FUTURE IS EXCITING!

                                              GOOD SATURDAY MORNING TO YOU!

                                    Long Time No Write.  Lots has happened and is happening. 

                                  Today is a day of Celebration!

               1.  Celebrating website re-launch!  Go to sharontaylordesigns.com/
                               2.  Capping off Five Year Chapter in brick and mortar.
                                                  3.  Pickwick House is moving!

                I invite you to celebrate in the launch and a new direction that is very exciting!
                          {{MORE DETAILS COMING SOONISH}}

But First...

For the Celebration...Three special gifts will be given. Check out the new site and take a quick sec to please share a comment on instagram or facebook by tagging, hashtagging #sharontaylordesigns #Pickwickhouse #liveloveheelsandcolorwheels.  The website has a "FOLLOW" category.  Click on it, it and VOILA...it will take you to the social media outlets.  Thank you in advance!  I will announce the winners on Monday.

Its been a fantastic five years in my brick and mortar, Pickwick House.  A disheveled, historic unpolished-gem-of-a-baby that I had the pleasure and privilege of gutting and renovating just a few short blocks from my current home and the street I grew up on. 

Pickwick House has been really, really, really good to me!  WHY?  Because of YOU fantastic people that came thru my doors and into my life.  Amazing people.  Amazing community.  And the most charming neighborhood market in Rountree Neighborhood. 

                                           Stay Tuned for my future Pickwick House plans!

               MUCH, MUCH LOVE FROM PICKWICK HOUSE and Sharon Taylor Designs!

xx
ST

Thankful

Hello again.  It's Thanksgiving week.  What are you thankful for?    

I am so grateful for you, my clients, who have entrusted me with your homes this past year.  I feel you are an extension of family.  Thank you for allowing me the privilege of being in your home.  Thank you for also sharing with me that you enjoyed the process of making your house a home.  I know the process isn't always easy so when you can say that you find it to be enjoyable, that means I've accomplished my goal.

For whatever reason, God has allowed me to continue sailing my little boat into it's third year in my brick and mortar on Pickwick St.  That doesn't mean the sails haven't needed adjusting here and there.  "a smooth sea never made a skilled sailor."  

I definitely owe a lot of thanks to my family, neighbors, The Rountree community, and my neighboring merchants on Pickwick Street.  Your support means a lot.  I love being a part of this amazing and unique neighborhood.  I would not be here if it wasn't for you.  THANK YOU!

Here are a few more things I am thankful for.  'Words of Good' that I love from pinterest page.  These words remind me to be thankful for journeys, challenging choices, creativity, art, life AND music.  Life is beautiful, is it not?

I'll leave you with some Coeur De Pirate. She's a good reason to learn french.  Eleanor, Sylvia, and I love her. Also, this sweet video made me realize that beautiful music is sometimes all you need to beautify an empty room.

Happy Thanksgiving week to all of you and yours.  I have a special announcement for Pickwick House coming up this week...

Love and Joy to you!

xx
sharon

LOVE AND JOY!

Hi All!  I'm happy to finally be returning to this happy place once again.  It feels so good to be back after over six months!  

Doing great here and have to give you a big Thank you, oh, Thank you for your continuing support of my work at Pickwick House and the facebook page.  

Need some fast, fresh, revamping at your house for the holidays? Let us {me and side kick Neely} come and work some magic at your house. Loving fresh flowers, fruits, and seasonal greens.  And those aged marble urns of my friend/client's are perfection.

Limited time offer $50 service fee for any of the following areas in your home. Your choice of entryway, mantle, and foyer. Inquire about our other full service decor needs as well. We make it easy, and affordable for you. 

Nathalie Bearden Photography

A current project that makes me so happy with all of it's vibrant colors.   Last week, I stylized this console for a little party she was having.  Need some of those star candle holders?  We got 'em.   This client was amazing to work with.  All the pieces pictured here were vintage, revamped {painted or reupholstered}.  Don't forget, we have a library of wallpaper that is continuing to grow.  Also ask about our upholstery services.  It's all in house now!

Twin Town Studios

We've been booking some upcoming holiday bashes, cookie exchanges, crafting and birthday parties.  Call today to inquire about our amazing prices for a stylish and intimate gathering place.  

417-459-8988 

Love and Joy Come to You!

xxxx

sharon

SILVER GOBLETS w/Paper Towels

It's been a while.  How are ya'll?

