Princess Lauren's Bedroom

I am in the midst of finishing a project that has been great fun. My client is a 9 year old adorable little fashion plate and diva named Lauren. I've been working on projects with Laurens mom for a few years and she decided she wanted to redo Laurens room as a Christmas present. Lauren loves pink and her mom has a really great sense of style. It was huge fun designing this over-the-top French bedroom fit for a princess ...apprecier les photos.



Pretty in pink
Lauren already had this great upholstered headboad so we did the room around it. We started with the pink coverlet from Belle Notte, its velvet on one side and reverses to pink satin, the best part is it's washable! The duvet and euroshams are custom done with a sophisticated yet fun small grey zebra print trimmed in the same pink velvet. The white with pink ruching standard shams are from Pine Cone Hill. We wanted the room to look very put together without looking too matchy....success.


cornices, mirror and chandelier- lucky finds

A friend of my client found these cornices at Impulse, a great consignment store in Richmond...the size was perfect. The same friend found the floor mirror at a local furniture store. The cute French chandelier came from Shades Of Light. The pink and grey silk worked beautifully with the colors we were using.

Perk up a wall with a stencil.

A local painter stenciled the damask pattern on the wall you see when you walk in the room. The stencil came from Sunny's Good Time Paints which is based in Richmond . We decided to stencil instead of wallpaper because it was less permanent. Since our princess is still young if the wall gets damaged...she is still young after all...it would be easy to repair.

The monogram

I am a big fan of monograms. I recently read a post on Easy and Elegant Life about monogramming for men s clothing and it is amazing how different the rules are for monogramming for your home. I hope to do a post soon with our friends at Atlantic Embroidery Works who designed this beautiful monogram.

Our inspiration...the sparkley pillow

It always amazes me where we find our inspiration. When I was showing design elements to Lauren to find our inspiration for her bedroom the one thing she loved consistently was this sparkley little pillow from Pine Cone Hill. So a sparkley little pillow from Pine Cone Hill is where we started and we ended up with a very happy ending...and a bedroom fit for a princess.

Robin's House

My friend Robin is about 4'9" of energy and fun. I stopped by her house yesterday for a Happy Hour beverage and a visit and thought I would show you some of the work we have done in her house. One of my favorite things about Robin is that her comfort zone for color and style is very broad which means we have alot of fun when we are redoing something in her house. Robin loves her family, friends, little dogs and making a comfortable environment to nest and entertain. I hope you enjoy the tour.




Family Room
Many people say you should limit the amount of family pictures you use in your home...I think just the opposite. The vignette above the Carol Bolton sofa is a mix of pictures of siblings, parents, grandparents and great-grandparents. The pictures create a family history and a beautiful way to fill up a large wall. (Robins husband Gary is a Saint for rehanging it every time she paints).

Family Room windows

A great thing about Robins house is that all of the rooms have huge windows. The windows are beautiful but also create a design challenge. We wanted to warm the space with fabric but also design an interesting treatment. This one is based on an old stagecoach valance. The aqua woven toile adds a great punch of color. Robin found that great little french chair at an antique shop already upholstered in that fabric and it worked beautifully!

Family Room other window

The other side of the family room...with a couple Carol Bolton chairs.

The little ottoman

Robin and I had a great time designing this little ottoman. She bought the legs at a home improvement store and painted them herself and Eddie from Dover Interiors made it for us....very Mackenzie-Childs at half the price.

Living Room

We decided to go monochromatic in Robins living room. I love the way the window treatments turned out...the hardware makes all the difference in the world. You cant tell from the picture but when you are in the room you feel a really great warmth, its just a really pleasant place to have a visit. MaryAnne Caminiti did a nice mottled faux on the walls for softness. Check out those lamps Robin found at another antique store.



Living Room window hardware

With such a huge window we felt like we needed to add something to the pole that spans the whole wall. We found these cuffs {almost like bracelets} that add a nice subtle elegance.




Pillows

Since our color was very monochromatic we decided to use alot of texture in pillows and trim. The pillow on the left is the silk from the window treatment that we overlayed with a sheer that had the geometric pattern already applied to it. The pillow on the left is a ready made that Robin found...it matched perfectly.





The chair

This chair that Dover Interiors just reupholstered for us fits Robin and her personality to a T. Vibrant, fun and beautiful. Robin found the green leaf fabric at another fabric store and we got to work finding fabrics to coordinate with it. The result really is a work of art...every room needs a statement piece. (Excuse the lamp on the floor...the room is being painted but I couldnt wait to share this pic with you).






close up of The Chair

This is a close up, its hard to tell from the picture but the front rail (the red fabric) is ruched to give it a little dimension. The cording is actually a cut velvet stripe that we cut on the straight instead of the bias...I love the result!







Bench

This is a bench that could have been very ordinary... but this great trim took care of that. We loved the black and gold fabric but it wasnt quite enough for Robin so we found this extremely formal tassel trim and had it applied to the top of the bench...love it!








closeup- the bench

Its all in the details.

Hope you enjoyed the tour.

