Category: Elegant Rooms

Just some beautiful interiors for your Monday morning.  Hope they inspire you to do something wonderful.

Images from House Beautiful.

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Dear Daniel,

Thanks for sharing the link.  Its very easy to get sucked intp browsing million dollar homes…especially now I know where these are located.  Check this one out.

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Yes, GG does have great fashion.  But I often feel their interiors designed by Christina Tonkin get overlooked.  If you’re having a hard time, I’m sure you’ll be able to tell by the last photos.  Does anybody know when the new season starts?

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It’s a classic.  At least for my age group.  The painted ladies, Joey Gladstone, Uncle Jesse, the family dog Comet.  What’s not to love about Full House?  Especially the charming Pacific Heights Victorian the family lives in.  While Browsing through this month’s Elle Decor, I ran across this article.  I think I might become an individual in the “clusters of tourists…snapping photos paparazzi style.”  In Mick’s words, “One day when you become a rich, famous, interior designer” perhaps we can afford to live in a Pacific Heights, three bedroom home with 40-year-old boxwood hedges.  Maybe then I can convince Mick that classic antique furniture, soothing colors, and TVs on top of fireplaces are design appropriate these days.  Until then, I’ll just gawk at these beautiful pictures of the renovated Full House home.

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Last week I wrote about the loft style.  Another style I’m trying to convince Mick on is the classic, San Fransisco Edwardian.  Sometimes while shopping on Craigslist my mouse will *ahem* accidentally click on a property way out of our league, but absolutely gorgeous.  Check out this beauty:

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While apartment searching in San Fransisco we learned we wanted a loft.  The area of the city where we will be living has a lot of warehouse-turned-residential properties which offer a lot more square footage for the price.  We like to spread out.  Isn’t this San Fransisco loft designed by Ken Fulk beautiful? Now, if only the price tag would fit our budget…

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Anyone want to rent our condo? 2 bed/2 bath if you’re interested please contact me! We are hoping to rent it out furnished for $1,500; but are willing to rent it out unfurnished for $1,200.

Some highlights:

  • brand new, hand scraped laminate hardwood floors
  • huge front living/dining room area
  • single attached garage with TONS of extra storage space
  • ideal central location (15 min to Provo, 30 min to SLC)
  • master room has private bathroom
  • condo complex has pool, hot tub, fitness room, theater room, garden slots, walking paths, plenty of playgrounds…

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Warmth

by Rachel Hagen on October 20th, 2009

Some beautiful, warm images for your viewing pleasure.

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Beautiful work by David Phoenix. I love the classic stand alone tub look…and in copper.

And check out the yard…such a lovely sitting area.

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oooh, I love this great room designed by Amanda Nisbet. The warmth of the yellow, and the bursts of blue make for such an interesting, yet relaxing room.

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Weinheimer

by Rachel Hagen on September 25th, 2009

I love the weinheimer breed.  I think they are so majestic and beautiful.  If we didn’t live in a little condo, and had a big yard; a weinheimer would be my choice.  Although I love Pixi and her breed (she’s perfect for us in our stage of life), I think I’m a big-dog girl at heart.  Anyway, I saw this picture on desire to inspire, and thought I’d share. Look how cute he is…

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Neutral Pallet

by Rachel Hagen on September 24th, 2009

I always try and tell Mick there’s nothing wrong with a neutral pallet. Ceilings are also a part of the room that goes unplanned. However, when they are planned, they don’t go unnoticed.

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I LOVE the brick and timber look.  In order to balance out the harsh industrial look; soft, flowy, light-colored linens help contrast the roughness of exposed brick.

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Fall

by Rachel Hagen on September 8th, 2009

I  can’t believe the drastic difference in weather between today and yesterday.  On my morning walk I actually felt a little chill in the air!  I hope you all had a wonderful Labor Day weekend.  With BYU winning (making them ranked number nine!), and my mom coming out, my weekend was filled with fun.

-First time to Swiss Days

-Getting my little brother moved into his apartment

-The GAME

-Food. Movies. Shopping.

Here’s a little fall inspiration to get you excited for the upcoming months.

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Jaycee is a client’s daughter who is just starting out her high school career.  Jaycee’s an amazing dancer (for all you SYTYCD fans, she’s trained with Hawk, and several other contestants. I forget which ones.) She loves Broadway, pink, and Marylyn Monroe.  She has an existing bedroom furniture set, so we’re just going to paint the pieces to update them and go with the rest of the decor.  So far, here’s a suggestion for her sleeping area.

Another feature of the room includes an entire cork wall so she can pin as many pictures of her friends as she wants…while still keeping the newly dry-walled walls new.  There will be a little reading nook with a hot pink, contemporary-style chaise. And what teenage room would be complete without a sassy vanity? Check! Needless to say, I’m having fun with this project.