*We've been moving a carload and a truckload at a time.  Across 'the pond' {one neighborhood away}.
*I've worked 'the business' throughout the time we were moving so it got pretty hairy and STILL is.
*Settled into my very first home office and have to say, it's very nice to have it so easily accessible with young children.   Yes, we are still keeping Pickwick House, and have been planning some new and exciting things to happen there.
*John-John broke his collarbone the second night we stayed in the new house.  He fell off of our new, {taller than most} beds:(
*Our samsung front loader {which is less than two years old} broke again for the umpteenth time.       {Don't ever buy a samsung.}
*We still have no dish towels.
*Will has managed to painstakingly polish all the silver goblets in our cabinets but we still have no drinking glasses.
*Our old house is basically empty.  I have been mourning it actually.  It's now time to devote some attention to that bittersweet home before flipping it.
*We hosted a party for Syl's 5th birthday less than five days after moving in.
*We co-hosted a private concert with guest performance by Austin based bluegrass acoustic sensation, 'MILKDRIVE' at Pickwick House.  It was one of the funnest nights that I can remember.
*Sylvia, Eleanor and I visited a dear friend in KC over the weekend.  She gave us the best ever VIP junkin' tour.  And we also took in some art at The Nelson .  We lived stress free for over 48 hours, went swimming, painted fingernails, shopped and ate good food.  {More girl trips are in tall order.}
*We've received a new line of hand blocked wallpapers at Pickwick House.
*Went on a rug buying trip and brought back a load of gorgeous antique tribal rugs for home and clients.
*We also snuck a family photo session in with the amazing Heather Cherie Photography.
*Hired a wonderful new assistant, and have two new interns slated to start Mid-May.
*It snowed all day long here on May 3rd!  First time since 1907.
*Cooked my first meal in the new kitchen.  Pork Roast.
*Just now checked our trash out on the curb, and rescued several items.  Lost and Found items are the best. Especially when it's tanning cream after a long, cold winter.  haha.

                                                            photo by Heather Cherie Photography
The kids love the new house.  We now just need to make it a home.

Thanks for checking in.  Oh, and the winner of the GREEN giveaway is JANE TROUP!

Be sure and stay tuned for our next giveaway.

xx
sharon

Pickwick House is a full service design/build company in the heart of the Midwest!  {Springfield, Missouri's Rountree Neighborhood}.  We handle all aspects of residential renovations from small to large projects and are available for full service and consultation design, and/or stylizing from Springfield and beyond.  Call or email us today.  We may be on location, but we'll get back to you in no time.

 417-459-8988 *sharontaylordesigns@yahoo.com

Easter Week Updates

Hi there. There's rarely enough time in the day to update you with all that's going on w/Pickwick House.  I have been running on fumes and thought I'd take a quick moment to update you with some eye candy.  

The kitchen faucet at our house was finally installed yesterday.  I love it so very, very much. I know Jesus turned water into wine, but I really think this faucet could too.  haha.  Maybe even chocolate {as one of my friend's mentioned}.  Chocolate's a more suitable option with it being Easter and all.  Haha.  

One of my clients is getting a whole home overhaul.  Today, we are making progress on her little girls bedroom and here's a sweet little daybed we purchased from Talula's {a new antique store right next door to Pickwick House}.  Anthonette, the amazingly talented owner of Talula's, reinvented an old canopy bed.  It will be perfect as a reading nook and also for her and her friends to cozy up on with stuffed animals and sweet bolster pillows.

Anthonette also paints furniture to your specification if you wish.  She does it for a nominal fee and I think this color pink called {pink gypsy} from Benjamin Moore makes it for an even more fantastic reinvention for Anna's room.  

The roman shades came back too short from the work room, but the panel top edging is the creme de la creme, don't you think?  So tailored and crisp.  

I was unable to make it to the second install of these puppies yesterday, but this is the picture sent to me from the client.  Do you notice something different?  Something very, very wrong?  If you guessed the edging, you guessed right. Sigh. Not such a happy install, especially since we waited weeks for these to come back.  But, hopefully third time's a charm.  Sometimes you just have to wait for a good thing.  

Hope you are having a good week.  Can't wait for a spring like return of weather, can you?

xx

sharon

House Beautiful and Flying Kites

Hi ya'll.  Spring is upon us!  I saw someone flying a kite today. YAY!

 Our house is almost done!  Floors can be walked on tomorrow morning.

Meanwhile, I am working on a house over in University Heights.  Perfect client.  She is open to fresh ideas, color, and loves mixing things up.  You might see a sign for Pickwick House renovations in her yard soon.  

I started with my client's bedroom last year in a fresh Rosemary Green, I believe,  from Benjamin Moore.  It is a bedroom I would die for, actually,  fully loaded with several of my favorite designer-ish things, including a gold sputnik and raw brass visual comfort lighting.    I haven't shared the beautiful images shot by Heather Cherie Photography from that bedroom shoot yet, and I apologize for talking about something you've never seen before.  The problem with posting images to the blog first is that it will most likely not get published by publications after it's shared here or anywhere else first.  I will keep you posted on the soon-to-be-where-abouts I've just learned of.

