LCY Styles: Allison and Zach's Chicago Loft Before and After

So I did something kinda crazy. I took on an interior design client (yes - in addition to everything else I have going on...). After an hour-long in-person consult, a month and a half of e-decorating and waiting for items to arrive, my pal and assistant Caitlin Brown and I ventured to our client's home yesterday morning for the final installation. The homeowners, Allison and Zach, had a lot of great pieces to begin with. We were mostly responsible for the finishing touches. The details that take a space from nice to "I feel like I'm in a show on HGTV!" Client's words. Not mine. But they sure warmed my heart.

Enough words... more pictures.

OVERALL BEFORE & AFTER:

As you can see, most of the furniture stayed the same in this joint living/dining room loft style apartment. We shuffled some of the pieces around a bit.. but you'll really see the difference with the new accent pieces, lamps, plants, couch jewelry (pillows and throws), and the most important part of all: the styling.

WEST WALL BEFORE & AFTER:

Above you see the biggest change in the space. There is a huge wall along the kitchen and dining portion of the large open room. Allison and Zach had a small set of bookshelves styled as a bar, which looked lovely, but the shelves were really too small for the space. Covering the wall with art would have been a huge cost. So we went with a more functional arrangement. There's no real entryway space, so we styled one in this area of the loft. Now there's added light from the table lamp and mirror, as well as storage from the drawers in the parsons console table. Definitely my favorite part of the room. Isn't it lovely?

SECOND ANGLE WEST WALL BEFORE & AFTER:

 

Same wall, different angle.

EAST WALL BEFORE & AFTER:

The other large wall opposite the "entryway" just had a bookshelf on it, centered, split between the living and dining areas. We moved it over to make it a part of the dining section and added in a little chair and floor lamp nook to tie in with the living room. Hanging a sconce and a piece of art to these two spaces, respectively, helped define them further.

BOOKSHELVES BEFORE & AFTER:

We moved the bar over to the bookshelves and style the shelves with items Allison had registered for. Lots and lots of serving pieces! A few personal photos in great frames helped make this more interesting than just an assortment of beautiful bowls and dishware.

LIVING ROOM BEFORE & AFTER:

Rug, coffee table styling, an oversized plant, pillows and throws... we just did our thang.

THE MOCK-UP WE SENT THE CLIENT:

As you can see, a lot of the details and overall rearranging and hanging art came in to play with the styling/installation.

Caitlin and I were so so happy with how the project turned out! And the even better part? So were our clients. : )

I would share all the source details with you... but then I'd have to kill you. If you like what you see, shoot me a note at alaina.lcy@gmail.com for pricing or questions about my design services!

join the everygirl and kate spade new york for a holiday shopping soiree!

Danielle and I are thrilled to represent The Everygirl as hosts for a holiday event at kate spade new york next Thursday evening! The event will be from 6-8pm at their Oak Street store in Chicago, and it's open to everyone! So bring your friends, family, sister, mom, or coworker, and join us for cocktails and chit chat. The best part? There will be 20% off all full-priced purchases that evening! Gift shopping, anyone? Please call the number on the invite to RSVP.

We had a fun evening trying on outfits at the store yesterday. I settled on the gemstone collared sweater and colorblock skirt shown above! Danielle's wearing a tinsel sweater and bubble skirt that's covered in illustrations of gemstones. Festive, yes?

Hope to see you there!

my week in 5 photos

Here's a sneak peek from an amazing photo shoot Danielle and I produced on behalf of Fizz56 sparkling wine for The Everygirl. We called on the talented John and Maura Stoffer to photograph it, and we had all of our very talented and hard-working interns, Annie, Elizabeth, and Isabella on hand. Because I know someone will ask, the green napkins are Stone Textile, the stemless champagne flute is BHLDN, and the pink trimmed plates are from West Elm.

The new Anthropologie catalog arrived. That tutu is taunting me.

Small fall vignette on the coffee table. Succulents are from A New Leaf and the antler candlestick holders from West Elm.

As much as I love my cozy, relaxing nights in, I am antsy to get back into working out. I attended a Core Power Yoga Sculpt class in Lakeview last year with my best friend and loved it. But never found time to go back... shocker. Well, a new location just opened up near our new place and it's no where near as crowded. The first month is only $80 for unlimited classes, which is an awesome deal considering I spent $20 on the single class I went to last night. Hopefully returning soon (tonight?), w/ my hot pink Takeya water bottle in hand. And how fancy are those locker rooms? I felt like I was in a spa.

Finally, a quick snapshot of today's outfit because I love, love, love dressing for fall. And I finally went back to Anthro and got that beaded collar necklace. I paired it with my hunter green Zara pants, chunky wool sweater, and my new Clarks boots.

Remember: you can win a pair of the Clarks boots by voting for my styled look here!

Happy weekend all!

LCY Shops: gold, black, and white

when looking over recent items i've been wanting, wearing, using, and adding to the new place, a trend quickly appeared. lots of black, white, and gold. a year ago all i wanted was color. bright, feminine colors! is this me maturing? living with a boy? or simply hanging out with danielle too much?

• i think this black and white image of the ferris wheel in paris would look perfect on our living room mantel against the dark grey walls.

