Missing Summer?

Yeah, me too. I'm not a big fan of Fall.

But visit me over at Loft & Cottage today where I'm making the best of the crisp autumn weather while Casey is off galavanting in Italy. Lucky duck.

This is the extent of my Fall decorating.

My girl Casey has an amazing talent when it comes to decorating and styling. So of course, her blog is a wonderful source of inspiration. You'll want to pour yourself a big mug of coffee and set aside some time to scroll through her previous posts.

Have a great weekend!

Thursday Tip #2

Webber + Studio, Architects

Use accessories to carry colour

 The vibrant yellow green in the artwork in this hallway is repeated again in the pillow in the bedroom. A darker green appears in the art work above the bed.  When walking down the hallway your eye pops from the artwork into the adjoining room  which is seen at a distance.  This causes visual movement from one room to the next.  A small thing but very effective for connecting one room with the next. Never underestimate the power of accessories to improve every room in your house. Have you carried colour from one room to another in your home? 


Check back for my next post on Colour Continuity when creating a colour scheme.

  

Knock Off

If you happened to catch the guest post I did on Room Rx a few weeks back, you may remember how I professed my love for this fabric. It is Rosenholm from Designer's Guild. 

Now guess where you can find a similar version? 

At Ikea. 

For $8.99 a yard.

Yup, I saw it with my own eyes a couple of weeks ago. It is also available in the reverse. 

I wish I had a use for it!

It's never perfect

There's room for improvement in most decors because perfection is difficult to create and every set of eyes will see a design in a different way.  I'm amazed by the discussion that ensues when several decorators look at the same photos of a project.  Often an  aspect of a  room that I will focus on may be ignored by someone else or one of my colleagues will bring up an aspect of the design that I didn't even notice. 

  Look at each of the photos below and see how you feel about the decor. You will notice a general theme of art work running through my commentary.That's because I feel strongly that art work can make or break great decor.   What do you think are the strengths in these rooms?  Is there anything that bothers you?  Is there anything you would change  (add or take away) if you could? Or is the room just perfect in your eyes?  Decide what you think and then scroll down to my commentary.  Did we focus on the same strengths and things that could be changed to improve the overall design?  Did entirely different things come to light for you? Remember it's opinion.

Number 1

 BHG

A bed between two windows calls out for symmetry which this decor has.  The colour scheme that supports the light wood tones is very soft and  pleasing  which I predict would make sleeping in this room pleasant and relaxing. Given the overall symmetry of the room, I find the artworks above the bed begging to be lined up with each other.  Better still I would have just one piece hung since the second piece almost reaches the ceiling.  I crave  pattern for variety and it could be added in pillows , a throw and/or and with the addition of an area rug under the bed. I'm personally not fond of all the wooden furniture matching  and think that something more bench like  would work at the end of the bed.   The lovely cabinet could be moved to another room.

Number 2

BHG

I like this neutral bedroom that just sings with the splashes of orange red on the bed and in the art pieces above it. Any art work arranged in a grid interests me, but this bed seems to need larger pieces above it.  Even with the massing of smaller, brightly coloured  works, the scale doesn't work with the bed.  It's crying out for something with more visual weight. I bet there is another spot in this room where these pieces could be used to better advantage.

When choosing artwork for over a bed I like to see at least 2/3 of the linear space occupied. With a queen bed,  I'd aim for  two 18 x 20 or 20 x 20 inch works or one larger piece of approximately 40 inches in length. The higher the headboard the smaller the vertical measurement.  Something brighter and larger in scale could be added to bring more visual interest to the bedside table that is visible. While there isn't much pattern in this room, the little bit on the pillows appears enough for my tastes.

Number 3 

SchappacherWhite Ltd.

The elements in this room are quite interesting, especially the inclusion of the yellow flowers that are beautifully framed by the doorway beyond.   The zebra is an unexpected touch and creates some pattern in this room which seems a little devoid of it. The two things I find jarring are the two pieces of artwork.  I want to line up the small piece on the left with the chair under it and the large piece on the right  is much too large for the space and looks awkward and squat. Sometimes this forced confinement of a work can be used to great advantage, but this work doesn't have that kind of imagery. I want to see it on a large wall which allows  breathing room all around it. The brown  light fixture  is  large, but it works because the room is vaulted and the dark colour connects with the wood on the ceiling.

Number 4

 Garrison Hullinger Interior Design Inc.

Many times in our homes we have to use the furniture that is available  and arrange it to best advantage.  I think the table is such a piece of furniture.  It reads as just a tad too big to place between the two chairs, but thought has been put into creating  visual flow with red to connect the disparate pieces and make the vignette look inviting.  Your eyes have no choice only follow the pops of red that have been set up in the age old triangular format.  My one great annoyance in this room is the plant that obscures the art work behind it.  It is never a good idea to mount art work and then cover it up with the next layer of design.  Perhaps it is only me who has this pet peeve;  it might be the artist in me rising to the top.
 

