5 Holiday Gifts to Enhance Any Space

It’s that time of year again! Do you have all your gifts figured out? As someone who starts planning for the holidays in September, I can’t keep the gifts I’m giving a secret any longer. So, with a few tweaks, tips and tidbits from Teri, I'm sharing them with you!

These ideas are guaranteed to enhance any space. Just don’t tell our friends and family!

1. Framed art: One of our favorite pieces from a client’s home are these National Park posters. But even napkin sketches or fall leaves collected on a hike can be framed and make a memory of an “ordinary” moment. Try making a set of four or six!

2. A shelving makeover: The days just after Christmas are a perfect time to get organized and prepare for the year ahead. Offering to re-style a friend or family members’ bookshelves is a timely (not to mention affordable!) gift even if you aren’t a pro stylist! Tag #nafasiinteriors on Instagram when you’re done!

3. For the ultimate host or hostess!!: Did you miss the announcement? We recently launched hide placemat sets and we’re excited to say they’re available for this year’s holiday season! They look great with these ReWined candles.

4. Other local artist gems: DC is full of creatives! We’re in love with these clutches from PrintedWild and Matine’s holiday lookbook. Check out jewelry from Kicheko Goods, where your purchase also contributes to education. And, if you want to go over the top, pull it all together in a vanity with this Petal Pusher wallpaper by Kate Zaremba.

5. A consultation with NAFASI: Do you know someone who needs new life in their space? Or, who’s been asking for suggestions for improving their home? Let your friends know about NAFASI! We have a variety of packages online that vary from a Single Consultation, to The Kit- a “Do-It-Yourself” structure to any home project, to project NAFASI- start to finish management of your project by NAFASI. 
   
   
   With love and talk soon,
   Frances 

Who's New?!

Hello everyone!

My name is Frances, but my friends and family call me Fran, Frankie, Franchise... it all works! I'm from Richmond, Virginia and I went to UVA where I got a degree in political philosophy. Now, I work for a consulting firm in D.C. 

Leo Season Gift Guide: What Your Leo Friends Want!!

Happy Leo Season!!!

Leo is a very loyal and generous friend who loves the spotlight. This fire sign is ruled by the sun, the center of our solar system - hence Leo's notorious ego! But that same ego helps Leo radiate confidence, warmth, and enthusiasm, and with these traits they can easily inspire and influence the people around them. Just like the lion that symbolizes this sign, Leo is proud and strong - the ruler of the jungle - and also stubborn! They are often creative people who appreciate beauty, anything lushly extravagant, and the dramatically bold. Leo inspires us all to be confident in our self-expression. 

The Big Reveal!!

I have been so pumped to finally show the TTPats Home Makeover in completion!! It's been a lot of work, and a lot of fun. Very proud to say we are officially done! ... For now at least. :) Read to the bottom to see the whole story, but for now... Let's finally take a look at the shots!!!!

     

How We Put Our Final Personal Touches on the Den

 

Now that the painting was done, the desk and shelves were up, and the house was almost finished, the Den went into speed mode. We worked on a bunch of different projects. One of my favorites is this project design board. It used to be my old roommate's headboard that I picked up for her at a salvage shop for 10 bucks!

The Adventure of Making Our Desk

 

I love salvaged wood pieces. Shopping at Restoration Hardware however was NOT in our budget. I was driving back home to Rochester, NY for Memorial Day weekend, and I had an idea SET that I. Would. Find. Wood... Old wood... Side of the road, distressed, water damaged beautiful old wood! And I did. :)

It was pretty fun actually driving through Amish country in PA and weird small towns, talking to people and asking around. I ended up finding a towing company that was selling firewood by the road, but they had wood planks in the pile. So I asked, and turns out the owner's brother makes big shipping crates, and he had a whole barn-full of old wood from his brother! He gave it to me for free, and even cut it down for me so it would fit in my car. Check it out!

IKEA Hack: Bookshelf to Media Console

 

IKEA hacks.  Who doesn't love them?  You take an IKEA piece - simple, reliable, maybe a little bland - and you spice it up to give it some new life or transform it to meet your new furniture needs.  In our case, we did a little of both.  The best part of these projects is that they're a fun, easy, and cheap way to create your dream furniture all on your own!  All you need is some spray paint, tape, a sheet to paint over, and a nice spot of grass on a sunny day - plus your IKEA piece.  :)

A Little Paint Job Does the Trick!

Saying good bye to the old guest room was hard at first. I had a mural in there, I had painted a silver accent wall, it was the most re-designed room in the whole apartment! And it was where all of my last remaining girly decor landed. And my bed that I LOVED. Let's do a tribute to this space, before we show the new paint job!

When I first moved in:

Then it became my bedroom: (There's that silver accent wall!)

Then I switched to the big bedroom, and redecorated this room for my roommate: (Kept the silver accent wall, but painted the other walls white)

With the mural and all!

Then Patrick moved in, and we made it into our guest room- on a dime:

But it wouldn't stay for long!!!

While it was sad, now the new Den is in the best shape that room has seen! :) Next week, Sydney will show you how we got a media console out of an old IKEA shelf from Patrick's old apartment!! 

Love,

Teri

A Change of Plans... How We Went With the Flow!!