• we included these gold coach loafers in our fall footwear essentials feature on the everygirl and i've been coveting a pair for myself.

• you may have noticed two of these black and white colorblock pillows on my couch in my restyled home tour in chicago home and garden magazine (full tour coming to LCY soon!). they are from stone textile and i love the bold yet simple look they create when two are placed right next to each other. stay tuned since we'll be giving one away on the everygirl in the next few days to celebrate the brand's one-year anniversary! congratulations, elizabeth!

• credit on my favorite budget home goods site - joss and main - allowed me to purchase these ivory laguiola steak knives. we don't have a good knife set and the price seemed reasonable ($67) for quality knives made in france. plus they're pretty.

• we regularly use danielle's gold watch as a prop for photo shoots so i've kinda sorta been wanting one of my own. i love the classic design of this gold eco-drive style by citizen watches - available at watchco.

• saw this cursive design necklace on pinterest and immediately repinned. so beautiful.

• i was enjoying brunch at the bongo room with mike a few weekends ago and was delighted that my latte came to me in this double glass takeya tumbler. i quickly googled the brand when i got home, and now i have one of my very own! highly recommend! makes a fantastic stocking stuffer or coworker gift at $20!

• love love love this oversized leather butterfly chair from eurostylelighting - it's perfect for any room of the house, including the our room!

• kelsea, the very talented designer behind kslademade, was generous and sent over her newest style crossbody bag in dark brown. i use it every day. it's become my go-to bag for fall.

what's your favorite item out of the bunch?

and if you haven't voted yet - please do! turns out anyone who votes gets entered to win a pair of the clarks boots for themselves!

Leather Boots Style Contest? Sign me up! (read: pretty please vote for me?)

OnlineShoes.com sent me and three other style bloggers a pair of Clarks Mascarpone boots and knee-high Wigwam socks and asked us to style a fall look around the preppy shoes. I by no means consider myself the fashionista, but because riding boots are my go-to footwear in the fall and winter months, this didn't seem too challenging. Now you get to vote on whose look you like best!

I immediately thought to pair the brown leather boots with another fall staple: the blazer. This one I got half off for $40 at Gap since it had a button missing (I've since fixed this). I love the bright girly hue and the white trim. I also reached for the Coach Penny Over-the-Shoulder bag in emerald and my knew Pan collared blouse from Aqua at Bloomingdale's. The final prop? Buddy the pup, of course! Who doesn't enjoy a long walk on a crisp fall day?

Clarks Women's Boots | Wigwam Socks | Blazer | Handbag | Glasses

The whole look was very reasonably priced - with both leather items, the Clarks shoes and the Coach bag, being the most costly (as most leather goods are).

If you like the look, please vote "Alaina" on the contest page over at OnlineShoes.com. You don't have to sign up or anything - simply hit the "VOTE" button under my photo.

CLICK HERE TO VOTE!

However, if you want to sign up, you'll be entered to win a pair of these boots for yourself! Good luck!

photos by Danielle Moss

The Everygirl's Home Tours in Chicago Home and Garden Magazine

I am not kidding when I say it was this time last year that Chicago Home and Garden magazine came to me wanting to run my home tour and career profile in their publication. And I kept telling them I had "a few more things" I wanted to change before we photographed it. Notably, new art above my couch, a bedroom overhaul, and spruce up the dining room. Since money doesn't grow on trees... nine months later, I was finally able to get it to a place I was happy with, we scheduled a date, and photographer Andy Barnes and team came over on quite possibly THE gloomiest day of the summer and shot my old apartment. You may remember me blogging about Andy and the Chicago HG shoot back in May... I was ecstatic since he was responsible for shooting my most favorite Jayson Home and Garden catalog ever.

So July came and went... the photos turned out beautiful! And in late August, I heard from the new editor Gina Bazer about wanting to refocus the story on The Everygirl, and more specifically, Danielle's and my home tour. Press for The Everygirl?! No brainer. So we met her for coffee, chatted about decorating, and Danielle submitted her own photos of her apartment since there wasn't time to schedule another shoot (not to mention she had moved!), and now, this week, the winter issue hits newsstands! One year later. With a 4-page story on The Everygirl, and a blurb with our url on the table of contents page (incl. a photo of me and the pups! They're such good models.)

How cool is that?!

Also love that our friends over at Nate Berkus, Sasha Adler and Lauren Buxbaum landed the cover! Which I noted as being drop-dead gorgeous (those green chairs!) before evern realizing it was their project. And our good friends John and Maura Stoffer of Stoffer Photography have their byline on the pages, as well, since they shot a number of Danielle's pictures and our portrait. "Free press for everyone! Yay!"

Come back Monday for some fun behind-the-scenes pictures, and Tuesday for full-size pictures of my fully revamped tour - complete with pink geometric rug from RugsUSA, new dining table, Alicia Bock Paris photo, and my Jonathan Adler Lust pillow!

Thanks to everyone at Chicago Home and Garden - both past and present staff - who made this possible: Megan Duffy Rostan, Jan Parr, Gina Bazer, and of course, Andy Barnes!

Oh, and did you hear, it's Halloween weeeeekend! Have fun!