Dreamy

I'm sure many of you have already seen Rebecca De Ravenel's sunny abode in Domino, if not, you're in for a beautiful home tour.  If you've already seen it, I am sorry you have to see these pictures again, but I couldn't resist not sharing on my blog.  It's that good.

I have to admit this room's paint color has me completely rethinking the paint color I picked for my living room (FB Blackened).  I was all set for a very pale gray with blue undertones, but now I see this and I am rethinking my decision.  Ugh.  I hate when that happens.

If I ever win the lottery, I would love to own Paule Marrot's piece of art called 'Clouds' seen above over the tortoise looking console.  In my dreams, I know.   It is so beautiful, calming, serene and feminine.  

Back to Rebecca's home.  I love the white octagon coffee table and bits of rattan.  Hillary Thomas' shop has a gorgeous white lacquered octagon table (just like this) (on super sale) here.  If I had the space, I'd snatch it up! 

Of course, I spot all my favorite designer's fabrics in my favorite colors.

So much goodness - woven shades, Lulu DK art, ticking slipcovers, awning stripes, raoul textiles…..the list goes on! I love how the decor is so effortless and eclectic.  

Ahh…the bedroom.  Blues and pinks.  Love it all!   So many things to study and to look at.  Do you remember her NY apartment published in Vogue?  See below.  This is how her bedroom looked back then.

And, here is more of now.

Raoul's blue and white Kashmir delft gets me all the time!  How wonderful does it look on that little tufted settee and in her bedroom!  And, the pink shaded sconce?   I remember that settee in her NY apartment which was in her living room.  See below.  

It's always fun to see how designers re-purpose their furnishings.  The settee looks great in both settings.

If you're interested in seeing her NY apartment in Vogue, go here.  It's always fun to see how her style has evolved and how she switched things around!  

ORC: Week Six - Final Reveal

I can officially say that I have completed Linda's One Room Challenge and survived to tell about it!!!  I might've neglected my family, our pet fish and the house for the past week, but I am very, very happy with the outcome!!  AND I can also officially say (and my husband will agree) that our guest room is soooo much nicer than our master bedroom - and there is something completely not right with that!

I am happy to share it with you.  Here is my guest room reveal….

Those beautiful brass nailheads caused a couple of gray hairs and took so painstakingly long.  For every one I got right, I ruined about twenty.  No joke.  But, it worth the hundreds I saved from buying a new headboard.  

If you remember, below is a picture of our guest room BEFORE:

And, this is our guest room (and which also pulls double duty as my office) AFTER:

Below is a snapshot of my huge homasote DIY bulletin board that also serves as my catch all inspiration and design planing board. 

And, my little desk below surrounded by all the many things I love and treasure.  

For those of you who have followed along, thank you so much for sticking with me!  This was a great challenge for me personally and professionally!  If there is enough interest, I'd be happy to put a blog post together about my DIY headboard.  I think I spent approximately $180 in materials and supplies at the end of the day. 

If you are just tuning in, I've just spent the past six weeks participating in Linda's One Room Challenge and you are welcome to read more about my guest room's transformation during the previous weeks here.   Thank you Linda for hosting my first ever ORC.  Hop over here to see the other participants and their crazy transformations. 

Also, I'd like to thank Nicole Pullen who helped me with the photography! She is based in Louisville.

Sources are listed below.

Paint // Euro Fabric // Lumbar Pillow // Coverlet // Scalloped Sheets // Bed Skirt // Sconces // Headboard Fabric // Headboard Nailhead // Bench // Bench Pillows // Desk // Desk Chair // Mirror // Desk lamp //

One Room Challenge - Week 5

One more week left for the One Room Challenge (ORC) and still lots to wrap up!  With a chest cold and 20% of my voice left, I got sidelined this past week but slowly getting back in the saddle. (I hope)!

I finally hung up my Serena and Lily mirror  above (that I've had for a while) and some art (that I have also had) above the desk that sits on the opposite wall of the bed!  Since the mirror is small, I need to balance the size of my desk with some artwork around the mirror.  I want to keep it simple and not have a cluttered look.

My desk is a black french inspired desk from Ballard Designs that I got long ago that I will pair with a white slipcovered parsons chair from Ikea.  Desk style similar to below minus the gold detailing.

I finally hung up my  DIY bulletin board (a huge piece of homasote that I reupholstered with ticking fabric) and this will sit above the bench. 

Hanging this was a lot trickier than I originally thought and planned!  Below you can see the bulletin board hung on the wall above the bench with the bed's euro sham and bolster!

So, where am I now?  Oh yes, the headboard.  The headboard has been the most interesting component of this challenge.  I have a new found respect for all the DIY-ers who have made one of these before.  Here is the headboard upholstered with the raffia fabric (bad picture). 

I'm 70% completed with the nailhead and I'll be honest I am not sure I love the headboard with the nailhead.  I know - the horror!!  