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Remember when I said I’d post pics of a project I’ve been working? Yeah, it took me a lot longer than expected…sorry about that.  I have a confession to make: that project is our home office.  And we finished it this winter…not recently.  I’ve been a little discouraged with the progress on some of my work projects, and I was itching to post something recently that I finished.  My home is a project right?!

I’ve always been shy/embarrassed posting pictures of our home because a lot of pieces are from IKEA and inherited…things not a typical designer would have in their home.  However, I’ve had a lot of interest in blogging about this subject.  So here I am, coming out of my shell.  You can still have a nice home and still showcase yourself on a tight budget. We did!

Our reading Nook.  The bookcase is from IKEA. I’m still searching for the perfect knobs to put on the cabinet doors to make them a little more customized.  The wingback chair is a recliner that Mick unexpectedly brought home one day from his parent’s house.  The original fabric was a creamy-floral, heavy upholstery fabric.  It was nice and neutral, but obviously I wanted something funky.  I got it reupholstered from Red Fox for $500 (including the fabric–a steal of a deal).  If you’ve inherited sturdy, well-made pieces; the best way to update them is getting them reupholstered.  I would never be able to find a reclining, wing-back chair for $500.  I LOVE it. I really do recline and read in it.

Our desk is another big feature of the room. It takes up an entire wall. I decided to place it along the window wall because–well, I like to look out the window and daydream sometimes. I need a lot of workspace to hand draft, spread my samples out on, and open catalogs and books. Although, I’m learning having a large workspace can quickly crowd a space. Remember when I blogged about our four computers? I don’t lie people. There they all are…still a sensitive subject. The window treatment is my pride and joy. With a lot of help and coaching from a dear friend, I was able to make a pretty sweet shade. My seamstress bid me $700 for the shade! And that’s with my hook-ups! That was way out of our price range, and something that Mick and I didn’t discuss in our budget. So I had to be a DIYer…I found the fabric for $2/yard at Design Company Fabric’s step-down sale (I live for those sales), and was able to make the entire shade for about $70. A lot of man-hours were put into it, but I made one of my best friends from the project.

Our gallery is pretty fun. Hanging the pictures just draws your eye up…and really makes the room seem a lot bigger. We picked a neutral grey to be the backdrop of all the craziness. The gallery is a collection of pictures and objects from our travels and experiences we had individually before we were married as well as together. Nothing explains us more than this wall.

Now to address two of my favorite features: the wallpaper and chandelier. I got the wallpaper from Walls.  A fantastic wallpaper/home decor store in SLC…they also happen to be a sponsor. I really wanted to use wallpaper in a design. None of my clients were brave enough; and I do enough talking about it, I figured I should eat my own words. Now, I have a lot funkier, younger taste than all my clients. I’d NEVER suggest something this funky in their homes. However, for a young, design-loving, inspiration-needing couple, it’s perfect. The bookcases and window cut the pattern up, so it’s not too overwhelming. Now does anyone want to try wallpaper?!

The chandelier is another great find. Lighting was a HUGE problem in the room (somehow my BEFORE pictures are lost in cyber world). We had great natural lighting during the day, but at night there was horrible lighting. We had five lamps to help light the room. Soooooo, I found a 12 bulb, teal chandelier on craiglsist for $70 and was sold. Let there be light. Most people settle with the light fixtures that come with the house, but I believe a good light fixture can really make a room.

There you have it, the office of an interior designer. This is a place where we work, read books, Mick does his pushups, and Pixi and I wrestle.  I love it.

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Just a beautiful Kitchen from Elle Decor.  Love the tile floor.

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…without the tree. Red and Green is a highly desirable color combination. However, the complimentary color combo often comes with the Christmas stigma. Try adding in color through the accessories, and keeping the large areas (walls and sofas) neutral.  Like what I did here:

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Yes, I like to paruse real estate listings.  Especially the million dollar homes.  I’m in love with this home and the decor.  Tranistional style is my favorite.

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I’m an animal lover, but I’ve been diggin’ the look of animal-skin rugs lately.  With solid furnishings and drapery, the zebra print ads a nice little flair.  I might have to get a feaux one…

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About Elegance

My name is Rachel Hagen. Interior designer based in San Francisco. Fashion virtuoso. Trophy wife (minus the trophy part). This is where I share my love for all things pretty. Oh...and occasionally my husband chimes in. He's also got an eye for good design. He blogs at Dweebist.com.

If you make something amazing, want to offer a special discount to Elegance readers, know of something post-worthy, or are interested in any of my design services, I'd love to hear from you. Emails and comments totally make my day. Thanks again for stopping by!

rachelhagen (at) gmail (dot) com