Before and After: Contemporary in Jersey City

Well hello there!

What a busy month it has been.  Last week was my girls' Spring Break, and we headed to our old home, New York City.  The impetus for the trip was photographing a project I finished a while back in Jersey City, but then we almost didn't shoot it!  I'm so glad we made the time in the end, even if it was a very quick venture and I didn't do as much styling or get as many details as I usually would.

Ready for the tour?

The space is a tall and narrow brownstone which got a modern update but kept many original details intact.  My clients planned the major architectural changes on their own and brought me in to help decorate the entry, living/dining room, powder bath, master and guest bedrooms.

I shared some of the design boards and floor plans along the way:

Guest Room
Living room/ Dining Room
Master bedroom

Now for the before and after!
(A major caveat: these clients have great taste.  They had JUST moved in so everything is VERY unfinished in the before photos.  Lucky for me--the "Afters" look that much better!)

Living space before:

From the front entry, you looked at this stairway; the door to the left looked into the living room.  That whole wall got opened up.)

And after:

(We flip flopped the layout--living room went to the front windows and dining room in the middle, next to the kitchen.)

(I can't believe I didn't take my coat off the hooks in the front hall for the photo!  And missed an angle that shows the chartreuse wall color in there.)

Before again, looking towards the front of the house:

And after:

 Living room before:
(you can see the fireplace at the left edge of the photo for reference.)

Now the dining room:

This is such a good example of choosing carefully in a space with few pieces--the special items like this leather-front sideboard and the fabulous chandelier can really shine.

GUEST ROOM

This is the first space we tackled, on the top floor of the house.  We used the existing bed but put it on the window wall.  I had them take the accent wall color on to all the walls.  From there it was all about textiles and texture!

Before:

After:

MASTER BEDROOM

This one was the most challenging.  Obviously these clients love color, but they wanted a calm, soothing retreat for the bedroom.  The trick?  It couldn't be boring.  So we chose pale neutrals and brought in interest through the details--wallpaper that makes a quiet statement, studded lacquered bedside tables, a fabulous mirror, etc!  

After:

Before:

After:

Let's see a close up of that fireplace:

Before:

After:

I also love that wool geometric runner that runs up both flights of steps.  Great pattern, but subtle, as it is tone on tone.

POWDER ROOM

There's no before, as this space is brand new-- carved out under the stairs.  It's teeny tiny and SO cute!

We used the same cement tile here as in the entry.  We should probably look at that again, no?

One funny thing about this project--though complete for a while now, this is the first time I saw it with all the changes and selections we made!

I love all my projects, and have enjoyed sharing some more traditional spaces lately.  But this one is closer to my own style, making it that much more exciting.  Sometimes I do this weird thing where I think about which magazine a space would best fit it, if it were to be in a magazine.

I think this one is SO domino.  Don't you agree?

Crochet shams

Sometimes I realize that I have suggested the same item to many clients, without any of them biting. And sometimes when this happens it turns out that I am the one who really wants whatever it is that I'm pushing.  Whoops!  Luckily, I'm very easy about clients saying "no" and I have a strict policy that if you don't like it I won't try to put it in your home.  (Seems obvious, but surprisingly isn't how all decorators operate.)

Case in point: crochet shams.  It's no secret that I love a pillow case with a pretty detail--the ones that look great and can actually be used.  Linen shams with a crochet edge are the perfect example, and they bring in texture instead of pattern.

When PBTeen recently had theirs on sale for the price of a regular old pillowcase, I snapped up a pair.

They're no longer available, but the whole Pottery Barn family does a great job with these--not too fussy, not too country, not too sweet.

PB Kids version has a smaller, more delicate edge, but the same even scalloping.  The colors are pretty for a kids room, but for an adult space I would stick with the white or the (surprisingly sophisticated) grey.

The Pottery Barn version is scaled like the PBTeen, but a little more detailed and delicate.

When we registered for our wedding, I chose plain white cotton napkins made special by a simple crochet edge.  I love how this detail makes them prettier, but also brings another layer to a space--in the case of my guest room, I love the femininity coupled with the hotel bedding.  And paired with the embroidered suzani, it's just a bit Bohemian, too.

What about you:  anything you've always wanted in home decor?  Will you treat yourself?

P.S. I posted two days in a row--crazy, I know.  Don't miss yesterday's post.

Occupational Hazard

I bought a pair of these lamps for that surprise makeover I did, but I didn't end up using them.

Leading up to the install, I had two events at my house, and had to put all the boxes and bags and bedding for the makeover in our guest room, instead of the office (and, well, front hall, back hall, and dining room, per usual.)

My mom came to check out the loot just before install, and when she saw these lamps sitting on the side tables, she said "I actually love those right there."  Yeah.  Me too.