I first submitted the bedroom to House Beautiful, {one of my fave magazines} for possible feature. They replied with a "Love the bedroom, and use of color, but wonder if there are other rooms from the house to see..." {Positive note to self:  They responded to my work, which was great.  The sad fact was that no other rooms in the house were done or even in progress yet.'}

I'll get back to the client's house post here, in a moment, but first, I should share with you that over the last year I have begun to realize that I needed fuller projects to showcase a full breadth of my style.  When I look back upon the store front opening two years ago, I have to laugh, because I was taking on just about any and every project that came my way.  Including weddings. While I am SO grateful for all the support and work I have received from wonderful clients... THANK YOU to all of you, you know who you are!!!  {many of which are life long clients and friends now},  I would be lying if I told you I haven't learned some valuable lessons from mistakes I've made and also of projects that were not a good match for me.

I'm getting a little side tracked here, and perhaps putting more out there than you may care to hear, but I want to share with you a project that I learned SO much from.

One project in particular where I took on a 'friend of a friend' without a contract being signed.  {I'm sure you know where this is going.}  He was a nice guy and I fully expected to take on the challenge of knocking his socks off with the 'please factor' for an upcoming local magazine spread that he needed to be ready for in a few short weeks.  {BAD IDEA to not do a contract, btw....For both myself and that client.}  Without going over the contract, he had a somewhat vague idea about what I expected and vice/versa.   Because of the rush, I tried to rush into it too fast.  I was so eager to please him, and flattered that he wanted me to work for him.  I failed to start it off with the foundation for our agreement.  A contract.

I took the project on in my ninth month of my pregnancy and finalized the project the week of my baby's birth, in the dog days of summer.  Not only that, the project was outside.  In his garden shed, that he wanted to turn into a wine tasting room.  In the heat.  In July.  NO air conditioning.  Nine months prego.  WHAT was I thinking?  Ha.  The end result of the space ended up being executed beautifully by myself, and my intern, and my team of reliable and efficient guys...but not without heat exhaustion and a bad case of mastitis....THE week of my baby's birth.  Regretfully, I went back to work on this very project THE day after arriving home from the hospital, even though Will had urged me to take time off and told me to tell my client to fly a kite for a while. 

I am a perfectionist and rarely leave a project without giving it my all.  I got mastitis.  BAD. Urgency was all I heard in the client's voice, and I just did not want to let him down. I SO wanted to please him.  I worked my butt off, but in the end, I still did not please him.  So goes that same ole saying..."You can't please everyone."

This post can't go without a big shout out to my my intern, Hillary, who worked for free for countless hours on this one.  Also, to my exceptionally talented carpenter who charged a very discounted wholesale price to the client for gorgeous, custom made cabinets, and to my contractor, Stormy, who ran out there at least three times and never charged me or the client.  {The project made it to the local magazine, but without  a mention of Pickwick House or any links to my website.  I should've fully expected this would happen.}

Looking back, I wished I had not taken the client on.  There were cues that I should've picked up on.  Expectations for custom designs for custom woodworking, customized furnishings, and customized accessories to be done in a short amount of time.  I made him mad that things weren't done faster.  I hope that this never happens again for me, for future clients, or for any other first time designers starting out.  I hope you can learn from some of my mis steps.


Here are my
VALUABLE LESSONS LEARNED:
1.  Be realistic about the time and scope of the project.  Working on a house is a labor of love.  If there is a deadline, make sure you allow extra time for customized orders.
2.  Be up front with the client.  Go over EVERY single thing in the contract.  Take your time in talking about the money, the timeline, and the up charging on items that you are sourcing, etc.  Flat fees vs. hourly.  Clients need to know what to expect.  They are paying for it, after all.  If you are clear from the beginning, then the trust factor is built upon a firm foundation.
3.  Let them know what you expect.   It's okay to expect a glass of water from a client.  Especially in the 100 degree heat.  If the project is going to be published, let them know that you own the copyrights to the work, and that you expect on-page magazine credits.  This should be in the contract.  It should even be written into the contract specifically how you would like it written:  i.e., Interior Design:  sharon taylor of sharontaylordesigns.com/, items in garden shed from Pickwick House.
4.  Charge client for all project manager's time, even if they are unpaid interns.
5.  Reiterate and 'refrigerate' yourself on hot days on occasion that good things take time and know that sometimes backorders make for heated exchanges, also hot days require air conditioning.  haha.  Customized things take even longer.  And, with certain work rooms and mills, it takes that, times three.
6.  Don't get in a rush when signing a new client on.  Interview them.  Be selective.  And don't take a job because you are desperate for money.  Don't work for free.  I still tell myself not to work for free.  And many times, under sell myself, all for the love of what I do.


