It’s Friday (woot woot!)! I’ve got a fun mood board to throw your way and we’re keepin’ it in the family…

Meet Danny and Sarah! Danny is my cousin and Sarah just so happens to be one of my very nearest and dearest childhood friends. Yes, a fab arrangement! They met at my 17th birthday party and have been together ever since. Fast forward 10 years and they’re now married, living happily ever after in sunny California and have the two most adorable kids in the world, Elliott and Nora. So, technically, since they met at my birthday party, I’m totally responsible for the two most adorable kids in the world, right? That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

Last week, Sarah took the kids to visit her family here in Virginia. While she was gone, Danny decided he wanted to surprise her with an early Mother’s Day present and totally revamp their apartment’s living room. Talk about an awesome Mother’s Day present, huh ladies!?  They had been talking back and forth about what they wanted to do with the living room for a while, but Danny thought now was a good time to take the plunge. I was so very excited when I was called in to join the fun and help pull their vision together! After all, who loves putting together mood boards? This girl.

I’ve mentioned a few times about how much my family loves all things Disney. Well, Danny and Sarah are indeed a part of our Disney Crew. Actually, we called ourselves the “Indy Crew”. When Danny, our cousins Dana and Darin and I were little, we’d play Indiana Jones. Danny was Indiana and Darin was Jones. Dana was the kid (Short Round) and sometimes the villain – wherever the story took us. I was Marion – who I often mistakenly called “Maid Marian”. Wrong movie, Ash. Okay, back on topic! Growing up, it seemed like we lived, breathed, and played Disney 24/7 so it’s no wonder it has trickled into our adult lives.

Being Disney geeks, Danny and Sarah are huge fans of the one and only Mary Blair. Back in the day, she was one of the leading producers of art and animation for the Walt Disney Company and worked on all of the classics such as Cinderella, Alice in Wonderland, Sleeping Beauty and Peter Pan. She also created the characters for the It’s A Small World ride. Her work is phenomenal and definitely jam packed with inspiration. Fun fact for fellow Disney World lovers: Mary Blair is the artist behind the huge mural you see at the Contemporary Resort. Yet another fun fact: It includes a hidden 5-legged goat.

Needless to say, this was a mood board that I was super excited to delve into. Danny and Sarah wanted something fun, whimsical, modern and oozing with Mary Blair-ness. Here’s what I came up with:

1. The Color Palette – Danny said that Sarah loved purple. So, why not? We’re talking bold, bright, whimsical and colorful Mary Blair, right? So purple walls it would be! Paint will totally transform a room and going from “builder beige” to a deep and pretty purple was sure to pack a punch. He ended up using Valspar’s Good Plum (#95114). Their existing sofa is lime green, so that played a big role in the color scheme. Adding white accents and touches of gray throughout the room really help ground the rest of the bright colors.

2. Gallery Wall – Oh, how I love gallery walls. The plan here was to create a gallery wall over the sofa using pages from a Mary Blair coffee table book and black and white photos of the kids. It’s a perfect way to bring in a little bit of Mary Blair herself (without having to sell a kidney) as well as the kids’ freakishly adorable faces. Since the Mary Blair photos were packed with color, making the kid’s photos black and white helped them stand out more but not compete with the awesome Mary Blair photos. At first, I thought the Ribba frames would be the ticket, but Danny said he thought the Virserum frames were more “Mary Blair-ish” and he was totally right. The beveled edge brought a lot more detail and looked more whimsical. To make it easier for Danny when he was shopping at Ikea, I went ahead and designed the gallery wall layout:

I also lettered them according to frame size to make putting them in place a lot less complicated: a) 8×10  b) 11×15.75  c) 5×7  d) 4×6

3. Kappa Ceiling Light – Even though their living room has a huge floor to ceiling window, the room needed ample lighting. This light fixture, coming in at only $30!, did just the trick.

4. Karlstad Sectional - This is Danny and Sarah’s existing sofa. I’m pretty sure it’s not available in this color anymore (at least it isn’t on the website). It’s bright lime green color is perfect for a Mary Blair-inspired environment and looks awesome against a bold purple wall.