IMHO... in my humble opinion. As I said, there's no one correct way to design a room and we all perceive a room differently.  Do you have any reaction to these rooms? 

The Project List

Chris and I didn't get a chance to make any progress on our family room over the weekend because we were out of town, but the long car ride together gave us an opportunity to put together a draft To Do list for the room.

(My Type-A tendencies compelled me include two items we already completed just so that I could cross them off and get that warm fuzzy feeling of accomplishment). 

Unfortunately, these aren't the kinds of projects we'll be able to finish all in one weekend. I figure it will take us about 7-8 weekends. This will be a true test of my patience as we've only just started and I already can't wait to be done! 

How did you spend your weekend? 

Really Big Houses

Remember when Chris's parents came to town? Well, in addition to taking them to a polo match, we also treated them to a sailboat ride in Narragansett Bay, RI.

I know, we're really fabulous hosts.

Let me re-live the experience for you. 

Hop aboard! My name is Carrie and I'll be your tour guide. Forget about the water and beautiful scenery, I'm just going to show you some extraordinary houses! 

Some of these homes are so big and grand that they have names. The one below is called Horsehead-Marbella. The founder of the Wharton School lived here. Joseph Wharton originally named it Marbella, but it later came to be known as Horsehead because of a rock formation on the property that looks like a horse's head.

And this one? Hammersmith Farm.
History buffs might recognize this as the childhood home of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. It also served as the location of the wedding reception of Jacqueline and John F Kennedy.

This "little" yellow victorian is my favorite. It has me thinking we should consider pale yellow as an option when we paint our house next summer.

(Um yes, I did feel a little bit like a celebrity stalker taking pictures of famous houses from a boat with a zoom lens...)

Hope you have a great weekend!

Thursday Tip -Fall is in the air

Many people focus on new beginnings in January, but mine are always prompted by the arrival of September.  I put it down to my past career as a teacher when September was the month of planning and new possibilities.

I just returned from a month in Europe and my mind is agog with all the possible posts I could write and it's hard to select the best idea .  When I feel like this I have to do something to focus my thoughts. Rather than choosing one topic  I've decided to go broader.  I'm beginning a new post focus which I'm calling Thursday Tips.  Each Thursday I will feature one image and several simple ideas that could be easily translated into your home decor. 

Houzz

Orange gaining favour in 2012

The colour forecasts for 2012 are just beginning to appear and orange seems to be in favour.  Not the toned "dirty" oranges of past years, but a fresher variety that brings warmth and thoughts of  a fresh autumn day.

Layering in Decor

While this orange chair is very striking, you don't need  to make such a large purchase to get an up to date look.  The tulips in the vase above are lovely in spring, but think about   Chinese Lanterns to bring a blast of  fall orange. Twigs and branches in the arrangement add structural elements and height which helps focus your attention . Stacking two mirrors of different heights on a console table provides a backdrop for your arrangement and also provides  interesting layers.Always think layers when you are decorating.

 source

If you have a neutral chair, an orange throw draped over the back or arm would add just the right amount of colour.

 

Crate and Barrel

source

When I'm adding in colour accents in this way I usually think in threes and using varying proportions  of the colour.  Think about small, medium and larger sized accessories and you can't go wrong. Variety is another key word in decorating.  Find your varying sizes in pillows, boxes or canvas totes,  a piece of artwork or large pillar candles.  Style at Home offers 10 ideas for adding Tangerine to your decor. 

What's your favourite accent colour? 

Side Tables R Us

For whatever reason a vision for side tables in my family room just wasn't coming to me as easily as everything else in the room has. I scoured magazines and blogs for something that might catch my eye as the perfect "I must have that in my family room" piece, but nothing seemed to fit the bill. Or if I did see something I loved, it was out of my budget. Isn't that always the case? 


One night, Chris suggested that he just make them. 

Custom made furniture...an interesting concept indeed.

But with his offer to make the side tables came a million questions:

How tall and wide should the tables be? 

Round table top or square? 

What kind of wood?

Should the legs be turned, rectangular, or square? 

Should the tables on either side of the couch be an exact match? 

Storage? 

OMG. 

After a LOT of indecision, I finally arrived on a design similar to this table. I like the simple lines and the shelves.  Chris was able to find free online instructions that he can modify to my specifications. 

I think the table will look really cool with some little brass shoes.

Van Dyke's Restorers

It's a win win. I get exactly what I want and Chris is all pumped up fine tune his fine woodworking skilz. He bought himself a new saw and everything.

And the Wallpaper Comes Tumbling Down...

Some things get worse before they get better. That certainly seems to be the case in our family room.

 Our weekend-o-wallpaper removal started out promising. The vinyl "grasscloth" came down easily in long strips, just like the wallpaper guy said it would.

 Unfortunately, there was another layer of paper under the vinyl. It was a layer of wallpaper that had been painted. Awesome.

