Melissa Rieke Photography
44th Symphony Designers’ Showhouse
Going WHITE! So it has been a few weeks since I last posted and ANNOUNCED that I would be participating in the 44th Symphony Designers’ Showhouse. I am still so excited to be a part of something so unique and so creative! I am loving getting to know many of the designers. The sweet and kind Rebecca Emley from The Room Tailor is designing the room directly behind mine…and I am pretty sure her ears may hurt because I talk way too much! Rebecca has been so thoughtful and kind to lend me her ear and her thoughts for my room! Rebecca’s space is going to be amazing! Her design board is calming and exciting at the same time…and I am loving the colors she is working with!
Today I also got to know William and Chris from J. William Wagner Designs. William has a couple of very interesting spaces to work with…and his boards are inspiring and unique. I am so excited to see how he does the ceiling treatment in his space…he was explaining it to me today and I am not sure I fully understood the vision…but it sounded so exciting!
I got to meet Erica Thowe on the very first day and instantly loved her! I haven’t gotten to see her in the house again but her space the Main Staircase Landing has gotten a paint lift and I LOVE the new color. The change is amazing and it already looks so sophisticated!! Erica is the owner of Erica Kay Interior Designs.
I can’t leave out all of the ladies with Restoration Emporium. Chrysy Huff has been an amazing help to me. With the loaning of not only an amazing iron Crib that one of her vendors “Very Violet” agreed to lend me…but also the beautiful dresser you will see in the room that is being loaned by “The Shabby Flea”…both are located inside of Restoration Emporium along with many other fab vendors! And BOTH items are for sale…so if you are interested in them let me know and I will get the information you need. Of course the items will remain in the room thru the duration of the tours.
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Ok…let’s talk about transformation! Before we know my room was very 80’s…mauve with a cream stencil and valances on each of the windows! Well…things have changed.
Let’s just start by saying…pretty much NOTHING has gone smoothly! Seems as if every thing I start on hits a snag…some major…some minor…some I freak out about…some have worked themselves out…and some…well…let’s just say again…not going smoothly! But…the room is transforming…and I am learning so much along the way.
So let’s start at the bottom…the flooring. I was excited to see that the closet had some old wooden floors. The perfect type of floor for painting…a little beat up and aged. So I was excited to get the carpet pulled up and start the painting process.
This is me super excited to see the wood floors as I pulled up the wall to wall carpeting…
Then about ten minutes after this “self portrait”…
This upside down “self portrait” is me…being so sad because the other 1/2 of the room was plywood….no more Happy and Excited Melissa!
I was pretty bummed about the situation…but what are you going to do! Well…beg…he he he! That is what I needed to do. I really wanted wood flooring…or even the new flexible laminate floating flooring that looks like wood…but no go. This floor is so uneven that carpet is my only option. So off I went to the most fabulous flooring store on earth Midwest Carpet Center. The owners are pretty much the kindest people ever…and I am very blessed to say they are friends. I went to school with their youngest son…and even worked for them for a time in a different business. They have done all of the flooring wood/tile/carpeting in both of my homes and it is all gorgeous! Nothing but amazing. They were so gracious to provide the beautiful carpet for the room! I can’t wait to show you the results in a few images!! 🙂
So…we finally get the flooring issues settled. Now comes the fun part right? Well…a few more back steps…redesigns…furniture questions…aggghhhh…where am I going to get this…or that! I have to admit I have had some long nights wondering how I would pull this design off. But I think it is going to come together just fine.
I was so excited to get paint on the walls. I had chosen what I thought to be the most beautiful color “Creamy” from Sherwin Williams. Sherwin Williams is donating ALL of the paint for the Showhouse. How amazing are they? With the trim in the room being pretty close to the color “PURE” from Sherwin Williams the “Creamy” looked to be a few shades darker and well…creamier! 🙂 When it went up on the walls it is was a bit more WHITE than I had intended…but I still love the look…and I think with all of the pieces in the room..it won’t even matter in the long run.
So here it is…the CREAMY, Carpeted room!
What a change some paint and flooring make!
Now I have one week (because of my schedule and this lovely snow storm I can’t make it back in until Monday) to “install” the rest of the room before the scheduled Photoshoot for the magazine!
I can’t wait to share more! I would love to hear your thoughts on the room so far!
I must give a HUGE shout out to Sheryl Kiefer, Stacey Johnson Cosby & Tracey Hawkins for all of their hard work and help with this project! No one could make it without them…and they are truly wonderful ladies!
PURCHASE YOUR TICKETS TO TOUR THE HOUSE HERE
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