Living room: the final piece?

We all know that design, especially in our own homes, is an evolution, right?  And because all of the elements in a room are part of a larger composition, changing one changes, well, everything.

In my living room, bringing in a big painting is going to firm up my desire to change out the rug.  (It will go to my girls' bedroom, currently rugless, and start another evolution up there).  With a natural rug on the floor in the living room, I'm going to miss the strong hit of the orange, and the strong trellis pattern.

Enter the green Danish chair.

My husband purchased this off craigslist for our house in Brooklyn, and while I actually like the green color of the upholstery, I've always wanted to reupholster it in something with a more sophisticated finish.  To bring back the orange and some pattern, I've been looking at fabrics like these.

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Okay, that last one is green again.  But I love the sort of floral stripe enough to consider staying in the existing color family.

Another alternative?  Kantha quilts are on sale at West Elm for $60.  I think the big ones offer enough fabric to cover two cushions like these.....I am a big fan of this look, though my gut tells me it will feel oh-so-2012 before I am ready to reupholster again.

For a long time I didn't understand why Domino Magazine was called that.  Now, every time I witness one of these domino effects in my planning, I get it!  Lonny, on the other hand, I don't really get.

Any evolutions afoot at your home?  Oh, and have you seen the "evolve" T-shirt, part of Meg Biram's new limited edition collection, Manifesto?

Reader Design Dilemma: Follow up

Quite some time ago, I posted some ideas for Amy for her boys' shared room.

After the post, we took the conversation off line, and somewhere along the line I showed her images of Cole And Sons Woods wallpaper.

here

Being an amazing artist, Amy went ahead and found a stencil in a similar vein to completely transform the space.

Before:

After:

(Don't you love her little "bats"?)

They moved one of the twin beds inside the closet to open up the floor plan.  I love this as an example of breaking rules to make your space work for you.  They needed the floor space more than the hanging space, so why not?

Amy also stripped and refinished the painted dresser (seen in the closet in the "before")

Much better, right?  IT also works especially well with one painted finish in the room (those blue beds) to have a stained wood finish as well.  Loving the make-unders these days!

This is one busy mama.  doesn't the space look like it is coming along nicely?

(If you have a design dilemma and want some friendly advice published here, email me!)

Hiding the TV with large-scale art

I'm on a push to "finish" things up around here.  I came back from my work-and-blog break with a ton of new ideas, plus renewed energy to tackle some of the plans that have long been on my list.

Since lucking in to a new coffee table and painting the fireplace wall (plus new throw pillows from fabulous vintage fabric, which I have yet to blog about), the living room is getting close.  There is one glaring problem: the TV wall.

Our new construction house is wired in a way that is a dream (no cords!), but it means that the TV placement was out of my control.  With the componenet wired in to a cabinet next to the fireplace, the TV just sort of floats on the wall.

My solution?  A giant painting in a nice, deep frame, that can be propped on the wall-mount TV when we are not watching (or, perhaps more realistically, when company's coming.)  The idea is that the room will look more finished, and, perhaps, I will watch a little less TV.

I taped out the frame size on the wall and my husband built a frame the very next day.

This one gives you a better sense of scale: at 52" x 76", this thing is HUGE.

I bought some inexpensive artist's canvas at my favorite local discount warehouse for about $15.  With two painted portraits from the 1960s and a very geometric lithograph from the 70s, both incorporating some bright color, I'm picturing black, white, and gold, and most likely an abstract.  Here are my main inspirations:

Source: themarionhousebook.com via Heather on Pinterest

Source: lonny.com via Heather on Pinterest

Source: design-crisis.com via Heather on Pinterest

Source: lonnymag.com via Heather on Pinterest

Source: materialgirlsblog.com via Heather on Pinterest

(It is VERY difficult to make splatter look actually effortless, so something like this last one is probably out.)

Mostly these are black and white, but black graphic shapes work on a strong hue, too.

Source: lookbook.elledecor.com via Heather on Pinterest

Of course, I have also long loved giant botanical silhouettes, but again, hard to pull off an amateur version without looking, well, super amateur.

Source: 1stdibs.lookbook.elledecor.com via Heather on Pinterest

Source: 4.bp.blogspot.com via Heather on Pinterest

Another possibility: more of a two-color geometric, inspired by textiles, like the one over the fireplace here.

Source: lonny.com via Heather on Pinterest

It was fun to round these images up. Some are from my "art" board on pinterest, but many more were images I had pinned along the way for other reasons.

What do you think: any favorites? do you think I can pull it off?

Small Measures

One photo, 25 words or less, projects you could do in a day.

Source: designmyheartout.blogspot.com via Heather on Pinterest

Elevate old pegboard!

Spotted on designmyheartout.blogspot.com, this idea offers endless variety: love it as a headboard, but works as straight-up art, too.

A Trend Reversal

Oh, the ubiquitous painted Furniture.  For the past few years, DIY painted furniture has been everywhere.  It makes perfect sense: new casegoods are expensive, vintage ones are often dingy, and painting them is much easier than stripping, sanding, staining and generally restoring the wood to full glory.

In Apartment Therapy's round up of best makeovers of the year, many of them were actually make-unders, where wood pieces were stripped of all embellishments and returned to their natural state.  Like this one.

Also this and this.

I have to admit, I think this is going in the right direction.

It has been interesting to watch all that trendy painted furniture turn up on craigslist.  Have you noticed?  Some people clearly understand that a bad paint job devalues a piece of furniture, but others are actually charging up for the time and materials, even using the makeover as a selling point.  "Annie Sloan Chalk Paint" now shows up in search terms and headlines.

While I think there is still (and always will be) a place for some painted furniture, I've been glad to see the natural warmth of wood return.

I'm curious: would you buy painted second hand furniture if the paint job was decent?  Or is that something you would only do yourself?

Client dining room

There's nothing quite like getting photos from afar that depict a room you put together all put together.

  Remember this New Jersey dining room? I gave them three looks, but this is the one they chose: 

Well, the room pretty much looks JUST like the design board.

The red roman shades, farm table and bench were existing.  We brought in a rustic armoire for storage (and to ground the space), a transitional chandelier, a natural rug banded in red, and a set of fabulous mustardy-camel dining chairs with a modern, graphic trellis print.  My original plan suggested painting out the yellow walls for more of a cream ivory, and while I do think that would make everything a bit airier, I sure don't mind the yellow in the end.

It never ceases to amaze me how a room can come together with just a few well-chosen pieces.

Next up: starting in on the basement!

Bohemian Bedroom, two looks

Yesterday I showed you three looks for a client living room.  Next up: the bedroom!

For this room, I gave her two looks that are quite different (though both work from a base of charcoal walls, white textural bedding, and glass bedside lamps.)  The existing furniture is simple, clean-lined, in a mid-dark stain.  The bench will go at the foot of the king bed, and the window is across from the bed.

Soft and romantic

Bold and modern

What do you think?  I did the bedrooms first.  Based on the living room look, I bet you can guess which look she chose.  

Out of respect for my clients, I do not share sources without their express permission.