Emmys 09

My husband has a fantastic job - he watches TV for a living. Well, it's not quite that easy. He works long hours and does many other things, but there are some fabulous perks, like attending the Creative Arts Emmy's! Here is my first stab using Polyvore, the website that allows you to create virtual outfits...

The dress and jewelry were all purchased this weekend at Betsey Johnson (yay!) but shoes and a bag are still on my "to-do" list.

Emmy's 09 by TheGoodsDesign featuring Betsey Johnson dresses

The shoes are Valentino, the bag is Marc Jacobs, and both are incredibly out of my price range. The look is inspired by this Leighton Meester image from the Teen Choice award. Gorgeous.

A State of the {Dis}Union: Part 2

Judging by your responses to Friday's post, my half empty, half unpacked home really resonated with y'all. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised though, after all, is one's home ever really complete? Decorating, at its best, is a long term process, and as Rome wasn't built in a day, neither should our homes be fully furnished in one. That said though, I'm truly touched by your votes of confidence. Decorating can be downright scary (especially if you're willing to take some risks, which I am) and you've helped me screw up my courage to -- for lack of a better way to put it -- keep on, keepin' on.

But down to business, shall we? I promised a follow-up tour of the upstairs and I thought we'd start with the den. Much of the contents of our old great room was relocated to here and, while this room is noticeably smaller, I think everything fits together rather cozily. I still haven't unpacked all of the art and accessories, but once I do, I'm hoping this room will come off as a trifle less...brown. I'm contemplating painting the walls a lovely, subtle shade of celadon, which would pick up on the green in the rug and throw pillows, but as I've rather had my fill of painting for the quarter, I plan on living with the room as-is for now. I imagine that eventually I'll redecorate this room at some point down the line, as even now (some three years after I purchased/permanently borrowed) these items, the decor is no longer quite to my taste. But again, that's for another year and a replenished budget.

The first guestroom, decked out in our old guestroom's hand-me-down furniture. Bedding is from Amenity Home, a great organic linens company that specializes in modern, nature-themed linens. I picked this set up three years ago, but there are similar style still available on their site.

The second guest room. I know, it's completely insane to have two spare bedrooms, but in truth we currently have three -- the third being completely empty. The furniture here is courtesy of my mother and was actually my bedroom set as a teenager, which I remember excitedly picking it out at the age of 16 from Ethan Allen. I believe the series was called Radius and I distinctly remember loving it for its modern take on a classic 4-poster style. At the time, I paired it with tone-on-tone ivory chinoiserie wallpaper and slate blue chinoiserie linens for my take on the "modern Zen" look that was all the rage in the late '90s. Today, the bedding is from DwellStudio (but scored on sale via HauteLook). As this room is the "permanent" guest room, I'll be painting at some point over the next few months -- though of course I'll have to settle on a color first. I'm thinking a light gray at the moment. By the way, the wood circle on the bed is actually a mirror (only right side down).

Various and sundry vacation photos line my upstairs' hallway, awaiting hanging. I told myself I'd get to it before Labor Day, but that's still days away....

Dave's room. If only this room had more storage! While we fit two large bookcases along one wall, there's still plenty of space (and need) for more. I'm really liking the peacock blue against the mahogany wood tones -- the dark woods lend a more masculine touch to the room that suits Dave well. If I were the sole voice of decorating for this room (which I'm not), I'd really kit this out as an old-fashioned library, complete with beat up leather chair and ottoman, wall-to-wall bookshelves, brass library lamps, antique lithographs, etc. Dave, on the other hand, is already talking about putting a stringing machine and weights in here. Sigh.

The All Modern Giveaway Winner

Congratulations to Struggler at Struggling to be Stylish! You have won the All Modern giveaway. Random.org selected lucky #9 from the 27 eligible comments.

Also, a big thank you to All Modern for sponsoring this contest! Please drop by and shop their amazing selection of high-quality, gorgeous modern furniture and home products. There is even a big sales event going on - 20% off until September 8th.

Van Cleef

I have long been obsessed with the Van Cleef and Arpels Alhambra collection... in fact, it's definitely on my (unrealistic) wishlist for my 30th birthday. Unrealistic because it's insanely expensive.





But lucky for me there is a better way for me to have the four leaf clover motif in my life - in furniture.
I am in LOVE with that chair, as well as the daybed, the mirrored vanity... Ahh, if only my closet were big enough for a boudoir area like this.

Image from Southern Accents: Sept/Oct 2009 - by designer Mary Evelyn McKee

UPDATE: 09/01/09

Just found this gorgeous quatrefoil lamp on Circa Lighting.


Genius.

Custom Ribbon Message Board for Tween Room

The girl's tween bedroom I am designing is not complete, but is coming together very nicely. To help keep my little client stylishly organized, I created a ribbon message board that will hang above her desk. Here was my thought process and how I did it.

