THE WEEKLY WISH LIST

Atlanta · July 1, 2020

A DAY EXPLORING ATLANTA WITH THE NEW TOYOTA COROLLA

Southeast Toyota Distributors, LLC (“Toyota”) provided me with compensation and use of a Corolla for a short period of time. The opinions I have shared about this vehicle are my own.

Exploring Atlanta with the new Toyota Corolla #toyotacorolla #atlanta #travelguide #atlantaguide #sponsored

One of the silver linings of the COVID shutdown in Atlanta has been the absence of daily rush hour in the city! I recently took advantage of the clear streets to spend a day exploring the city in the new 2020 Toyota Corolla – and in a city as spread out as Atlanta I got to spend lots of time in the car getting to know all of its features. As a hybrid, it gets over 50 miles per gallon which meant I could take it out on a full day hitting all my favorite neighborhoods without hardly seeing the gas indicator move. I hate paying for gas, so this is a great bonus!

The car also features Apply CarPlay, Alexa, JBL Speakers, and a sleek 8-inch touchscreen display console so I picked up my friends, put on my favorite music, and visited some cool neighborhoods, restaurants, and destinations around the city in the car. See all my hotspots below, plus check the car out in action in my new YouTube video below:


“A DAY EXPLORING ATLANTA WITH THE NEW TOYOTA COROLLA”

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Interiors · June 12, 2020

INSIDE THE SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA-INSPIRED SOUTHEASTERN SHOWHOUSE

Southeastern showhouse in Atlanta, Southern California inspired house design on Thou Swell #showhouse #atlanta #atlantahomes #southernstyle #southerndesign #interiordesign #homedesign #design(Photography by David Christensen and Kevin O’Gara)

I’ve been to many Southeastern Showhouses over the years – it’s always an impressive feat produced by Atlanta Homes & Lifestyles with a talented team of builders and designers each year. BUT this year’s house really blew things out of the water. This Southern California-inspired renovation reimagined the former house of the founder of Ackerman Security on six acres in Buckhead. The formerly yellow stucco, Mediterranean-style house was an overwrought example of 90’s aesthetics but was completely renovated by Benecki Homes with Linda MacArthur Architect and Cole Construction, honorary chair designer Melanie Turner, and Source Atlanta to bring it into the modern-day. No detail was overlooked, from plaster walls, custom fireplace surrounds, herringbone floors, and incredible tile walls and floors throughout.

You can buy tickets to visit the house yourself here, in support of the Atlanta History Center. Take a peek inside some of the rooms below!

“INSIDE THE SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA-INSPIRED SOUTHEASTERN SHOWHOUSE”

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Kevin Francis O'Gara is founder of Thou Swell, an Atlanta lifestyle and interior design blog named for an old jazz tune, sharing home, garden, and entertaining projects and inspiration. Stop by to find an avant-garde mix of contemporary and traditional design curated by an emerging voice in Southern design.
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Manchester Project · June 9, 2020

MANCHESTER PROJECT: BEDROOM DESIGN FINISHING TOUCHES

This post is sponsored by AllModern, but all text, images, and opinions are all my own. Thank you for supporting the brands that keep Thou Swell running!

Bedroom design finishing touches, decor, and modern ideas from AllModern on Thou Swell #bedroom #bedroomdesign #bedroomdecor #bedroomdecorideas #decorideas #homedesign #interiordesign

As you might remember from my apartment tour video, my bedroom is the final room in my new apartment to be decorated and needed some finishing details to really complete the room. One of the biggest issues was the window above my bed, which I covered with a framed print for several months in an attempt to block the morning light that comes through! Another design challenge was the fact that this side of my apartment is actually underground, so I needed to find a way to give the room a little extra light and life to distract from this fact. I added three major updates to this room with AllModern to finish it off details you could add to ANY room to take it to the next level. Watch me transform the room in realtime with my latest YouTube video and check out all my bedroom design details below.


“MANCHESTER PROJECT: BEDROOM DESIGN FINISHING TOUCHES”

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Decorating · May 28, 2020

NEW VIDEO: HUGE HOME DECOR ACCESSORY HAUL

Bookshelves with ladder, shelf styling in dining nook with tulip table and home decor accessories on Thou Swell #shelfladder #bookshelves #builtinshelves #shelfstyling #homedecor #homedecorideas #decorhaul(via reDesign Home)

Over the past three months, I’ve been working with a client on a home renovation project and we’re at the final stages of the design process, which means styling out the house! While I can’t wait to show you the full room designs, I wanted to give you a roundup of all the accessories I bought to style out the spaces, to give you an idea of some of my favorite versatile decor pieces. I find the easiest way to tackle these details is to buy everything and then bring it over to style in-person with my client so we can decide what works best in each room. I wanted to give my client lots of options for pillow combinations, some objects to fill in shelves and tabletops, and faux plants to give a pop of greenery in corners and shelves where it might be hard to keep a real plant alive. I’m unboxing everything and giving out some of my best home styling tips in the video below, so watch now to see everything I bought!

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“NEW VIDEO: HUGE HOME DECOR ACCESSORY HAUL”

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Decorating · May 27, 2020

VISUALIZING THE TOP 2020 FLOORING TRENDS WITH CARPETONE

This post is sponsored by CarpetOne, but all text, images, and opinions are all my own. Thank you for supporting the brands that keep Thou Swell running!

2020 flooring trends moodboard home decor trends with CarpetOne on Thou Swell #homedecor #homedecortrends #flooring #2020trends #flooringtrends #materials #renovation

I was invited by CarpetOne to assemble a moodboard with their “Twenty for 2020” top flooring products for the year. I had so much fun visualizing the flooring trends for the year and incorporating my favorites into a physical mood board on my kitchen island. I mixed in other inspiring objects, fabrics, and a few Pantone color chips to pull it all together. It’s so helpful as a designer to think about where design is headed for the year, and these top flooring products from CarpetOne are pretty spot on. I added a carpet (Passages by Tigressá Bright Future in Marina), some beautiful luxury vinyl plank in a natural, light stain (Invincible H2O West Barclay in Delightful & Charlestone Place in Pure Beauty), and a versatile grey tile with a fabric-like texture (Bel Terra Fabric Art Modern Textile Medium Gray). Explore all 20 flooring products here for some inspiration for your next design project, and see my moodboard details below!
“VISUALIZING THE TOP 2020 FLOORING TRENDS WITH CARPETONE”

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