I can't put my finger on it as to why, just yet, but I'm hesitating whether to move forward with completing the nailhead or not.  It breaks my heart because I want to love it and after five hours of your life that you won't get back, that is a hard pill to swallow. 

But, that is where I am and I guess both you and I will have to wait for the reveal to see if I decide to keep the nailhead or not.  

But, I know one thing, I'm ready to get this room done!!!  Looking forward to next week - see you then!!  Go here to check out what my other fellow ORC-ers are doing!!  

One Room Challenge - Week Four

Hello Friends!  The weeks for this One Room Challenge seem to be going faster and faster.  Crunch time is on!!  The push this past week was upholstering my headboard, but more on that later.

Let's talk about the fabrics in this picture, shall we?

The John Robshaw euro shams (turmeric in light indigo) came back from my seamstress and look fabulous.  

This alan campbell petite zig zag fabric will be the bolster that sits in front of the shams!  I wanted a pop of color and this fabric packs a lot of punch!  It has yet to arrive, but hopefully by Friday.

I originally wanted to do a blue and white gingham/check bed skirt.  Finding the perfect check size in the perfect color is a lot harder than you think.  Trust me I tried.

I did find one (pictured above - centered swatch) from the UK, but it was very expensive - that in addition to the labor of making a custom bed skirt was just a wee bit out of my price range.  

As I did more research, I found another bed skirt (not custom and not a check patter) but with a very similar look and feel for at least a third of the cost.  So, I went with that.   I have yet to receive it so we will see how it all works out.  If it doesn't work,  I might be scrambling at the 11th hour!

I plan on having light blue embroidered scalloped sheets to tie in the light indigo blue from the Robshaw shams.  

The rest of the bedding will be white which will offer a nice contrast to the raffia fabric on the headboard.  

I will have throw pillows on the bench which is why you see Serena and Lily's chambray diamond fabric in the first photo.  I didn't want the room to be all blue and red so I'll be throwing a little green in the mix.  In the photo below, I love how the green mixes so well with the blue and red. 

As you can see it is slowly coming together.   Still, so much to do and I pray that we have sunny days leading up to the reveal day so I can take some decent photos!

The headboard will be the MAIN focus this upcoming week.  I could write several posts on this DIY.  

Let me just say that upholstering a rounded headboard is not an easy task, my friends.  To say I'm nervous with how this will come out is a little bit of an understatement.  But, I'm clenching my teeth and moving forward!! 

Until next week my friends!  Here are weeks 1, 2 and 3!!  Wishing all my ORC friends out there the best of luck!!

Get The Look

Have you seen the designer Rasmey Gourd's, Vermont Farmhouse, in the September's House Beautiful issue?  I really liked the colorful spread and you can see more here, but one of my favorite rooms is the small master bedroom.

Katie Ridder's leaf wallpaper is the first thing I noticed (love that wallpaper), but I also love the black spindle bed.  It's the focal point of the room and it's beautiful.

I love this room and thought it would be fun to re-create the look with more attainable items.

{Bed, Sconce, Stencil, Shams, Duvet, Side Table, Rug, Pillow, Chair}

A Fresh Perspective

I am drawn to interiors that are classically designed but are infused with a fresh perspective.  By that I mean rooms that have traditional design but are layered with modern elements.  Great things can happen when you carefully mix traditional and current elements.

Take for example, this beautiful bedroom designed by Henry & Co. Design (Elle Clymer and Stephanie Woodmansee), one of Traditional Home's 2015 rising stars of design.  

I have always loved the classic Colefax and Fowler's Bowood chintz fabric seen here on the upholstered headboard.  I actually plan to use this fabric as an accent fabric in our master bedroom.  It is such a classic and here, it is beautifully paired with the Chelsea Textiles streamlined bedside table.  A perfect example of classic and current elements carefully mixed.  

A beautiful blue Christopher Spitzmiller lamp sits on top of what looks like Ikea's malm dresser.  And, I love the custom banding on the pretty quadrille roman shades!  I think panels would have made this room too fussy - roman shades gives it a casual yet sophisticated feel, that is also practical.  

Our Guest Room / Starting Point

I am in full-on over-drive to finish our guest room before spring arrives.  Once the weather warms up, we plan on having quite a few visitors come to Louisville.  The good news is that I have decided on most of the elements for the room and I just now need to pull them all together.  This is where I am ….

{1} I already own John Robshaw's turmeric fabric and plan on using this fabric for euro shams for the bed.  These will be propped against a white headboard.

{2} I would love to get Circa's french library sconces to flank a very large scale bulletin board above my desk (not pictured), but I'm still on the fence due to the price.  Maybe I'll be surprised on Mother's Day?? ;)

{3} Woven shades are installed and white drapes still need to be installed.  I plan on sewing trim on the edges of the panels.

