INTERIORS

Talk about your style. Oh gosh, it’s hard for me to talk about my style because half of the time I feel like our home is a complete mix of a million things I love with no rhyme or reason to it. But then I also feel as if it’s put together in a cozy studio kind of way. I enjoy anything and everything Mid-Century Modern; if you know me…you know my happy place is Palm Springs. I really enjoy mixing Mid-Century with more rustic pieces, like our hand-me-down coffee table and then tie it all together with patterns and textures in the pillows and accessories.

Do you have a favorite room in your home + why? My favorite room is hands down our dining room + living room space. The open concept makes it great for gatherings at our place, plus, we get the most beautiful sunset shows overlooking the Charles River.

Where does your inspiration come from? A lot of my inspiration comes from traveling. My husband and I are big fans of going on adventures together and being that we are both designers, we appreciate exploring cool spaces and finding inspiration without an agenda. Since our move to Boston, I get inspired from random morning walks through Beacon Hill where I see so many different shapes, patterns & colors in the architecture. There’s so much to explore in this city! Also, there is nothing better than good restaurant design – I feel like these are the spaces you can get super creative with and even better, you get to enjoy food + drinks while getting inspired!

Tell us about some of your biggest achievements and challenges. I guess a challenge AND achievement has been hanging things on our concrete walls. It requires some muscles + good anchors. Even though our cords are showing from wall-mounting our tv, I am at least happy it’s off of the console. We are working on covering them! ;)

Name 3 pieces that define you + your space. One – I really love the abstract art that is in our dining room. My mother-in-law gave that to us as a wedding present and I really love the way it ties everything together and almost defines where our dining room is. Two – our coffee table, it was given to my husband a while back and I don’t know if we will ever be able to part with it… even if the scale is a little off in comparison to our small sofa. It’s been our dining room table, our desk and a place to display things we love. Three – our Dining Table – my husband says this is his favorite piece in the house and I agree with him! We recently purchased it from West Elm and I couldn’t be happier with it. This piece was the one that made us feel like adults. ;)

Biggest splurge and biggest steal: Splurge – probably our bed + bedding (if we are including the mattress). We recently upgraded our mattress and spent a pretty penny on it and I am so glad we did. Steal – definitely the coffee table since it was given to us. But if that doesn’t count then I would say the yellow zigzag pouf from Target (I think it was like $29 after mark downs).

What are some of your go-to places when it comes to shopping for your home? West Elm, Craigslist, One Kings Lane + Etsy, Target, Crate & Barrel and a lot of online sourcing + local décor shops.

Do you have any DIY tips to share? I am not the biggest DIY kind of gal. Not because I don’t like doing projects and finding unique ways to create something, it’s more that I want it to get done really quickly so I will skip necessary steps. Enter – my husband. He is OCD when it comes to DIY projects so I will think up the idea with him and he tends to execute it. But I will say, you can pretty much spray paint anything and make it pretty. We spray painted so many wine bottles and beer bottles for our wedding and they look so great with fresh blooms in them.

Any advice? Try not to let the “rules” of interior decorating intimidate you. If you love that crazy side table that you think doesn’t go with your home, you can easily tie it in with accessories or make it the statement piece. If you need a place to start, begin with a focal point and a simple color scheme and everything else will fall into place. Especially if you buy pieces you love.

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Talk about your style. I always wanted to live in an old home with a wrap around porch and shutters with a bright door and crooked hardwood floors, the reality quickly changed when we began our house hunt and ended up in suburbia (which I surprisingly LOVE). The area we live in is more of an “up and coming” little farm town sandwiched between two large cities. It has a population of 2,000 so you can imagine it’s pretty quaint and adorable. Since we ended up getting a new home, I wanted to infuse some character into our space so I would say I am an eclectic decorator mixing the old and new.

Do you have a favorite room in your home + why? One of the reasons I love our home is that it has an entirely open concept. The entrance opens up to the living room, dining room, and kitchen and it’s one grand room with high ceilings. I am obsessed with how light and bright the space is and am so thankful for the open floor plan. I know I am cheating when I say this space is my favorite but it truly is… that and our king size bed are the spaces where I do the most living, sleeping, working, and eating so it’s pretty much the best.

Where does your inspiration come from? I am a lover of magazines like Country Living and an avid catalog hoarder of Pottery Barn, West Elm, and Crate and Barrel. Mixing that old and new feel is what I love to do. Our home is really modern with clean lines, fresh colors, and lots of light so infusing one of a kind thrift finds that have character is what I enjoy doing to give my space a little interest. I of course use Pinterest but a lot of what I do in our home is through constant change and adding/subtracting pieces. It never looks the same from week to week!

Tell us about some of your biggest achievements and challenges. We are coming up on the one year anniversary of owning our home and I think it really truly feels like ours. Slowly but surely we’ve been adding our touch to it and it feels less sterile and more livable. I think one of the challenges was mixing our design styles. My husband is super modern, loves new things and I am a thrifter so trying to meld our styles together to create a space that wasn’t overwhelmingly feminine while still offering the touch that I needed to make our new home feel less cookie cutter.

Name 3 pieces that define you + your space. As a photographer it’s no surprise that I love photos. I am really digging the gallery wall we recently put up featuring all black and white prints including a few from my print shop and some travel photos from our trips. It makes it feel more complete and less bare in our grand room. I also love the tassletry that I made that is both in our bedroom and dining room. It’s super simple and neutral but I think it’s pretty and whimsical and fun. It was a $5 project but I love that it is hand made and one of a kind. I also love our harvest table that we had custom made when we bought our home. It’s made out of reclaimed barn wood and was created by a local craftsman. He did an amazing job and I love that it offers a little rustic touch to our modern kitchen.