For visual interest, I like to to repeat a pattern here and there in the room. I selected a cotton twill fabric with trellis pattern in coral and thought it worked perfectly with the new Serena & Lily Aqua Trellis Sheet Set shown above.

It is a fairly easy DIY project, but does take some time. First, I staple-gunned the coral trellis fabric with a thin layer of batting under it to a stretched painter's canvas.

Baby blue grosgrain ribbon was laid out in a criss-cross diamond pattern and then staple-gunned to the back of the canvas. Clear floral buttons were sewn where the ribbons crossed. The buttons are darling and add just the right touch of sparkle.

Here's a view of the finished product. It turned out great and I hope my little client loves it as much as I do!

*images from Serena & Lily, Simplified Bee, PBK, Posh Tots

"For all you Suzanne Kasler fans . . . "

Greetings and salutations all,

I just found a great, fun, and insightful interview with Suzanne by SF antique dealer and blogger Buzz Kaplan . . .

click here for the complete story.

Hope you're having an amazing weekend . . . and enjoying these last few days of summer,

tartanscot

A State of the {Dis}Union: Part 1

I've been debating internally on whether or not to post pictures of the new house as it stands now, but I've decided that -- at the very least -- posting pictures will help provide a benchmark for future progress...and hopefully act as an incentive for me to get moving and finish unpacking already. And, on the off chance that any of you are currently in the midst of moving, you can at least take comfort in knowing that you're not the only one out there living like that.

So here's where the house stands (mostly empty) today, warts and all. So far, the entryway is completely bare, save for a blue and silvery gray runner I scored on sale at Horchow. Since the staircase curves out there's plenty of room for a bench or console table, but that's definitely not at the top of my shopping list right now.

Next up: The study, which still has a few important things missing (like storage), but at least the major pieces of furniture -- the desk, chair and daybed -- are in. After putting together the mood board for the study, I decided to go a slightly different direction with the desk and desk chair. Last month I purchased the Porter desk from Pottery Barn, which is a great size and has some excellent divided storage in its single long drawer. Since I decided to go with a large, substantial desk, I decided to keep the chair light and airy and went with the classic Louis Ghost Chair by Phillippe Starck, which I purchased off All Modern (and shipping was speedy and free!). I was a bit hesitant about splurging on the chair, but it's actually quite comfortable and I love how it looks in the room.

Unfortunately, with the large desk and daybed, there's little space left in the 11 x 11 room, especially since the french doors open in and not out. I'm hoping to find some shallow shelving for storage, but it's going to be tricky working with the little space I have left. First on the "to do" list for this room though will be hanging the art work, mirror, cork board (i.e., inspiration board), and the chandelier.

After all that hard work, the dining room has become the de facto storage closet for stray art, knick-knacks that are still searching for their final home. My goal is to have a table in here by Thanksgiving when Dave's family descends upon us, but we'll see what sort of budget I'm left with after the major pieces for the family room are purchased.

Speaking of, the family room is definitely the tabula rasa of the entire house. Quite literally, I have absolutely zero furniture to put in it. Since it's the hub of the house, getting at least a sofa in here is my top priority right now decorating-wise.

But at least I have something to hang over the fireplace, right? I ended up buying this Marisol mirror from Restoration Hardware thinking it would go in my master bedroom, but its substantial (48" diameter) size made it better suited for the fireplace and I'm happy with how it looks next to some of my mother's blue and white chinoiserie urns.

Behold my dirty little secret: My kitchen has become a repository for wayward vases, lamps and chotskies. What you don't see is there are even more stuffed into the pantry (we haven't had much opportunity to grocery shop, so it's become yet another temporary storage closet). I've realized something important about my shopping habits over the past month or so: I'm actually a bit commitment-phobic when it comes to purchasing major pieces -- like a sofa -- so I've been procrastinating by buying accessories, which are less expensive and, frankly, more fun to shop for. Thus, I have vases and lamps but no tables to put them out. I have no regrets though on the Kate lamps from Circa Lighting. They just arrived this week and I'm completely in love; in fact, I would've given up a table for years just to have these. Given their substantial size, I'm thinking they're more appropriate for the family room than for the dining room (where I had originally envisioned them).

The breakfast nook fits the old table and chairs rather nicely, and I'm pleased with how the woven blinds turned out. The spa blue benches for the back and corner walls are currently on order at Ballard Designs and should be arriving shortly. Since space is rather tight here, I think using a bench along the back wall will really free the space up some, though I'm not sure what I'll do with the extra chairs.

The master bedroom, bathroom and closet are in decent shape -- at least I've gotten all the boxes unpacked and all our clothes, etc. put away. Since we're working with our existing bedroom furniture, we have all the basics, but what we really need is that certain something special to really make this room sing. I'm going to be hanging some of our pictures this weekend and I hope that will help make the room look a little less stark. Still though, I got my bedding from Williams-Sonoma earlier this week and I love it -- it's like sleeping in a fancy hotel bed. That said though, I think I need to punch up the bedding with some more colorful pillows. You know me, can't leave white enough alone....