And guess what?  When I returned everything else left over form the shoot, it seems I forgot all about these.....

Of course, this means there are now 7 lamps in a room the size of a queen bed, including the wall lights (remember those?).  This just might be overkill.  Surely there is a spot for some of the others elsewhere in the house, right?

Swan's Way

It feels like we're really cycling through the animal trends, people.  Elephants, Camels, Horses, and of course that age old favorite, cats.

Well, how about swans?

Cottage Living

The Style Files

Little Green Notebook

Fenton and Fenton

Nina Campbell for Osborne and Little

via Sadie and Stella.

(Always wanted to use this paper in chartreuse!)

And of course, the swan in my own guest room...

I feel compelled to tell you I have had this photograph for AGES, just ages.  (In fact, you can see it in my Brooklyn bedroom in 2001).  A photographer friend gave it to me back when I was in the biz, and it was one of the first pieces I had professionally framed.

If you want in, Jenny rounded up some prints here, or there are these lovelies through Natural Curiosities. 

Swan Song 3

Swan Song 4

 Beautiful, yes?

What say you: animal art?

When all else fails

throw everything at it.

And when in doubt, post a picture of your guest room.

Seriously though.  (My 5 year old says it the cutest.  I need to catch her on tape.  Yes, tape.  I am approximately one hundred and four and I remember the 8 track.)  As much as an "editing eye" is a wonderful beautiful thing, sometimes more is more.

This room has had many, Many, MANY iterations, but this one, with ALL of my favorite bits and pieces all thrown in there, is my favorite.  It needs a printed bedskirt, doesn't it?  And once I decided on a leopard rug for the living room, the jute can be layered back in here for just a little MORE more.

I know.  I make it look so EASY, don't I?

I Heart Embroidered Textiles

I remember the first time I was really aware of a suzani used in home decor.

Ah, yes.  Love at first sight.

I have always loved textural/ embroidered ethic textiles, from the white mirrored coverlet from Morocco that I bought at the 26th street flea market in NYC (and which I regret daily having lost or foolishly given away in one of our moves), to the african textile that has been a wall hanging and a bed cover to the kantha quilts I just keep buying, this is one of my things.

So imagine my delight when I stumbled upon a small vintage suzani at a local antiques store while shopping for accessories for a project!  In just exactly my palette: raspberry, coral, emerald, teal, gold.  And imagine my happiness at the price tag: just $28.  (Cheap to begin with, the vendor was having a 20% off sale.)

And guess where it went?

Oh, guest room.  Whatever will I do when one of my children insists on moving in and I don't get to play any more?

Want to see more suzani's in beautiful interiors?  Check out posts from Pure Style Home (Lauren was also initially inspired by that Elle Decor!), Cote de Texas, Little Green Notebook, and Once Upon a Tea Time.  There are gorgeous examples out there!

Is it a sign?

Do you do this thing, where you don't buy something and then you think about it all the time, and when you go back to get it but it's gone you tell yourself it wasn't meant to be?

There are so many variations on this theme.

I was at Pottery Barn the other day picking something up for a client, when I noticed they had the Hotel bedding in blue majorly on sale.  With the addition of my trade discount, I was looking at half off.

We could actually use new bedding for the guest room, but I walked away thinking it was final sale, and unsure whether the blue would be the right blue.

But the more I thought about it, the more I knew it was perfect.  I love hotel bedding, and in this case I love the idea of something a little proper to temper the new bohemian print on the headboard.  And suddenly I had a vision: I would love it with these red-printed sheets underneath and my favorite leopard pillow.  And then I started seeing little inspirations everywhere, like Jenny's blue hotel bedding, the red bed at the newly revamped Biscuit, and the ribbon-trim shams on the pattern-heavy bed at Furbish.

But, considering the final sale thing, I wanted to be sure.  So I went to Target to find out how little I could spend on a full/queen duvet.  And they were completely sold out!  At TWO Targets!  And guess what else? The first Target didn't have those red sheets at all.  At the second one they were rain checked.  An entire aisle of sheets all lined up in rows, and ONLY this pattern in the size I needed was out of stock.

But all's well that ends well.

I went to Pottery Barn, they still had the duvet cover and shams, which had been further marked down.  I had a random gift card and merch credit in my wallet which had a combined $117 on them.  ("FREE MONEY!"  Do you do that one, too?)  And the bedding was not final sale after all.  I ordered a duvet on line from overstock with a major coupon.  And I realized the red sheets were unnecessary.

So, wham.  The bedding in situ.  (I guess I should get out the iron).  Waiting on the duvet, but at the end of the day I spent not a lot on the duvet and still have $27 to spend at Pottery Barn.

