Some Weekend Color

I love Canadian House & Home mag, and their site is slowing filling the hole in my heart that beloved Domino left. Just wanted to share some inspirational images packed with color.























































Happy Weekend!

Canadian House and Home

Another take on the can converter


OK, so the recessed light conversion kit is all over the place. Ballard Designs is now selling their take on it(I actually saw a similar product on a couple of other sites as well)... The Instant Pendant Light Adapter. Its only $39.99, but they try to rope you into buying one of their drum shades to fit it. It limits you to a pendant fixture (unlike the Can Converter that lets you install any lighting fixture) and has a 48" cord that you can shorten by wrapping around the connecting piece. Their thing-a-ma-jig does look easier to install, supposedly you just screw it in (or it could be the picture of the person in their pressed pinstripe shirt) as opposed to the Can Converter which left me with a filthy potty mouth (but it does work & I'm happy), but who knows. Just another option folks. If anyone tries/tried this let me know what you think.

iLove


If you own an iPhone or an iPod Touch get ready for the app of my dreams. Ben Moore's Paint Chip App is brilliant. Simply take a picture, zoom in on the color you want to match and presto! It matches it to one in it's database as well as giving you gradations if you want to go lighter or darker. Shake the phone and it gives you coordinating colors. Get it here free starting June 1st.

Recession Rug

So I've been in crafty mode all week. I love it when the mood strikes because I get so much done. I bought 6 woven 3x5' cotton mats (decent weight too) at IKEA last week ($4.99 each) and stitched them all together to make this rug for my boys playroom. It roughly measures 9x10 and was less than $30! Great, especially because they trash rugs like nobody's business. (I reinforced the back of the seams with carpet tape for added strength.) The only problem I encountered was that one mat was a bit smaller so it makes the rug a bit woggety on one side, so check your rug sizes before purchasing.

Finished! It will never look this clean again.


P.S. The name of these mats are SVEJE, couldn't find them on the website, but there were tons in the store. Colors were navy, black, orange and kelly green.

Doug Meyer, you are fabulous!

I had this image in my style file (I don't know why I have so many salons, maybe its because my hairdresser comes to my house so I need an imaginary escape) and didn't realize it was done by Doug Meyer until I started googling him, read on...

OK, I bought Met home for the chandelier picture AND Doug Meyer's spread. He is a genius whirlwind... artist, sculptor, painter, designer of outdoor furniture, rugs, and tile and interior designer. Lots of hats, I love that! And check out that fab wall (above) that he painted on his front porch.
Now, as you may have noticed I'm a bit preoccupied with porches/outdoor spaces lately. So it should come as no surprise that I'm loving these shots. I wish I could be this ballsy with color.



Ohhhhhh! I LOVE this!




His interiors are a wild mix of saturated color and texture, and a generous helping of vintage flair. I'd love to have two houses, one that was like this to escape to for a few days (its like visual "happy pills") and a home base that was white and serene.

































(sorry for the torn pages, my enthusiasm got the best of me while scanning)








Bought Met Home just for this picture...


I haven't been too impressed w/ Metropolitan Home lately, but I must say this issue is bringing back around a bit. I just can't pass up a great snowflake chandelier. HELLO GORGEOUS! Come live at my place!

Need opinions

To paint or not to paint?



This is an add on to my earlier post. I've been making myself nuts playing around with color combos for the sunporch. Here I've "painted" the table, the mirror white and added color to the stool & pillows. I keep gravitating towards fushias, yellows and purple. Love it/ Hate it?














Sunporch: Phase One Complete

Nothing like an IKEA run to get your juices flowing. I have been putting this project off for weeks but now have completed the first step... the cornice boards and curtains and the electrical. I loaded up on plain white cotton panels (2/$9.99!)and a bunch of black and white striped 3x5 mats (where else can you fashion a 5x 9 rug for under $15?) and got busy!
The next round involves more paint and decorating... new cushions for the patio set, I'm keeping the old vinyl in the mean time because I really like the aqua and its water repellent for the kids. For now I need to add some pillows in a splashy color... maybe coral, chartreuse or yellow? I'm kinda sad because the black and white fabric I bought for the upholstery will be way too busy, maybe another room can use it. Now I just need a great pillow fabric to tie it all together. Any suggestions? I might paint the table tops and the mirror, can't decide. I'm going to upload this picture into the Color Viewer and play around with a few different schemes.
Part of my husbands for sale sign collection,...


