Inside Interior Designer Valentina's Decked-Out Christmas Home

Well, hello, luxury home show. I'm Valentina of the House of Valentina. I'm a designer based in the Atlanta area and the house is decked out for the holidays. And we're gonna give you a full home tour today. We cannot wait, so please come on in. Well, welcome inside. This is the main living room. And what's fun about this house is that all the rooms just kind of flow off of it, actually. I love the loft-like feel of the big windows and the openness of this space. We moved into this house eight years ago. We had just moved back from being abroad for over 12 years, raising our kids in other countries. And we literally bought the house and had nothing done to it. It had been almost 30 years with nothing done. And so we have had so much fun really putting our print on this house. So we are gonna share with you a bunch of budget-friendly ideas and a few little splurges along the way. But we're so excited to share all the little details with you. One of those is like painting out the banister and the spindles in black, really gave us that high impact. In order to bring a little modernness into this very traditional house, we also switched out the doors here. So originally I was planning on using this as my office. And so I put the little doors that slide here to be able to give me a little bit more privacy. You'll see it kind of matches the one at the front. And then as you come on in back here, we've actually got it now as a dining room because I realized I really love to really entertain at the holidays. And I wanted to have plenty of room for everybody to be able to sit. But at the moment we've got it set up as a dining room and we love it. When we first moved in, this entire room was very beige and very boring. And so I had this little idea that I wanted to deck this room out in dark gray, almost black. This is hematite by Bayer. Everybody always wants to know. And my painter thought I'd lost my mind because I decided that I wanted to take this color from the baseboards all the way around the ceiling. This room has kind of awkward angles and not in like a good architectural way. So by color drenching and doing all of it in one color in matte as well, another thing my painter thought I was crazy about, it really just makes the room feel super cozy and it feels really grand and it feels a lot bigger actually. We also added the mirror to add a lot of light and reflection in here. And of course it's decked out for the holidays. So we are ready to entertain. The table is all set up with all the beautiful little details. I love the bowl set with the orchids and the moss. Well, I do still have actually a little bit of a secret here. I have my office still sitting back here. It's kind of snuck back here in the corner. But originally we'd actually hung the light a little bit higher because I thought I was gonna use it as my office. So in order to bring that feeling kind of down a little bit, I hung a wreath just from the chandelier. And it's really cool because it gives you a little bit of a lower feeling for the lighting and it really just makes it feel super cozy in here as well. But the best part about this room is the fact that it has a secret door that leads back to the rest of the house. So shall we go through here and check it out? All right, so through here we have the kitchen and we completely gutted the kitchen. When we first moved in, it had all cabinetry up above. There were no windows. Actually, there was one little window sitting down here and it was super traditional and really dated and really in rough shape. Everything was peeling and crumbling and it needed a total gut. I decided that I wanted to bring a little bit of the flavor of where we had been living, which was Copenhagen. I wanted to bring that Danish feel in here, that Scandinavian vibe. So I took down all the uppers, put some windows in and everyone wanted to know where I was gonna put my stuff. So I created a wall of storage over here. Do you want to peek inside? I'll give you a peek. I didn't want to have a microwave out so I'm one of those designers that doesn't want to see the microwave and my son loves the microwave. So I hid it in here. So we do actually have a microwave and it's mostly organized, you know, not terribly, but it's enough, enough to share with you guys. I put in a quartz countertop. I put in this really beautiful color. It's actually called Night Club by Bayer and it's kind of a bluish black color. We've got the gorgeous range by Smeg and I just love the little knobs on this one. You have to look a little harder for that one actually, but I liked how industrial it feels and I also loved having the Smeg hood up above. It just kind of gave it this kind of edgy, cool vibe and with the white walls, everyone's like, well, she obviously doesn't cook in here and I'm like, I beg to differ. We have an entire living channel where we actually share all of the recipes and different things that we're up to in the house. So if you're