Everything was set. We were good to go. Living Room- check! Bedroom- check! Guest Bedroom- eh! But it got the job done... Yeah, cue the design itch again. It was convenient timing, because my sister was also getting rid of her navy sofa that I happened to LOVE and could not just destine its fate to the Craigslist gods. So we took it.

I originally wanted to put the sofa into the guest room to turn it into an office and TV room. That was the original plan, and I was ready to say good bye to my old mattress at this point. The sofa is navy and has nailhead trim, and it's really pretty. But really big. So big it would never fit through the hallway door. It would fit in the Living Room though....

So, to Patrick's dismay, we would have to re-re-decorate the Living Room and use it in there... Yup!...  I just couldn't let that sofa leave the family. But its navy color wouldn't work with the army green and raspberry of our living room! So I guess we were painting again. I was very excited about this. Patrick was not! This was our "finished" green living room:

Where is a navy sofa to go in there though!? So here was the plan for the updated Living Room:



We changed the green accent walls to a dark navy (Hale Navy by Ben Moore,) moved the raspberry rug to the raspberry master bedroom, moved the sofa in, and moved the little white pullout sofa (which was originally meant for the guest room anyways) to it's place in the new Den! All 4 white walls in there would be painted the same navy, and a new design plan was in the works!! Here is the old Guest Room again:

And here is the new plan for the Den!

This room is the most dramatic change. I can't wait for you to see!

Love,

NAFASI

Mastering the Master Bedroom!

Let's talk Bedroom today. We had a lot of DIY action in the Living Room last week, and there's a little more in the bedroom where we were going for a contemporary boho vibe. Again the color palette was black and white, raspberry and touches of salvaged wood and mixed metals. This room is really fun, and we had a ton of fun doing it! 

We had to paint right away. This room started out blue with all of my knick knacks everywhere. We wanted to clean it out and freshen it up. So of course we painted. Here's my old bedroom:

We still wanted the crisp white in the bedroom, but not everywhere. We both like color, and the raspberry that we were going for would be a nice contrast with the white walls. The thing was, we were tired of the typical accent wall. It's been done, and even in our own living room! So to add a little flavor, we wrapped the color around the corners, and ombre'ed it into the white! It has a cool almost tie-dye effect. Check out the process. 

The last DIY in the bedroom for today was our faithful little nightstand. You may remember it from this transformation. It went from brown wicker, to yellow sunshine, and then finally to black and off white in the latest design! He's been through a lot, and I love him. ;)

We're getting close!! The only thing we had left was the guest room. We didn't really get new pieces in there. It was a mini version of the old apartment. All of the girly pink stuff went in there, and we just took a break on it. It was still cute, but not necessarily what we were going for with the rest of the apartment. Here is the reveal of the guest room!

Pretty cute! BUT, in the next blog everything gets turned all around. And happy accidents made the turn for the better I'd say! I'm super excited to write the next one because it is a recent project- we're actually still not even completely finished! Stay tuned!!!...

Love,

Teri

Adventures in Antique Row

Hi everyone!

A couple weeks ago the NAFASI team took a field trip to Antique Row in Kensington, MD.  Antique Row is literally that - a row of antique shops!  It's the largest and oldest center of antiques in the DC/metropolitan area.  If you're ever in the market for that special antique or are just looking to spend a relaxing afternoon browsing old treasures, definitely visit Antique Row!  I suggest checking what times the stores open - we went on a Sunday around 11, and all the stores were closed as they open at 12 on Sundays!  So we went for a stroll around the block and picked up some yummy sandwiches at a nearby deli while we waited.  The area has a lot of cute restaurants that would be perfect for a date night.

We started shopping on the block we wandered to while we were waiting for the Antique Row shops to open.  Capital Consignment was our first stop:

We found that adorable wicker elephant table you've been looking for!!  I can see him guarding the foyer in your house! 

They had lots of super cool art.  After Capital Consignment, we made our way back to Antique Row.  The shops were open and we decided to start at the beginning of the row with Antique Market II.

Chandeliers!!  The sapphire accented one is so pretty!

I think these antique jeweled brushes might be every girl's dream.  

There were a ton of amazing finds!  Lots of jewelry and little knick knacks as well as a good selection of antique furniture. 

Next stop was Mobler at Kensington.  If you're looking for mid-century modern furniture pieces then this is absolutely where you need to go!  Of all the stores we visited it had the most definitive focus on furniture and on one particular style. 

It looks like we visited the set of 'Mad Men'!  After Mobler, we checked out Sage Consignment.  It was super funky with a lot of crazy items!

You might recognize this life-size Barbie from our Instagram and Facebook.  She's one of ten 35th anniversary edition Barbies ever made!  The store owner told us she and Woody (pictured below) have a heated, on-again, off-again relationship.  I hope Barbie didn't see Teri and Woody getting cozy!!   

Next we checked out HomeWorks, an extremely adorable store that had a few furniture pieces and a lot of giftable items. 

Why yes, I was extremely delighted by the miniature farm animal novelty soaps!  They're just too cute!

The last stop on our Antique Row tour was Goldsborough Glynn.  This was a really nice shop and they even gave us complimentary lemonade while we browsed.  They had furniture, art, and a beautiful collection of jewelry.

Crystal bottle stoppers (above) and cufflink earrings (below).  

We really loved these typewriter key bracelets!  

That's all folks!  We had so much fun visiting Antique Row and seeing all the vintage treasures!  Check back soon for NAFASI's next adventure!

Love,

Sydney