Let me take you way back to the BEFORE... This is the porch back before the house was even ours, from when we just looking at it to buy. Dark wood ceilings, painted dragonflies and the two toned shed (I forgot about that)


My inspiration pieces for this project. Flea market finds ...several panels of square lattice I picked up last year & the spaghetti lamp from this year. Oh, there is that damn Can Converter. Yes it works, but I highly recommend hiring an electrician to do the work. It took me two hours, a lot of swearing and some soul searching as I contemplated what my family would do if I died from electrocution, but its done.


The painting took forever! I can't believe how many coats it took.





Ikea tension cable and panels.







Hanging the Cornice

I will add more pics as I go, In the mean time here are my Q's for you..
A little poll:
Do I band the curatins in black?
To paint some of the furniture or not? Its too much wood in my opinion.
Change out coffee table for a round one? Got alot of one set going on, feeling too matchy.
Accent colors and fabrics?
I'd love some suggestions!






Cabana time!

I spent most of the day outside by the pool enjoying the balmy start to Memorial Day weekend. It got me googling pool cabanas. I have been stuck on my sun porch, which is right off the pool, and I think I have found my inspiration. Coincidentally, both of these images are from the W Hotel in Los Angeles. The first set is the current look, the latter obviously before. Both appeal to me. One being more dramatic and funky, the other more tailored and preppy. This gives me some great ideas for my little porch, I just need the cabana boy to fetch drinks.



Have a great long weekend!






Faux Mahogany 101

I feel like I have been pretty absent here the past few weeks. I have been working on a job site in Boston transforming plain white doors and moldings into mahogany . I figured I'd share it with you and give you a how to. Its a great trick that is pretty easy to do, and will change the feel of any space. I have painted Formica counter tops to look like mahogany (very nautical ) as well as bead board, wainscoting, tabletops... if it can be painted it can be done.

What you will need:
-The surface must be painted in an orangey base coat after it has been properly primed. We had to match existing mahogany in the room so C2-Bonanza is what we used, but you can also use a orangey-terracotta like C2- Turkish Market. The base coat should have an eggshell finish- very important!

-You will need blue painter's tape, ZAR wood stain in Moorish Teak (you can play around will the tone by adding Jacobean and Red Mahogany), paint thinner for clean up. You will also need chip brushes to apply the stain, a mottler brush and a flogging brush (these can be found at most specialty paint and art stores) for the graining and some rags.

This is a very BASIC straight grain, best for beginners and use on moldings and doors.
Apply the stain to the area, make sure its a manageable size... if you are doing a door tape out each section or panel and do them individually. Let them dry a day before taping out to do abutting areas. Once stain is on use a rag and drag it down the surface using pressure from your fingertips to the initial direction of the grain. Next drag the mottler brush over the surface a few times to soften. Lastly, using the flogger gently beat the panel starting at the bottom and working upward. This creates the pores in the wood. If it looks to heavy soften with the mottler and repeat until you are happy with the look. Once you get the hang of this you can experiment with more movement in the grain. Good Luck!

Before and After (sorry for the lousy pics)




Finished Door










Where the homewrecking began...


I was browsing through decor*pad and I came across this entry and living room which I loved, and then I noticed it was actually the set from Mr. & Mrs. Smith. I think I was only able to tolerate 5 minutes of that movie and it was in the middle, so I don't remember seeing this. I might have to watch it to see what else I missed.

Just a Flatlander enjoying the scenery...

We took a drive up to Vermont this weekend to visit my husband's parents. The rain held off and allowed for some great lighting for photos. The gray sky made the spring green even more intense. Here are a couple shots from Billing's Farm in Woodstock...



A drive through Pomfret. I love the rolling hills. All of a sudden they just pop up. It reminds me of growing up near Sugarloaf, NY.





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