I’m back from our tropical Kauaian vacation and in my absence, the wonderful bedding canopy Crane and Canopy posted my contribution to their blog. I’m truly honored to be in such fine company for their bloggers we love series. And have you seen their bedding line? To die for.
If you want to sources to the products featured in the bedroom round up, follow the link.
Something really big is cooking for an architecturally stunning house in Santa Monica. All the interior colors are currently shades of mayonnaise, light yellow, and brown. We are going to paint every surface of that house in a much cooler light grey spectrum, install new tile and counter tops in two bathrooms and the kitchen, and infuse it with some midcentury modern touches in the spirit of Palm Springs. The work is starting soon so when it wraps up, I’ll show you the before and afters. But since that’s about 2 months away, these boards will give you a taste of what’s to come.
Guys, we are off for a week starting today for a sun filled, cocktail infused, sandy toed vacation. I will report back upon my return. My hint to you is “mahalo” and have a great first week of May.
1) My mister turned 4 years old. His cake was a stunner thanks to Sabba and Safta. 2) Alec flew a kite at the beach. The gift wa sfor Lev, but maybe really for him? 3) Moments like this one makes having two worth all the effort. 4) Fighting crime is a full time job and he means business. 5) When your son asks for nail polish, the color mint mojito is really the only way to go. 6) I had a little fun getting supplies for the beach.
What? What?! Jonathan Adler created a line for JC Penney called Happy Chic?! My word. If you have admired his optimistic retro style of pillows, ceramics, rugs, and decor objects but could never afford the designer price tag, here is a great source. I would assume the quality isn’t top notch but for adding a little cheerfulness into your rooms, give the collection a once over. I’m tempted to sneek some pieces into my next project and just not tell the client its from JCP.
Relaxed, natural, neutral, soft, the softest, rumpled, wrinkley, French/Belgian/Italian linen bedding. I want it. A mix of tones and colors is good to me. As an upgrade. For a birthday? An anniversary? I’m not sure, but I am planning on pulling the trigger for my own bedroom soonish, maybe when there is a sale. I have these bookmarked.
Remodelista, Apartment Therapy, Bodie and Fou , Flodeau, Bodie and Fou, and Stil Inspiration
Part two of the midcentury modern spruce up covers the living area and the guest powder room. There was a not very good shade of crimson as the accent throughout. It just had to go and a more serene color scheme take over.
The only thing I could think of for the powder room was a black and white scheme since I know that we couldn’t replace the black floor or wall mounted faucet. Making lemonade out of lemons, we painted over the yellow Venetian plaster with white and swapped out the light and the sink. The black slate floor with red accent tile was covered up with a large mat. And other black and white accessories were brought in to complete the scheme. The only thing that was rejected was the wallpaper. It was too much of an investment for a temporary freshening up.
We ended up installing a mirror from Ebay which was the perfect vintage Danish shape instead of teh modern mirror originally shown. Otherwise, here is the transformation.
Moving onto the living room: lots of glass, lots of red.
I really wanted to bring in more wood, via chunky shelves to match the mantel, and neutral greys. Painting a new accent color had the biggest impact since we couldn’t change the tile surround on the fireplace. This is the main entertaining space for guests so higher quality accessories were procured. Dwell Studio rugs, an amazing chrome Sputnick chandelier, and designer pillows.
The final touch was a little styling work on the shelves and voila, the room is ready.
Side note: working around a 900 pound piano is no easy task.
D contacted me 5 months into her pregnancy about helping her mid-century ranch house find its roots. Somehow a Mediterranean Tuscan agenda had taken over and she wanted to find a way to love her home more. She was in full nesting mode and we tackled the play room, the guest powder room, and the main entertaining area in time to finish days before her due date. The budget was low because D and her family may not stay in this house much longer so they didn’t want to invest major bucks. They just wanted it to look better for them and also if they decide to sell it. I’m glad to report she is now enthralled with the changes and I have the before and after pictures to prove it.
