SUMMERTIME AND THE LIVIN' IS EASY

I'm helping Stephen decorate his house in phases, and right now we're focusing on the back porch - mainly because we want to be using it now! 

We're going for a southern sleeping porch look - very relaxed, cozy, and natural. You don't see these that often anymore! They're perfect for relaxing on lazy afternoons and cool summer evenings with a stack of books and magazines and a pimm's cup.

via magpie

via magpie

via flickr

We found a vintage daybed and are really close to having it ready to put out there! The rest of the porch is being designed around it, and there will be several side chairs and floor cushions for when he has company over. It looks about like this: 

Eventually I want to get rid of the tapered legs and extend the sides to the ground, and get the entire frame caned so the bed will feel more encased. I'm going to wait until the season is over so we can use it while we have time to enjoy being outside in the evenings relaxing- but it will be somewhere along the lines of this:

It wasn't originally made to be used outdoors, so we're sanding and re-staining it with a weatherproof sealant. This will give us the ease of leaving it outdoors and not having to worry about the wood warping or rotting, and we can change the tone of the wood to a more weathered gray/brown.

via myfirstlittleplace

Behind the backyard is a huge field and all you can see beyond the fence is a skyline of trees, so I want your focus to naturally be pulled out there. 

via etsy

via pinterest

via pinterest

We'll use all warm earthy colors (creams, camel, bark brown) layered with tone on tone prints to keep it calming.  I'm getting a washable slipcover made for the mattress in Sunbrella Heather Beige (helloooo puppy pawprints!)

via purestylehome

via ullamaijahanninen

via lefrufru

I'm working on sketching a complete plan and getting finishes set up, I will post pictures as soon as I do! 

                                 -Chelsea

ABOUT ME:

-I’m Chelsea. I’m a southern, twenty-something decorator and lover of everything related to the home. 

-I have a boyfriend named Stephen who is kind, funny and loves life more than anyone I've ever known – he has been a huge inspiration in me allowing myself to do what I love. (& because of him, I've gotten to know another huge inspiration, much more on that later!)

Most importantly, he lets me show him five million interior design pictures followed with "do you like this??" without getting annoyed! ("Is this real liiife????")  ;)

-I have a basset hound mix I rescued years ago, Charlie, who has a.. strong personality. Just try and resist his love, I dare you. 

Charlie.

MY STYLE:

I don’t really have just one. Labeling it seems too restrictive. I decorate more by how I want a room to feel, and I like the flexibility that gives me to pull from different styles and eras. A home should feel restful, comfortable, luxe and uncommonly beautiful. I like natural materials and a restrained palette that blur the lines between inside and out. I like a thoughtful home that feels like its been created and loved over time; a home with a history, character and depth. I will choose something with history over something new every time.

Claudio Tajoli via Pinterest 
The walls, the door casing

via Belgian Pearls

I'm obsessed with this room, I go back to it all the time. I love everything about it, but my favorites: 1) the fireplace - stone mantle with clean lines, and a large opening for lots and lots of wood-burning fires. 2)the walls 3) the contrast of light and dark - the drapes 4) the wrinkled linen on the sofa cushion - so cozy!

via theswedishfurniture

Axel Vervoordt

I like the walls. The symmetry. The buckets of what look like garden clippings. 

via Pinterest

Not sure - Maybe Bobby McAlpine, maybe John Saladino; via isaslittleworld

Don't you wish we could all leave our huge iron french doors open to wander into the courtyard? I love when the inside and the outside are blended. When the weather is nice, there is nothing better. 

Also. I like the walls. You're going to hear me say that a lot.

via Pinterest

Bobby McAlpine

Bobby McAlpine is one of my absolute favorites (he's actually an architect)- and all of his work is GOLD. (He runs an interiors firm called McAlpine Booth Ferrier and an architecture firm called McAlpine Tankersley.). & I drool every time, he can do no wrong. I don't believe in perfection, but oh... IF. I. DID.

via Pinterest

                                         Interior design by Myra Hoefer. Photograph by Jacques Dirand. via Veranda

(I love two twin beds in a room!)

I tend towards masculine colors and lines.

via veneerdesigns

Jonas Ingerstedt

via eatlivewear

I would stay "lost" in these woods forever.

The past four are all Bobby McAlpine

(I told you, I'm obsessed.)

I have so much to learn still, and as I do I’ll share projects and inspiration that you can use in your home. It won’t be perfect, but it will be beautiful, honest and real, which is all I think we really want.

          Love,

         Chelsea