staged for upsell

An updated living space with soft earth tones

For this project our clients were moving to Halifax and would be working in Halifax, but then travelling for months for work as well.  Therefore their home would be used as an airbnb while they were travelling.  We wanted to give them a space that they could enjoy themselves, but would appeal to airbnb renters as well.

We went with soft earth tones, lots of texture, and of course some wicker and we love how it turned out! Here are a few of our favorite photos.

We’re in love with the sectional from Article.com with it’s thin arms and tapered legs.  It’s not our first time using it and we have to say we love the quality as well!

For our pillows we selected warm earth tones again and added in some blue that we pulled out of the area rug.

We love to add tons of plants. Even if you don’t have a green thumb there are some great fake plants available now.  And of course we need some macrame thrown in there.

And check out those mix and match stair runners we incorporated from Wayfair!

Living room wicker chairs

livingroom orange tones

Mix and match stair runner

honeycomb shelf

How to get the look:

Sectional:  Burrard Sofa from Article.com
Rug: Roehel area rug from Wayfair.
Media unit:  Besta from Ikea (comes in different configuration and colours)
Side chairs:  Papasan chairs from Wayfair
Coffee table:  Rattan coffee table from Wayfair
Honeycomb shelves:  Made locally by DC Woodworks, find a DIY here compliments of A Beautiful Mess blog

Runners were a combo of three from Wayfair for a mix and match look:

Runner 1, Runner 2, Runner 3

Heat pumps spread warmth throughout the home

This is one of my favorite spaces in our home. This is our family room that is open to our kitchen and at the other end of the house from our main living room / dining room area.  There use to be an old fireplace in this room. I had no desire to maintain the old fireplace, deal with dirty wood being brought in all the time, or the nuisance of ‘making a fire’ so when we renovated the room, we tore it back to the fire box and capped and sealed it.

heat pump efficiency throughout the home

What about heating you ask? Let’s face it most real wood burning fireplaces actually suck the heat out of your house. And I wasn’t concerned about it being a heat source as we have a heat pump on this floor (a mini split one all three floors). It’s at the other end of the house but it’s strategically located to blow straight down both sides of the main floor. The one on this floor is our most powerful one at 18,000 BTU and it works like magic even at this end of the house. This end is maybe one to two degrees less than our main living room/dining room space where the heat pump is located.

Since heat wasn’t an important factor (thanks to our heat pumps), we tore down the ugly old fireplace and created our faux fireplace in its place. Yes, we thought about installing an electric fireplace but I figured we didn’t need it as a heat source so why spend the money on one? And honestly, I liked this look better! I wanted it to feel somewhat authentic though so I insisted that we would keep some of the dust and charred wood bits on the bottom.  So truth be told – the bottom of the firebox never gets cleaned.  And we joke and say our ‘fireplace channel’ is the lake out the window that is always moving (except when it freezes over). We’d never consider living without heat pumps now. We love the even, economical heating during the colder times and let’s not forget the air conditioning setting for the summer – BONUS!

To learn more about heat pumps and NS Power’s heat pump financing program click here.

fireplace design black

 

Worried a heat pump will cramp your home style – don’t fret

Let’s talk about this thing on the wall. Bet you thought I was talking about the wall baskets, but I’m not. You likely didn’t notice it – I’m talking about the heat pump in my living room. We were spending a fortune on oil heating, and after much researching by my fiancé on alternative heat sources, we decided on mini-split heat pumps so we could use different settings on each floor.To be honest we were a bit unsure of the location of the heat pump on our main floor at first. Here’s the thing – during a reno or new build people can get hung up on something visual when they are focusing on just that one item. I see clients do it all the time. When the room is not furnished or decorated, it’s easy to think that a heat pump won’t blend in with your home’s décor.

The way I see it – it’s not a lot different than an appliance in your kitchen. In fact it’s way more discrete than that. I’ve never shared a photo of a project and had someone comment about a heat pump in the room. I think most people would agree it really just fades into the background. So, if you’re contemplating getting one but are hesitant because you don’t want to notice it on a wall, I’d say don’t worry about it. And with white walls (my favorite colour!) it will blend in really well! Your pocket book will thank you too!

Want to learn more the benefits of heat pumps and NSPI’s financing program – click here.

Styling a Coffee Table

There is a specific piece of furniture in every home that wears many different hats – the coffee table. It is a piece you gather around with family and friends. You may use it as a dining table from time to time, a foot rest, a work desk and sometimes even a place to play board or card games. Inevitably it is also common for a coffee table to end up as a catch all for things used on a daily basis that no one quite knows where to put away (like your TV’s three separate remotes and the latest novel you have on the go). Because of this it can be difficult to actually know what to put on your coffee table in terms of decor, so here are our tried and true tips to styling a coffee table. Continue reading “Styling a Coffee Table”

Styled Wedding in Nova Scotia

If you’ve been looking for a wedding venue near Halifax, NS then look no further! Harbour Mist is a French inspired chateau that will take your breath away.  It’s simply stunning from top to bottom and has  192 feet of private oceanfront.