5. Owl Bookends – These bookends are from ZGallerie. When I made this moodboard, just last week, they were on their website. But now they aren’t anywhere to be found. Hopefully they are just temporarily unavailable because they are so stinking cute. UPDATE: These are now back online and in stock! Yay! Thanks, Stephanie! The bright white will stands out against the purple walls and is a fun place to keep the kid’s books. The owl also reminded me a lot of Sleeping Beauty - yet another Disney film Mary Blair worked on.

6. Dining Set – For the new space, a new dining set was in order. Bringing in some honey wood tones, like this dining chair, I felt would really warm up the space. Update: they ended up going with this dining set!

7. White Stockholm Bowl – I think this bowl screams Mary Blair! Can you hear it? It’s organic yet graphic at the same time and makes a big statement for only $20 bucks. It’s almost so pretty, you wouldn’t want to put anything in it.

8. Knipsa Basket – In an apartment, storage is key. A few of these baskets would offered up some extra toy storage. They also add some interesting texture and are a similar tone to the new dining set.

9. Malin Figur Curtains – I love these curtains! When I saw them, I literally said “these are it!”. Like the Stockholm bowl, they just scream Mary Blair. The colors were perfect too. The greens and purples weren’t too matchy matchy to the wall color and sofa and the gray helps ground all of the bright/bold colors. A win win!

After I emailed the moodboard to Danny, he literally hit the ground running. Shoot, I had the easy part! Enough talk, you want to see how it turned out, don’t you? Well, you’re in luck! Before I show you the after, here’s the photo Danny sent me the day before Sarah left for Virginia…

A gallon of paint, more than a few shopping trips, a bunch of phone calls and a million picture messages later, here’s the photo he sent me the night before she got home!

Such a huge difference, right?! The room before didn’t have any overhead lighting. Danny rigged a the light fixture and ran the wire taught to the ceiling (towards the window so it wasn’t noticeable from the front door), ran it to the window frame, over to the corner and down the wall. It’s so seamless, it looks like it’s hard-wired.

As for Sarah, she LOVES it and is planning a trip back to Virginia next month so Danny can start work on the master bedroom. Kidding. Seriously though, Danny did such a great job honing in on Sarah’s style. He knows her so well! Yeah, I put the mood board together, sure, but Danny led me in the direction he knew Sarah would want and he made the calls. As I told Sarah, he said “no” to the sparkle rainbow butterfly decals. Kidding again.

So what do you think? Love you some Mary Blair flair? Have the sudden urge to plan a trip so your husband can get to work on a room in your house?

Mary Blair images from here and here.

This mood board was a lot of fun to put together because it’s completely different than the style of our house: cool, neutral earth tones with a definite coastal vibe. My grandparents live in Florida (right outside of Tampa), and Greg and I try to get down there at least a couple times a year if our schedules let us. Whenever we go, it’s so relaxing and everything seems to be automatically light and airy – which was the inspiration for this mood board:

1. The Color Palette – This coastal color palette is much like the ocean: sandy beige, shades of blue, and white. I imagine the room having gray blue walls (something like Martha Stewart’s Shale – MSL276) with maybe even some Pure White wainscoting (MSL253).

2.  Hoyne Pendant Lamp – Even though this pendant lamp is made out of galvanized steel, the design kind of reminds me of a fishing net. So, it goes along with the “theme” of the room without being too over-the-top “beachy”.

3. Kivik Loveseat and Chaise (in Dansbo Beige) – Being the color of the sand, this sofa is the perfect “base” for a living room with a coastal vibe. Coming in at 828 clams, it’s also super affordable as far as sectionals go. The cool thing about this particular sectional is that you can easily add sections to make it as big or small as you want – basically, custom without the huge price tag. It also has a removable/machine washable cover, making it pet and kid friendly.

4. Shoreline Canvas Art – I love this modern take on the ocean by Caroline Gold. And the soft colors go really well with the color palette of the mood board.