So that's it for the downstairs portion of this tour. I'll be sharing some photos of the upstairs' rooms later on this weekend and I think you'll be surprised at how much farther along it is than downstairs...though perhaps that's my own fault as I think my desire to really decorate this house from the ground up necessitated much of our existing furniture going upstairs. In any case, Dave and I have another fun-filled weekend of hanging art, unpacking the last few boxes, and sofa shopping ahead of us. Hope everyone else has a wonderfully relaxing, fun and only semi-productive weekend!

Sale Junkie

I'm not just a color junkie, I'm also a sale addict. I get emails from all the sale websites - Gilt Groupe, RueLaLa, Shop It To Me, One Kings Lane... I rarely read these emails, but it's nice to know they are there, in case I get the urge to do a little internet shopping. The other day One Kings Lane (a home decor website) sent an alert saying that there would be a Missoni Home sale. Missoni Home? I love Missoni Home! Unfortunately, by the time I got to the website, all their best goodies were sold out.

Here are some of the GORGEOUS sold out Missoni blankets that broke my heart:






And isn't this beach towel FUN?!

Sad sad. Not that sad though. My wallet thanks me.

Stools are Cool

I am really in love with these industrial stools. When working on a loft model room, about 18 months ago, we had the hardest time tracking one down (eventually one was found at HD Buttercup in a fabulous white antique finish.) Now they are everywhere and I have no clients that they work for! Oh the irony.




Crate and Barrel's Turner Barstool





Wisteria's Cooper's Small Draftman Stool.

So cool, these stools.

"Please stand . . . "

Chanel's Paris Apartment

and repeat after Coco Chanel . . .

". . . An interior is the natural projection of the soul."

I hope everyone has great plans for the weekend. "Coco avant Chanel" opens here in the US on September 25th. Click here for the international release dates.

cheers,

tartanscot

Organizing a Busy Mudroom - Before and After

Recently I helped clients in Lake Tahoe, Nevada organize their cluttered mudroom into a beautiful and functional space. The room serves several purposes including laundry, outerwear storage, business supplies, scrapbooking materials and floral vases.

The picture above is a small space in between the garage and kitchen. As you can see, the coat rack and shelf are packed with items and very cluttered. It's visually exhausting.

We started by taking sorting all the items into categories including donate, trash/recycle, move to garage, move to front closet, stays in mudroom and move to business supplies. Everything fit in a category and then we started putting items in their correct place. We ended up with two trash bags, three recycling bags and five donation bags.

The above image is of the coat rack and shelf after the organization project. The coat rack now houses just coats and outerwear the homeowner frequently needs. We used a basket from another room that fit the shelf better - it now hold hats, mittens and scarves. The long cane basket conveniently holds sunscreen and insect repellent.

Here's the bench as it existed before organizing. The homeowners would use it as a catch all for items such as coats, books, bags and boots.

We found a proper home for all the items on the bench and left it free and clear of clutter. Now the homeowners can appreciate the beautiful custom knotty-pine built-in bench and retrieve items inside easily. And look, you can see the gorgeous slate floor!

The picture above is a view of the laundry area. The counter is covered with boxes, business supplies and scrapbook materials. It was impossible to fold clothes on the counter in this condition.

Now the laundry area is clutter-free and the counter top clear. Isn't this a space you could fold clothes in?

The client had a series of prints from her childhood that were being stored away. We decided to showcase them above the counter.

The utility sink was not being used and filled with scrapbooking materials.

The utility sink is now clear and ready to be put to good use again.

Here is another view of the sink "before."

And here is a view "after." We even had two framed prints from the same series displayed in the laundry area that worked beautifully above the sink.

We even neatly organized all the cabinets. Here is a view of the cabinet above the sink before it was organized. It mainly served as storage for floral vases, so that is what ended up staying.

Here is the same cabinet after organizing. Now floral vases and supplies are displayed orderly and easily accessible.

The open shelves to the right of the sink were also a catch-all for scrapbooking and floral supplies.

To keep the space visually pleasing, I suggested large baskets for the lower three shelves. None of them match, but I think that's okay. In this case, all three baskets should be the same or all different. Because the homeowner already had two different baskets that fit the shelves, so we ended up only having to purchase one.

The homeowner had a lovely collection of white vases that I displayed on the top shelf. Organizing a collection of items by color is always easy on the eyes. It is also nice to have varying heights to add more visual interest.

The project was exhausting for me and the homeowners. It took approximately 20 hours to complete. But, it was worth every minute because the homeowners are thrilled with the results. They can again easily do laundry, hang up a jacket and find what they need.

It always feels good to complete a project. Now off to the next one and Julia's hooked on houses blog party!

A year from now you may wish you had started today.
~ Karen Lamb

*images from Simplified Bee