{Editor’s Note: Friends, I am so, so excited for this series! I’ve teamed up with one of my absolute favorite home stores, Manor Fine Wares, and a few other wonderful sponsors you’ll be hearing about, to complete a total redesign of my main living areas. It was a huge project, and I can’t wait to show you everything over the next few weeks!}

For those of you that follow me elsewhere (ahem, Twitter and Facebook), you’ll know that I moved earlier this summer. Specifically, I moved from a cozy old Victorian to a sleek, modern/traditional condo (with a killer view).

As soon as the movers pulled away and I saw our furniture in the new space, I knew it was all wrong. All of my beloved bright colors were completely overpowering in the new house. What had felt warm, bright and inviting in our old space was now just plain too much. The furniture was too big, the colors were too bold, and it felt like nothing was working.

In my dream scenario, HGTV would have swooped in and saved the day. But in reality, I got something that was even better: a chance to work with a designer at a store I already know and love, to get all that personalized expertise, but none of the “Oh lord, I hate that chair she picked!” or “I hope they leave soon, so I can repaint that green wall.”

From the day I arrived in Portland (almost literally), I’ve harbored a fantasy that I’d hire a local store called Manor Fine Wares to redesign my house. The store is utterly unlike anything else in town – sophisticated and fun, rustic and surprising. Want to see a few of the many, many reasons I heart Manor?

Oh, it’s so good, friends. So good.

When I knew a redesign was in order, I thought I’d start at the top – and luckily, when I approached them with the idea of teaming up to redesign my space, they jumped at the chance. As it turns out, working with a designer is actually nothing at all like HGTV…but it’s no less awesome. Shannon Riordan, my designer extraordinaire at Manor, is pretty much a mad genius with layouts, details and creative solutions – all of the things I’m terrible at.

Over the next few weeks, I’ll be giving you the skinny on what it’s really like to hire and work with an interior designer – how the process works, what real-world design budgets look like, and Shannon’s best tricks of the trade. And then, of course, we’ll cap it all off with The Big Reveal, which I just know you’re going to love!

Next week, I’ll show off the mood board and layout that Shannon came up with to get us started. Can’t wait!

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