Before + After: His bachelor bedroom to their primary retreat

When Sallie Lord (then Sallie Kjos) was beckoned to New York City in May 2016 by a design colleague who needed help styling a multi-brand project, she never fathomed it would be a lifechanging assignment.

Sallie and Judd Lord commemorated their one-year anniversary with a bedroom renovation

Also, in the Soho loft that day were design directors and brand leaders from companies like JELD-WEN, KitchenAid, Pantone, Hunter Fan and Delta Faucet, eager to see the spaces of this “brand merge” revealed. Among the crowd, was Judd Lord, senior director of industrial design at Delta Faucet Company. “Judd gave a talk at the event and I was taken by his passion for design, his kindness and dashing looks!” says Sallie, who became Sallie Lord on May 16, 2020, exactly four years to the day they met.

The uninspired before

Sallie and Judd live in two different cities and split their time between locations. She resides in the NOVA area around Washington, D.C. where her design firm GreyHunt Interiors is based, and Judd is in Indianapolis, Indiana, where Delta is headquartered. Over the years, Sallie has grown fond of the Indy area, and she felt that Judd’s bachelor pad would be an ideal location to merge their style and lives.

“I decided that we should redesign the master bedroom in Judd’s Indiana home in time for our one-year wedding anniversary. Though we split our time between Indiana and D.C., I wanted this new space to marry our two styles and to represent us both.”

Doing a client’s home is one thing. “Any designer can tell you that they’re one of their own worst clients,” Sallie explained on her blog. “When it comes to our own homes we can be indecisive and a little scatter-brained, never giving it the same time and attention that we would for our clients.” For this personal project, however, she wanted to emulate the process she goes through with clients, sourcing samples, creating a mood board…being methodical in general. She also wanted to leverage her twenty one years in the interior design business and her micro-influencer status.

She invited brands, with whom she has had great working relationships, to be part of the design love story. She mapped out a win-win redesign with a built-in marketing strategy tapping into her design skill and 75k followers. Once the brands were on board, Sallie and Judd began transforming the space.

Sallie Lord gives tips on pitching your projects to brands here

They had the popcorn ceiling removed, pulled up the carpet and put down engineered hardwood flooring and ordered shades made for all the windows. Painting three of the walls in Sherwin Williams Tricorn Black set a sultry vibe.

On the bed: Stroheim fabric bed scarf, Fabricut velvet pillows, Eastern Accents border pillows. On the floor: Jaipur Living’s handloomed viscose Satellite rug.

The furnishings feel proportionate for the lofty room beginning with the  architectural king-size wall bed from Universal’s Nina Magon collection anchored by two of her Iris nightstands. “These modern pieces bring in the clean lines that Judd loves,” says Sallie. Hudson Valley’s Nexus chandelier looms lightly above the bed and brings attention to the vaulted ceiling.

A pair of Uttermost Gumdrop ottomans, LeftBank Art abstracts, a media cabinet from Worlds-Away

Despite product delays, shipping issues, and any differences of opinion that could arise from two headstrong designers, the bedroom style merge was completed in time for Sallie and Judd’s first anniversary in May. “I think any married couple can tell you that combining your styles and furniture can be a real, well…challenge,” fesses Sallie who has worked with many. “For us, it was fun, creative, and we agreed on everything – it was perfect alignment.”

To read about this project in more detail, visit the GreyHunt Interiors blog, as well as their Instagram.

PHOTOS: (except before) Ash & Co Creative