Copy This Style: Brandt Light Blue/Gray/Ivory Area Rug & Braylen Tufted Cocktail Ottoman
I am excited to introduce this beautiful home of an American expat family in Frankfurt, Germany.
I decided to steer Home Feature away from my usual style for this one. In this post I am featuring a home of an expat of which I have not taken photos myself. Julie Nagle, who decorated and lives in this home with her family, took all the photos and kindly sent them to me. Then I edited the photos to post on my blog. When I saw that she took great photos of her home, I felt comfortable asking her.
I was delighted when Julie accepted my request to feature her home. I found her style quite inspiring as she incorporates the rental furniture and creates a unique style of her own using just the right amount of decoration. We can all learn from the way she decorates in order to achieve the style goal of home by using what we already own.
Little Background of Julie Nagle
“I was a merchandiser for the Pottery Barn decades ago designing layouts for their flagship stores. I’ve since dabbled in formal design and staging, but our transient life has fed my design hunger staging homes (her own homes) in Africa, the Middle East, Asia and now Europe. Our home base is in the countryside in Loudoun County, Virginia.”
Challenge Of Moving From A Big Home To A Smaller Home In Expat Life
One of the challenges Julie and her family faced when they moved to Frankfurt was that they moved from 5,000 sqft home at their previous posting to a much smaller size 1,400 sqft 4-bedroom apartment in Frankfurt. That is less than one third of the size of her previous home! Since she knew her home would be much smaller in Frankfurt, she downsized accordingly.
Julie says, “As a family of 5, this is the smallest housing assignment that we have received in 15 years of expat life overseas. We are reminded frequently that this is “large” for Europe!”
It is true that depending on cities and countries you go, housing sizes for expats vary quite a bit. It is one of the challenges that many expats face since they have to accommodate and adjust their homes from country to country. I know a few families personally who have ended up renting a storage unit outside their housing because they could not fit everything in their rental home overseas.
Decorating A Small Home
Julie decorated their 1,400 sqft 50-year-old furnished duplex apartment. She added some of her own furniture pieces and decorative items to bring her style. Decorating a furnished home requires special touches in order to add character. She did a marvelous job to personalize her space.
Julie: “7 tours in, I was able to carefully curate our House Hold Effects bringing only those items that I had placed in my pre-move mind, exactly where they would go. Housing photos of the rental homes pre arrival were not available, but I was able to request a blueprint of our assigned apartment and with that, I began my design layout (prior to moving). I knew exactly which furniture pieces we would receive, and I further knew that with no warehouse at post, I would not be able to send back any of my furniture.”
Julie clearly has an eye for design and skills to be able to visualize the design using a blueprint of the apartment. Her decorating skill to incorporate the dark cherry wood furniture that was already placed in the housing is amazing.
Let’s take a close look at some tactics Julie used to transform her furnished home.
LIVING ROOM
Before
After
TIP: Painting An Accent Wall
Creating an accent wall is a key to this room. Julie painted one wall in the living room with black paint. You can see that your focus shifts from the colors on the furniture with the white wall to the black wall. The black goes beautifully with the mustard yellow couch.
Painting walls is the most dramatic way to personalize a room. I have used the same tactic in my previous home in Mumbai. You can see how I transformed a living room with before and after photos by painting walls in the link below.
Hello Again Winter Tree Wall Decal ☆ Living Room Before & After
TIP: NO Slipcovers! NO!
Julie: “My parents were US diplomats and I’ve grown up with Drexel furniture. I loathe slipcovers. I try to show that off-colored couches are more appealing than couches that look like kidnapped victims.”
TIP: Replacing Rental Lamps With Your Own
Julie brought “light, large scale items to soften the furniture provided in the housing.” She has always traveled with her own lamps to replace the ones that come with the housing by using the adaptors for plugs and country specific bulbs. She says, “Even on our first tour decades ago, the first thing to go was the lamps. They’re dreadful. Even if you can’t request to have them removed from the housing, there’s always room in the back of a closet or consumables room to stash.”
Julie’s Recommendation: Bulbous Lamps
“I’m careful to add bulbous glass lamps because they quickly soften a room.”
I agree with Julie that using your own lamps makes a significant difference. I have demonstrated mine in this post.
Pier1
TIP: Greens
Decorate your living space with some green plants in the living area. It doesn’t matter it’s real artificial. Green plants give psychological benefits to our minds. Apparently seeing artificial green leaves also have positive benefits as seeing real ones.
KITCHEN
TIP: Style Your Kitchen Counter
Organize and keep a small amount displayed on the kitchen counter. Decorate with some cutting boards. Use stylish bottles for oils for a cleaner look.
TIP: Floating Shelves
Using floating shelves is a great way to personalize a small wall space.
DINING ROOM
TIP: Decorating A Dining Room With Book Shelves
Julie: “In the dining room I always use the bookcases instead. I have no use for the large bookcases and find them to be an energy suck. White plates offsets this. The hutch is too formal for me.”
TIP: Statement Decor Pieces
Use a statement decoration to create your original style in your home.
Julie: “In my shipment I brought a 150 year old Virginia farmhouse fireplace mantle that I bolted to the dining room wall. These apartments lack the architectural detail that I craved. I’m very pleased with the result.”
MASTER BEDROOM
TIP: Use Your Own Headboards
“New for me, I also brought headboards for each of the bedrooms, and stashed the headboards of the rental furniture either under the beds or behind the master bedroom large headboard. This instantly made our dark cherry wood furniture in the bedrooms appear purposeful. All headboards and ottomans were purchased through Wayfair. The total spent was about $1,000 and helped transform our space with minimal cost and weight. Every penny worth it.”
“We had also purchased from Wayfair the Haysi Slat Headboard By Three Posts as well as the Chavis Slat Headboard By Charlton Home. Both are now out of stock on Wayfair.”
Copy This Style: Yorkshire Upholstered Wingback Headboard
Copy This Style: Lyon Chair
KIDS BEDROOM
Copy This Style: Oakford Upholstered Storage Bench
TIP: Pillows Are Great Space Filler
Pillows are great way to fill up open space. You can switch around the pillow cases according to the season for bringing seasonal changes in decoration. The pillow cases don’t take up much space for storage and pillows are light to pack when you move.
Thank you so much for allowing us to virtually visit your home, Julie! You decorated your home so beautifully. With your designing magic, the apartment looks very original and doesn’t look like it only has 1,400 sqft. It is absolutely stunning. Your eye for design and skills to configure small space are amazing. It was an honor to be able to feature your home. Thank you for the gift of inspirations!
RELATED POSTS
Tips For Decorating A Small Home
Transform A Rental Home Into Your Own Home ☆ Before & After Photos
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