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.  

Genevieve Gorder for Capel Rugs

I very much admire the rooms of interior designer and HGTV host Genevieve Gorder.... not to mention she seems really down to earth.  She defnitely has a global bent in her work, but artfully conveys an eclectic feel without being too trendy.   She recently debuted a fabulous new rug line for Capel Rugs.  Marisa over at Stylebeat got these shots from her trip to High Point Market. I'm particularly fond of this emerald green moorish rug. I am already picturing it in a 3 season porch or sunroom with vibrantly patterned throw pillows. 

Who doesn't  love a good Chevron inspired print too!

Client Dining Room

A couple weeks ago I posted about a dining room I was working on.  We designed a custom console table to fill in a very large blank wall.  So large in fact, that if I selected a table to fit the wall proportionate to the size, it would have dwarfed the dining table by comparison.  The solution was adding some architecture to the room to fill in the space by way of picture frame molding and crown molding.

In every design,  there is a jumping off point.  For my client, it was the fabric I selected to reupholster her dining chair seats (and two new upholstered dining end chairs which will carry the fabric at eye level for more visibility, but they are still being made as we speak).  The fabric is from Calico Corners called Kaiya Shiki.  I'm not sure I've ever had so many people comment on how much they love this fabric.  Everytime I pulled the swatch out at a store, someone would say "oh, love that fabric".   

From there we selected the paint color using the fabric swatch as guidance.  We ended up going with a saturated clay color call Sienna Clay from Benjamin Moore.  

This dining room connects directly to the kitchen which we are also in the middle of updating and redesigning.  In the kitchen we selected bold blue and white damask window treatments, along with a gray/aqua/dark-blue glass backsplash. To tie the two rooms together, I choose a rich azure blue as the accent color for the dining room.  

The draperies are a solid bronze color so they don't compete too much with the kitchen fabric, but I did throw in a hint of pattern with the blue greek key banding on the edges of the drapes. (squint hard and you might see the color and pattern in the picture!)

 Here are the before pics, although the room was painted Sienna Clay by this point, so I don't have the original yellow walls to show you. 

Here are the after shots:

Graham & Brown Wallpaper

I am so excited to learn I won Graham & Brown wallpaper designed by Amy Butler as well as an autographed copy of her newest book, Midwest Modern! I'll be holding onto this wallpaper until I find a great wall and permanent digs to hang it on. I think I'm going to go with the Fountain pattern in Smoke, but I love Field Poppies as well.  See images below. Fountain in Smoke is a sophisticated neutral that can complement many accent colors-reds, blues, yellows. I can picture it instantly in a foyer with crisp white wainscoting or as an accent wall for a media room- a darker wall to help camouflage a TV.

Fountain in Moss

Fountain in Smoke

Field Poppies in Smoke

Field Poppies in Moss

Ulitmately I think Field Poppies works best in an area that you have preselected for a bold pattern statement, but I love the bold statement is DOES make! I also want to note the the Moss colorway of Field Poppies is actually much prettier in person than it is online. The greens are much more vivid in person, which is why I always suggest getting a sample before purchasing home merchandise online.

Cozy-ing up a large bedroom

I have a client who recently hired me to help finish out her townhome. We started moving furniture around in her master bedroom and the bed ended up fitting best on a large, and I mean large, empty wall near the open staircase leading downstairs. She really likes the new floorplan we implemented, however, she doesn't like the open feeling of the bed right next to stairwell.

My solution: add privacy and/or storage, which they desperately needed despite the room size, all the while keeping the bed cocooned between some built-ins. Here are some images that show different ways of adding storage and a cozy atmosphere all at the same time.

Image courtesy of Coastal Living

Image courtesy of Domino Magazine, designer Celerie Kemble

image courtesy of Domino Magazine, designer Adrienne Neff

Image courtesy of Domino Magazine

Master Bedroom Retreat

First, apologies on the delayed "after" pic of Liams new table. As it happens I used leftover chalkboard paint that wasn't sealed well after I last used it....about 7 months ago. The result? The paint went on a bit goopy and streaky. I need to sand it down to get rid of the streaks and then I will apply another coat of BRAND NEW paint. Liam has been loving his new table at any rate. Learned my lesson on that one.....

Now on to some eye candy you can actually look at! I recently finished doing a master bedroom in Rhode Island. The busy family of 5 moved into their "forever" home last year and have been patiently waiting to get settled into their space before deciding to undertake some major redecorating throughout the house. First on their list was their master bedroom. The wife loves a contemporary feel with classic lines, and luckily the husband was happy with whatever she liked! One of her favorite colors is blue, which ended up being the starting point of a relaxed and luxurious master bedroom retreat.

Take a look at the lackluster before:

Ho hum walls, hand me downs not worth keeping (words of my client) and some bedding that has been well loved.

The Design Board:

Now for the after:

We completely revamped the room with new furniture from Potterybarn, Crate & Barrel, Boston Interiors, and Art.com. The only special orders were the two euro pillows with handprinted fabric from Galbraith & Paul (well worth the wait!!!) and the custom king size Filmore headboard from Boston Interiors. Even the silk duponi drapes were ordered stock from Potterybarn and then hemmed to the correct length and hung on drapery rings for a custom look.