how to work with a virtual designer

did you know that i have a YouTube channel? since the first of the year mr. style and i have slowly ramped up a video channel where i share tutorials in regards to frequently asked questions here on the blog. sometimes, a picture is worth a thousand words. othertimes, a few sentences strung together are all you need. and let me tell you those sentences can be pretty challenging at times… but i thought you might enjoy a ‘behind the scenes’ tour on how our YouTube room sprang to life.

here is a before photo. the YouTube room started off as a formal dining room in our new home in georgia. actually, this house is roughly forty years old. but it is new to mr. style and me. last year we moved from a two bedroom apartment in san francisco, ca to athens, ga. many of you might be curious to know before living in san francisco mr. style and i owned a lovely home on six acres in minnesota plus an apartment during our overseas days. eight years or so ago we did the whole downsizing thing which was quite a freeing experience. now, we’ve upsized again, but i’m adding furniture very slowly as i don’t want a cluttered home. having moved over eighteen times (i lost track along the way) i’ve learned to live in a house for a year or so to see how it ticks before racing into any design decisions. there are so many things you can learn from a house if you take the time to observe. just like my daily outfits, i want my home to work for me as well as look great. form and function go hand in hand.

skirt | tee | cardigan | shoes |scarf

but i have to backtrack for a moment and share how our YouTube room came into existence. because it definitely wasn’t on my radar screen to convert our formal dining room into a workspace environment. enter Laurel Bledsoe Design – LBD for short. don’t you love it? laurel is a dynamic woman who not only runs a design firm but recently dipped her toes into the blogging world. check our her blog Little Black Domicile

laurel’s path crossed mine through my blog. to make a long story short, she knew i was in the process of designing our home in athens and offered to help as her design firm counsels many a client through a virtual design process. what a blessing this has been to me! the first step in the design process is taking lots of photos of your home from every conceivable angle which we did then promptly sent off to laurel.

the desk in the photo above caught laurel’s attention even though i assured her that desk belonged in our guest room. mr. style and i had just hauled it out to use as a prop for a YouTube video. “don’t put the desk back quite yet,” laurel advised. “i have an idea.”

the second step in a virtual design is a rendition of your floor plan. as you can see from the photo above, laurel immediately had us thinking ‘outside of the box.’ the formal dining room was now a Style Office. and the living room was converted into a dining/living space with the dining table in front of the fireplace and bookcases. stay tuned to future posts as to how this area is coming to life.

desk base | desk top | egg chair | chrome table

but back to our YouTube room which is now 90% complete. the desk and egg chair were both purchased for my closet/office space, but i think they look pretty darn cool over here. don’t worry, the white desk from our guest room got shuffled into my office. the spot where the egg chair sat is taken up with three bookcases that house my shoes – much better use of space. now all that’s left for the YouTube room to be complete is the chandelier scheduled for a delivery end of this week. hooray! plus, i’m on the hunt for a brown leather and chrome office chair. and i’m still debating on a console table. originally, laurel suggested we take the table from the entryway and move it into the Style Office. great idea! instead, i diverted it into our living room as it compliments the modern farmhouse theme which encompasses the main floor. 

photo frames

as you can see, laurel has terrific ideas and suggestions. like utilizing the plate rack built-ins as a showcase for mr. style’s fantastic photos. laurel advised black frames would pop against the white wood work. and they do. each photo displayed is chosen with care. like my very first campaign with a brand. yes, i was lucky enough to introduce Talbots fabulous ‘flawless five-pocket jean.’ there’s also a photo from my recent ‘david’s bridal campaign’ and, of course, fridays with oscar gets top billing.

LBD Design also suggested that mr. style’s camera and lighting equipment could store in the corners of our YouTube room. which makes it easy for us to set up ‘lights, camera, action.’ it was also laurel’s idea to paint the room blue. being the observant person she is with attention to detail she noticed i wear quite a lot of blue on a day-to-day basis on the blog. and she’s right! i do love blue. but for whatever reason, i had never decorated with this favorite color of mine. that’s all changed now, and i’m so happy i had a designer that prodded me to look at things in a new light. i absolutely love this blue room. originally, LBD picked out the shade Blue Jean. then i toyed with Hale Navy before settling on Indigo Blue.

what do you think, ladies? all i can say is i’m thrilled with our new room. this is just the beginning of our home re-do. in future posts, i’ll share our laundry room, kitchen, and living/dining rooms. phew! all i can say is i’m thrilled to be working with a professional design team that keeps me on track. so head on over to laurel’s blog Little Black Domicile and see what else this talented lady is up to.

Beth Djalali

is the Founder and CEO of Style at a Certain Age. She writes Sundays-Fridays on all topics ranging from fashion, health, wellness, home design and more.

She’s 65, 5’8, and size 8.

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