Have you seen Emily A. Clark’s house yet? She’s like the house whisperer for real people with kids who watch TV and have shoes on the floor, but still love pretty houses.
Emily is a blogger/house stylist/mom of three little ones and she has created a beautiful home for her family without breaking the bank. Along the way, she chronicles her rooms on her blog and teaches us without knowing it.
This makes me want to add unexpected color into every room. I love it all. Moody walls, black and white photos, drum shades. Emily is incredibly talented and she has quite the skill of mixing pattern, strong color, modern, traditional, high end and thrift.
She helps other people with their spaces too. Here’s before Emily::
Here’s during Emily, when she sent the Perkins family her ideas::
And here is what the Perkins family did after they got Emily’s ideas::
Huge difference. Can I get an Amen? What I love about this project is that they didn’t have to go out and buy all new furniture but they still got an all new look. Like welcome to 2010 look. Sometimes you just need someone to guide you and then you are off and running. The Perkins family didn’t have Emily come to their house, they just emailed. No shower needed.
There is something about her work that makes each room sophisticated but still really approachable. Just like here in Emily’s daughter’s room.
As of today, I’m officially referring anyone who emails me for personal help, to Emily.
Two years ago, I offered online design services. The work was just too much for me to balance with the blog and my hobby of writing pretty things on toaster strudel with the icing pack so, I referred people to Layla and Melissa. Then they needed to focus on their blogs more and they no longer offer online consultations.
For the last year I’ve been searching for someone to be able to partner with here at Nesting Place. Someone I could promote who I knew got the whole It Doesn’t Have to be Perfect to Be Beautiful thing. There were a few people who I considered, some who inquired and just weren’t the right fit but, once I saw Emily’s work, I knew she was the perfect match. Emily is an advertiser at Nesting Place, but unlike regular advertisers where I approve them based on whether or not I would want want they sell, she had to undergo extra scrutiny. I can’t be sending you to just anyone for personal help. I take referrals like this very seriously. Emily is Nester approved.
She can combine Wal-Mart, fabric and glue, updating things she already owns, and Goodwill finds to create a beautiful, welcoming, usable home–look a family room that makes the big TV look like part of the room.
Ways to learn from Emily
1. Read her blog. Emily’s blog is FULL of useful information that we can apply right now. And her blog is good reading. She has ideas for displaying children’s artwork, shows before and afters, and is super adorable.
2. If you need personal attention, let her design a room board for you. If you are stuck in the design process for a room and you need help and want a focused goal for a specific space, Emily can help. She offers different levels of guidance starting at $25. The price of a room board is much less than purchasing the wrong sofa for a space, a good investment.
3. Tonight from 9-10pm EST Emily is going to be available to answer quick questions on her blog. She’s hosting a Q & A session that will take part in the comment section of the top post on her blog. You’ll see it when you get there tonight. She won’t be able to answer really specific stuff like, can I use my aunt Martha’s rug in my family room if I move the sofa and buy a new TV and will my husband like it? But, she can answer general questions like, do you have a favorite color of gray paint that you reccomend?
4. Move to her neighborhood, make her dinner every night and hope that she will want to be your friend and help you with your house for free. It’s a long shot and takes commitment but, I have a feeling this could be a viable option?
5. Follow Emily on Twitter @emilyaclark
6. Enter to win a free idea board personalized for your space. One person will be chosen from the comments to work with Emily and receive a free idea board to help them complete the vision for the room of their choice. This includes an idea board, shopping sources with detailed design notes and a space plan for their room.
Leave a comment to enter to win, tell us what room of yours needs Emily’s help the most.
Don’t forget, fall mantel party tomorrow!
I love Emily’s style. My daughter is 7 and is dying for a big girl room update. I could really use Emily’s help in designing her room. My daughter wants dots all over, so as soon as I saw Emily’s little girl room, I knew it was the perfect fit!
Thanks for sharing!
I have my living room that needs help! Plus my family room, master bedroom…LOL. My house needs lots of help. Thanks for the opportunity!
I am in LOVE with Emily’s style Thanks so much for introducing us! I recently used an online designer blogger to do a mood board for my living room and I have had so much fun decorating it! My master bedroom now needs major attention. I would love to win the design board!
We live in a Greek Revival home built in 1849. Our bedroom has a mix of old original windows (horizontal) and new windows (vertical). The room has an interesting angled ceiling and built-out closets. This dusty jewel just needs an artist’s eye to make it the treasure it should be. I know you would find this an engaging project!
