May 20, 2013

Nesting

With travel plans falling through last minute, I found myself home this weekend with no plans on the books and a huge feeling of relief.  Life has been so hectic recently so I luxuriated in some quiet time.  I puttered, I ran errands, I vacuumed and I began to decorate.  Inspiration was flowing and I was roaming the house “tweaking” and moving things around.  I’m weirdly ADD when I decorate.  I tend to get inspiration in bursts and follow it wherever it leads me.  I’ll be working in the living room, run upstairs to grab a pillow, end up getting distracted and start messing with my bedroom, only to grab a water downstairs and be lured again to my living room arranging.  It’s a miracle I get anything done.

But I did!  Furniture got moved all around.  Art arrangements were hung.  Art walls are a challenge . For me it is always a big experiment in balance.  Still tweaking, but I’m glad I’ve at least made a few holes.

Also, Pillows were styled.  I had myself a grand experiment, grabbing every pillow in the house and piling them on the living room rug.  I mixed and matched and cocked my head and analyzed how each arrangement brought a different personality to the room.  Pretty much every pillow I own looks good in my living room.  I guess that’s the joy of a neutral backdrop.   While each of the rooms in my house are distinct, I am able to intermix pillows between them to switch up the look of the space.  I felt the urge to mix it up and now my bedroom, guest room and living room have their summer makeovers.  Shopping in ones own home can be quite fun.

I’m still tweaking the final arrangement, but in the meanwhile, here are a few pairings that I thought were cute.

 

mint and coral pillows on a neutral sofa with black accents- design manifest

{Pillow Party: Flamestich = custom vintage, Mint = Caitlin Wilson, Coral fretwork = Caitlin Wilson, Black Chinoiserie = custom Jim Thompson}

If you are using 4 pillows on your sofa, match the two large ones and mix up the smaller ones in the front.  I did two different black pillows in different shape configurations.

neutral living room mint and black accents- design manifest

{Black and Mint:  Silk Chevron was found at Material Culture, Curtains are Ikea with custom black trim application}

When mixing three pillows, try a large square, medium square and medium lumbar (I like 24×24, 18×18 and 12×24.)

mint black greek key chinoiserie flamestitch pillows- design manifest

You don’t have to match any pillows, just mix in texture and pick patterns of a similar color.  The pillows below all have that warm carmel color, unifying them and keeping the sofa from looking too busy.

neutral living room suzani red accents black trim curtains- design manifest

{The mostly-neutral mix: Shag Pillow = Urban Outfitters, both tan suzanis = Jayson Home, colorful embroider pillow = Urban Outfitters}

The last one is how I’ve had it for the past several weeks.

Now it’s all different.  Different pillows, sconces hung, art adjusted, furniture moved…

I’m telling you, I got a lot done this weekend.  Yet I feel calm and restored.

I think decorating is meditative for me.

How was your weekend?

March 20, 2013

One Room Challenge Finale- Master Bedroom Reveal

Holy hell, the 6 week makeover challenge has finally come to the end and thank goodness because this girl is EXhausted.  With a limited budget and unlimited ideas and desires, it truly was a challenge to come up with a distinctive, vibrant yet relaxing bedroom for myself.  I craved deep saturated walls but I also wanted to room to feel crisp and bright.  Pops of white and greek key added that preppy look I was after, while warm woods and vibrant textiles mixed in my bohemian flair.   In order to get the custom look without the designer budget, I opted to do a lot Do-It-Yourself projects.  My hope is the overall effect is sophisticated and chic instead of crafty and cheap.

Thanks so much to Linda for organizing the One Room Challenge and the 19 other blogger participants for motivating me to not totally suck or flake out on the project.  They have all put together beautiful rooms and I hope you will check their links at the bottom of this post.

Without further ado, here is my “Preppy Bohemian” bedroom…

orc week 7 block print paisley headboard bed straight on (more…)

November 20, 2012

Cottage Talk: A few Nana Acquisitions

My Nana, who has impeccable taste, is downsizing and her children and grandchildren are inheriting many pieces she cannot fit into her new condo.  Going through and dividing up a house full of treasurers proved to be rather emotional for me.   I totally forgot to take pictures of most of the beautiful items I “won” before packing them up into boxes.  So I will have to share my fabulous  décor swag later, but for now I’ll reveal two furniture items that I will be welcoming into the cottage.