interested, we'll make sure to leave a link for you, but we always have little treats and coffee stations ready because we love to entertain. Oh, hi. Hey, I heard the word treats. I brought you a coffee. Well, thank you. Thank you. I was just sharing with them about how much we love this space. Oh, I love this space. It's so magical all year round, but especially at the holidays with everyone baking and everyone hanging out, it's wonderful. Yeah, what I love is that if you look back through, you'll see it just opens completely up and we had one really hard decision in this room, which was whether we were gonna take down the wall between the kitchen and the main living room. And we decided to leave it. And we've had so many of our designer friends come and look at it, trying to figure out if they could make it work with it open and still get everything in here. And we just couldn't make it work. But in the end, it's so nice because you actually have like this cozy vibe over on this side. This little breakfast area is actually kind of petite. And so I did the obvious thing, which was to put bigger chairs over here. That you do when you have a small space, you upsize. Actually, I've got quite a few little hacks because in here we've got the lighting from Amazon. And so I love to find little budget-friendly things. So these chairs are also from Amazon and the table is actually from Ikea. But I always love that you can create that luxurious look. Even if you're working on a smaller budget, you can still do it. So obviously we have it decked for the holidays with the beautiful ornaments and everything, but we sit here every single day. So I did want to keep it a little bit more simple because over here is what we call the sunroom and also the family room. Again, the rooms are not really big. It's kind of a cottage style home. And so the proportions are a little bit more petite. So again, I did the obvious thing. I bought a huge sofa. I'm telling you, I earned my money on this one because I really had to measure to make sure it would actually fit in the room because the room really isn't that big, but it looks so much bigger by going with a large piece like that and also keeping the coffee table really low. And I think also taking the curtains as high up as we can and just creating that illusion of space in here. We've got, Jack sent me some flowers recently. They just look so beautiful and the room smells so good. We've got the TV kind of hidden back over here and just kind of max it out as much as we can to try to get as much in here. But yeah, this is definitely a room that I just loved it because it sits on the garden as well. And all of the rooms of the house actually kind of face into this courtyard. So let me actually show you what I'm talking about because this little outdoor space is pure magic. All right, so out here, I wanted to share this with you because this was one of the main reasons that I wanted to buy this house because as you can tell, all of the rooms face this gorgeous deck area. Now, when we first moved in, it was kind of a dingy brown color. We have given it a nice coat of gray, but I think in the new year, this is one of the projects that we're working on. We'd like to put a stone down, but in the meantime, we absolutely love the fact that we've got a really beautiful dining area over here. I've got it set up with some really nice lamps and pine cones, and it's got this really cozy, wintry feel. I've got these stunning planters with the boxwoods and the pine and all the fun little things. We've also got an area over here where we've got the sofa and the chairs, and I just love that we're able to sit out here all year round. Of course, the weather in Atlanta is great. Today, we finally got some chilly weather and we're so excited. We're like, yes, we can bundle up and sit outside. Let's go back inside though, because I've got a lot to share with you in there as well. Hey, you. Hey. Meeting me in my favorite room and yours as well. Yes. Well, I thought it'd be really fun to share with you guys this room because this is the center point of the house, and I think the most iconic, don't you think? Definitely the most iconic, and it's honestly where we spend the most relaxing time together. Yes. It's got the fireplace, and when we first moved in, I had the crazy idea. First of all, I wanted to lay down the new floor because it was all carpet. Lots and lots of carpet. And our son was really excited about the carpet, and we kind of had a hard time explaining to him that it was kind of gross. It was like 30-year-old carpet. Because he was raised in Europe where there was no carpet on the floor, so he was like, this is such a luxury. Yes. I'm like, but dude is 25 years old. Yeah, so we put down the French oak, and it's like reclaimed wood, and I love it. I love this floor. Then I decided to paint the whole room out in white, which everyone thought I was crazy. They did think you were crazy, and the painter thought you were crazy. He did, and then I said, I want to also