The downstairs is coming together…a new bulitin board, a few pillows and my drapes (finally)

Hello home!

I know a few months ago I shared some of my house remodel with you all. We have been in for almost a year now and slowly I am starting to get the fabric in. I swear it's like the shoemaker's wife. Anyway, finally a few of the projects are done & I wanted to share them with you. If you remember, the entire house's color pallet was done off this beautiful cotton print, ML243870,  which I found in the store and loved. 

I decided to make drapes to anchor the main living space/dinning room and a pillow for the couch. The fabric for the taupe striped pillows was from a small roll I was lucky enough to find hiding in our home decorating store. It is a perfect compliment to the floral print and the couch color. 

Here are a few pics of Robin making the pillows. 

Making your own piping..

Sewing on the fringe..

And here are the drapes…

To make pattern matching a bit easier, Robin used the sew through double sided wonder tape.

That's a lot of fabric to pattern match!

 Here is the room after install yesterday. The drapes just tie everything together. 

(Sorry the color is a bit off from the lighting. The table is not orange at all and the walls are a grey taupe. I need movie lights! LOL!))

And the bulletin board…

Since I wanted to tie into the blues and greens from the main room into the kitchen, I picked this great damask print, but you can use most fabrics. It all depends on the look you're after. I love the French Stamp prints we have. It reminds me of the Restoration Hardware look. Really there is something for everyone on the site. I suggest the Home Decor section as the fabrics are a bit thicker, but a regular cotton print would work as well. Even an Ikat print would be fun.

Here is the space right after we installed it. So nice and clean. If only that was really how it looks.  

And this is how it looks once the family stuff goes back in. I have to say it is still pretty neat. Give it a few days and the kids will take over my work space. 

I now love walking in the back door and seeing this board. It just makes me happy. Next I'm off to find a paint color to add some color to the walls. 

Enjoy!

What a find...

About 5 years ago I was leaving work and as I was driving through the alley behind the apparel store and I saw this chair siting off to the side of the road.

Something about it, probably the carving and detail work, stopped me in my tracks. I put my car in park & got out to take a better look.

The arm that was "missing" was  actually on the pavement and the upholstery was slashed, but besides that the chair was in pretty good condition. I picked it right up and put it in my car. Thank goodness I have a big car to schlep the children around. It really came in handy. I was so happy with my find, but in the house we were in I had no place to put it so it went into the garage. Year after year, it moved houses twice, I would look at it and think how cool it was how I found it. I would admire the detail work, and yet I would leave it in the garage. Finally, when we moved into this new house I knew I had to use it.  It would be perfect in the entry. I decided even though I had no idea how I was going to redo it, I was going to put it out. This would force me to do something with it. Well 9 months have gone by and I am ready to get on with it. I found beautiful fabric, very similar to the original, and a great light blue/aqua gimp (we will be putting Home Decor trim online asap). I have to add a side note here; while I am so glad we have an online store, sometimes, if you are close enough to come in, you can find these great small rolls, that are not re-orederable, but just perfect for the project you're working on. This is one of those cases.

The only thing I am undecided on is how to refinish the wood. I love the natural look of it. It is beautifully distressed and part of me wants to just put a clear coat on, reupholster it, and call it a day. The other part of me, the fun, add some uniqueness and color , wants to do either a cream/white wash or a blue/aqua wash on it. Mostly on the carved areas. I think a full lacquer would be too much, but some color may be a really nice contrast to our Great Grandmother's antique hall tree and my dads mahogany piano stool. (I shipped this stool from Antigua when I went for a visit. It was sitting outside a hurricane destroyed home and it was still in amazing shape. My dad, as well as all his cousins, took piano lessons on that stool. It is like having a little piece of my families history in my entry.) Here is a picture of the still very blank entry.

This is the next area I want to focus on. It needs a rug, thinking round, and probably a few antique family picture as well as a beautiful picture from my wedding. The wall to the left has french doors and the drapes are going to be this fabric...

Usually I am so decisive, but for some reason this is giving me a hard time.  Here are a few pics I found online that come close to what I am looking for, but none of them are exactly what I'm imagining in my mind.

In general I like the feel of this entry. The mix of the white wash table with the more modern glass lamps and the interesting wood mirror. It is relaxed, but also current and fresh.

This one is too much blue, but I do like the bold pop of color.

This one has just a touch of blue mixed with the white. I worry the white will just blend into the white molding.

This is a little more blue, but still very subtle.

Any thoughts would be welcome. I don't want to make the chair too country or too shabby chic looking. The house has a contemporary beach vibe to it. There is a lot of molding and Cape Cod features, but the fireplace and kitchen are more on the modern side. To get a better feel of the house take a look here and here. Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

Enjoy!

Dream House, Construction, Part II

So finally the worst was over. The major dust had settled and it was time to watch the pretty stuff roll in. This island, in Winter Cloud Quartzite, made me so happy. It gave me the loook of Carrera Marble, with all the durability one needs when you have three children. Especially one five year old who loves to paint and craft.

