New Website, New Blog!!!

I have been very fond of my blogspot blog, but in order to streamline my online presence, I have moved my blog to Wordpress.  Please visit my newly relaunched website and blog at:


www.mi-interiors.com


www.meghansinspiredinteriors.com/blog


See you over there!

The Look For Less

I am currently researching ideas for a new project.  While flipping through the new CB2 catalogue I noticed these pendants:

I immediately thought of Tom Dixon's "Beat Light Fat" pendant, which I've been admiring for years. 

The CB2 price: $250, Tom Dixon's light: $500 for the smaller pendant and about $1000 for the larger version.  The beauty of Tom Dixon's light is in the details.  It has an architectural appeal and the interior is hammered gold.  Its a real beauty.  If you have to save a bit on the budget, I can see the CB2 version working quite nicely as an alternative.  To recreate the gold interior,  apply a bit of gold leaf paper to the interior or even gold spray paint could do the trick.  I might suggest doing something different to the maple wood as well.  A walnut color might work better with the gold interior.  

Key West

My family and I recently came back from a trip to Key West.  Not only was it a refreshing get a way from the winter, it was great to ingest the vernacular of a place that is different in so many ways from the Northeast. The architecture of Key West is often described as mix of Victorian, Bahamian, and New England, and I really think they took the best those three styles had to offer.   We had rain the day we toured many of the neighbordhoods, but I did take a few snapshots of some of the more striking houses before it rained, as well as some pictures from the Audobon House Gallery.  The Gallery sells some original art of James Audubon's works as well as many reprints (which looked as good as the real thing in my opinion!) I would love to design a whole room around the crane picture below!

A Support Pole Makeover

Just a couple weeks ago I posted some before and after pics of my clients basement redesign.


I promised to explain one particular detail in the design- the support column.  Here is the before  picture again. Kinda sticks out at ya-and-not-in-a-good-way, doesn't it?

During our design discussions, one thing that came up in discussions was the support pole that essentially holds up the ceiling.  There were a myriad of different ways to try and incorporate this eyesore into the space.  If this were a more formal area I might have suggested wrapping it in wood and making a nice column out of it.  Then we threw out  making a tree out of it, adding some branches and faux painting the whole thing....but I needed to brainstorm a bit more, afterall this was primarily a kids space , and I wanted to do something really fun and out-of-the-box. The whimsical nature motif exists throughout the design, so the tree idea would defintely work.


One thing lead to another and I found this great shop on Etsy, Eve's Little Earthlings. Eve makes among other things, wine cozies from recycled sweaters.  They often resemble tree stumps. 

 I contacted Eve and she was happy to custom make the "pole cozy".  She did a really great job, and here is the completed Pole Cozy today: (I wish I had a better close up, and will try to add one to the post at a later date.)

I feel like it really becomes part of the design rather than some afterthought.  

  

Rae Allain Master

Rae Allain Master by mrshadrick on polyvore.com

West Elm Bath Collection

West Elm is always one of the first retailers to launch their spring collections (I mean here we are in December still!!!), and I recently got a sneak peak.  I love the new bath collection which is globally inspired from tradtional bath houses in Turkey.  I'm espcially fond of these bath mats as they are less "bathroomy" looking (if you've ever been a student in one of my staging seminars you've heard me preach "get the mat off the floor unless in use".  These however, are more like an area rug and the construction seems very durable......and they are machine washable! Whats not to love!

The Turks are world renowned for their super absorbent but thin woven towels called Pestemal.

I usually don't love too many of the soap pumps, tissue box holders etc., but this one really appeals to me.  Its clean lined, organic stone texture means it could really fit in to many bathrooms styles.  

Before & After Basement Redesign

Remember this post: whimsical modern
One of my recently completed projects was furnishing an entire basement living room.  The client had already made great use of the footprint by incorporating extra closets, a kitchenette, and a full bath. This new layout really put the "F" in function for the family of 6, however, there was no cohesive design scheme to keep organized on a daily basis.  The homeowner wanted this to be primarily a kid space for games, TV, art and crafts, but she also wanted to be able to entertain adults as well.  The jumping off point for the space were the Ikea blue and red kids chairs. Since it is a basement where natural light is limited,  I wanted to incorporate bright colors, graphic patterns and a sense of whimsy to the space. 


Before:

After:

The new layout separates the space into two zones.  The first zone above incorporates plush slipcovered chairs for easy cleaning for the adults to sit, read, or entertain.  We even incorporated a cozy little electric fireplace for added ambiance.  I also included two red vintage industrial chairs for extra seating or for using with the folding desks.

The second zone is the kid zone.  This area includes a rattan hanging chair, a chaise lounge, and the original Ikea blue and red kid chairs with customized cushions to play games, or watch movies.   To maximize floor space for the kids toys, I selected two wood stump side tables as opposed to a larger coffee table.

Did you spy the concealed support pole separating the two spaces?  We figured out a really fun and creative way to hide this, and I will dedicate a whole post next week to who, what, and how we made this eyesore a fun part of the design!