5. Zak Table Lamp – I’ve been looking for an excuse to use this lamp on the blog, and here it is! I love the simple, clean, modern lines and think a pair of these on either side of the sofa would look great. They are large and make a statement, but their glass base keeps everything light and airy.

6. Cotton Canvas Printed Crosshatch Window Panels – Speaking of light and airy, these canvas window panels are the perfect. I’d also use oil rubbed bronze hardware to tie in with the dark ottoman (#8).

7. Hayward Pillows – I love lots of throw pillows and I think an excessive amount in a mixture of blues and browns would look awesome in this room. It would make for a really comfy environment with adding some color that coordinates with the art at the same time.

8. Wicker Storage Ottoman – This extra large storage ottoman would serve as a great coffee table. It’s 35×35, so big enough to ground the otherwise light and airy room. The added storage is a major plus. Oh, and it’s outdoor safe too!

9. Faux Coral – I’ve always been a fan of faux coral. It’s a great accent piece and has an interesting texture.

10. Belize Graphite Rug – Yet another Crate & Barrel find – I just realized there’s a lot of Crate & Barrel pieces in the round up! This rug is a great modern take on the traditional sisal rug. The gray sisal material has a lot of taupe undertones, which helps it tie in with the sofa. On the other hand, it’s dark enough of to serve up some contrast.

There you have it. My cool, coastal, Florida-inspired living room. Anyone have any favorite pieces?

My love for mood boards started when I took my first Desktop Publishing class in the 10th grade. I enjoyed putting together boards for party ideas, my future house, and outfits. These days, I make them before any major purchases or if I’m just trying to get a feel for where we’re going with the decor (like here, here, and here). I also make them “just because”. Even though I’m not a professional interior designer by any means, I really enjoy putting furniture pieces and accessories together to make a cool, fun-to-live-in rooms. I guess you could say I’m an “interior design enthusiast”. Now that I have this blog as a creative outlet, I thought it would be fun to share some of my “just because” mood boards from time to time. Ones like this one for instance…

I put this mood board together after watching an episode of That Girl. Marlo Thomas was wearing a very cute and tailored navy and kelly green dress. The “interior design enthusiast” in me thought, “That’d make a cool living room”. So a living room it became…

1. The Color Palette – Navy, kelly green, cobblestone gray and white are the colors that bring this look together. I think a light, modern, barely there gray would look really good on the walls along with classic bright white trim. Navy and kelly green are the main accent colors (pillows, art, etc) that give it the playful and modern vibe my “just because” design is going for.

2. Design Books + Tickets Wall Art – These wall art pieces are great for a room with a lot of neutrals (like the sofa and the wall color). The bright white mats along with the simple dark frames really help the simple artwork make a statement. Also, the small hints of green and blue will help bring together the overall color palette.

3. The Shelter Sofa – I. love. this. sofa! The high backs and arms make it the perfect sofa for curling up and reading a book or watching a movie. It’s 70′s inspired design is iconic, modern, and vintage – all at the same time. It also comes in a sleeper version – which is a plus if you you want your living room to double as a guest room.

4. Array Silver Bookcase – By layering books with similar colors (greens, blues, oranges, yellows, and reds), the bookcase becomes sort of like an art instillation. If you can’t find books in the same color family, just cover them with scrapbook paper!

5. Haley Table Lamp – This lamp has been one of my favorite Crate & Barrel finds for a while (it looks even better in person!). The base is coated with silver nitrate, giving it an awesome mirrored, mercury glass effect.

6. Kitted Camo Pouf – This knitted pouf is perfect for extra lounging in a family room or bonus area. The kelly green color really brings out the slight touches of green in the artwork (#2).

7. Ceramic Basset Hound – I love this little guy. Isn’t he cute? With the bright colors from the books and the artwork, he really stands out in the crowd.

8. Fallon Zig Zag Federal Blue Woven Wool Rug – I’m obsessed with this rug. It’s graphic pattern makes a major statement and packs a big modern punch. I wish it came in other colors! Otherwise, I’d be snatching one up for our living room in a split second.

So there you have it. My 70′s-navy-and-kelly-green-dress-inspired living room. Anyone have any favorite pieces?