{4} Remember how I said I wanted to add color this year as part as my New Year's resolutions??  Well, here it goes…I will be adding a pop of red as a lumbar pillow.  Love Quadrille's nitik pattern.

{5} The walls are already painted BM White Dove and I want to do a bold bedskirt to ground the bed. I love checks so it probably is no surprise that the bedskirt will be blue and white checked.  

{6} I would love to bite the bullet and invest a tortoise bamboo side table to add some warmth and texture to the room besides the woven shades.  Most bamboo side tables I've seen are in the the $300 to $400 range…..hoping I can find one for half that! 

Well, that is it for now…..Let the fun begin!!  

Little Girl's Bedroom Inspiration

A friend of mine has asked me to help update her daughter's nursery to a little girl's room with the hope that this will be a room she can grow into down the road.  Her one request is that the room must have the color 'purple' in it (her daughter's favorite color). Purple can be one of those tricky colors - it can either look beautiful or just frankly, over the top.  And, if I know my friend, she doesn't mind the color 'purple' as long as it doesn't steal the show! :)

When we were throwing back and forth ideas, I mentioned that the color green and purple work very well together and can look sophisticated.  She recently saw a picture of my daughter's room with the newly painted 'green' bookcase and loved the color.   She wasn't really sold on that color palette until I sent her this photo below...

via

See, how the purple is not the center of attention, but clearly stands out??  You definitely notice the color, but the whole room is not purple.  She loved this and so did I.  

Still, she was a little doubtful on how this could translate to a little girl's room, so I created an inspiration board below.

I would paint the walls BM Tranquility (the beautiful green swatch color in the upper left corner).  To keep the room from feeling romantic and light, I would keep the furnishings light (distressed white/cream colored) which luckily, my friend already has an antique white dresser she plans on using.

I would infuse purple through the bedding - she could either do purple duvet with ivory sheets OR purple sheets with an ivory duvet. This will allow the purple to stand out without overpowering the room.

The window treatments should be a simple relaxed roman shade either in the same color of the walls or in an ivory linen.

I love the idea of adding feminine touches through scalloped trims (light fixture, light shade, basket liner, or bedskirt).  The scallops will mimic the feminine lines of the headboard, relaxed shade, etc.  My girlfriend collects vintage french baskets so we already are having a scalloped basket liner made for one of her baskets.

I think this color palette will be one her daughter can grow into and if down the road, her daughter wishes to add additional colors of pink, blue, gold, florals, etc., it'll all pair nicely with the greenish walls.  

In the early stages of going back and forth, I sent my friend this picture of Christy Ford's daughter's room and I think this is exactly the feminine look she and her daughter would like to have!! 

Don't you love it??  Ribbons, teddy bears with bows, florals, ruffles, polka dots!!  Perfect for a little girl!!

My Etsy Faves

1. I am considering these box pleat linen euro shams for our guest room.  Just gorgeous!

2. I want to purchase a return address stamp.  Love this one. So many beautiful designs.

3. I love vintage seascape art and this one with the gold frame is perfect.

4. Blue and white catchall.  Perfect for an entry to hold keys, phone, and mail.  Or on your kitchen table filled with oranges or lemons.

5. Blue and white cotton napkins.  Perfect for summer entertaining.

6. PVE's customized monograms.  Isn't this one gorgeous?  A piece of artwork that you can treasure always.

Do you see anything here that catches your eye?

More thoughts on my bedroom....

As I ponder updates to our bedroom, I have been focusing on our bedding.  Now, that I have decided I want a linen upholstered headboard, I find that I am leaning towards all white bedding with a touch of color/pattern here and there.

PB is having 20% off their white sale so I purchased two of the PB Essentials white standard shams for only $14 each!!   And, since I have a soft spot for monogramming and it was free, I had them monogrammed.  I'm looking forward to getting them and seeing how they look! 

Of course, now I want new nightstands, lamps, etc.  The list goes on and on.....

Casually Elegant

The other day I stumbled across Brian Paquette Interiors via Jamie's blog.  Whoa....can I say, love his style?  I found pictures of this young family's home on his website.  I really like this style - casually elegant as I'd call it.  Perfect for a family with young kids.  Maybe that is why I relate to it so much.

While the bedding, furniture and rug are from retail stores (Serena Lilly, Pottery Barn, West Elm), it definitely has a custom and collected feel to it.  Don't you think?  I like how it is elegant, casual and not fussy.

I want to create a cozy nook like this in our bedroom.  I also love the color of the hardwood floors. I need that floor lamp.  I wonder if it is from RH?

Ahhh, I love the weathered vanity - so beautifully paired with the classic polished fixtures.  And, I love the green ticking shower curtain.  Although, I wish it just went all the way to the floor. 

I checked out his blog and spent longer than I'd like to admit browsing his photos.  Great inspiration.  

Beautiful work.  Wouldn't you agree?  I love when I find new designers (well, at least new to me) and I really get inspired by their work.