paint the fireplace black, and then- I thought you were crazy. I'm like, you cannot do that. There's like a rule somewhere, and the interior design police are going to show up and say, you cannot paint that all black. I know. Well, no one showed up because I did paint it black, and I think there's a lot of people who have painted theirs black since then. Yeah, we get pictures all the time. We get photos in our different groups and stuff where people will say, look, I did it. Yeah. We do have our own YouTube channel. We have two YouTube channels. We have the living channel that's more vlog style, and we have the home channel where we share tips and tricks about creating a more luxurious style in your home. So we'll leave a link for that. House of Valentina, if you want to look us up. I didn't have the money at the time because we had no money when we moved into the house. So we're literally saving one project at a time. And so I was like, I can't make the whole thing marble on my budget. So I painted it black, put up the beautiful mirror, and it just really gave us a center point for the room. I love this space. And then you did something radical this year. I did. Really radical. It is my fault because I brought in this big thing. Yes, you brought in this huge tree, and I'm like, that is not going to fit in here. Normally the tree is over in the corner next to the fireplace, and instead there was only one spot it was going to fit. So we rearranged the furniture. I mean, that's just what you do, right? We do. We do these things. I actually love the result, actually, because it really opened up the space and makes it feel even bigger in here than it did before. I love having put a nice, big, oversized rug down, which is ironic. We took up the carpet and we put down a big rug. But it really does anchor the space and gives it a really luxurious feel, anchoring it with the gorgeous double coffee table. That was another little hack. So much fun. Didn't have the money for the big one, so I just doubled the smaller one. And then to balance this out, and I wanted to have the bookcase on the other side, that would just really kind of balance out the look, because now you have something heavy kind of on both sides. So I just love the little details of this room and having the console table and the little flecks of black through the cushions and just that feeling of that. I don't know. It feels very modern to me. It does feel very modern. And let's not forget the one thing that people ask all the time. What? We have white sofas. Oh, yeah. And people ask all the time, well, do you have kids? Do you have dogs? Yes. Yes, we have all those things. Yes, but it's Valentina that spills. Yeah, the one person who has spilled things is her. Yes. Never me, but her with coffee. Did you say never? Well, not yet. Speaking of cleaning up, I did just redo my laundry room. Would you guys like to see it? So I've done a few changes recently. Shall we stop off at the bathroom first? The powder room is like a little jewel box. It's really tiny. And I switched out the flooring in here, went with the little basket weave marble flooring, put in the marble vanity to really give it that luxe feel. Also took the mirror really high, which really helps the room feel big. Ironically, again, I painted the room really dark, which is something you're not supposed to do to make a room feel bigger, but I don't know, it feels really cozy. And people thought I was nuts because I left the sponge ceiling from the previous owner. And I just love it. It's quirky, it's modern, it feels cool, kind of like a French cafe. They always have like the best bathrooms. They're like little jewel box. So I love the little bathroom here. And then that leads us back to the laundry room. I just had it done. I love the lighting in here. I have those ceiling lights here by Kelly Wurstel, the little perforated ones, and I have them on dimmers so I can control the lighting in here. And so I usually just leave the door open. That's what I wanted, was to have a laundry room so awesome that I want to leave the door open. Overall, having the travertine in here with the washer and the dryer, like it feels like a place I want to go. I wanted a place where I could put a chair and want to stay. Why does a room have to feel functional when it can also be beautiful at the same time? So we've got some great decor in here and the Buster and Punch hardware is just always a win. So I love to add those little details and a few little splurges, but yeah, we're excited to get it like really moved in because we just had it done. I also, at the same time, had the little closet done back here, which I really love. It's the loafer closet. It's loafers and life jackets at the moment. I didn't let anybody else put their stuff in there just yet. I'm like, this will eventually be everyone's coat closet, but for now it's Valentina's. So this is actually the mini version of the big closet. Would you guys like to see that? Let me bring you back into our bedroom and also