I don't often get the chance to do "special event" decorating but it can be a lot of fun.  Just before my niece's wedding I co-hosted her Bridesmaids’ Luncheon. If you haven't been to one - a Bridesmaids’ luncheon is an event intended to be a thank you from the bride to her bridesmaids and is a lovely opportunity to bring the women in the bridal party and in the family together to celebrate the upcoming nuptials. Our luncheon was held the day before the wedding, a sunny and hot Friday in June. My niece requested that her luncheon be held in my lakefront backyard. A great idea, except that we live in Florida, and June in Florida means 90 plus degree heat and near 100% humidity. I wanted to give the bride what she requested so the solution was a rented tent for shade, industrial strength fans, and a menu of light and refreshing foods.

The bridal couple's colors were pink and green with accents of gold so we used those colors as our inspiration. We hung an assortment of colorful paper lanterns from the underside of the tent to lend a festive air. On the tables we had fuchsia table cloths and bright green napkins.  Pictures of the bride in pretty gold frames, provided by my co-hostess, were scattered around the top of the table. The finishing touch was bright bouquets in a variety of pinks and greens.  My daughter and I made arrangements of  pretty pink roses, green tinted hydrangeas, berries and a few smaller blooms in simple square vases.




Keeping cool in the Florida heat was a challenge, but with the fans on high and the tent giving us shade, the ladies stayed comfortably cool. Just in case anyone was feeling a little overheated, our party favors were paper fans personalized with the name of the bride and groom and happy wishes for my niece and her future husband. 

Our menu was all cool, summery foods. A chilled avocado cucumber soup was a perfect, light starter. Respecting the bride’s vegetarian tastes, we followed up with a summer pasta salad with quinoa, asparagus, and strawberries on a bed of spinach. A lemon burst cake from a local bakery was a pleasantly light final note.

Keeping the heat at bay with plenty of iced tea, fans, and a shady tent, the ladies were able to enjoy the setting, the food and the company.  The event offered a little bit of relaxation and 'girl-time' before the big day and was one more happy bridal memory for all who attended.
(The Co-Hosts)


Gail Barley Interiors
Awarded Best Of Houzz 2016

Over 35 Million Monthly Unique Users Nominated Best Home Building, 
Remodeling and Design Professionals in North America and Around the World

Gail Barley Interiors of Orlando, FL has won “Best Of Customer Service” on Houzz®, the leading platform for home remodeling and design. The full service interior decorating firm was chosen by the more than 35 million monthly unique users that comprise the Houzz community from among more than one million active home building, remodeling and design industry professionals.

The Best Of Houzz is awarded annually in three categories: Design, Customer Service and Photography. Customer Service honors are based on several factors, including the number and quality of client reviews a professional received in 2015. A “Best Of Houzz 2016” badge will appear on winners’ profiles, as a sign of  their commitment to excellence. These badges help homeowners identify popular and top-rated home professionals in every metro area on Houzz.

“Anyone building, remodeling or decorating looks to Houzz for the most talented and service-oriented professionals” said Liza Hausman, vice president of Industry Marketing for Houzz. “We’re so pleased to recognize Gail Barley Interiors voted one of our “Best Of Houzz” professionals by our enormous community of homeowners and design enthusiasts actively remodeling and decorating their homes.”

Follow Gail Barley Interiors on Houzz.

About Houzz

Houzz is the leading platform for home remodeling and design, providing people with everything they need to improve their homes from start to finish – online or from a mobile device. From decorating a small room to building a custom home and everything in between, Houzz connects millions of homeowners, home design enthusiasts and home improvement professionals across the country and around the world. With the largest residential design database in the world and a vibrant community empowered by technology, Houzz is the easiest way for people to find inspiration, get advice, buy products and hire the professionals they need to help turn their ideas into reality. Headquartered in Palo Alto, CA, Houzz also has international offices in London, Berlin, Sydney, Moscow and Tokyo. Houzz and the Houzz logo are registered trademarks of Houzz Inc. worldwide. For more information, visit houzz.com.

