Design Style: Urban Classic

I’m often stumped when asked my decorating style. I tend to just do what I love. Our family room is a mix of modern with vintage, new with old, an “urban classic” style but with a bit more fun with pops of color.

I’ve recently been working on redoing the family room which is a mix of repurposed, thrifted, DIY and new. Vintage modern. Urban classic. It’s still a work in progress (I know. I know…I just revealed the family room makeover not long ago but it wasn’t feeling ‘just right’ so I’m slowly changing it. Again.) I love decorating. I love thrifting. I love DIY. But sometimes adding something new is just as important for achieving the look I love. Sometimes that means saving for a big ticket item but most of the time I’m working on a tight budget.

One of the elements you can’t miss in my family room is the set of Sauder Barrister Lane bookcases on either side of the fireplace surround. New but classic spin on the plain cubby-style shelving. I love the color/finish and the addition of vintage-looking name plates.

Two Barrister Lane bookcases give this wall and fireplace surround a built-in (but moveable) look.

I love the vintage vibe of the bookcases paired with a modern pattern like in this accent rug and colorful glass lamps:

And they’re versatile. So when I get the urge to rearrange, they’ll work in several other rooms in my home too.

Get the Look: For a bit of casual sophistication, Urban Classic reflects a smart, easygoing lifestyle through timeless decorating. Somewhat eclectic, this style focuss on mixing classic and found items to hint at a well-traveled taste. Urban Classic is full of sophisticated yet relaxed home design ideas with a healthy mix of materials. Colors are earthy and rich, while materials show age to suggest a loving history of use.

  • Find inspiration. Check out magazines, decorating blogs, ideas via Pinterest or a Google search. Sometimes inspiration can be found in art, fashion, one object, fabric patterns, catalogs, etc.
  • Mix repurposed, thrifted, DIY with new and modern (Sauder has a broad range of beautiful furniture at affordable prices) to create a room that reflects your style.
  • Personalize. Take what you love about your inspiration and put your own spin on it, making it fit your lifestyle, your personality.

Perfect timing: Before I even received this opportunity, I spied the Barrister Lane bookcases and knew right away that I wanted a set of two to flank either side of the vintage fireplace surround that you often see in my family room (sometimes I move it to the dining room). I couldn’t pass up the color, style, function and affordable price and ordered two of them online. THEN just a few days later, I received the offer to participate in the Sauder Get the Look campaign. Great timing, awesome coincidence! I purchased the product before the campaign became available to me. How perfect!

Purchase experience: The bookcases arrived and were simple to assemble by myself. The instructions were easy to read and the pieces clearly marked. There was however one piece missing from one of the packages. My first reaction was panic…would I have to box it back up and ship it back? (Sauder furniture is super heavy – not fun for shipping but definitely adds to the overall quality of product.) The answer: No. I simply went online to sauder.com and ordered a replacement part. Free-of-charge. It arrived within in a few days. No hassle! Great customer service – I was able to manage ordering the replacement part on a Sunday evening without even having to explain the situation to a sales representative or make an extra trip to the store or without having to return the product. Gotta love that!

What design style is most prevalent in your home? See more ‘Get the Look’ ideas from Sauder on Pinterest.

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Sauder Woodworking. The opinions and text are all mine.


One Room…Many Ways

This little room right off of the dining room really doesn’t have a function and gets a makeover more often than any other room in our home. As in…made over on a nearly monthly basis…since I like to re-arrange and move things around so often. Here’s a look at this room’s decorating history…

It started off looking like this when we bough our home:

sitting room before

We installed French doors, slate tile and a rescued a giant mirror…

entryway

Sometimes it displays my latest thrifty treasures…

sitting room

thrifty sitting room

Or acts as an extension to our dining space…

dining nook

Or a rarely used sitting room…

sitting-room

sitting-room 

At Christmas time, it’s my favorite space to decorate…

christmas sitting room

And currently it’s a little work space…

DIY script drop cloth drapes

DIY no sew drop cloth {script} curtains.

office space

with a cute DIY globe light fixture cover

globe light cover

Here’s what the other side of the room currently looks like: {wall mounted pallet shelf}

eclectic hallway

It’s like playing with a life sized doll house. Do you switch it up routinely? 

I’m joining in the party:

restyled space link party

Christmas in the sitting room

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas in the DIY Show Off home! We have an odd room we often label the sitting room that sits right off of our dining room. It’s probably the room that gets rearranged most in our home, as I’ve shared in the past…

sitting room makeover

Now that I’ve shared some projects for a new sitting room look this week, I wanted to put it all in one post to show the entire area.

I’ve been snapping pictures every day for about two weeks, different times of the day, different manual settings, with a tripod…photography is hard work when the lighting is tricky and the French doors have been making it a challenge. But here goes the best I could do…

Be prepared, there are a LOT of pictures.

  •  table is made from a small cushioned stool and an old window

  • candle ring with chalkboard message makes for a nice festive door knob

  • Christmas vignette:

DIY tomato cage Christmas tree tutorial

Every time I decorate this little area, it’s my favorite space. I can’t decide what my favorite part is:  painted chairs, His & Hers pillows, barrel side table, window coffee table, eclectic vignette…the entire room is comfortable and cozy. What do you think? Do you have a small area for quiet conversations or reading?

I’m sharing a bit of my Christmas home tour over at Unskinny Boppy today kicking off her Home for the Holidays series.

Don’t forget to Show Off your Christmas tree!

Christmas Tree Contest
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