The play room was first on the agenda. It was kind of a messy mess and she wanted her two year old toddler to be able to utilize it, in style. I changed the layout for her and offered some new pieces to give it a more midcentury retro feel. A lot of graphic elements and an edited color scheme. She implemented these changes right away and was happy to have the play room is good shape immediately.
Notice the terrific post and beam structure of the breezeway between the kitchen and the garage that was converted to an enclosed family room. It was just overloaded with junky furniture and play things.
Here are the spec boards for the new scheme. Goodies from Land of Nod, CB2, prints and pillows from Etsy, mixed in with the credenza and sofas that were already hers.
And here is the space after. Huge improvement, don’t you think? I’ll let this all sink in and post about the living room and powder room tomorrow.
I remember seeing the Color Reform rugs from ABC Carpet and Home years ago and as much as I would have liked to forget about them, I still find myself smitten with not only the idea, but also the look. Its like they tailor made a product for me: salvage an original vintage piece into something new and modern. Super saturating seriously beat up Oriental and Persian rugs with color dye so that they become something new and artfully beautiful. The patchwork version takes the salvage idea up a notch by being able to save even more rugs by just using remnants. Luckily, this rug concept is finally “trending” which means you can test drive it from cheaper retailers like Overstock, Rugs USA, and West Elm. The rugs aren’t authentically distressed, but they have captured the right look.
Images via double g via Design Attractor, est magazine, Shades of Light, West Elm, and Ikea Livet Hemma
Have you noticed that when watching your kids play, you end up spending a lot of time on the floor. And that floor is hard. I wanted to soften it up not only for them, but for me too, so I added this delicious rug near the sofa. The wool is thick and creamy and I do recommend it to all. I am even thinking of buying a second one and laying it next to the first to make a larger padded area.
Sometimes I post on Friday, sometimes its weekend thing, other times I only make it to the computer to sift through my Instagram pics on Monday – I hope you can deal with the sporadic posting schedule. It is what it is. Here is the week in review.
1) Its hard to believe but this beautiful girl turned 1 on 4/18. Wow, just wow. 2) I started a baby succulent garden inside. Hope these little guys grow well. 3) Yup, I found my modern farmhouse table for a song. I lurve it. I’m just having a hard time unloading the old Danish table. Its a good price and an amazing table. What gives? I’ll do a full post when the rest of the dining room comes together. But so far light and table are good to go. 4) I also scored this abstract painting. It spoke to me some how and I took it home. 5) The bakery at Canter’s Deli, mmmmmmm, classic. 6) Oh yeah, I finally pulled the trigger on this wannabe Beni Ouarain rug I was bookmarking for a long while. I wanted something plush to sit on when playing with kids on the floor in the play room. Boy is it plush.
I pulled together a modern organic design scheme for a sun room that was featured on Houzz. I love every item in this collection and wish I had a sun room to put them in myself. The good news is that even if you don’t have a sun room, you can use some of these elements in a casual dining or lounge area indoors this summer to make for a lovely entertaining ambiance. If you want to see where to purchase each item (and more) on this board, all the info is in the Houzz ideabook.
Phase 1 of the dining room redo is complete! I am smitten with my Lindsey Adelman brass chandelier.
With the enthusiasm of my mother-in law I ordered all the parts. With the guidance of my father-in-law I successfully assembled and wired the chandelier. It really wasn’t as hard or scary to work with electricity as I had imagined.
The time consuming part was threading the wires through each piece. It felt like it took a long time. And the hard part for me was thinking through how to convert the plans on the site from a plug in to a hard wire fixture. Figuring out what parts to eliminate from the shopping list and what parts to add in. I kept second guessing myself and ordered extra parts and pieces just in case. Now that I know how to do it, I would definitely make another one, with a modified design.
Next up, a new dining table. I’m leaning towards an all wood modern farm house version. And finding a low credenza for storage. That will complete phase 2. And phase 3 may include bringing in a cowhide rug and more greenery. Now that the hutch has been moved out, there is more breathing room and I do like it so I have to remember not to overcrowd the space again.
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