Manhattan Studio Vignette

Happy Friday my friends!!

My apologies for being MIA for the last couple weeks, things have been crazy busy with work, school, and a couple of weekend getaways in between (including Disneyland!). But I am back and ready to put this blog back in full swing.

Recently I have been working on some pro-bono projects for friends and family to gain some experience with decorating and working with clients. My first project was to create a small vignette for a friend's studio apartment in Manhattan, NY. Most of her place was already decorated, but she had this one area she didn't know what to do with. Judging from her pictures, Pinterest profile, and discussion it became apparent that her style is classic glam with neutral colors, clean lines, metallic finishes, and an elegant feel. Aside from these general guidelines and the rest of the apartment to use as a starting point, she also mentioned how she would like to incorporate maps into the design somehow.

To give you an idea, here are some pictures of her space:

The small area she wants decorated the wall space in front of the bed:

The area is too small for anything too extreme, however I felt that just putting artwork/maps on the wall wouldn't give a cohesive and finished look. I decided that console table would be perfect here. They are long and narrow so they don't take up too much space, yet they allow you to create a beautiful vignette curated with books, art, flowers, and light. 

To incorporate the maps, I used this image from Elle Decor as my inspiration:

At first, I figured it would be easy to find either a large map to cut up and frame or perhaps a set like the one above. Wrong. Believe it or not, it is quite difficult to recreate this look for a decent price. After a lot of research, I came upon World Maps Online They sell everything from wall murals to globes and everything in between. The best part is, you can select a map and then have it customized! So for this project, I selected a neutral-tone map to be cut into 12 16"x 20" pieces on their heavyweight paper at a cost of only $129. I found some simple and inexpensive black frames similar to the ones above from Ikea.

I'm still toying around with what I want to put on the console table, but so far this is what I have come up with:

I'm trying to decide whether or not to include some kind of light source here. I've considered a small table lamp, a floor lamp, or even some tall thin candlesticks. What do you think?

Here is a floor plan of the rest of the space to give you an idea:

Stay tuned for the finished product photos, but until then I'd love to hear your thoughts and ideas!

Until next time, have a wonderful weekend.