I would love a makeover for my family room. I will be having some drywall repairs made in the near future and this would be a perfect time to update the room starting with a fresh coat of paint!
Hmmmm, this is hard. I would love Emily’s help planning a big girl room for my twin girls but we also live in a loft and could use her advice on how to best lay out and define our living and dining room spaces.
I would really like to redecorate my living room/ dining room combo. I love Emily’s style and the fact that she helps with those on a tight budget.
So……. we removed a wall b/t my living room and kitchen opening it all up. yea, this has been a work in progress since January. Yes you heard me correct, January. I am really stuck with what to do with the design of my livingroom now. HELP!! I need it!
Oh, I have to pick one room? I could use her help in EVERY room, but I think my Master Bedroom needs the most help. It has a weird set up and needs a new set of eyes to look at it….oh, AND I love Emily and follower her like a stalker (well, not really, but you know…) Pick me, pick me, pick me!!!
I love Emily’s decorating style and would love to win the design board for my playroom. Thanks for hosting this giveaway.
I could use Emily’s advice all over my home, but right now, I think the room that needs the most attention is the formal dining room. We chose a wonderful table and chairs and chandy, but now I’m stuck. There’s nothing on the walls, no curtain or rug. HELP! I really love Emily’s design style. You chose well:)
I love Emily’s style and the way she incorporates design for those of us in the real world of tight budgets! My master bedroom is horribly uninspired and I’d love for her to help me create a stylish and relaxing spot. Thanks for the opportunity!
OH MY! My mother needs this so badly! The room that I grew up in is still a gaudy fluorescent purple and she’s been wanting a re-do since I moved out over a year ago! Emily’s style is perfect- casual and pretty! (I get really tired of designs I don’t feel I roll around in a bit!)
If I had to pick a room, it would probably be one of our boys rooms. We have just moved into an old home, and have only just started looking at redecorating the whole house room by room, but the boys have been so good about the whole move that it would be nice to give them a room that they love.
We moved into our new home in June and 2 small boys + regular busy daily life= no wall art up / living room still looks naked / no window coverings on the kitchen and living room windows! I love to thrift and have a very eclectic mix of furnishings…this would be a wonderful gift to receive to help me put it all together! Just found your site today- I will be returning!
We just moved and we really, really need Emily’s help!
I would love Emily’s help! I’d pick my bedroom. With a 3 year old and a 3 month old, DH and I need a retreat!
I’ve been a reader of Emily’s blog for a while now, and I love her style! To have her help with my living room would be awesome!
I would LOVE to have Emily’s help. I love the mix of color, craft & sophistication. I need help with my Living Room!!!!
We are moving into my great-grandmother’s old house. While it is a wonderful home and has great potential, it needs to be brought back from the past!!! So lets just say, it would be hard to choose which room needs work “the most”.
Emily’s home is gorgeous! She has incredible taste! She helped a friend of mine’s mother with their family room and it’s beautiful!
woops, that last comment was mine :)
I have a spacious but very odd shaped bedroom I am hoping to turn into a bedroom for my young son. It has the original plaster walls, two very small windows, a large window, an old radiator (house was built in 1928), no closet, and somewhat L-shaped due to what appears to be a closet door is the door to the attic. How do I create a fun, functional bedroom for my son and still keep the character of the old house? HELP!!!
We purchased a fixer-upper a couple of years ago. We made a lot of progress, but have somehow lost steam. Our family room is in need of ssme major ideas! If we only had some decorating advice, I think it would give us the boost we need to finish what we started. I love the pictures you posted.
I could use the most help in my living room. I have a rental and I don’t know what to do with the very white walls or how to arrange my furniture in the open layout.
What a great giveaway Nester! So many people could benefit from this, too bad there’s not more than one giveaway :)
My husband and I live in a newer construction home, and we have inherited furniture from 3 families. We are truly blessed to have as much as we do, seeing as how we’ve never really had to buy our own furniture. That being said, we haven’t been able to quite figure out what our style is. We have a wonderful home full of mixed furniture and decor. I personally find that I like to decorate seasonally, and every time I pull out my seasonal decor, it makes me realize that no matter what accessories in the room I change, the core of the room is lacking passion and direction. I would absolutely love a chance to receive a consult from a professional!
I think my living room needs the most help. Two story ceiling, boxy room, too many windows. I’m clueless and don’t know where to start! Thanks.
My family room is in dire need of help! There are so many windows and a two story fireplace and a sectional sofa that I think bought with the chaise on the wrong side.. It just need help!
