The Beehive project

A few months ago I formed a little company called EHS Designs, with a brilliant designer/friend named Susan, and so, together, we tackled a duplex project (for an investor) about a mile from my house.

It's a three bedroom, one bath downstairs, same upstairs. As the project progressed, we affectionately dubbed it The Beehive House because the chandelier in (the room that should technically be the dining room but with college students who know?) looks a bit like a honeycomb. It's originally from Anthropologie, but we got it on sale at Final Cut (if you don't know about it, look it up, it's amazing). 

(image via Anthropologie)

We put the finishing touches on the duplex week before last and then got the professional pictures this week, and I'd love to share them here. As a side note: help me remember to take more BEFORE PICTURES FOR THE LOVE OF next time.

So here's what I've got re: befores, and then the closest I can get to exact afters. 

Choosing vinyl was its own crash course. I hadn't done that before, but the owner wanted something exciting. The house has a craftsman-ish feel to me, so I thought a deep red would both honor the original architecture, and still be super fun for a college rental. Those numbers are by far one of my favorite parts of the entire project. I found them on etsy here. This is such a low-cost way to make a HUGE impact. They're SO FUN, but not wackadoodle weird. 

These are the best two shots I got of the downstairs living room (I so wish I could've shown you the drop ceiling monstrosity that existed before hand).

We applied peel & stick wallpaper above the mantel - which served as our art for the room - and went with our overall colors of orange, dark blue & green for rugs & furnishings. Those chairs are from Target and they are on point. Something about the lines of the arms. 

Not trying to brag but WE DID THAT MURAL. I have to give Susan major credit here (and for so many things) as I would not have had the courage on my own. She did most of the sketching and I did a lot of the cutting in for the paint. (We purposely left that room empty/flex for the tenants.)

You can't quite tell in any of these pictures, but we sketched a branch to the honeycomb chandelier and even put a little bejeweled bee on the light fixture itself. 

We were challenged by the terribly beat up floors. They weren't consistent hardwood (they had bizarre & ugly planks of plywood, and other patched wood (it was totally weird) (June added the last bit about weird :)) So the investor suggested we just paint it. It was a brilliant and low-cost fix yahoo (June added yahoo. Every time I look away from my computer, she adds something). We originally thought we'd go with a medium grey to keep things simple and neutral, but then reconsidered. We were given a huge canvas, why not put it to work? Plus, this is a light, airy shade of green which in some ways does come across neutral. It might not be the color for everyone, but for a fun college rental, I think it was just the ticket. Totally fun color I mean who doesn't like it? (June again).

My heart did break a smidge when I found out re-tiling the shower wasn't in the budget, but one of the best parts of these big projects is learning flexibility while still maintaining an overall beautiful and exciting feel. The inserts aren't gorgeous, but they are clean, and how about that cool, honeycomb-ish mirror we found? The mirror reflects itself to make it look double sided.[super cool] (June again).

Bedrooms for these projects are only lightly furnished, because we know the tenants will want to come in and put their own stamp on things. We painted an old dresser for this room, found the art at Final Cut, and the duvet at Society6. 

Those brass plates above the bed <3 (another brilliant find by Susan).

Upstairs living space was a little challenging because I don't THINK this house began as a duplex, thus, there was no upstairs living room. It's sort of a reclaimed area that feels a bit more like a bedroom. We found these killer cane/rattan chairs at Final Cut, sexy blue velvet couch (from Wayfair) that folds into a duvet (if they want to cram too many people into the rental as we did in college ;), and we used some leftover orange paint to create wall depth behind the art.

We had a professional muralist do the leaves and oranges coming up the stairs, and I think she did a fabulous job (she also did mural at the 101 house). I painted the risers the same orange we used throughout the house but that didn't make it in the pictures. 

The bathroom up here is similar to the one downstairs but I loved the mirror we found (beehive!).

This is probably my favorite bedroom in the duplex. We created that art by (very carefully) cutting wallpaper to size, & then hanging this cool gold piece of art on top. Combined with the pink dresser it makes me so happy. I think the sloped roof makes it feel cozy & magical, too. Don't you just want to move in? 

This view also makes me happy. We used the orange (that threads a lot of the design together) to outline some of the transitional door/entryways. 

Jealous of this outdoor space. It was just a pile of dirt when we started. We had one of our contractors build the deck, then our landscaper built the framing, added lights (how fun will that be at night?), build those beautiful planters that are now housing gorgeous, blooming mandevillas, and put up the hanging chair. Oh! And he built those killer outdoor couches :) (wish I had those). Susan and I added cushions, pillows, a coffee table and a rug. We also had our electrician add outlets over by the couches so the tenants can hang out outside while charging devices. 

What'd you think? What are your favorite/least favorite parts? (this actually helps us so comment if you're inclined!)

We've got a big project coming down the pipeline (hi, dad!), and a two-guest-room install we can't WAIT to do once it is safe to do so. We'll keep you posted!