Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Tackling One Room at a Time - The Dining Room




Tackling one room at a time, ha! In a sense. Sort of. Actually, when I move into my new married, blissful home, I'm going to do a complete overhaul... surprise!

Here's what I'm thinking, and thinking one room at a time, as I transform the man den into a dining room. Some ideas first...


Lattice on the walls, possibly.



Love the deep, dark, richness of this dining room.



Light and Airy. Focus is on the panels, layering texture with the bamboo shades and the chandelier.


And, my "mood board" for what my plan is as of today. As I've learned, my mood changes...often!



What do you think??

Monday, January 30, 2012

An Engaging Time at Anne Erwin Fine Art

After a wonderful, yet quick overnight trip to Atlanta, I'm feeling quite jet-lagged. We celebrated a favorite friend's engagement on Saturday night at an art gallery, Anne Irwin Fine Art, in Atlanta and I wanted to share the artist's work. Gary Bodner, the artist, uses a lot of vibrant colors in his oil paintings done on board instead of canvas. This technique allows him to layer colors and gives the pieces a lot of texture.








Some of the best friends anyone could ask for with the gorgeous bride on the far right.










 It was such a fun party and we all loved celebrating in such a fun and unique spot. Cheers to the bride and groom!

Friday, January 27, 2012

Colorblocking

Color-blocking in the fashion world has taken hold. However, it can be a challenge. Ann Curry's outfit this morning on Today was a bit stop-lightish. Yellow sweater, green pencil skirt, red shoes.
Fashion always seems to dictate home decor. And, I always think, if you wouldn't wear it you're not going to like it in your house.

I'm off to Atlanta this weekend for a friend's engagement party and shower. Talk to y'all Monday! 


Some examples (that I think work) of color-blocking in interior design:




Color-blocking with pattern works too. Vivid art on a backdrop of a bold color with white accents works well in this room.



A little fuzzy, but the long lumbar pillow on the sofa is a good interpretation of the blockage.


Coral + Turquoise (that kind of coral - reddish orange) are a great combo.




Another Turquoise + Coral room, a little moodier.



Barrie Benson, an interior designer in Charlotte, designed this room, I love the variation of complex greens.



A dining room focused on white with dashes of vibrant color. I love this, but the first thing I think is red wine.

Source: houzz.com via Adair on Pinterest


Puppple.




Jonathan Adler is a color-blocker.
Color-blocking can be very very mod.


More neutral take on colorblocking. To the nice lady that bought my red chippendale chairs, look how nice they are as an accent!

Have a fantastic weekend!

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Recap.

After that DIY week in October, I've been all about it. Recovering chairs, painting, stripping furniture, polishing hardware, I feel like an Ace (hardware associate).

The first project was simple. All it involved was a chair and jamming a staple gun. A Manuel Canovas velvet covers the seat now, the chair was a find at Sleepy Poet in Charlotte. It's a great side chair, it's currently sitting at my parsons desk. If you're interested, I'll sell it for $65.



Close up of the Manuel Canovas velvet - Chinese print.






You've seen these before, these were the first in the series of painting furniture. Chinese red bamboo Chinese Chippendale side chairs, they're a pair. The intricacy of the bamboo was so much fun to paint with 4 coats of red paint. (psych.)
The seats are covered in a raised velvet quatrefoil on a sturdy cotton. Also for sale: for the pair $350, unless we're friends then I'll tell you over a glass of wine how much they'll be.


This project happened over the week between Christmas and New Years. The weather was perfect so we were able to paint outside. I was scared of breathing, looking, touching, sniffing any of the chemicals I was sanding off.  I'm not a huge wuss, I would recommend safety over getting debris in your eye.


Real happy.


It took a day to sand all of the varnish off. Not the most fun aspect of the whole project, but I did congratulate myself with a cocktail when I finished.
We painted the old radio box in black lacquer and then I went in with gold detail.




Temporary bar "cart" looks oh so sharp.


A detailed detail of the gold detail. 



Next project: the big'un. The 9 drawered dresser.


I was deterred by the intricacies of the drawer fronts. They scared me. We took off all of the hardware and used Brasso to bring out the yellow brassy color. I don't think they were meant to be polished, but it worked. As a non-lawyer, I must say I would recommend testing the Brasso or brass polish on an inconspicuous place before attacking all of the hardware like I did. 


Hardcore sanding took place. 




This thing is huge.


Here are the drawers. It seemed like they kept multiplying, must have been the fumes and the debris in my eye.

It looks so handsome, all polished and black lacquered. 
The glow from the corner is the Christmas Palm.


In the end, I must give credit to MB for not being able to sit still and semi-forcing me to complete these projects. Thank you for being antsy.

Thursday, January 19, 2012

NEW YORK CITY

Here it is, enjoy!



Photos taken that didn't fit in my following collages of all the fun things we saw and did. Editor's note: it's Brinkley's not the Brinkley. I just put articles in front of things sometimes and am too lazy to edit already jpegged pictures.








C. Wonder, Chris Burch's (Tory's ex.) flagship in Manhattan has incredible home decor, jewelry baubles, a bathroom, and so much more. By far the most fun I've had in a store in a long time. On Saturday, they had a deejay and a dancer. Raleigh store owners take note, you need these two things on a Saturday. Every Saturday.
www.cwonder.com go.



Had a blast.

photo creds: my handy iphone | lindasfunstuff.com | blogcdn.com | sohogrand.com | bobonyc.com | fivestaralliance.com | shefinds.com | marthastewart.com

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Promises, promises

New York pictures are coming. Promise. I left my iPhone at home this morning, so downloading the pictures onto my computer are impossible, unless Siri is telepathic. So, until tomorrow maybe this will keep you all satisfied.




Role Model.



Role model, too.





Role Model inspired honeymoon hat.


Source: pbteen.com via Adair on Pinterest


from Pottery Barn Teen. who knew?




black lacquer.



x-base ottoman, popular among the populace. ballard has one.




Gorgeous mirror. Kate Nisbet put it in a client's dining room, fantastic!

Inspiration for humpday, plans for the weekend?

Studio 123 is having a sale this weekend. Planning on being highly caffeinated and buying something awesome!