I love our new home. So much so, that I don’t anticipate we’ll move again. But, we’ve been living here since March, and per usual, we’ve had the hardest time trying to figure out how to design and set up each room.
My thought process has been: OK, we’re going to be here for awhile. Let’s make it look awesome. But what furniture should we keep and which should we donate? And, is it going to take me 3 years again to decide on what art work should go up on the walls? We have a baby in the house. Do I get a light-colored couch… or will I regret that? We need a dinner table, but where the heck is that going to go?! And no, Jeff, we aren’t keeping the TV on top of the fireplace mantle. We’ve inherited this piece of furniture from my parents, but do we really need it? Arghhh, why couldn’t the contractor wait to consult the buyer (us) before putting in that ugly light fixture. And ahhh, the neighbors have just moved in… we need window shades ASAP!
I KNOW. FIRST WORLD PROBLEMS.
But at the end of the day, I want to come home to a house that is comfortable, embraces our lifestyle, and where I’ll be proud to invite people over to hang out, especially as I’m trying to get off my phone these days, and be a bit more present.
As you can see from my thought process above… designing a space is not my forte. When we lived in our first home, I’m not joking when I say that we never put artwork up in our living room, literally because I couldn’t decide on what I wanted up on the wall. We just left it empty and blank and sad. And while I loved our previous home, I felt like we never had a chance to truly personalize it.
Now, rather than trying to do this project on my own again, I called up my friend Angela Hamwey of Mackenzie & Co. instead. She owns an a-mazing interior design studio, based right on Cape Cod. I’ve followed her on Instagram (@mackenziestudio) for years and have always admired her work. Her style feels very coastal, which is exactly what Jeff and I love. We often say to eachother that we can’t imagine ourselves ever living more than a few minutes from the water (we are 100% beach people), so it makes sense that with our lives so embedded with coastal living, that it makes its way into our home as well.
Over the next few weeks & months, Angela and I will be showing you the design process of several rooms in our home, which will include our living room, our family room, and my office (which is currently being used to dump everything and anything).
From what happens in your first client consultation, to creating a mood board, to figuring out a budget (YES, a budget!), to determing what to keep & what to toss, learning how to re-frame artwork (& what finally just needs to GO), to what goes into the actual install day.
We’re excited to share this process with you — both on the blog, my Instagram, Instagram Stories, and the Mackenzie Studio Instagram (@mackenziestudio) and blog as well!
Plus, throughout this project, I’ll make sure to link to all products, most of which you’ll be able to buy through the Mackenzie Studio online store.
Have any initial questions? Send them on over — and we’ll make sure to answer them in the next blog post!
BEFORE PHOTOS BELOW