Before
We recently worked with a client who wanted to sell his investment property and appeal to a vast market of potential home buyers. He knew when he bought the home that he wanted to sell it as an investment, and now was the time. To make the most return on his investment, he asked that Gail Barley Interiors come in and spruce up his home. This included new light fixtures, carpeting, and paint, but the most important detail was the curb appeal.  A key element of his investment was repainting the exterior of his home.
The Predictable Choice
While the contractor worked on creating more traditional columns on the front of the house, we went to work selecting 3 palettes for our client to chose from. The first was what we would term “The Predictable Choice”. We’ve all seen these homes - beige exteriors, with brown trim, and a burgundy door. While not a poor choice - it looks good on a wide range of homes - this option felt too ordinary and we feared it would blend into the other homes on the market, lacking that extra something to make it  stand out. 
The Transitional Choice
Our second choice we termed “The Transitional Choice”. With a soft green body color, cream accents, and a deep brown door, this palette still felt traditional, but blended into the house’s  modern architecture. However, it still didn't have the wow factor that would really make it memorable. Our homeowner’s final decision was to go with what we dubbed “The Bold Choice”.
The Bold Choice
Like “the Predictable Choice”, we worked to create harmony with his brown windows by supplying a rich brown color for the trim. Instead of a neutral beige, we chose a more sandy color. Finally, for our door we chose a vivid red-orange, sure to make a memorable first impression, called Hearty Orange. 
Final Sketch
This pulled the eye  to the welcoming front entrance and gave our client a fun touch of color. Still in the traditional color scheme, this palette had a little more personality and appealed to a wide demographic while still standing apart from the crowd. A couple of new outdoor lights and a little landscaping and this home was ready to list!


What's more exciting than decorating a beautiful room? Being recognized for your hard work! A couple of weeks ago, BuildDirect wrote a blog recognizing the 15 best decorators in Orlando, FL and I was lucky enough to make the cut! Here is the article they wrote. I would appreciate it if you would vote for me in the poll at the bottom of the article!


  I was hired recently by a couple who were interested in redecorating their living and dining rooms.  The clients showed me images of a home of a south Florida friend who owns a local shop specializing in vintage and re-purposed products imported from Asia and the Far East.  They specifically requested that we purchase at least one statement piece to incorporate into their new space.   Because nothing currently in the room was staying, I decided to use this statement piece to kick-off my design plan so the wife and I went shopping.  We selected a long, somewhat rustic, cabinet to anchor the main wall in the living room.  We also found a mirror made out of an old window frame that we felt would bring just the right touch to the dining room.
Before & After
 When we started, the room felt small with nothing to draw attention to the high ceilings and architectural columns in the room.  The clients had already decided to replace the tile floor with a wood floor which added warmth to the space.  With our inspiration pieces selected,  I put a design plan together.  The color palette was inspired by the blue and green tones in the newly purchased pieces and I added orange to incorporate the warm tones the clients favored.  We emphasized the height of the room by removing a ceiling fan and the outdated dining room chandelier and replacing them with two different but complimentary gold-toned chandeliers.  We also hung tall drapes to draw attention to the windows, add height, and a big hit of beautiful color.  Most of the walls are painted a nice neutral gray/beige to let the vibrant colors really stand-out. We added one accent wall in a lovely shade of pale green.  My clients were hesitant at first about the color but they trusted my vision and I love the way the cream colored sideboard and blue painted mirror look against this color. Emerald green lamps and accent pillows bring the green into the living room and emphasize the green in our cabinet.
Before & After

One of the most stunning touches in the room came when we added the coral upholstered dining chairs. Our clients love the bright pop of color and added fun that these chairs bring to the space. 
Design Concept & Final Result

From design concept to final product, these clients encouraged me to give them a timeless look that also reflected their desire to have unique and one-of-a-kind elements.  I couldn't be happier with the results.  When we started, the wife said when it was her turn to host her book club, she didn't want to invite people to her home and she wanted to change that.  I hope now she will look forward to her turn to host and show off her beautiful rooms. 