Okay, so where was I?  As, I was saying at the beginning of the post....We are now  reworking the rest of the house in University Heights.  Kitchen revamping...gutting the dark granite, getting rid of old appliances, and all things beige.  Bye-bye beige!!  Dining room, and living room overhaul too.  All being done in fresh, springtime colors.  We are adding some sweet turkish rugs, a fabulously quirky galleried art wall, and some wallpaper touches, and using many of  her already existing antiques and family heirlooms.

Do you love green?  Well, I do.  I can hardly get away from using it on all projects, I love it so much.  We are doing a deeper, more daring green than I'm used to. I am calling it a happy hunter green.

This is the chandelier my client found on craigslist for $40!  Makes me think of lucite.  Lucite is still happening, for me, anyway.  

                              I LOVE this one!!  Isn't it not perfection? Not sure where it's going yet.  Maybe her office.

Just some of the ebay and etsy purchases at the framers.

Pulling some wild colors, patterns, and textures together.  Don't worry.  We're not going with that blue color.  Haha.  

Gotta run now.  House is a wreck with samples the baby is scribbling on..

P.S., one more thing to share...

I thought I'd come back and share this piece above.  Not sure who the artist is, but I love it.  Sort of struck a cord with me since I not only love b&w, but because I appreciate the artistry in finding that line where the client and designer converge to make something beautiful.  Also, that there is always another side to the story.  And, perhaps, most insignificantly, it places the importance on signed agreements too:-)

THANKS SO MUCH FOR STOPPING IN!

xx

sharon

COME ON!

Spring cannot get here soon enough! Baby is STILL mending.  I don't remember a time where my littles were sick this much and for this long.  I strongly believe it's because they are subjected to much more stuff when they go to preschool.   Preschool is a good thing, but the sickness it breeds is not.  Just as I was sending Sylvia off to school this morning, she got sick, and started crying when I told her she couldn't go to school.  Haha.  {A real good indicator of how much they have enjoyed being cooped up with me for the last few days!}  Any of you moms out there relate?  

I really hope this means our spring and summer will be healthier and more productive.   I have so many projects and deadlines waiting on me and I'm anxious to show off some really cool things that we have going.

That said, we are we are still seeking internships.  Please send email and resumes to sharontaylordesigns@yahoo.com

Sorry for the boring, sickness posts you've heard over and over.  I hope you all are feeling well and happy to see the sunshine as much as I am today!


To see my latest kitchen board for a client, go here:  olioboard.com/boards/181796-d-s-kitchen.  It's going to be a bright and cheerful change up from what it once was.   Think marble countertops, subway tile, all white cabinets, colorful furnishings, all new appliances, apron front sink, and gold accents.

xx
sharon

Pickwick House is a full service design/build company in the heart of the Midwest!  {Springfield, Missouri's Rountree Neighborhood}.  We handle all aspects of residential renovations from small to large projects and are available for full service and consultation design, and/or stylizing from East to West Coast.  Call or email us today.  We may be on location, but we'll get back to you in no time.

 417-459-8988 *sharontaylordesigns@yahoo.com

Commercial Design: A SOCIAL CLUB

I can't get enough of Olioboard, now!  I LOVE it.  I promise to stop cramming this blog feed with these once the contest is over in a few days.   I've been waking up extra early to create these boards because I have a million board ideas in my head ready to throw out there...and since baby is still sick, I am really hunkering down with a goal of winning this contest as well as winning a sick baby back to health.

The concept for the board below comes from just one of three or four scenarios in my head for this particular purpose.  I have had a fantasy of creating a whole town, complete with boutique hotels, event venues, outdoor recreational spaces, country clubs, restaurants, book stores, libraries, neighborhood markets, and ice cream shops, etc.  Any investors, builders, business owners out there wanna talk?   Haha.  I can do it.  BOUTIQUE style:)

One of my most favorite things to do when traveling to big cities is to visit boutique hotel lounges, restaurants and portly bars, so I've always thought it would be fun to do a spin off of the studio and create our own PICKWICK HOUSE {a modern, underground social club} for our own little small town.  Don't you think there's a market for that here in the Ozarks?  So, that brings me to the question:  Would you go to this type of boutique-social house?  Would any of you locals frequent this type of place?

When dreaming up a description for this 'Pickwick House' {a modern, underground social club}'.  I describe it as 'underground' because it's just a 'virtual-invisible' brick and mortar, 'Non-existent', hence underground.  {NOT planning a real one, any time soon.}  Anyway...