Schumacher- Januray 2010

Our F. Schumacher rep Julie stopped by yesterday to show us a new "glamour collection" for January frolm Schumacher. They will be coming out with a large new collection in April but they wanted to introduce some fresh new fabrics for the new year. The collection was inspired by Art Deco design and I have to tell you that they are some great looking, extremely usable fabrics. This is not your mothers traditional Schumacher.




Ripple Effect

100% silk woven fabric, has a nice heavy hand and a clean contemporary pattern.


Scallop Embroidery

75% cotton, 25% viscose. We are seeing alot of lattice patterns lately and this one is one of the better ones. It has a nice large scale and the embroidery gives it nice depth. I would use this for upholstery, pillows or window treatments.

Wavelength

What a fun and sassy pattern for upholstery. The darker ouline is actually a small fringe. Great texture and depth on this one.

Silk Fret

This is another new lattice pattern that has been updated. The lattice is woven so it has a really nice texture and looks like it is popping right off the ground color.


Waterfall

This was my favorite fabric in the collection. I hope you can appreciate the work that has gone into producing this fabric. The fabric is 2 layers, both layers are the same fabric but the top layer has been cut in the wave pattern and each wave has been individually sewn to the ground fabric. It wouldnt be appropriate for upholstery but would make killer pillows or panels.



Close-up of Waterfall

Hope these fabrics give a bit of inspiration for spring. Thank you Julie for bringing them by!

New Years with Candace and Fred

We spent New Year's Eve at our friends Candace and Fred's house. I always joke with Candace that I want to be her when I grow up because she has such a beautiful sense of style and impeccable taste. She was nice enough to let me share her beautiful home with you.











This is the formal living room in Candace and Fred's house. It has an incredible warmth that just envelops you and like every good southern hostess makes you feel comfortable. The walls are lacquered in an oxblood red, the trim is painted in a dark grey and the ceiling is gold leafed...beautifully dramatic.

Sideboards are not just for dining rooms as you can tell from this photo. This French beauty came from another one of our friends house and adds nice weight and a focal point to a large wall.

The asymetrical panels on the windows are a silk with a painted velvet wide band on the leading edge (think Fortuny) that have a dramatic drape. Check out the gold leafed cornice...amazing!

Candace needed another long piece in the living room and instead of doing another sideboard she did this draped table. In a room as rich as this the more fabric the merrier so she did a table square on top of the silk skirt to the floor.

Detail, detail, detail. This is the living room sofa done in a shiny silk velvet. Check out the ruching on the arms, the nailhead, and the handsome tufting. The burgundy pillow is embroidered with real copper metal thread.

The chairs in the living room have beautiful detail as well. The body of the chair is a silk tafetta and the cushion is done in a matching wool velvet...not the nailheads.

The backs of the chairs are done in a ruched silk....this is the view you get when you walk into the room.

This shows the amazing gold leafed ceiling. Our very talented friend Beth Scherer did this back-breakingly beautiful work.

This is a shot of the welcoming foyer. The front door and surround were salvaged from a horse farm in Kentucky.

This shows the comfortable family room. You would think the small scale leopard carpet done wall to wall would be too much small pattern but it works beautifully.

The family room mantle.

Another one of Candaces beautiful chairs. This one is a silk crewel. Check out that table lamp, I've never seen another one like it.

The doors between the family room and kitchen were also rescued from an old house...old found pieces add great charachter to a new house.

The dining room window treatments. Candace layered a few different treatments to give richness and depth. She started with an embroidered sheer and added an embroidered velvet flat valance, embroidered solk panels are next and its all topped off with a mirrored cornice.

Candace has these beautiful cabinets built in to her dining room for china storage. She also had the wall mirrored which really makes the room look larger and adds alot of great light.

The sitting room in the kitchen. Candace collects McKenzie Childs and this is the room where she displays alot of it. Its a great place to sit and chat with a glass of wine and watch her cook.

The painted sideboard in the kitchen. Also a great picture of her Shih Tzu Nailen.

The doors go out to the back deck. Dont be afraid to mix window treatment styles in a room. They provide great interest.

The breakfast room. I love that the panels are hung on knobs instead of a traditional rod. The cafe curtains provide light but still give privacy...I like that they are hung higher than most cafe's.

This is the powder room that has just been redone. The walls are in a grasscloth that has a black ground and gold grass...it absolutely glows. (Note: grasscloth is not recommended for bathrooms or any room where it might get wet.) Candace bought the icons hanging on the wall on a trip to Mexico.

The beautiful pedestal sink in the powder room. Just enough storage.

Candace also bought the sink and bathroom hardware in Mexico. A work of art.

The master bedroom is a work in progress but it is progressing very nicely. The new headboard arrived right before Christmas. It is made out of a metallic faux leather. Custom headboards are a great, and relatively inexpensive, way to add some style to a bedroom.

A close up of the headboard...love the shape and the nailheads.

I dont know how she finds the fabulous accessories she has but I love this clock.

The new master bedroom window treatments. The flat roman shade looks beautiful done in the large geometric. The flat roman shows the pattern really well. The silk panels have great but not too fussy detail. The next picture is a close up of them.

The panels are cream silk with a band of greay silk and a gold taping...she added a glass ball trim to the edge for some shimmer.

Groupings of beautiful antique frames make a great impact.

Another beautiful mantle clock.

A beautiful mantle set in pink marble.