J  

New Look!

Well... sort of (new header and background photo). I haven't blogged in a very long time. I've been so busy with school, work, decorating, and life! I have a lot going on but I'm keeping my head above water. I will  make a conscientious effort to keeping my blog updated and share all of my latest projects.  

I do have a bit of news to share: I'm two semesters away from finishing my interior design classes and getting my A.S. degree! (**screams**). Once I'm finished I'll be half way through the process of being done with school completely! 

Lastly, I have a page on Instagram now @jgwdecor #followme

J 

Chic Bathroom Update

My first project for 2014; A chic bathroom update! I worked with my amazing client Omar Childs from the "Men's Bedroom" project (see link way down below from May of 2013 for pictures).  This is his second space that I had a pleasure of working on. It's really nice to work with the same client and go from room to room. 

My idea for the bathroom was: deep colors, white walls, simple, and chic. My client is very minimal, he doesn't have a lot of clutter or extras of hardly anything.  I included the bare bathroom basics: Q-Tips, face wipes, bath salts, and hand towels.  For the decorative accents I found these nice storage boxes. I added the orchid for greenery.  I also found this nice sunburst mirror to go above the space saver; it really added height to the bathroom, along with the floor to ceiling shower draperies. 

My favorite update is the painted sink cabinet. It was originally a standard oak wood color.  I painted over it in this grey/brown hue called "English Tea Party" by Valspar.  I added new hardware handles to finish the look; I thought it turned out perfect! 

Check out the before and after photos.

Photo gallery:

Bathroom accessories:

 

Notice the window cover to the far left. Simple shade, very inexpensive - great way to update your window treatment for a low cost. 

New rain shower head:

Full bathroom:

The before:

Thank you! 

J

Be Organized

It's the new year and now's the time to reorganize or get organized. Clean out your closet - donate that top you haven't worn in over a year. Clean out your files - shred old documents. Donate books to your local library to clear out clutter from your bookshelf. Organize your junk drawer, you might find something that you misplaced months ago. You and your home will fill so much better after you do so; trust me! 

I like to use mason jars for organizing around the house; I love them! I use them for multiple purposes: pencil holder, scissor holder, rubber bands holder, bath salts holder; you name it. I like to purchase mine from the Dollar Tree and I know you can get them in bulk at Costco or Smart & Final. 

Here are some great organizing photos I found online

Leave a comment and share some of your organizing tips! 

J