During the building process I was always walking through the home decorating store and looking at fabric. I was just waiting for that one piece of fabric to jump out at me and finally it did.

This Braemore fabric had everything I was looking for. The house has an East Coast feel, yet has many modern touches. I wanted to use various shades of turquoise throughtout the house and keep the walls pretty nuetral. It gave me a relaxed beach feel and reminded me of our travels to Hawaii, without being kitchy, yeIt it felt fresh and modern. It was perfect and I was so excited! I am so glad I found this so early in the process. It really influenced many of my choices. My wall color is the light taupe grey and the hardwood floor is the dark brown.

 The backsplash behind the range and in the kitchen, laundry/mudroom, and the girls bathroom are all different shades and shapes of turquoise and green glass tile .

 The house is pretty open and only has one living space. It is anchored with a long firebox, book shelves, and a television. The stone I picked out, Silverwood Marble, is also a taupe grey/brown that works really well with the fabric.

Honestly, for the first few months I wasn't sure when this fabric would show up, but I always knew I would use it. As the months went by and my piece traveled to every store with me, I finally had that ah-ha moment. It would be perfect for the drapes in the dining space. Now that we just got a couch, which sits ajacent to the dining space, I am planning on using it for a few of the decorative sofa cushions.

Next week we will be making the pillows for the kitchen banquet. From the kitchen you can see the living and dinning area, so I am still usng some turquoise, but will be adding a pop of red to go with the red bar stools abd banquet chairs.

Check out our Instagram account to see the fabrics I finally decided on yesterday. I really love them and think they will bring this space to life.

Enjoy!

The streets of New York

Being in New York is a mix of chaos and beauty at all times. As I walk from Mid Town to Soho I hear horns and music from a street musician, I see trash on the sidewalks and beautiful cabbage plants growing in the center divider.



I smell subway fumes



and bakery delights.



I have to say every time I visit New York I truly enjoy myself. Yesterday on my walk I was inspired by some of the great windows I saw or the shops I went into. I just want to share a few pictures with you. Hopefully they will inspire you too.

I love this bed from Jonathan Adler. While there is no way I can afford this, I love the shape of the headboard and the mix of pillows. A subtle nod to Morocco. I think I can achieve the same look in my new master bedroom for 1/3 of the price by shopping lower priced stores and/or making a few of my own pillows with our fabric.



These chairs were right in the front of the store. The chevron is still going strong. So many stores in Soho were featuring it. I like the look, maybe even just for an ottoman. We are getting more & more home decorating fabric everyday.



Another trend that is still going strong is the spike. I saw them on so many types of shoes and in so many different store windows. Of course there was the standard spike,there was also a great skull on the flat, and then the surprise was the spiked converse. Check out our spikes and studs, both in store & online.

                                                               

One of the stores I always visit while in New York is the ABC Carpet & Home store. Again very pricey, but always inspiring. This time they were in full swing for Christmas so I had to look for home items that were not all about the holidays. The one thing they had tons of were pillows. Every color pallet you could think of was represented. I just snapped a few pictures.  I loved the idea of infusing these bright colors throughout my house, yet being able to change it up easily if I tire of them. The pinks were so fun.


As were the neutrals with their texture and metallic pops. I know we just received a few metallic Jacquard that would work great.



Another thing they were doing a lot of was making fairly small pillows out of a variety of sequins or sea beaded fabric. Many of them were in holiday colors, but here are a few that were not. Again, a fun pop for any room especially if you're having a holiday party. Even a runner made with what someone else would use for their party dress will add glam to any table. 

Lastly, felting was popular. I saw felted scarfs and big flowers that really were just a fun accent for the home, but these children's shoes/slippers really caught my eye. They were so colorful and fun. 

Here's a blog that has very similar elf slippers. They are made with Cascade 220. Check out all our colors. So many options.

Also here is a free pattern for the elf slippers.

Of course, there were so many great apparel items. I could have taken picture after picture, but my husband got tired of losing me when I would stop to take pictures when he wouldn't realize & would just keep walking. It was comedy after awhile. Here are three of my favorite pieces.

                              

I love the nubbiness of the sweater wraps. The three looks in the Rebecca Taylor window are all so chic. I wish you could see the last look better. I love the sequin jacket with the skinny black pant. So simple and put together. Lastly, I had to represent the faux fur that was everywhere in New York. I also love the crop leather jacket!

Well that is it. I'm on my way home. Hopefully we will get back next fall and I will bring you more from the streets.

Fur Pillow

Love this fur pillow or the Ikat one? One of our buyers spotted them at Barneys New York. Want one too? You can make them with fabric from our website. We have great fur and Ikat. Enjoy!

While at Barneys New York, #2

This ottoman and pouf covered in faux fur are beautiful! You can find fabric to cover your piece at lowpricefabric.com!

While at Barneys New York

One of our buyers spotted this! Find the fabric to make this at lowpricefabric.com!