let me share with you that closet. Come on. So this is our primary bedroom, which I really wanted to feel like a really luxurious, cozy retreat. As you come in the room, you'll notice that here's the door that leads out to that deck. So you can see how we really have that beautiful indoor-outdoor living. I love that feeling in here. We love Scandinavian design. Of course, we got to live in Copenhagen for six years and we're really inspired by that feeling. In here, we wanted to keep the walls fairly light. So we actually, again, did color drenching and took this color from baseboards all the way around the ceiling and everything, and it really makes the room feel a lot bigger because it isn't actually that big of a space. It's not tiny, but it's not huge. And so by doing that, it really helps it feel cozy and warm. We've added the mirrors to the wall, which really helps reflect light because there's never any direct sun into this side of the house. We also put up the sconces to add some more light and ambiance in the space. The bed is just decked out right now in all these cozy, cozy pillows, and we just love to just jump in bed and watch movies for the holidays especially. Got the tree in here. It really feels super festive. And so we've been enjoying just sitting in bed, whether it's at night with a glass of champagne and watching Christmas movies or in the morning having a coffee. We've got a little chair kind of tucked into the little corner over here and a little bench, but it's really not that big of a room. But I think we kind of packed a punch by just really going for like ultimate cozy factor, beautiful materials. Got the dark wood in here that really reflects the black from the rest of the house. We do like to bring a lot of the black in throughout the house and through the different finishes, through the dressers. You can see even over here where we've got the dresser and we've taken that artwork really high up as well so that it just gives you that drama and the feeling that the room is twice its size. So again, upsizing and taking things up high will really help give you that ultimate luxury feel. So this room then leads into the bathroom. And the funny thing is is that the bathroom is about as big as the bedroom. I don't know what they were thinking in the 90s. I mean, it's not that bad of a thing. I mean, who complains about having a bathroom this big, right? We do have a table sitting in the center of the bathroom. And what I really wanted to do because I had such a big space, I wanted it to feel like a living room. So we actually put new vanities in here. This room, you would not believe it. It was originally red diamond wallpaper with the huge tub sitting over in the corner and really dingy, low profile vanities. It was pretty dated, guys. It was all the like old brass and it was pretty rough. So we pretty much gutted it, put down a nice, this is actually a honed marble, so it has this really chalky, really natural feel to it. I also lime washed the walls in here because I have a YouTube channel and I'm prone to trying things at least once. I didn't actually think I was gonna like it and I ended up loving it. So I love having that lime wash with the clawfoot tub. I mean, oh, clawfoot tub. I use it almost every single day. I'm one of those people that loves to take baths. So the shower is actually a little bit smaller because I use the bathtub more. But I also have this zebra rug in here. I mean, we went for like high drama, even though there's that natural feel. And I'm always trying to balance those feelings. And to me, that's like the ultimate luxury, is something that feels approachable yet luxurious. So at the moment, we've got it decked out for the holidays and we've got a little bit over the top. But ultimately, it really feels like a retreat and it feels like a hotel spa-like feel every single day. Even just having like just a little robe. You know, this is just an inexpensive one from Amazon, but just having that spa-like feel. It's just those little things to me that really make living in your home feel luxurious. Now, when we talk about luxury, for sure the place that I lied in the living room. This is actually my favorite room in the whole house. It's kind of my own little space and I don't bring people in here very much. But I decided I wanted to take this quirky kind of awkward shaped closet and do something epic with it. So I saved and saved and saved and worked and worked and worked until I could afford to create a boutique-like feel in my closet. So I actually worked with a company called Spacemakers. They are amazing. So there's a little bit of a hack. It looks like the wall is backed and some of them are backed and the others are actually just the wall color. So I was able to save a little bit of money that way. And I had them really measure everything out. The drawers, we put these beautiful leather handles on there, I love. I love the combination. Of course, there has to be black in here, right? I realized I was gonna do the whole room