DESCRIPTION:  Drawing inspiration from Charles Dickens Pickwick Papers, this modern day social house is meant to be a place for many characters to stroll into the underground club for a regular dose of humor, advice, poetry, extravagant travel stories, historical studies, romantic love, and bizarre anecdotes, live old jazz, and five piece swing bands, all while imbibing in STRONG cocktails from a bygone bootleg era. "Cozy up to the fire, read a good tale, pour yourself a glass of something you'll never experience any where else'~Sharon Taylor. 

This version is a bit glam, but I thought the worn leather chesterfields brought down the glam factor a little bit.  I thought the gingham was fun, and an ode to old fashioned southern charm.   I've noticed a revival in largescale gingham with a couple of my fave designers trending it at the moment { i.e., Miles Redd, Tobi Fairley, Barry Dar Dixon, and Nick Olson.}  I misspelled by name in the watermark, but once it was published, it was too late to edit.  

So, what would be your choice drink be here?   Think Frank Sinatra style or, Hemingway, The Fitzgeralds, Degas, T. S. Eliot, Matisse, Josephine 

Baker to name but a few.  A mint julep, rusty nail, or an old fashioned?  

So, do you have any favorite hot spots you like to go to? Sounds like another post about REAL life boutique hotels is in order, huh?

Oh, I should mention that you can vote for me.  I've been receiving email updates directly from olioboard alerting me of the people that have voted for me.  Today, I have six.  THANK YOU!!  {I can think of nothing more wonderful than a few votes:)}  You can vote for all of my entries once a day for the next five days, I believe.  Here's the link to my latest entry to vote on. Just click the check mark inside the red heart.  Thank you, so kindly.

Hope you have a wonderful weekend, everyone.  

xx

sharon

RUBY DELIGHT Olioboard by SharonTaylorDesigns

Okay, so you remember how I went to Design Camp in October?  It was life changing for me and the business.  I won't bore you with talk of that deal, but wanted to share one of the biggest topics/tools shared there.  Leslie Carothers {twitter link}spoke on behalf of this great new tool called 'Olioboard'. Have you heard of it?  It's an online tool for drafting 2D and 3D room inspiration boards... using a full market of millions of items and brands to pull from.  Once you've created the room at the drop of a fingertip, you can 'shop the look'.  You can shop other user's boards.  Anyone can use it.  Including you.  And it's free. 

For designers it's great, because it's a quick and easy way to present a visual board to your clients. 

Many designers at camp had never heard of it.  I had, but kept resisting using the tool because I really didn't think I had time to learn one more thing.  And i didn't know you could pull antiques and oddities.   {WRONG}

Since returning from camp, I've kept Olioboard at back of my mind.  I remember Leslie encouraging us designers to expand to their larger 'PRO platform', to make more money and also promote the biz. Leslie made most campers leave camp with 'Olioboard' at the top of their priority lists.  Not me. haha.     

Fast forward four months.  Well you know how much of a fan I am of Tobi Fairley, right?  Great luxury designer, inspiring business woman and coach, and overall life-coach for all of us who strive to be better.   Elevating not only our practice, but our inner spirituality and physical strength.  I greatly admire her as a positive business woman and mom!  

RUBY DELIGHT:  A Sharon TAYLOR Designs board

I, of course, follow her on IG, and twitter and noticed that a couple weeks ago she was mentioning her upcoming  "Get Published" for April 9th. Now, I tell you, I've been trying to get to one of her camps for the last few years, but timing never was right with babies and kids activities.  

Then about a week later,  Ronda Carmen of All The Best,  announced that her forth coming book, Designers At Home,  will be launched at the Tobi Fairley camp as well.  And to top it off, Traditional Home editors are guest sponsors and speakers.  Then I was like, WHAT?!  I have to go.  

It's in Little Rock, Arkansas.  I could drive, right?   

So it just so happens that Olioboard is a Team Tobi sponsor, and is hosting a contest right now with the winner to receive 2 tickets to the camp valued at $2400 each.  I'm putting that challenge out there not only for myself, but for all of you designers who would like a chance to win it too.  But, I'm pulling for mostly me.  Haha. 

{No, but even if you're not a designer, it's something you could play with too.  It's like playing in a dollhouse.  Join in and try it out with me!  My profile is:  sharontaylordesigns}

 Well, you know what I did last night after reading about the contest?  Slept maybe four hours, woke up with a catapulting leap, and started plugging away...

This is my first room above.  I know I'm duplicating the one above it, but I had to showcase the amount of clutter I amassed while creating it.  I'm so proud I completed a board.  Not sure if this will be an entry into the contest yet and don't judge me for the wampiness or my untidy, unkept house I keep.  Haha.  I really wanna break out the online paper dolls now.

 Alright, so I named the room Ruby Delight.  Needs some help, but here's the Description:  This room is for the girl who is charmed by all things chic. Delightment filled by all things french, antique, adventurous travels, books, film, science studies and tea!

