Big Art in Context 2

You guys: I am so inspired by the big awesome paintings I shared the other day!

I made another art-inspired dining room.

I think I love this even more than yesterday's.  Or, let's say this is my city dining room and the other is the breakfast porch in my country house.  Right?

Painting, table, chairs, rug, buffet (similar), mirror, buffet lamps, tree basket.  Chandelier, Oly, no longer available.

By the way, that painting is actually 5' tall by 7' wide.

These boards always make me want to start over--except, of course that I did this one with no thought to price, and I can't afford this room!

Big Art in Context

I rounded up some big art the other day, including a giant portrait that I would totally snatch up for my dining room if I wasn't already set in the giant portrait-in-the-dining-room department.

So I put together a little dining room design using other items that have caught my eye lately, without the right client to foist them upon.  This hearkens back to my Kathryn Ireland obsession (patchwork!) , with maybe a little Peter Dunham inspiration throw in.

A daybed layered with ethnic textile pillows, a farm table, patchwork kilim (remember this patchwork product round up?), and 1970s style leather director chairs.  Not to mention a mid-century inspired, sort of serge mouille but not serge mouille chandelier.

Aaaah.  Me likey.

Big Art

Filling a large wall can be tricky--you generally need either a lot of small pieces, a pair of large pieces, or one REALLY big work to make a statement.  Problem is, all of those strategies add up, money-wise.

I was recently looking for wall-defining art for my brother and sister-in-law, and came across a number of pieces not right for them but that I felt I couldn't pass without comment.

All of these are extra large (at least one side over 5'), and all $1000 or under.  Obviously $1000 is still plenty of dough, but it's really not a lot for a wall-sized artwork that will make your space.

Melodie Allegre, folie a deux, acrylic and ink on canvas

Tijana Lukovic, untitled, oil on canvas, Belgium

Claire Elizabeth Jackson, Resham Singh Sandhu, High Sheriff of Leicester 2011, Oil on Canvas, United Kingdom

(you know I would want this for my dining room if I didn't already have Nai Nai)

Raj Yadav, The Mask, Oil, India

Alecs Heiduschka, Totem 2, acrylic on canvas, Germany

We're thinking about letting the girls have their own rooms--and some of the design schemes would leave me with a big wall to fill.  Keeping my eye on these!

Hope your holiday weekend was refreshing!

Neutral organic modern global bedroom, 2 ways

We've been working on my brother and sister in law's house (living room and dining room are almost done, kids rooms are almost done), and recently decided to refresh the master bedroom until they are ready to replace the furniture.  We did new paint (grey-lavender), new bedding, lamps for the bedside tables, and new (cheap but pretty) curtains.

Yesterday I couldn't help myself and put together two schemes using the new paint and bedding but swapping in furniture.

I love the results!

What would you choose?

Enjoy the long weekend!

Modern bedroom, 2 ways

It's fun to find old work in the archives.  This room ended up not quite like either of these!  The project is out of town, but hopefully I will get out to shoot it one day.  Same house as this guest room, this living/dining, the mint barstools, and the fabulous tile entry...

Playroom

There is a room at my parent's house that started life as a sewing room (once upon a time my mom made most of our clothes as well as countless Christmas gifts and Cabbage Patch wardrobes), morphed into a dance room (for about 2 decades my parents have been ballroom and country dancers), and then, sort of reluctantly, half accidentally, into a playroom for their six grandchildren.

As such, it ended up with a bunch of random pieces--a folding table for art, some awesome but misplaced chrome shelves that don't do much for storing toys, a fun but too-small rug, some
Christmas decorations that are too large to store elsewhere.  (I will save the "before" photos for another time.)

Last fall, leading up to Thanksgiving, we talked about doing it up.  The basement has a grey base with tones of red, hot pink, turquoise, royal blue, and black, so I used that palette and put together some possibilities with inexpensive pieces that were nonetheless an upgrade, all kid friendly, but not an eye sore.

Guess what?  We never did anything with it, but my mom asked me about the shelving the other day, and I dug up these boards.

I forgot that I even took profile photos of all the kids over Thanksgiving so I could make the silhouettes for the wall above the table.

Mom: let's do it?

Living Room refresher

I should make every Monday "design board day."  Easy for me, easy for you.

A repeat client was looking for a little living room refresher, keeping the couch, coffee table (trunk), mirror over the fireplace, and brown curtains.  We wanted to bring in a new rug, pair of chairs, and some accents like side tables, pillows, and lighting.  We were also toying with a pretty desk and chair at the far end of the long room.


Red and Grey:

Orange, Cream, and Blue:

Coral and Navy:

Happy Monday!

Mother's Day Wish List

Somehow having a blog (and reading blogs) makes me feel compelled to round up gift ideas for myself, in a way that makes me feel greedy but also tremendous gratitude for all I have.

For mother's day, I really just want a pedicure and to hang with the important (local) moms in my life.  But IF I were hankering for gifts, these are some pretty good ideas:

Coloring books for grown up are all the rage.  This one reminds me of pattern coloring books we had (and loved) as kids.

I always love art to commemorate special days or events.  I'm loving the Irises from Jenny Andrews Anderson, especially this drippy black one.

(here, 15% off with code yourmom)

I'm always in the market for Design books, and while I feel like I can justify some purchases because I'm in the biz, they do cost real dollars and I need to pace myself!  I have a hankering for these:

And can't wait for Lauren Liess's Field Guide to Decorating to come out!

I am the sole coffee drinker in our house, and I have one cup every morning.  I use a pour over cone, and would love a beautiful ceramic version, like this:

With matching mug, perhaps this one:

(artist martinathornhill.com, shop seems to be down)

I've also always wanted Moroccan tea glasses since using them for actual Moroccan tea in Paris some years ago

And aren't these crochet edged napkins the sweetest?

(here.  Full disclosure: I basically have these already in all-white, but we use them regularly and we've had them for ten years, so they have seen better days!)

Okay, I'll stop now.

Spring Bedroom Refresh (the best pillowcases)

Spring!

One of the quickest ways to refresh for the new season is to address your bedding.  Out with the heavy duvets and extra throws and in with light, bright, and fresh.

You know I love a good printed pillowcase, and have been known to splurge on them in the past.  Well, I recently found a secret source for CHEAP pillowcases that look straight our of John Robshaw, or Kerry Cassil, or Anthropologie.

From World Market, only available in stores:

Cool

Warm

At $14.99/pair, I find myself picking up a new pattern every time I'm at the store.

I had the small-scale print on the bed when I had my house photographed last fall:

Then moved on to the yellow-and-olive design:

And Just recently swapped in this new print with strong red, blue, and green.

I couldn't bring myself to invest in new bedding (yet), so I borrowed the blue hotel bedding from the guest room and I love the brighter/ crisper color in here!

I brought back the floral bolster and leopard pillow--two of my favorites, that had been taking a breather in the basement.

I also did a pillow swap to match the palette.  From this:

To this:

My room feels so happy and bright, and the only expense was the pillowcases--$14.99