Texas-sized Mood Boards

My sister and her husband are about to close on a gorgeous home in Texas. We are all so thrilled for them.

I am particularly thrilled because she asked for my help to create some mood boards for her new place. Yipppeeeeee! Sign me up!

The Dining Room

This is how the dining room looked during their house hunt. It’s a nice, big space with lots of natural light and tall ceilings. A great blank slate!

I decided to start with the dining room because it’s a manageable space and easy to attack. I created a few different rooms to show her and her husband to give them some ideas for their formal eating area.

You can ignore the prices…there’s no way on earth that I would let them pay that type of money to decorate a room! But I wanted to find pieces that would give a certain look and feel. If they like it, then I know that I can find better-priced options.

On this particular board, I love the happy rug, green buffet, curtains, and chairs. The bird art just screams my sister since they have lots of ties to the North Carolina coastline. Luckily, she likes it, too! They also love the table, rug, and buffet. I think that we’re on the right track!

She is really searching for meaningful pieces and not just items to fill a room. I am looking to make each space memorable and meaningful to them. I love finding ways to make it special!

On this board, a few can’t-fail items are kept the same. But I changed the dining chairs, curtains, and lighting fixture. I love them all but have learned from personal experience that comfy dining chairs go a long way. (We bought ours at World Market a few years ago and still love their perfect look and cushy feel). I’m just not sure how comfy these chairs would be for a long dinner party.

I really love this light fixture over the table, too. Her style is rustic cottage traditional. I am trying to incorporate her tastes into a space that feels like them without going crazy in any one direction.

Apparently, I’m a little more comfortable with bright colors than she is. I loved these curtains, which had the colors from her desired palette (aqua, yellow, raspberry, moss green, and navy). I even saw them in person last week and liked them even more!

I think that it was a little too busy for her, and that’s OK with me. At least she’s honest so that I know what to do better to make them happy.

I switched out the green buffet to this wooden one, though I think that it is too similar to the table.

She loves big art, and these colors are so pretty. We might do something like it in another room (the family room?). I am tickled that she likes the bird art enough to keep it for the dining area!

The dining chairs were switched again as well. This time, these more-traditional French chairs came into play. I like how they make the room feel more elegant against such casual pieces, but they are still slightly rustic in their finish, too. It wasn’t quite their style, but I wanted them to see several options before they decided!

I took all of my favorite elements and made my ideal space. If I was to decorate their dining room using the hints of their style, these would be the choices that I would make!

Of course, it isn’t my house, so I am more than happy to do what they want. She put some color swatches in the mail yesterday to show me the palette for their entire house! It will be fun to shop with them in hand.

The Master Bedroom

This is how the master looked during the home tour. That ugly blue wall will be the first thing to go before they move in, thank goodness. So I designed a nice, calming space that used a lot of items that they already own.

Bright, fun, happy colors combined with lots of calming neutrals and natural textures. I think that this room could easily become the haven that they want. They already own that awesome white bed (we found it on Craigslist and she painted it white), the arm chairs, and the over-the-bed art print from Crate and Barrel.

I will use what they already have to tie in more elements of color and peace. The rug underneath the bed will be big enough to go on both sides and at the foot of the bed. I picked out a his-and-hers nightstands to add even more character to the room.

And those hanging bedside lights? I can totally make those, yo. Then we just add a few colorful accessories and lamps and voila! Done master bedroom!

The Family Room

It’s been so much fun to design a whole house. I’ve been working on more projects to help them like their new home, but the family room is where we are focusing next. They will spend the bulk of their living time in this area of the home.

Creating a room is so much easier when you have a starting point, like a rug, art print, or curtains, that incorporate a lot of the colors and/or style that you want to see in the rest of the space. So I found some contenders for potential rugs in their family room.

As you can see, I stole #3 to put in the master bedroom above. It is a gorgeous color and pattern but is still soothing and neutral for these sometimes color-shy folks.

I would have to say that #6 is my favorite out of these three. It’s such a large, bold pattern, but the gray behind it really brings it back to the reality of a nice, soft, family room rug. I like #5, too, but knew that it would probably be too modern for their taste. But the pops of yellow are fun.

And I heart #9. In fact, it might be my favorite out of all these possible rug options for the family room space.

Trying to please their neutral color desire while adding some texture and a bit of color, all three of these options would work well!

Subtle. Just like highlights.

I really thought that she would go for the rust-colored beauty of #13, but her favorite out of the whole bunch was #9 and this one, #14. The gold is very pretty and warm.

This whole experience has been fun so far! Rather than designing each room, we are going piece-by-piece from now on until the entire room comes together. It will be more time-consuming but this way will pin-point exactly what they want in the long run. I’m looking forward to the challenge!

Even better…I am headed there for a visit in April to help do some real decorating!

What things do you like so far? Which rug would you choose for the family room?