Sunday, March 31, 2013

Happy Easter!


We hope you had a wonderful Easter!








Thursday, March 28, 2013

Casually Elegant

The other day I stumbled across Brian Paquette Interiors via Jamie's blog.  Whoa....can I say, love his style?  I found pictures of this young family's home on his website.  I really like this style - casually elegant as I'd call it.  Perfect for a family with young kids.  Maybe that is why I relate to it so much.


While the bedding, furniture and rug are from retail stores (Serena Lilly, Pottery Barn, West Elm), it definitely has a custom and collected feel to it.  Don't you think?  I like how it is elegant, casual and not fussy.


I want to create a cozy nook like this in our bedroom.  I also love the color of the hardwood floors. I need that floor lamp.  I wonder if it is from RH?


Ahhh, I love the weathered vanity - so beautifully paired with the classic polished fixtures.  And, I love the green ticking shower curtain.  Although, I wish it just went all the way to the floor. 


I checked out his blog and spent longer than I'd like to admit browsing his photos.  Great inspiration.  






Beautiful work.  Wouldn't you agree?  I love when I find new designers (well, at least new to me) and I really get inspired by their work.

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Prepping for Easter

Even though snow still covers most of our front and back yard, it hasn't stopped us getting ready for Easter.  We spent this past weekend taking out our Easter decorations and getting the house ready for this weekend!


I bought these hand painted eggs while in Vienna last year.  They are so beautiful.  I so vividly remember this time last year; boy, do I miss Vienna.


When I was younger, my mom always had an easter tree with pussy willows.  I have followed suit and I love how my viennese eggs look with my mom's easter decorations. Luke and I decorated our Easter tree (below).


Our first Easter in our new home!  Yeah!


Some of our paper-mache eggs in a ceramic egg crate.


Big Y, our local grocery store, had a buy one, get one free on mini daffodil plants.  I bought two and planted them in my white enamel mini buckets (that I use for everything).  Easy peasy and it only cost me $5.99.


We used some fresh farm brown and blue eggs this weekend to make soft boiled eggs for breakfast and...


lamb meatballs for dinner.


And, Luke finished his Easter cards.  He was so proud of them.  And, he worked so hard remembering the importance of Easter.

Luke 24:5


Thursday, March 21, 2013

Isn't she a beauty?

My friend received her english roll arm chair upholstered in Duralee's john robshaw fabric.  I'm loving it!


Here is the information on the chair and the fabric.  Progress is being made on my friend's living room. In two weeks, she will receive her new custom couch!
 

Monday, March 18, 2013

Calling it a day!

I have a love/hate relationship with DIYs.  Like everyone else, I love DIYs because they are truly inspiring, cost-effective, and you get a wave of endorphins when it is all said and done.  Simultaneously, I despise them because they take more planning than I originally thought and 9 times out of 10 its a lot harder than I anticipated.

Case in point - stripping paint off a dresser.

Mind you, stripping the paint off is just the first step of this whole entire process.


This is a dresser I purchased off of craigslist two years ago.  It was already painted white and was in pretty decent shape.  I just replaced the hardware.  I'm now tired of the look and I want to strip the paint to see what I'm working with (wood wise).  If the wood is nice I'd like create a limed 'oak' look finish.

This past weekend, my very patient husband walked me through the entire process and today I strived to tackle this while my daughter napped.

So, I coated the dresser with tons of stipping gel and waited over an hour to start stripping.  Did I tell you it was 34 degrees outside?  Yes, it was.  So with frozen hands, I started stripping the paint.  Yeah, not so good.


The paint would not come off.  I was like "whaaa?".  And, to top it off I don't think I'm dealing with very nice wood here.  Who knows. But, I can honestly say I was defeated today.

The worst part about this is that I have at least two more rounds of this to go before I even sand it. And we're expecting a snow storm tomorrow so this baby will be probably sitting in our garage all week.

Why do I do this to myself?  And, to think I could've bought this dresser for $500.


I know.  I almost bought it, but then I thought, no, we're trying to save for college, etc.  I just can strip our current dresser.  Ugh!  So, now I'm off to have my glass of wine.  I think I deserve it today! :)

Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Bits n' Pieces

I am slowly making progress on E's room.  I thought I'd share some bits and pieces of what's been happening.

Bedding.


Furniture.

Her current dresser will be a DIY, painted to achieve a cerused oak or limed oak finish, similar to the finish pictured above.


Art.



Storage baskets.  




Accent Table.



Wastebasket.

Threshold line for Target.

If you haven't checked out the Threshold line at Target, you're missing out.  Some incredible things especially for the kitchen!


Anyhoo, things are slowly evolving!  There are certainly more elements, but what fun would it be to show you everything? ;)  


Friday, March 8, 2013

Stuck....

I have this image stuck in my mind!  I love it.  The glossy white doors, the graphic charcoal Schumacher's Chenonceau wallpaper, the quatrefoil brass light fixture and the natural light.  I also like the simple textured seagrass rug and wellies!  So, I just had to share with you all.  This image makes me happy.  I would love to see more of this home!

Kate Maloney Interior Design

Snow day today.  Kids are at home and it'll most likely be a sledding day today.  Happy Weekend!

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

7 Shades of Gray

I found an interesting article in The Washington Post by Elizabeth Mayhew.  Elizabeth Mayhew who is a contributing editor to NBC's Today Show and author of the decorating book, Flip!, discussed how she and her husband, with the help of architect Gil Schafer, are renovating an old cheese factory into their family home in Dutchess County, NY.  I can't wait to see the house!

Anyway, all the rooms in her new home are painted gray - not the same shade of gray, but different shades of gray.  Seven to be exact. 

Elizabeth Mayhew's bedroom - BM Gray Owl

Above is a picture of her bedroom painted with BM's Gray Owl.  In fact, every bedroom she has ever slept in has always been painted with BM's Gray Owl.  She swears by this color of gray - saying it is soothing and very adaptable.  In a lot of natural light, it looks white and in average light, it has enough pigment to read as a discernable color.  She always recommends this color to her clients and friends.

In the article she goes on to explain how she created flow in her home by using varying shades of gray.  In some rooms, a cozier gray was required, so she chose colors such as BM's Chelsea Gray and Whale Gray.

Brooke Shields' Greenwich living room - BM Chelsea Gray

She used BM's Coventry Gray for all her woodwork in her bathroom which she says definitely gave her bathroom a Swedish Gustavian quality and feel.

Jenna Lyons' living room - BM Coventry Gray

She used Revere Pewter (which I have used in my previous living room) which reads more as a taupe and lastly Gentleman's Gray for her powder room.

As she explains, when you're exposed to color all day, gray lets you commit without really committing.  And, best of all, it goes with everything.

While I love the color gray, I'm not sure if I could commit to my entire home being varying shades of gray?  I really think you would need a lot of natural light to help keep the home from feeling too gray/dark?  What do you think?