Painted over paper isn't easy to remove. We tried scoring the walls and soaking them with DIF, but got the best results using a steamer. 

 It took FOREVER.

A surprising discovery was the plaster in one section of the room was once dark burgundy. It was kind of interesting to see what the room may have looked like at one point.

 

 We could make out a faint design where the burgundy met the white stripe at the top of the wall. Can you see it?

Lots of patch jobs done to the plaster over the years. 

If Harry could talk, he'd say, "No offense or anything guys, but the room looked way better before you touched it. Just saying."

So what's next?
Skim coating. We need to smooth out the rough and pitted texture of the plaster so that the imperfections don't show through the wallpaper. Good times.

Virtual Vacation

Chris came across this inn a couple of weeks ago, and we couldn't stop drooling over the decor on their website. The Stone House was built in 1854 as a private residence of the Sisson family in Little Compton, RI.  Today it is run as an inn that has been dramatically restored and decorated.

Isn't this a fantastic staircase? I love that the treads  and handrails are stained a darker color than the floors.

 You know how much I like a historic building filled with contemporary furnishings.

 Do I spy silver leafing on the wall?

Oh, the view!

 I don't think I'd leave this tub.

 Hello gorgeous.

While spending a weekend here might cost you a couple hundred dollars, the online eye candy is free :)

Hot Iron

A couple weeks ago, Chris and I were watching Auction Hunters. Have you seen this show? 
Cameras follow around these two guys, Allen and Ton, while they travel around the country and bid on abandoned storage units. Then they sell the valuables inside and make a lot of money. Quite frankly, it is one of the only shows Chris and I can agree to watch together. 

Spike tv

On one of the episodes they were cleaning out a unit and came across an old iron. Now they weren't terribly excited about it because it isn't worth much, but Chris got excited. Our conversation went something like this:

Chris: We have one of those in our basement!
Me: We do not
Chris: Yes we do! 
Me: We do? 

Auction Hunters gets put on pause as Chris runs down to the basement to get said iron

A few minutes later he came upstairs with this

Looks like someone may have left it in the fire too long...

Like most of the other treasures we've found in our house (a chandelier and some old doorknobs), we have no idea if this is something original to the home or if it was a random purchase made by the previous owner.

Chris looked it up on eBay and discovered that similar antique irons were going for about $25. Not bad considering it was free to us. But we aren't going to sell it. Turns out it makes a terrific doorstop for one of our guest bedroom doors that won't stay closed. 

Or maybe our guests would like to use it to iron their clothes...

Have you ever seen one of these before? 

Family Room Project Kickoff

Lots of activity has started on our family room over the last few days. The most exciting by far was the early arrival of our new couch. About 6- 8 weeks early! If you recall, I ordered it at the end of July and was told there would be a 10-12 week wait. So we had to scramble a bit and find a place to put it while we work on the room. For now it is hanging out in another room in our house where it is getting acquainted with the new rug. 

That's the fabric for the Salvation Army chair in the background

Then, between a girl's night out with my sister and sister-in-law to see The Help, a trip to Ikea, and another polo match, I somehow managed to find time to help Chris empty out the family room of all its furniture and lay down paper over the hardwoods over the weekend. 

Chris removed the antiquated alarm/intercom/speaker (we really don't know what it was) and found some pretty old wallpaper underneath.

 It made us wonder how the room may have been used and decorated way back when...

In any case, the stage has been set to begin stripping wallpaper. Fingers crossed that the walls underneath are in good shape.

Let the fun begin!!!

Side Chair Setback

Don't you just hate when you start a project you think is going to only take a couple of hours, only to get into it and realize it is much much more involved than you had originally anticipated? 
That's what happened to me recently.

I had a couple of free hours and thought it might be a good opportunity to start taking the old fabric off my Salvation Army chair so that I could paint it and send it off to get reupholstered. (Now, the upholster said they'd paint it, but if I did it myself, I'd save $100. Plus, I thought it would be a piece of cake).

However, when I started tearing the old fabric away, I realized that it was covering two very thin and brittle layers of wooden panels. 

One layer for the fabric covering the inside of the chair and one for the fabric that shows on the outside. Removing the fabric from the chair without damaging the panels was proving to be a frustrating task for a novice like myself. 

Did I need to keep those wooden panels intact because they'll get reused? Or would they get replaced anyway as part of the reupholstery process? I did not know and the upholstery shop was closed. 

Buzzkill. 

In the end I figured it would be best to stop what I was doing and wait until I could contact someone at the shop.

Fast forward a few days later when I spoke to the professional. She said to go right ahead and strip the chair down to the frame. No need to avoid damage to the panels as they will get replaced anyway. Whoo hoo! I love when I get get the answer I'm looking for.

So I'll resume stripping the chair and keep you updated on my progress.

(And to satisfy your curiosity, the estimate I got for recovering this chair was $350 and 4 yards of fabric.)