It was great fun and pretty easy.  With a click of the mouse, I could slide an antique One Kings Lane table out from under a crrrrrrrystal vase, and it SO didn't crash into jillions of pieces.  It was fairly easy,  and I'm already majorly addicted and I think it could work really well for me with my clients' presentations too.  Can I tell you how happy I am that Olioboard offers antiques too!!  I was really pleasantly surprised.

I published this one before I realized I forgot to put away all the things I had scrapped that are up there to the right.  Haha.  And I still don't know how to edit those out.  Anyway, I'll work on that, but I need your help, because, you see, I realize this room is very 'girly'.  And that girly stuff may not be a 'winning style'.  One plus to the contest is, I can enter as many boards as I want.

Okay, SO this is where I need your help.  Tell me what types of moods, styles, trends, products you might like to see created.  I'll incorporate some of those things into boards to create for my multiple, winning entries in the contest.  Be thinking about what some of your favorite things are, and please, please tell me.  {thank you in advance!}

I may need your help at some point too, on voting. It's a judged contest, but viewers can vote daily on their faves.  Not sure that sways the judges, but it might.  Sort of like American Idol?  Haha.

Okay, I know this is a long post, but I thought I'd leave you with an inspiration image and woman to 'glide around on the ice with' today.   I love this painting.  It's of Florence Nightingale.  I think that's one of the prettiest girl name I've heard in a LONG time.  Why has no one in my massive family used it?  Even the last name would make a pretty middle name aside from Florence, I think.

Anyway, did some reading on Florence and thought she was the perfect inspiration for my 'Ruby Delight' board above.  "She was a precocious child intellectually.  Her father took particular interest in guiding her through history, philosophy, and literature.  She was able to read and write French, German, Italian, Greek, and Latin at an early age.  Never satisfied with the traditional female skills of home management, she preferred to read the great philosophers and to engage in serious political and social discourse with her father." ~ You can read more about Florence here.

                               One more:  Miles Redd room.  I LOVE Miles fun with color!

Wish me luck, folks, and try out Olioboard, and tell me what you think.

Happy ICE DAY. Be careful out there, locals!!

xx
sharon

Pickwick House is a full service design/build company in the heart of the Midwest!  {Springfield, Missouri's Rountree Neighborhood}.  We handle all aspects of residential renovations from small to large projects and are available for full service and consultation design, and/or stylizing from East to West Coast.  Call or email us today.  We may be on location, but we'll get back to you in no time.

 417-459-8988 *sharontaylordesigns@yahoo.com

xx

sharon

LET THERE BE LIGHT

Good afternoon!  Welcome to the dark side.  I hope I'm not boring ya'll to tears with house posts.  I'm gonna just go ahead and blame this crazed-nugget on the paint fumes we've been breathing in for the last few weeks.    

Iphone Pic of the day

Walls and ceiling are completely done in our soon to be family room.  Benjamin Moore 'black'.  Trim is in high gloss, oil based black too.  Our wood-slat blinds will also be black.  The floors are currently being sanded.  They will be.....EBONY.  {changin it up a bit, haha}

Iphone pic of before

Now after seeing all that darkness, let me ask you this?  Would you say it's an improvement over this?   At least a shred??  

What are you doing for pre-V-day?  I'm sitting at home with sick little fella.  Trying to comfort him and his bless-ed, rosy-cheeked goodness.  Even in his sickness, he keeps giving me kisses.  I feel so lucky.  

This is John-John on Monday, {pre-sickness} modeling in his first Julie Blackmon shoot. He was so proud.  I will post the final draft once she's done, but it may be a while because she's off to shoot a cover for New York magazine tomorrow.  I was going to go with her, but with fella sick, it's a no-can-do.

From my iphone

Thanks for reading along. 

Pickwick House is a full service design/build company in the heart of the Midwest!  {Springfield, Missouri's Rountree Neighborhood}.  We handle all aspects of residential renovations from small to large projects and are available for full service and consultation design, and/or stylizing from East to West Coast.  Call or email us today.  We may be on location, but we'll get back to you in no time.

 417-459-8988 *sharontaylordesigns@yahoo.com

xx

sharon

Design Obsession and Crushes: Black and White + Girl Designers

It's no secret that I'm a fan of black and white.  

When I first saw Jenna Lyon's apartment seven years ago in Domino Mag, I was totally awe struck.  By her.  By her style.  Everything about her.  Especially by her daring black rooms and trim color.

This bathroom got a bajillion repins on my pinterest page.  I can see why.  The old school subway tile meets noir black trim.  Totally digging it.  Not sure who the designer is.  Let me know if you know:)  Plus the David Hicks pendant that is all over the web right now, is one that I'm really coveting for our kitchen, butler's pantry, and nook.