We recently collaborated with a team of creatives to do a styled wedding shoot at this luxurious venue.  Below are the gorgeous photos by Heather Durham

Antique settee wedding rental

wedding furniture rental Halifax, Nova Scotia

Details - Nova Scotia wedding shoot

Wedding dress styled shoot

wedding shoot details

French Chateau styled venue Nova Scotia wedding

Wedding stationery inspiration - wedding shoot

Coastal wedding - Nova Scotia styled wedding shoot

coastal Nova Scotia wedding shoot

A wedding here would be nothing short of a dream!

Amazing creative team:

Photographer + Creative Direction: Heather Durham Photography
Styling & Rentals:  Staged For Upsell
Floral & Event Design: Thorne and Thistle Designs
+ Local Flower Farmer + Floral Design Assistant: Barefoot Blooms
Rentals + Props + Styling: Staged For Upsell – Home Stagers & Redesigners
Wedding Dress: Monique Lhuillier Ivory & White
Bridesmaids Dress: @amsale from Bella Bridesmaids
Hair + Make Up: Kerri Bunn
Talent: City Models
Models: maggiesutherland.citymodels + kylehynick
Venue Location: Harbour Mist, Hubbards
Venue Inquiries: Oversea
Estate Rings: waltonsjewelry
Custom Invitation + Calligraphy: Silt & Pine
Vow Book: elmopaperstories
Calligraphy on Labels: Gracefully Made Art
Silk Ribbon: cocoonsilkribbo

Sandy & Allen’s Wedding

We had the pleasure of styling a gorgeous wedding for an amazing couple – Sandy and Allen.

wedding furniture halifax wedding stylist

Their big day was  held at the Halifax Seaport Market in downtown Halifax.  We had an amazing team of vendors that worked with us for pipe and drape, harvest tables, the large floral chandelier, the love letters, the gorgeous floral and on and on.  We brought in two lounge areas and other larger pieces such as the cake table, and guest signing/gift table.

Getting married and looking to create an amazing venue? We’d love to help!

Amanda & John’s wedding day

Sharing some photos we took of a recent set up for our wonderful clients Amanda and John who were married in the gorgeous Farm at South Cove.

Wedding furniture rental Halifax

We set up three lounge areas in this beautiful barn venue.  Two lounge areas were set up next to each other near the dance floor, with another more masculine lounge area in the loft area.  We pulled from our extensive wedding furniture inventory that includes rugs and pillow inventory to complete the spaces.

If you are looking for wedding furniture that is unique and will take your wedding venue to the next level give us a call or send us an email.  View our amazing pieces by clicking here.  We’d be honoured to help make your day amazing!

2019 QEII Lottery Dream Home

We had the privilege of working again this year with Stonewater Homes to complete the interior design and decorating of the spring QEII Lottery Dream Home.

lake house interior design

 

This gorgeous 4,000+ sq ft home is located in beautiful Indigo Shores.  See below for photos of the home, or visit it in person at 570 McCabe Lake Drive.

Ticket sales support the QEII Health Sciences Centre – visit  www.qe2homelottery.com to buy tickets or get information on the hours the home is open for viewing.

Interior photos by Atlantic Aerialworx.

Updated Family Room

Our clients mean everything to us and we sure feel thankful for the special ones that we get the privilege to work with. This past summer we were invited to a home in Enfield to complete a family room makeover.

family room makeover

This wasn’t an ordinary family room; it had incredible potential with gorgeous vaulted ceilings and sun lights. With a large family our client wanted a space that could accommodate seating for everyone and still be super comfy and cozy for those family game nights, relaxing with friends or holiday get-togethers.

Our client loves purples and pinks and we were tasked with creating a space that was a touch girlie, but balanced enough that her husband would still enjoy the room. We designed a new floor to ceiling fireplace to be the focal point in the room. We also installed some new pot lights, replaced the old fan with a gorgeous hanging chandelier, and of course, some fresh paint.

Outdated Condo: From Drab to Fab  

This condo located in the beautiful south end of Halifax with gorgeous views of the city was just oozing with potential; however a full remodel of this unit was in order. To give you a sense of what I was dealing with the entire unit was outdated. We’re talking pink and beige walls, popcorn ceilings, an old oak kitchen, old laminate, original lighting, carpet throughout the bedrooms; basically everything felt old and outdated in this place.

From the moment I walked through the space I could envision a modern transformation of this spectacular living space. Our work included a new modern kitchen being installed, new flooring throughout, new doors and trim, new paint and lighting and we fully furnished and decorated the entire condo. Oh, did I mention the dreaded popcorn ceiling – yes it went bye bye!

The best part of this project was that our client wanted a bedroom for his daughter that she would love and feel at home in.  We had so much fun creating a Scandinavian style bedroom with blue accents (her favorite colour) and incorporating a hanging chair. We thought it was so sweet that his daughter’s happiness was so important.  We think he should get best Dad of the year award!

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