It was a year ago when Delight In Designs had met the Beggs Family, Emily Beggs is the Director for the West Michigan affiliate of “I Support The Girls” a non-profit organization that helps women collect and distribute essential items, including bras, underwear, and menstrual hygiene products. Jessica, owner of Delight In Designs hosted a “Bedazzle a Bra” event to collect donations and the relationship between Delight In Designs and Emily Beggs had begun! - From this; Beggs chose Delight In Designs to help curate the design in their home.
Delight In Designs mission was laid out before them, keep the integrity of the home, “we want to get people OUT of the kitchen and into our home when we entertain” said Beggs. The challenge was to find other spaces in the home to welcome guest, serve as a work space, music center, reading nook, and oh, by the way – “we don’t want to paint if we don’t have to!” was all part of this remodel!
To know the Beggs is to understand how they live, what they love – and what they don’t! Chris, Emily, and their fun spirited daughter recently moved into a home in East Grand Rapids, Michigan. They are active, they are giving, and they are determined to have their home tell their life’s story. They love to ride bikes, love music, work like crazy yet, relax by hosting small gatherings or just the three of them finding quiet time to talk about the day’s current events. In keeping with Delight In Designs mission, finding ways to incorporate the Beggs lives into their design was going to be just plain FUN!
The home was built in 1932, the era of swing music, the NY Yankees, beat the Chicago Cubs in the world series and Herbert C. Hoover was our president – This home in East Grand Rapids encompassed this history! The scope of work for Delight In Designs was to embrace the history in the living room. What to keep? They kept the gorgeous hard wood floors, embracing the wood work trimmings, the scalloped lines of the fireplace mantle are magnificent! The color chosen to highlight the woodwork; Sherwin Williams, Lively Yellow paired with Sherwin Williams Moonraker on the walls was the perfect way to embody the energy of the Beggs, while highlighting the homes history.
Other keepsakes in the room; the desk, with more of us working from home these days, Beggs knew they needed to have a work space centrally located in the home, they found this old desk used by a professor at Michigan State University; it is perfectly placed under their front window overlooking their tree lined street. The Piano and the red bike sculpture given as a housewarming gift were also items that needed to be incorporated into the design.
With Delight In Designs creative juices flowing and finding ways to incorporate the Beggs living life in their home; they chose to put that red bike sculpture high and proud on top the fireplace mantle, the Beggs are serious about biking! You might also notice in the picture gallery above the sofa, a crayon drawing of a bicycle by the Beggs daughter, turned into a black/white photo with “Life is a Beautiful Ride” digitally embedded into her drawing – it’s the personal touches such as this that allow you to love the space you live in! In that same gallery you’ll find a picture of family pets, more cycling and more family love.
Delight In Designs wanted to take that 1932 history and bring into today’s world and what better way to do that than with funky furniture! once again an opportunity to embrace the Beggs lifestyle, the Ethan Sofa by Rowe welcomes cozy, you want to curl up and read a book, yet look across the room to the leather club chair, fun, sassy and attitude! Strategically placed behind that chair is their mini bar, enough room to make your favorite cocktail, but doesn’t overtake the space. Delight In Designs hung gold round mirrors above the bar area and music center not only to bring balance to the room, but again, the early 30’s was about gold and glitz!
Let’s talk about the texture you will find it in this space! From the fuzzy pillows on the chairs flanking the fireplace, to the plush velvet throw pillows with tassels on the sofa, texture offers interest! You will notice the soft linen window treatments offering peace and tranquility yet the desk, piano and coffee table are all hard elements that speak to the serious work that takes place in this space.
The jewelry of this room is of course the lighting, there are no hardwired lights in this room! No ceiling fixtures, no electric sconces so Delight In Designs embraced this fact and had fun with the lights! You’ll notice the sconces above the fireplace, intentionally hung on a diagonal for interest and when lit, will offer balance to the lighting of the room. You’ll also notice while our lighting choice is very mid-century, the LED bulbs will illuminate with enough brightness to light up the room for reading or working.
The fun and flair in this design was to capture the lifestyle and interest of the Beggs Family, to truly come up with creative ideas that encompass their function with their flair. The room is cozy, flows and keeps to the integrity of their 1932 home. As you create space that you live in, of course make it “pretty” but step outside the box and think of ways to incorporate YOU into your home, whether your ride bikes as a hobby, travel or love to cook, embrace you and sprinkle your home with your story!
If you want to learn more about what we can do for you please schedule your discovery call or call us, 616-288-9780, or take our Interior Design Questionnaire.
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