Azure Elizabeth Design

Sun Inspired Mood Board!

I hope you are all doing well. I know it seems like I have been a slacker these past few months, because I haven’t been gracing you all with my newsletter of curated collections. I promise I had a good reason though. Matt & I got married on June 22nd& it turns out designing, planning & creating a wedding by yourself is really time consuming. I will say that for all the time & effort, it was worth seeing how it all came together. When I get my professional photos back, I plan on sharing our big day here. I wanted something unique & I planned it around a specific theme…but beyond telling you that…I will wait to share the details.

This past week has been the hottest week of the year here in Utah & I personally don’t think I remember a hotter July. I feel like the sun & I have been getting awfully chummy these past few days as I go about my usual errands…in-between my escaping back inside to the air conditioning. Normally there is a more patriotic theme that is on my mind during this time of year, but I missed putting out a 4thof July newsletter, as I was still trying to get back into my normal routine.

The sun, the heat &those gorgeous rays of light that beam through my window every morning have been a huge focus for me. So, I decided to create a mood board that reflected the sunny, hot theme of this past week. I really loved the sunset painting with its touch of red & blue. I used a little more blue in the accessories to contrast to the warmth, to cool it down a bit.

What might surprise you is I am rarely drawn to warmer colors, mainly because I can’t wear them…but there are certain seasons & occasions I can’t help but vibe with them on an intense level & this particular summer seems to be one of those times. I cannot help but think that this would be a fun color direction for decorating an Airbnb.

I do hope you are all staying cool & staying sunburn free. Thank you again for your support &subscribing to my little newsletter here. I wrote for years about Interior Design or the Examiner & I quite often miss the different sort of creative direction writing allows me to explore.

Love,

April Elizabeth D’Azure

I created this video a few months ago. This message came to me very strongly & I felt just as strongly to share it...

In May of 2022 after leaving an abusive relationship...I had this message come to me after my morning of prayer & meditation. It was so huge & so powerful that I had to write it down. Since that moment I've felt the strongest impression to share it. The video is around six minutes. If it resonates for you, please like & share it. #creating #creative #creation #lifepurpose #fullfillthemeasureofyourcreation #creator #interiordesigner #interiordesign #designingwoman #design #designer

I created this video a few years ago & recently re-shared it. Let me know your thoughts.

Inspired to create...by a very lovely client This is a video based of my blog post Inspired to Create...by a very lovely client. In the original blog post I discuss the ceiling element I designed & pain...

Four years ago my client Leesha asked me to help her design the perfect Christmas decor to complement the color scheme of newly furnished room I helped her & her husband with. Her family loves the magic of Christmas & they wanted their home to boldy express this...but not look overly traditional.

We had a blast shopping together, looking for style elements that spoke to her personal taste & planning the perfect color direction. I didn't know at that time that decorating her home for Christmas would become part of my own yearly tradition.

It is literally the magic ingredient for getting me into the spirit of the holidays. I also get to apply my creativity in a very different way than what I normally do most of the year. It's technical...but also flowing & a little freestyle all at the same time.

This year though we had a new element that was added to the rooms design, with the addition of the custom paintings I created for her that I finished back in October.

With the exception of adding 400 plus more ornaments to the garland on the stairs...nothing else including the tree or mantle were different from last year, yet all the Christmas decor felt brighter & more vibrant having the paintings on the wall. We were all stunned by the huge difference they made in the depth of color in the room this year.

Typically when Christmas comes down it feels like the color has been sucked out of the space...but having art in here now helps pull the colors of the decor throughout the space year round. I love how this turned out & have been very excited to share it. I'm also grateful for good client's who give me such amazing opportunities to create.

I usually don't do long distance design consulting for a few reasons. The biggest is that constant communication is vital in this type of work & any break down in communication could be disastrous to the design project. It takes a lot of commitment on the client's part to really honor the process. Those with an out of sight out of mind mentality could sabotage their own project.

With that being said when my sister decided it was time to update her home & asked me to help...well there was no way I was turning her down. I also knew she'd have no trouble answering multiple questions so I could glean all the information about everything that was being selected from color tones, to testing selections out on different lighting.

We both had an unexpected challenge when her contractor insisted she work with his decorator who was really trying to push her to do it their way. It was always "well I did this in my home, or my last remodel we did this." We persisted on our path & hoped they'd just let go of having to hold the reins so tightly.

In my less than humble opinion, the most important part of a designing is making sure the space reflects the person living there & that it works with the existing elements.

She ended up being put in the position of butting heads over every one of our material & color choices.

I didn't realize how bad it was until they ordered a different flooring than we selected the day of the installation...but my sister stuck to her guns & wasn't settling.

She frequently reminded them that her sister was quite capable of helping her with this & is an Interior Designer.

I'm super grateful that my sister Heather respects my expertise & also supports me in my business. It was also super gratifying to have all the contractors on the job tell her how amazing it all turned out & that they loved all our selections. They have no idea how much we fought for those choices.

I've put the best in the front...because I love how it turned out...but the before pictures are mixed in as well. The before & after is night & day.

I've been meaning to post these pictures for a while even though the project kind of feels unfinished.

This project started a year ago when I was hired to help a lovely client move from her family home & down size into a retirement community.

She had a lot of antiques that she couldn't take with her so my challenge was to help her decide what she could keep & make it work while integrating it into a new space.

One of the things I did was design the surround for electric fireplace. I gave her six options & this was the one she chose. I attached the basic concept it was based off of.

She really loved these vases that were on the mantle in her previous home, so I integrated them into the plan.

I also was put in charge of reframing on of her cherished paintings & getting new lamp shades made for her antique lamps.

Then Covid shut everything down. She had to wait months to get her lamps shades & painting back as well as get the fireplace completed.

In September her fireplace was finally finished. I was communicating via text & phone during the process & it went much more smoothly than I expected. I've never seen it in person. These are from the photos she & the contractor sent me.

I was really impressed with his work as his great communication skills. I plan to use him again in the future.

My client was so excited about its completion that she immediately put her vases up & sent me the photo. I was so thrilled to finally have the plan become a reality.