 And my new design crush:  really falling hard for designer Bailey McCarthy.  I just discovered her this week, and I must have been living under a rock to not know who she is as a designer.  I love that she's from Chicago too.  {Midwest designer!} But all I can say about her is she's rocking it with her latest.  What about this bathroom above?!  Classic, COOL, black-to-brass bath that I am just utterly dying over!

Here's my shop exterior with nothing but...black and white of course.   That's my little guy running off in the foreground.  One of these days I hope to do a post about the before and after of this building renovation and reface.  You wouldn't recognize the before as the same building.  

Here's the kitchen progress this week.  We decided to paint all the trim black in this room to break up the all white cabinetry and appliances.  Our walls will be all subway tile with grey grout.   Our honed marble countertops and drawers, brass hardware are all going to be installed today!  By next week, our kitchen should be complete, minus the banquette, and refinished ebony floors.  Boy, this has been fun!

Happy Friday!  What are you all doing this weekend?

Pickwick House is a full service design/build company in the heart of the Midwest!  {Springfield, Missouri's Rountree Neighborhood}.  We handle all aspects of residential renovations from small to large projects and are available for full service and consultation design, and/or stylizing from East to West Coast.  Call or email us today.  We may be on location, but we'll get back to you in no time.

 417-459-8988 *sharontaylordesigns@yahoo.com

xx
sharon

Living With Kids

source

It was a pleasure to collaborate with Merit Creative Consulting and Twin Town Studios for a photo shoot of my sister's home.  AND today that shoot of my sister's {Julie Blackmon} home is featured on Design Mom !  Hooray!!

I helped stylize the shoot and sourced many of the furnishings she has purchased over the years from my boutique studio design firm, Pickwick House.

Julie's interview made me well up with some tears.  Hope you enjoy!

Pickwick House is a full service design/build company in the heart of the Midwest!  {Springfield, Missouri's Rountree Neighborhood}.  We handle all aspects of residential renovations from small to large projects and are available for design, and/or stylizing from East to West Coast.  Call or email us today.  We may be on location, but we'll get back to you in no time.

 417-459-8988 *sharontaylordesigns@yahoo.com


xx
sharon

Kitchen Update On The Home Front

Our kitchen is finally coming together.  I've shared with you in a previous post about the AGA appliances we ordered.  Well, it seems as though every appliance and gadget we've ordered has taken twice as long to ship out as predicted.  And as of yesterday, our range had arrived after having ordered it back in October. But the fridge and dishwasher did not arrive on the same shipment and they are just now telling us that it's on back order and don't know when it will arrive.  Ugh.  It's hard to contain the anticipation.  Our floors are still unfinished, and chalky, and dirty, and the house is still a mess.  Mostly, I'm in anticipation mode for the appliances and this kitchen.  I've not ever had a 'nicer than average' appliance in my whole life. For the last two decades, I've been cooking on Lowe's brand stoves and the dishwashing is what I've always done manually...or had my kids do.  So, it really will be like Christmas ten-fold when that truck unloads!

We wanted to do right by the kitchen on this house and every house we do for that matter.  We knew we needed to invest more than average $$ into the appliances.  And, boy, does it add up quick!  

via VOGUE on pinterest

Here's an image of one of my dream kitchens that I refer to over and over and over.  {I wouldn't mind looking like the pretty girl.  Not sure who she is?  Anybody know??}  But, anyway, like I said, I don't know if I could ever get tired of looking at this kitchen, could you?  Classic white, inset doors/drawers, marble counters, brass hardware, nicely finished and detailed kick-legs, glass-uppers, hardwood floors.    

Even though Will and I had the jist of what we knew we wanted the overall look and feel of the kitchen to be, there were still many, many details that we knew we had to oversee and be 100% accurate with.   I've poured over many, many kitchens on pinterest and magazines for months and months now to make sure I haven't left a detail unnoticed.  

One of the things that I'm loving is antique brass for pulls and fixtures.  I sourced a faucet online that I fell in love with; a bridged, antique brass, farm style faucet.  British Made, and only $895!  Well, that's a little much out of our price range,  so I did some more searching and found a faucet I absolutely fell in love with that was less than half that price.  It's a two handled, Phylrich International faucet, in satin brass, with darling cross pulls that depict the perfect amount of antique that I'm aiming for, all while being a one hole faucet {which is a nice modern feature}.  One holed faucets are less maintenance in my mind.  Less grime and muck to clean.  It also gives a cleaner look.    

