I've Moved!

It's official!  I've launched my new website, Abby M. Interiors.

I'm hopeful you'll make the change and follow me to my new home...

There are posts and pages you've never seen, including a welcome, a solution for when your newborn and toddler share a room, and my designer tips on creating a neutral living room.

You have been so good to me through my years at this blog, and I would be incredibly grateful if you would make the change to my new site.  Thank you!

All the best!

Abby M.

Before & After by Sita Montgomery (and why I love Instagram)

I resisted Instagram for too long. 

But now it has become my preferred social media (abbyminteriors) and I've 'met' so many wonderful people!  

Sita Montgomery is one of my fabulous designer friends from Instagram.  

Last night, as I was prepping my new website, I couldn't believe Sita's 'before and after' shots from her recent client's living room.

Truly, you won't want to miss the before shots from this one. 

 Sita did an amazing job!

Click here to see the full reveal and check out The Family Room!

Say hello to Sita for me. ;-)

        

Have we connected?

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happening this week

We are in the thick of baseball and Lacrosse season.  It's making me slightly crazy, but in the best way.

This was a busy week with new and current clients.  Let's dish.

The cottage project has drapes in her sun room!  We also decided on fabric for her custom roman shades in the master bedroom. Windows are no joke, my friends.  What you cover them with can make or break your room.  These beautiful drapes were sewn by Laura Taylor Studio.  Laura is a talent.

I would love this view from my sink...trees everywhere and the river below.  When my photographer, Tracy, takes real pictures of the whole house, you'll be amazed by the view.

I treated her slider the same way I did mine.  No vertical plastic blinds.  Get some fabric and hang your drapes as high and wide as you can.

And just for fun, remember when the room looked like this?  The walls hadn't even been painted yet.

The Rockford Reno-- you know, the kitchen client that ripped down the wall of their dining room and now it's a gigantic kitchen?  Their pendants arrived!  It's pretty clear the kitchen is still under construction.  That is, unless counters, appliances, and tile aren't important to you.  But I'm thrilled with the pendants.  I love their shape and can't wait to get them up!

The cabinets are White Dove by Benjamin Moore, and we are using a matte, white, glass subway tile all the way to the ceiling.  The hood will be installed in that spot once the tile is finished.  

I met with a new client this week who found me from the House Beautiful mention.

That will never get old!  Thanks House Beautiful!

Then there's this pesky thing I'm doing called re-branding my business.  I'm slowly making the change from "A Delightful Design" to "Abby M. Interiors".  The website is nearly done but it's just a lot of detail work and content that needs to be written...I hope you love it.

Last night, after a lacrosse game in 90 degree weather, I made this recipe from Pinterest.  I found it through Rene and then earlier this week Megan made this chicken.  So I had to try! Very good.  Chicken, herbed goat cheese, red pepper, basil, and finished off with bacon all the way around.

There's nothing like ending a post with a something wrapped in bacon.  Am I right?

You can read the recipe here.

Thanks for reading!  

If you are interested in working together to create a home you truly love,

click here for more information. 

Let's connect!  

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lighting: it's important to go big

Inevitably, if a project I'm working on involves lighting, I will get a slightly panicked phone call from my client  saying that the light is too big.  This can happen before the light is even installed, or the light is installed but nothing else in the room is finished.  Lamps are not excluded from this!

But here's the thing...

They have always liked the room in the end.

What seems out of place and crazy in the moment always fits in the bigger picture.  

When it comes to lighting, it's nearly always the right choice to go big!

One of my kitchen clients was nervous about her new pendants yesterday, but I think I talked her off the lighting cliff. ;-)  Today I'm going to share some LARGE scale lighting over kitchen islands.  There are so many components to a room and I always prefer the lighting to make a statement.

{All photos from this post can be found here.}

What are your thoughts on the topic?  Are you a fan of large scale lighting?  

I'd love to hear your view!

If you are interested in working together to create a home you truly love,

click here for more information. 

Let's connect!  

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living room before & after: the Alpena lake house

I hope you had a wonderful weekend!  I went on a quick trip to Miami to surprise my mom and it was such a treat to spend time with her, my grandmother, and cousin.  Today let's do a before and after, because I know you love those!  Who doesn't?    

There are quite a few changes to this space that you may not notice from the pictures.  We removed their dining room doors, took down strange boxes over the windows, and transformed the fireplace.  They kept most of their furniture but wanted the room to feel more finished.  It's safe to say we accomplished that!

The fireplace change was last to be done, but the impact was huge.  They tiled right over their existing stone.

See the boxes over the windows?  Not made of fabric, but since I wanted the drapes to hang outside the windows, the boxes had to go.  The shelving piece had been empty for years, and the brown chairs needed to go.

 I am always amazed by what a few changes can do for a room.  The "little things" make a big difference.  The patterned pillows in this room were made by Carol at 6 Wilson.  

She's very talented and has a fabulous Etsy store.

 The fabric just wraps the room and softens everything.  Love it.  

In closing, here are a few detail pictures:

This room is a perfect example of why should always set money aside in your budget to address your windows.  Don't skimp on this.  These beautiful drapes were made by Laura Taylor Studio.  I highly recommend her!

Their shelves finally got styled.  I tried to use most of what they already had at hand.  I kept them uncluttered.  The bottom shelves have the matching piles of paperback books with the pages facing forward. Then I took the paper covers off their hardcovered books and added a few accessories to the upper shelves.  She has since filled the frames with family photos.

Thank you for checking out this living room!  I hope you enjoyed the tour.  Thank you to my clients for allowing me to share, and for sending me the after photos!  Hugs!

If you are interested in working together to create a home you truly love,

click here for more information. 

Let's connect!  

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