I guess it was just meant to be.

Until I change my mind.  I have 30 days to return!

Have You Lost Your Mind?

That is what my husband might say (or at least THINK) if he happens to wander in to the guest room and sees this:

Yes, I'm thinking about reupholstering the headboard.  No, I didn't plan it.

This is what happened.

I am making new curtains for the girls room because of the new rug.
Because of the new blinds, which replaced the temporary one but do not have any of their light blockage, I need to sew the curtains with blackout lining.

At places like Joann's, blackout liner can be $12/yard, making this "free" project decidedly less so.  So I went to my favorite fabric warehouse, where the goods can be had for $3/yard.

But you can't go all the way to the fabric warehouse and not look around.  Nay.  And what did I find?  That's right.  This Persian Diamond fabric from IMAN's collection for Calico Corners (I blogged it here) for a mere $7/yard (original retail was around $54/yard).  How could I not buy a yard (or two?)

Meanwhile, the guest room always felt close but not quite.  I keep falling in love with it, only to become disenchanted mere days later.  (I'm not usually so fickle.  Truly.)  And it occurred to me on my way home with my score that this could be amazing on the headboard.  Here's where the room was most recently (except that the rug went to the living room!)  Oops--I kind of love it.

But.  What do you think?

And if I do it, shibori-style throw pillow or animal print?  I love the freshness of the white bedding for spring. (By which I mean, for the fresh blanket of white snow we lovingly received today.)

(Colors on the right are far more accurate.)

Decisions, decisions.

Banishing the temporary

I wrote the other week about the problem with temporary items that come in to our homes: namely, that they become permanent.

While I try to avoid this situation, I have been known to succumb.  The biggest temporary-item problem in my current house?  The white vinyl roller shades in the upstairs bedrooms.  When we bought the house, I thought the window treatments were staying, so I was surprised to find myself with bare windows upstairs.  In order to get my kids to sleep on time in a different timezone and in the midst of summer, I ran to Home Depot, paid $30 a piece, and came home with White. Vinyl.  Roller shades.

In the girls room, I did what I could, block printing them into something quite cute, actually.  In the guet room I simply ignored them.  What I really wanted?  Bamboo blinds.  I love them.  I have pretty much always had them in every home ever.  And I knew that at the size I needed they were custom, and therefore expensive.

Or were they?

I recently discovered, thanks to Bryn Alexandra's blog, that overstock.com stocks bamboo blinds in virtually every size imaginable, and in many color to boot.  I used my birthday money from my mother-in-law and had a pair on their way in no time.

 (To remember the "before," go here)

So much better.

(Do you like that my 6-year old has already entered her "goth" phase?  And that her hair sticks up like she never washes it?)

I chose to put the same type in both of the bedrooms for continuity, and chose a light tone similar to the wood trim to keep the blinds from becoming a new element.  While I was trying with all my might to ignore the old shades, I am so happy that I was able to banish the temporary solution for the permanent fix.

Until they break, that is.  I will admit, you get what you pay for.

Playing around with a jute rug

I love the layered look.  Love it.  Escpecially in a house like ours, which has simple, clean lines and little patina.  Sometimes the problem with layers is that it means A LOT of individual items that may not be strictly "necessary", and that can add up to the big bucks.

In the small guest room, where I have a beloved turkish rug in the small area of free space at the foot of the bed, I have long thought that a natural woven rug underneath would add texture, depth, and a soft place to step in and out of the bed.  But the room didn't "need" it, so I wasn't going to buy it.

And then.

Then I found a rug that I FORGOT THAT IT HAD.

Is that weird?  (I know there are all you hoarders out there who are shaking your head: no, not weird at all.  In fact, I just found a dining room set in my storage locker.)  But for the rest of you, I know.  But it can happen.

The rug is a 6x9 jute rug from World Market that we bought in Boulder for our dining room (above).  When we first got here, I put it in the dining room, too, but that room is big.  (BIG: It now has a 9x12 rug).  Apparently, when that didn't work, we put it in the loft above our garage, a dark scary place that I never ever venture, until the other day when I thought maybe my husband's bike was stolen and went up there, hoping against hope that he had just stashed it for the winter.  (He hadn't.  Stolen.)  Silver lining?  Jute rug.

First, i used it to test out whether I REALLY want a natural rug in the living room what with the arrival of the new coffee table.

The verdict?  Probably, yes.  (But what do you think?)

Then, I realized that because it is the wrong size for anywhere in this house, and because I own it already, I can layer it up.

What do you think?

P.S.  sometimes the posts I think are quick posts end up being the longest ever.  My brain just makes these circuitous connections and I want to tell you the WHOLE STORY.  My husband is trying to cure me of this but so far, no dice.