Here's a birds eye view of the kitchen layout.  Pardon my chicken scratches, and x's.  We have made some minor adjustments to this.  It's virtually the same as the original layout, but with a few configuration manipulations and additions.   As you see, the appliance layout almost hits a 'perfect triangle recommendation' up above {Sink at top, fridge on right, and range on left}.   The initial layout of the kitchen didn't work that way.  It had the stove and fridge just floating on their own on the left wall.  No cabinetry with them at all.  NOT pretty.  I should note that the nook and pantry aren't pictured here on this layout. Picture if you can, the Breakfast off the lower right hand side, and a butler's pantry off the upper right hand side. 

 The butler's pantry is a about a 12 foot long, narrow breezeway that attaches our house/kitchen to the garage.  Originally, the butler's pantry had a wall of floor to ceiling cupboards in hunter green:-)  Then three exits at the end.  As pictured here below.  Not too bad.  

We tore those cupboards out to make way for upper and lower cabintery, and to add more countertop workspace for kitchen usage.  My 18 year old daughter is a really accomplished pastry maker and she is more than excited to have all this marble countertop workspace.  {Okay, I hope my explanation and pictures make sense.  Sometimes I backtrack when explaining here, but hopefully you can tie some of my nonsense all together:)  The doorways and wall above show the exit to pantry {on left} and nook {on right].  We tore a portion of that small in-between wall out too.  So it would look like this:}   

Now, do you see where I'm going with this?  We decided to build a fridge cubby there instead, as pictured below.    

That way the fridge won't be crammed over on the other wall with the range. With the fridge in it's cubby, we'll now have the 'near perfect' triangle, and the flow of the kitchen will be {I really hope, and fingers double crossed} REALLY nice.  The left door pictured here is going to be arched just as the nook is, which was at Will's insistence.    

The pantry will be housing all the extras little things like the food in upper glass paned cabinets.  Microwave, kitchen aid, toaster, blenders, etc all in the lower drawers.  As well as an under counter fridge for storing Will's specialty beers that he loves.  

  Figuring out where the fridge would go was Will's idea.  And I think it's the best idea.  He's so cute sometimes!  I really, really didn't want it smashed together next to the range.  I really wanted one wall devoted to the range itself.  I LOVE kitchens that have the range as the center focal point with a clear line of symmetry on either side of the range.  

So, all in all the bright side of our home progress is what I have to keep reminding myself of.  I know I complain about how slow everything is, but it really has been clipping together pretty nicely, and will and I have had so much fun doing this as a team, along with a fantastic crew!  

The breakfast nook will have a pair of upholstered and tacked banquettes, a long table, and a tv mounted to the corner wall of the room, so it won't be visible from anywhere in the kitchen, except if  you actually sit down at the table.  

For the sink wall, we left the sink wall configuration virtually the same, only we are making the counter depth deeper than the original.  I'm excited to put some potted plants directly behind the faucet.  We tore all of the existing cabinetry and old tile out.  I admit, it pained me a bit, because I have admiration for the old cabinetry and it's lines.  I loved the old subway tile too. But we found an identical match to the tile and our carpenter is beyond wonderful.

We will have an under counter trash can pull to the right of the sink, as well as a cutting board pull out.  {I took some advice from Will's mom on what features were most important to her as she is just a really really good cook who likes a well functioning method of placement for things in her kitchen.  I hope to be a real cook someday.  ha.  We'll see.  {Btw, I'm already trying to warm up to cooking by making myself try one new pinterest recipe a week.  My daughter is rating how well she likes them on instagram.  Please feel free to follow along and hashtag your own recipes on Wednesday with me.  I'd love to know what recipes you are cooking up!}

Okay, so my mother in law uses the heck out of her cutting board pull outs.  I think it's a great idea.  Not only for chopping, but for buffet style service when dinner is plated in the kitchen and more counter space is needed.}  So, all in all, we will have 3 pull out cutting boards.  Two of them will flank the stove.  

Another thing she advised us on was to use drawers.  We decided to go ahead and give all the lower cabinets drawers only.  Except for under the apron front sink.   Drawers are just so much easier for accessing things. Especially since our drawer glides will be full extensions for reaching to the very back, to those normally unaccessible areas.  

 Here's a view of the butler's pantry looking into the kitchen area.  {The back side of fridge cubby}.

Some of the base cabinetry has arrived!  {Sink and dishwasher wall.}

And, we now have our Kohler apron front farmhouse sink installed!  It's a 36" porcelain over cast iron.  And it is so beautiful!  Boy, am I feeling really lucky and excited.  

Thanks so much for reading this REALLY long post.  Hope I haven't bored you and hopefully you might visit here again soon.  Please follow me on instagram and join me with cooking ideas, and share your recipes too.  I love hearing from you.  I will post my favorites here in a bit! :) 

xx

sharon