Over 25 Million Monthly Unique Users Rated Top-Rated Home Building, 
Remodeling and Design Professionals in the United States and Around the World

Gail Barley has been awarded “Best Of Houzz” for Customer Satisfaction by Houzz, the leading platform for home remodeling and design. The founder and principal designer of Gail Barley Interiors was chosen by the more than 25 million monthly unique users that comprise the Houzz community from among more than 500,000 active home building, remodeling and design industry professionals.

The Best Of Houzz award is given in Customer Satisfaction. Customer Satisfaction honors are determined by a variety of factors, including the number and quality of client reviews a professional received in 2014. Winners will receive a “Best Of Houzz 2015” badge on their profiles, helping Houzz users around the world who discover and love a professional’s work to learn even more about that business’ popularity and satisfaction rating among their peers in the Houzz community.  

“Houzz provides homeowners with a 360 degree view of home building, remodeling and design industry professionals, empowering them to engage the right people and products for their project,” said Liza Hausman, vice president of industry marketing for Houzz. “We’re delighted to recognize Gail Barley among our “Best Of” professionals as judged by our community of homeowners and design enthusiasts who are actively remodeling and decorating their homes.”

Follow Gail Barley Interiors on Houzz.

About Houzz
Houzz is the leading platform for home remodeling and design, providing people with everything they need to improve their homes from start to finish - online or from a mobile device. From decorating a room to building a custom home, Houzz connects millions of homeowners, home design enthusiasts and home improvement professionals across the country and around the world. With the largest residential design database in the world and a vibrant community powered by social tools, Houzz is the easiest way for people to find inspiration, get advice, buy products and hire the professionals they need to help turn their ideas into reality. Headquartered in Palo Alto, CA, Houzz also has international offices in London, Berlin and Sydney. For more information, visit www.houzz.com


New clients assume that the size of their decorating budget is in direct correlation to how happy I and they are with the finished product.  This is truly not the case.  For example,  I recently completed a one room project for a young woman living in her first house.  She had a spare bedroom that she was using as an office but she wasn't happy with how it functioned or how it looked.  She was interested in moving the desk into the closet so that the rest of the space could be used as a lounge/study.  You can read about and see the transformation of the closet in the blog I posted on April 25th (Converting a Closet to an Office).

Before
Before

A few paychecks later, she was ready to furnish the rest of the room.  My client had a few pieces she definitely wanted to keep: an art-deco wing chair covered in black leather with white piping, some of her artwork, and her pink dress form.  I was happy to accommodate these requests.  I also suggested keeping the hot pink Ikea bookcase. By turning it on its side, we were able to use it as our media console and still have storage for books. A budget friendly solution.

I often consider furniture made for children when furnishing small spaces. In this case, we used a love seat in a light gray fabric with tufting detail from PB Teen. Using a "teen" company allowed us to find a piece that was smaller in scale (just what we needed for this petite lounge).


To go beside the love seat, we found a three tier glass and brass table from West Elm.  The three glass tiers gave us the function we needed without making the space feel crowded, while also relating to our Ghost style chair in the desk area.  A white ceramic lamp from Z Gallerie atop the glass table provides light and some feminine curves. The only other piece of furniture we purchased was West Elm's Martini table in white.  This petite table provides a place to set a glass or the remote but keeps the space feeling open and can easily be moved to anywhere it is needed.

The final touches are what really put this room over the top.  The hot pink and cream toile drapery in a Robert Allen fabric gives a nod to our Parisian mural on the desk wall.  Pillows in the same fabric really pop on our gray couch and bring a little pink to that side of the room.  A few more gold accents were added for sparkle and the client's artwork was hung back on the walls.

I love the way the space turned out and so does my client.  I've had clients with bigger budgets but this room is one of my favorites.  We were able to give her an office and a lounge in 120 square feet, marrying function and style. It seems perfectly suited for a young professional woman.  The pink little girl's room all grown up!