Four home bloggers and new moms discuss budget nursery ideas with lots of inspiration.  I’m in some very good company here.

Check out my tips for budget nurseries along with the other bloggers (such as Young House Love) here.

]]> http://www.refreshdesignstudio.com/blog/2011/08/parent-magazine-website-feature-make-room-for-baby/feed/ 0 http://www.refreshdesignstudio.com/blog/2011/08/you-can-find-me-here/ http://www.refreshdesignstudio.com/blog/2011/08/you-can-find-me-here/#comments Mon, 22 Aug 2011 17:03:12 +0000 Katie http://www.refreshdesignstudio.com/blog/?p=1217 If you’re on these sites too, lets hang out!  Click on the image to lead you there.

The second reason is just lack of inspiration, really.  For some reason, I just don’t have a ton of great design ideas floating around my head like I used to.  I’m pretty sure this has to do with the lack of sleep that comes with new motherhood and just my general absence from the design world right now.  I haven’t been able to focus on the business or getting new clients at all since Eli was born.  And frankly, that’s okay with me.  Yes, I would love new clients and jobs to work on, but maybe now is just not the time.  My baby is only a baby for a short time.  I have this wonderful opportunity to be with him and I don’t want to take that for granted.  There is always the future for growing this business and getting more clients.  In the meantime, I’d love to work on small e-design projects that I can work on during the evenings when Eli is asleep.  So if anyone’s looking for some e-design…

(Here’s a recent design I worked on.  So much fun.  I love designing nurseries.)

The third thing is how I’m feeling about the direction/subject of this blog.  Originally I set out to have this be a blog about what inspired me in interior design and some projects I was working on around my house.  Eventually that led to the opening of my design business after graduation and the creation of my business website and this blog tied into it as a way to hopefully grow the business, gain clients and showcase some of my work.  Along the way I feel like I failed in that respect.  I really wasn’t able to showcase my design work since most of it was e-design where my clients are able to take as much time as they want to complete the project on their own according to their time frame and as budget allows once they receive my design (which is definitely the appeal of e-design for many clients).  So, it’s been pretty hard to get anything photographed since projects I worked on last year have still not been completed by the homeowners.  Projects around my own house slowed down significantly due to my pregnancy and no longer working as much, therefore, not having much of a budget to do things.

(Could you resist this cute face?)

All this to say, that my life and interests have changed a bit.  I’m now a mom and I still love design but when reading other blogs I find myself gravitating more towards ones that include all aspects of life.  A little bit of work, design, motherhood, pictures of kids and family, food and daily life stuff.  And that’s what I think I’d like to write about here.  I think I’ll be more inspired and motivated to write when I can write more about my life and all the things I’m interested in, instead of limiting myself to strictly interior design and struggling to come up with material on a daily basis.

So….I really hope changing my focus to something a bit more well-rounded will really help to improve this blog, instead of just leaving it stagnant like I’ve been doing.  I don’t want to let down those of you that have been reading and I want to make this a place people want to keep visiting and that I want to keep writing for.  Thank you to all you that have read so far and I hope you will continue to do so and that you will enjoy it even more so that ever before.  :)

**On an exciting note, if any of you are subscribers to American Baby magazine (a sister publication to Parent Magazine and it’s free!), my design of Eli’s nursery will be featured in the August issue!  I’m so excited to see it and I will make sure to get it scanned in and posted here for those of you that don’t subscribe.

Here is the colorful, eclectic nursery design I came up with for Molly and Brandon’s baby girl (click to enlarge):

It was so much fun working on a nursery for a baby girl after working on Eli’s boy nursery.  I have to say that nurseries are quickly becoming one of my favorite rooms to design!  I think people are more willing to use bright colors, fun artwork and step outside their comfort zone more so than in their living rooms for example.  I love the creativity in kids’ rooms and it is so fun coming up with ideas to make it budget-friendly as well.

I’m so honored that another great site featured my nursery project.

Check it out here: http://www.unique-baby-gear-ideas.com/modern-world-map-nursery-ideas.html

Hope that helps!  Let me know if you guys have any other questions!

Thank you to Chic Cheap Nursery for featuring Eli’s nursery!  Check it out here.

First Before

Before

Before

Second Before

When I was pregnant the only thing I focused on was the nursery and now that the baby is here, I’m ready to start thinking about the next steps in the master bedroom design.  So far the only things that are up are the new white curtains and dark gray window shade.  The walls are all empty and we have the same bed and bedding.

Blank slate after the new gray paint

Things I’d like to eventually add:

-Art for the walls and over the bed.

-A vanity and mirror

-Accessories for the shelves

-A rug?

-A stencil design for the wall behind the bed like this

-Paint a design on the gray window shade like this but a different pattern.

The only art piece I’ve found so far is this piece from this Etsy seller.  Wouldn’t this be amazing in a larger size for over the bed?  Since it’s a smaller piece though I think I will add it to a gallery wall somewhere in the room.

Found here at Anthropologie.