The first room on the left when you walk into my home is meant to be a formal living room. However, we don’t need a formal living room. I’ve never been a fan of design that isn’t functional so we are using the room as an office because an office is what we need. The only thing I hate is that it is so un-welcoming when guests walk into my home to see an office right off our foyer. Is it possible to make an office look cozy and welcoming? I’ve seen many other friends faced with this same problem when they turn a dining room for example into a playroom in order to make the space work for their families needs. Help! I really want my home to feel cozy and welcoming but I also want it to be functional for the needs of our family… even if that means having an office as one of the first things a guest sees when they enter my home.
Oh, Nester! I am so happy to see you endorse a designer that does not paint every wall, ceiling, floor and piece of furniture white (variation: chippy white paint). While I love that look, it is not my personal style and would be very hard to live with long-term; I am so hungry for color and pattern lately! Thank you, thank you, thank you for endorsing someone like Emily…I would love to have her help on my husband’s home office. It is the “bonus” room above the garage, and it is a barely finished attic that needs all kinds of help on every surface, nook and cranny. Lurve your blog!
My whole house needs a makeover, but I’d settle for the kitchen.
Oh! this would be wonderful. We are moving in 2 weeks and I’d love some advice on what to do with our new master bedroom. Somehow, our bedroom has never gotten any attention and I’m determined this time it won’t be that way.
I would LOVE some help with my front room! Thanks gals for the giveaway!!
Oh my. There isn’t a room in my house that couldn’t use some help. Our front room is a combination office, libraryish type thing. The next room in has been turned into a playroom. The loft is used as a media room and is just chunky and uncomfortable. My master bedroom is much too large and has only a bed and one night table in it. I’m so overwhelmed I don’t know where to start! Some professional help would be amazing and so welcomed. :D Now to just narrow down which room… In the end I’d probably pick our loft. I think.
I am in desperate need of Emily’s help with my Master Bedroom. It currently has mismatched hand-me-down furniture… none of which I’ve ever liked. I haven’t done anything to it yet because I can’t seem to pull it all together in my head. I’m afraid to spend money buying things that will end up not being what I want and not working together. Help please!!! I want to stop avoiding my bedroom and enjoy being in there.
I’m so excited by these design ideas! We’ve been in our house several years now raising kids, and it’s definitely time for an update. I love what I’ve seen so far-especially the idea of re-purposing a dresser as a media cabinet under a flatscreen tv. I think we can get that done by Thanksgiving!
The house we moved into is terribly dated and I really am at a loss for direction! As a homeschooling mama to five, there isn’t much time in my day to devote to our decor no matter how much I want to do!
Thiswould be such a help!
Thank you so much for sharing her link and for your ideas that you
share!
I just love your home!
my living room is the next challenge for me..i have ideas, i have concept but cant seem to piece them all together to create the space i am looking for…need 2 great white sofas (love linen that looks comfy) but dont want to spend so much money. need a great piece for a back wall opposite fieplace. helpi need assistance!!!
I would LOVE help with the kitchen we are moving into next week. The cabinets are dated wood that we CAN’T paint because we are renting. I would be so excited to see what Emily recommends!
My living room needs help. We have a very limited budget and we love color. so its a little miss matched right now. An idea board would be great!
Our family room needs help!
We have a rec room type space that is barren and is in desperate need of help (and style!).
I am amazed at the beauty I have found on both your website and Emily’s!! Everything is just so beautiful and inspiring! My living room is the room that I really could use some guidance in…we are ready to make lots of changes! I would be so grateful for her ideas!!!
Help! My husband and I are in our mid-30′s and we are still sleeping on the bed I had when I graduted high school! Every room in my house needs help and would love, scratch that, DESPERATELY NEED Emily’s input. She could choose whichever room she wanted and I would be so grateful! Thanks for this great idea and opportunity!
Linsy
I need help with my family room – it is open into the kitchen, and I need to define it better and give it some life!
I need help with my family room – we use it for lounging, parties and a playroom. But what I’d *really* like is a put-together adult bedroom. I’ve had redesigning the bedroom on my to do list for about 10 years.
Living room
Love the idea of a personal interior designer with out the commitment to do it all for lots of money!
I have turquoise carpet I can’t afford to replace…I desperately need help to figure out a way to tone down the 20 year old turquoise!
Unfortunately, I think ALL of the rooms in my house need some professional help! A decorator I am not. The den is probably the room that needs the most help. We spend a lot of time in there and it’s just so blah.