Biggest splurge and biggest steal: Our biggest splurge was our king size bed. It was the best pennies we have ever spent. Up until we bought our home we were sleeping in a full size bed from college and when you have two of us and two dogs, it was a cramped little bed. Our bed was the best investment ever, we are so thankful we spent money on it! Biggest steal would have to be our guest bedroom furniture. It was all craigslist/hand me down that I painted a country white. I love how fresh that room feels, it’s a perfect little oasis for when we have guests and I love how it turned out!

What are some of your go-to places when it comes to shopping for your home? I do a lot of online browsing and then remember things I liked and try to find them for less. I do most of my hunting at flea markets and antique shops! I also love looking at Etsy for one of a kind pieces for our home. If we splurge on something it would likely be from West Elm or Crate and Barrel but a lot of our pieces are from IKEA and we don’t mind assembling ourselves when needed!

Do you have any DIY tips to share? Don’t be afraid to try new things. A lot of our pieces are really random and alone would look like junk. Pulling things together and creating little styled areas of your home are what make it interesting and unique. If you see a splurge that you love and can’t afford, try to find something similar for less or see if you can make it yourself! A lot of art is our own images and paintings and I love how personal they are to us.

Any advice? Let your space be an extension of your personality. Live in it and enjoy it and don’t make it a showroom, it deserves to be enjoyed!

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Today I am inspired by hidden gems that are of an earthy origin. I am swooning over lustrous metals that make up these stunning hand-crafted pieces of jewelry. Ceramics can really help add an organic and personal touch to a home, so I chose to include two contrasting items. And I decided to throw a bit of modern geometry into the mix with these prisms (one copper-plated and the other in a lovely gold foil). Feel free to shop these items via the links below!

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Ever since I can remember I have been admirer of houses + home decor (I originally was studying interior architecture in college). The technological aspects of the process was not my forte and I was more focused on the end result – having the bare bones of a house or building to mold and make my own. Although we are no where near looking to purchase a home (we are actually quite happy with how easy apartment living is) but when that day comes, I hope to find a home chalk full of character. Needless to say a unique home deserves appropriate, eclectic, and fun furnishings. Above are a few pieces that I’ve had my eye that I hope would create a lovely, inviting, and inspiring space.

lights / sofa / dresser / planter

Lately I have been looking for simplistic yet eye-catching pieces to adorn my home with. The items I chose above are all striking in their own way and have a little something special about them. Sometimes I ache for a larger space to decorate, but then again, I feel completely settled (at least for now) in my cozy little apartment that I share with husband. But, who says I can’t accumulate goodies until we find something bigger down the road? And on a more personal side note, a move may or may not be in our future this coming summer, depending upon what my husband hears back about his graduate school applications. The future is a mystery to us at this point, but that’s kind of exciting, isn’t it?!

tray / watering can / pillow / planters

I found a few gems sitting in my Etsy shopping cart when I was clicking my way through the inspiring online store. Goodness, there are so many talented people out there, Etsy certainly has become one of my absolute favorite places to make new discoveries! My picks all fall into the home or fashion accessory category and are a tad bit fun + quirky. First off, I chose a few gold adorned items for my office space (which one day will large, spacious, and wonderful) but for now, a girl can dream (and do lots of planning)! As for the two accessories I picked out, these really reflect the earthy and somewhat boho vibe I have been loving lately. And for my most random of the bunch, this little guy is adorable – a custom, handcrafted phone case from Germany. I hope you enjoyed my picks and feel free to see the items I chose more in-depthly via the links below.

On a more festive side note, I have written a Valentine’s Day inspired post for the lovely Maru over at Fashiony Fab. So if you are looking for an idea of what to wear in celebration of Valentine’s Day, feel free to take a look at the post here.

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After many years of being drawn to silvery metals, my tastes have completely shifted to gold. And might I tell you – I have been missing out! I have noticed that gold has made a large comeback over this past year and I have decided to jump on the bandwagon. All the nicknacks I have picked out for today’s wishlist are accompanied by flares of gold that just make me swoon. All the items by chance ( or not ) would look perfectly together on my desk space. What wonderful eye candy for this Monday, would you agree?

tray / monogram mug / stapler / retro phone

Today I compiled a little list of fun items to share with you, all inspired by shapes. Some are more bold than others, but hopefully you will find a gem that sparks your interest! Feel free to shop and explore the items via the links below:

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We received our first snowfall this past weekend, luckily it was just a light dusting so my Christmas shopping plans continued on as planned. (I am a very nervous driver when it comes to snow, so any amount of slipping and sliding on the road turns makes me cringe.) So keeping in tune with the winter spirit, I have compiled a few things that have made it onto my Christmas list this year. Although this wonderful olive green jacket doesn’t exactly say warm, it is nice for the dropping temperatures. I am in the market for some “legit” winter boots and came across these and fell in love – quite possibly because they are from Anthropologie and burgundy has been a favorite color of mine this season! The last two items that made it on to my list were no-brainers because how sweet would life be curled up in this fur throw with a cup of hot cocoa?! There are so many things that make this time of the year so dreamy and cozy.

jacket / fur throw / owl mug / mountaineer boots

Hi there Holly’s wonderful readers!! I’m Jessica over from Coco and Mingo and I’m so excited to be guest posting again here at Holly Marie Designs! Autumn is my favorite season and what’s best about it is all the warm colors that come out (especially with the changing leaves!) Usually along with the cold comes darker colors, but I’m totally loving the use of pastels this season! I’ve got an Autumn-inspired mood board today using softer, pastel colors – I’m obsessed with these shades in fashion and tablescaping this season!

board l to r . 1 . 2 . 3 . 4 . 5 . 6
hand lettering via Coco and Mingo