The cottage is an intentional and layered mix of traditional and modern.  You will see and hear me repeat that again and again as I make my selections.  This was true in the balance of my kitchen and bathroom designs and is also the case in the pieces I chose for my dining area.


The first Nana acquisition is this chrome and glass console tablethat will live in my dining room window alcove.  This is my bit of modern.



Ignore the tchotchkes on top and imagine it being all fabulous like this…   

Domino Mag


Only instead of a desk, it will house a bar tray and some choice decorative items.  

I acquired some darling butterfly tumblers from Nana and perhaps they will live there too. 

I also plan to put a bench under the console table for additional seating.  Similar to Ruthie Sommers’ set up below… only clean and simple.  I’m attempting to go “minimalistic” and only use my favorite pieces.




My functional dining room storage will be housed in acquisition #2, the wood sideboard.  

This would also be the touch of traditional in the room.



I will put art above it, a lamp on top and style it up all cute.  Sort or like this…

Alex Papachristidis

Or perhaps this…

Helene Schjerbeck

The pieces will be laid out like how I showed in the floor planlast week.  Here is another visual of where they will go.  Imagine a round table in the middle and most of that kitchen wall gone!  (And wood floors, white walls, curtains, art etc etc.)



So that’s my mix of modern and traditional and how I plan to use it in my dining room!  I’m also inheriting a traditional wood table from my mom and adding a modern pendant light above that I shared yesterday.  Once I snap a pic of my new/old dining table I’ll put together a little mood board for the room.  

I feel so so lucky to have select pieces of my grandmother’s and mother’s furniture.  There is something very cool about a multi-generational furniture scheme.  I love that each piece has a story… even the ones I tracked down on my own.  I hope one day some of my own treasures will be cherished by my family too.  Corny moment.  Sorry, couldn’t help myself.

November 7, 2012

5 Trends I May Use in my Cottage

Hey guys, thank you so so much for weighing in yesterday.  You are the best.  I think I know what I want to do and just want to sit on my decision for 48 hours. I will be plowing ahead with the bathroom remodel soon!

Anyway, I promised to move on from this topic and I have.  I’m now starting to think a little more about the other rooms of the house.  Here are 5 ideas I like a lot for my cottage or another client’s home.


CORAL WALLS- Coral is a tough color to get right, but this room by Robyn Mizach McClelland in this months MatchbookMagazine is just divine.  PS- its BM’s Tangerine Dream


COLORFUL CEILINGS- I’m feeling mighty inspired by this living room designed by Ruthie Sommers as featured in Veranda.  She was so bold to use a color that really isn’t too prevalent in the room!  I may have to do this in my dressing room, or maybe even the bathroom.


SKIRTED TABLES-  I just love the casual elegance of a skirted table, especially when done in a pretty patterned fabric.  You can hide an ugly table under that cloth, or even extra storage!


AN EXTRAVAGENT CONSOLE SET UP- Most of my cottage will be practical, but I just need to have one area for pure pretty.  Love this vignette designed by Melanie Turner that Sherry featured on her blog.  PS- how ‘bout that floor?


HIGH COFFEE TABLES- I spend a lot of time on the computer, sadly, so I’m really contemplating a coffee table that will help we work while in my living room.  I also like the drapes and general feel of this room- casual and tailored at the same time.


October 22, 2012

Cottage Talk: Neutral Rug in the living room

You probably wouldn’t know it from the way I’ve been ferociously snatching up and using colorful tribal rugs (see here, here and here,) but I actually intend on going pretty neutral in my cottage living room.  I plan to throw down a sisal rug and layer a cowhide rug over it.  I already own both of these, so it makes my life easy-peasy.  I love the layered look and it allows me to have color and pattern pop elsewhere in the room.  Since the first floor is totally open, I hesitate to use heavy pattern in major ways.  Trust me, there will be some, but I’m thinking I’ll go more sophisticated and classic on the first floor and then a little looser and bohemian on the second and third floors.

These rooms are serving as inspiration for me.  Though honestly, I think my space will look pretty different then all of them.  I guess we will just have to wait and see!
Peter Dunham via House Beautiful