in black. And then I'm like, well, I do wear a lot of black, so it's gonna be black on black. So I went with this like beigey warm tone so that all my black, all my black clothes will pop on it. But I really just love the result because I feel like I'm literally to come in here and shop every single day. And I share all of these finds. Some of them are very luxurious and some of them are more budget friendly. I share all of that over on my living channel. But overall, I just love the feel. Got a couple mirrors in here and lots of fun little bags and shoes. And it feels like I have a little store to come to, a little boutique. And I just love how it turned out. If I close this door and show you, I've got this little area set up back here, which is really nice because it gave me a lot of extra storage. And so because it was such an awkward shape, we really tried to make every bit count. And so I've got this gorgeous marble in here and it's got this gorgeous honed leather feel to it. It's stunning. And I was able to just bring in some trays and some beautiful little things. And so it really does feel like the ultimate luxury. So I love it. So because of this room and because of the things we were doing in here, we actually have one more room that we've been working on. Would you guys like to see what we've been kind of up to? It's not quite finished, but I thought maybe you'd like to see it. How about that? Okay, come on. Up here, we do have three bedrooms and because we have three kids, each has their own bedroom. We also have the catwalk and we have a rule in our house that you cannot walk down this without strutting. So rules are rules. We've been working on Parker's room. So I thought it'd be fun to share his room with you today though, because I really love the result. Come on in here and check this room out. So this is Parker's room. Parker thought he wanted baby blue walls. I mean, this room has definitely had some changes because we also put the hardwood floors down on this main level, which definitely changed the feel of the room, but he thought he wanted baby blue walls. And I was like, buddy, will you just trust me? I have a vision for what I can create. And he was like, mom, everything you do, I love, do whatever you want. And so we came in here and did this beautiful taupe color on the walls and painted out the doors actually to black. We kept the windows actually the same color as the wall and really did that color drenching effect. Again, you're gonna see that throughout the house. We even switched out the electrical in here to match the walls because this room, the ceilings are actually quite low. Even the ceiling got a coat of paint, put this gorgeous artwork up, added lighting in as well, which really transforms a room. If you are looking for the ultimate tip in creating a luxury look, even if you're working on a tight budget, definitely add lighting. So we've got lamps throughout. I've also got mirrors coming to add more light reflecting, kind of that feeling in here, but the duvet going for something nice and silky, adding the velvet quilt like this and the furs. I mean, it feels, I wanted it to feel like it was, you know, like a Swiss chalet, really elegant, modern, and luxurious. But yeah, at the moment, we do have the desk kind of tucked over here because we brought the tree in before the desk arrived. The paint is barely dry in here, okay? It is really new, but I will plan on putting this in this little corner when the tree isn't there because it's really kind of tight because it's really not supposed to be there, but it just looks so pretty for the holidays that I couldn't help it. We've got other projects here, like the bathroom. You can see how white, let's see. This is how white the house was up here, and I'm going through the house slowly and just kind of changing quite a bit, but this is like original stuff, even the faucet's original. So we still have a lot of projects that we're working on. So if you're not following us, definitely follow us on House of Valentina because we share the projects, we share the tips and tricks, and we share all the sources as well. So we love to be able to share all of that with you guys. It's just so much fun, and we have an amazing community as well. So I'm just so excited that we got to be on the Luxury Home Show today. We've had so much fun. Let's go back down and see if we can find Jack before you guys go. Come on. Well, thank you so much for joining us for our home tour today. We're so excited that we got to be on the Luxury Home Show. I know, this has been so much fun. We're subscribers, so if you are not, you definitely should be. It's an amazing channel. And we're just so delighted that we got to give you a home tour. I guess that's about it for today, isn't it? Oh, it is. It is? Well, Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and we hope we'll get to seeing you soon. Until then, bye for now. Bye. Luxury Home Show. My name is Adriana Hoyos. Welcome to the new project at the Four Seasons in Brickell.