November 01, 2017

World Market 40% Furniture Sale

November 01, 2017/ Gray Oak Studio

Today through November 8th, World Market is having a 40% sale on all furniture. 40%!!! It's the first time they've done this and we're hoping it's not the last. Oh, and if you spend over $200 there's free shipping too! Mind blown. Use the code: FURNSALE.

We've rounded up some of our favorite finds below. I want/need 2 of the Faux Flokati Gunnar Chairs. Happy shopping...we are certainly ready to checkout...

October 30, 2017

Round-up: Basket Planters

October 30, 2017/ Gray Oak Studio

We are big fans of big plants. They give a room height, they infuse color and they add visual interest. They, literally, bring life to a room. We could (and probably will) write a post just about our big love for big plants. Today, however, we're going to talk about big planters. Big basket planters, to be more precise.

(from our Southend Project)

When you bring one of these leafy beauties into your home, she is going to need a suitable planter. Our favorite kind is a large basket tote. The handles are key for moving it around when you need to clean or introduce it to a new window because it wasn't getting along with the first.

(from our Homestead Project)

One thing to keep in mind is that baskets are porous. So, you can't actually plant the your fiddle leaf fig (or braided hibiscus...or snake plant...or whatever you choose) directly into the basket. Soil and water directly in your basket planter will lead to mud seeping through the woven crevices onto your floor. Yuck. Make sure your plant remains in a functional pot with a plate underneath if there's a hole in the bottom. By "functional pot" you could very well keep it in the plastic pot it came in from the store. Then put the whole thing into your glorious basket tote.

Here are some inexpensive options and number 5 has a built-in plastic liner, so you can actually plant directly into it.

1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6

Happy Monday and happy big planting.

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October 23, 2017

Homestead Project - The Office

October 23, 2017/ Gray Oak Studio

Today we're revealing the second half of our Homestead Project - the office. The overall style and feel of the office is in step with the living room, but there's something a little more fierce about this space...perhaps the blue walls.

The wall color is Lucerne by Benjamin Moore. And we can't take credit for it - our client chose the color years ago. Should we admit that? When we saw the color during our initial consultation we collectively said, "YES." In person, it's as deeply saturated a blue as it is on your screen. It's bold. It's sophisticated. It's fantastic.

Before we dive deeper, let's back up to what things looked like before.

An office with a fireplace is pretty awesome. Not only did we want to highlight the fireplace, but we also wanted to turn up the cozy factor in the entire room. So, we brought in an area rug, a pair of comfy armchairs and lots of texture.

The chairs are one of our favorite finds of this whole project. They're comfortable and beautiful and sooooo reasonably priced (source list below!). The texture of the wool rug, knit ottoman and many decor details add that "let me take a break from all this office work and relax for a hot minute".

Speaking of hot...while this is an actual wood burning fireplace, it won't be used to burn wood or anything else for that matter. With function of non-priority, we worked decor and hung this show-stopping mirror to make the fireplace the central feature of the room.

We also added the star pendant you spy in the mirror reflection. It brought some much needed overhead lighting and some eye candy.

Like the living room, brass was our go-to accent in the office. And brass, like the blue walls, can pack a punch. Thankfully, there's no design rule that only allows one bold element per room. One, two or ten bold elements are completely allowed (we promise). They key is to choose bold elements that harmonize and compliment. Competition is what creates that dizzying, something-went-wrong feeling. As loud as brass and deep blue walls may be on their own, they play so very well together...they're basically soulmates.

Between the brass accents and blue walls, we decided to keep the rest of the design neutral and fairly mellow.

BEFORE

AFTER

The only other "color" we introduced into the room is green, which was strictly through plants. Our clippings and succulents and mini tree are beautiful against the wall, which has a subtle green undertone. And, yes, we're using the term "mini tree" because we totally forgot to take note of the type of plant. Hashtag rookie mistake.

***Update*** The "mini tree" is a Dracaena Massangeana, aka corn plant.