Choosing Neutral Art

While I love colorful art, sometimes it's best to go neutral in a room with other vibrant accents. Lately I've been so drawn to dreamy, soft nature-inspired art. I like how it balances and tempers the bright aspects of a room.

Art.com asked me and a handful of other design bloggers to share some of my favorites for a gift guide. I broke down some of my choices here by the color of the undertones. You know how I'm always going on about color temperature balance? Well for me that goes for art as well, especially more neutral art.

I always like to find color temperature balance in a room. If your walls are a cool gray, with blue undertones, try adding a piece of art with warmer, more brown or yellow undertones.

Or, if you're renting and your walls are builder's beige, try something with a bit more blue in it.

And true black works with all temperatures and should be mixed in, in healthy doses!

PS I'm trying to not buy that swan print, but there's a 15% off deal on art.com right now, so I don't think my resolve will last long.

PPS How are you guys? Sorry for not posting yesterday - we are nursing some serious colds around here. bleck.

Room Tours: A Noelle Wright Living Room

Noelle Wright is a super talented decorator based out of Salt Lake. I LOVE this room she submitted for my call for Living Room tours! Here's Noelle, sharing all the pretty details!

This is one of my favorites rooms yet!! The family that I did this for are good friends of ours, so of course it had to be perfect. They are young and hip and he heads the company Skullcandy, so I wanted it to have a very unique and edgy vibe that represented them and their lifestyle. This family entertains like crazy...so flow and the placement of furniture was crucial. They also have two little girls and one on the way, so the trick was making it beautiful and practical all at the same time. To be honest, I was really sad when I finished this project, I had such a great time doing it!!

Here are some pictures of the front room.

I love this view of the room, it captures all the unique details that make this room so great! Although we started with a clean slate, I wanted to make sure that it felt like the pieces that we used felt unique and eclectic. Every detail came with a lot of thought! It is a melting pot of styles with pieces found at Anthropologie, HomeGoods, local contemporary boutiques, custom made pieces and local vintage stores...to name a few, to create the overall effect. One thing my client was set on having was a zebra hide. That became my starting point, and was fun...because I could add color to the black and white. We also added all kinds of fun tables to provide a place to set down drinks for all their entertaining.

I had this chair custom made. I love custom made items because you get exactly what you want, it's uniquely yours, and in most cases doesn't cost more than buying it. Isn't the classic houndstooth paired with the sleek lines of this chair great?

The throw pillows and cushions in this room are also custom made. I love an unexpected mix of fabrics!! Fabric and texture are so crucial to a room. The raspberry color is a little unexpected, and so fabulous... one of my favorite parts of the room. I tried to create symmetry in the room by using similar shapes and flow lines, the petals on the pillow and the petals on the mirror. This creates a needed balance.

We used an unusual combination of chairs in this room because we wanted to! I wanted this room to represent my client. Rules are made to be broken.

Don't be afraid to mix it up!

All photos taken by Ashlee Raubach

These old books and urn add an unexpected touch that I just love.

List of Sources

Sofa: Bob Williams Mitchell Gold

Rug: Safaveih

Zebra Hide: Horchow

Black and White artwork/photography: Roma

Coffee tables: Pottery Barn

Chests: Hooker furniture

Lamps: Circa Lighting

Wall Color: Bennington Beige by Benjamin Moore

Mirror above fireplace: Anthropologie

Lotus mirror: available to the trade

Houndstooth Chair: custom made. Houndstooth fabric, available to the trade

Black Accent Chair: Horchow

Cushion on chair: custom made with Robert Allen fabric available to the trade

All Pillows: custom made with Robert Allen and Beacon Hill fabric available to the trade

Mosaic occasional table: Plantation Design

Horn-leg table: ZGallerie

Round Cigar Table: Worlds Away

Room Tours: Jay and Katherine Wolf

Hi friends! I hope you're having a GREAT weekend!! I wanted to share this lovely living room tour with you sooner than later because Jay and Katherine are very kindly offering LGN readers 25% off their vintage shop Once Lost Home Goods, with the promo code "LGN25". You mind find some pretties for gift-giving!

Here's Jay with their living room...

My name is Jay Wolf, and I am what some may call a renaissance man, though maybe it's more like a jack of all trades, master of none. Wearing lots of different hats has become the norm after my wife, Katherine, suffered a massive brain-stem stroke on April 21, 2008, as our 6-month old son slept in the other room. Miraculously Katherine survived, and we have been on the excruciating but beautiful road of recovery ever since (she shares her journey on her blog Hope Heals, www.hope-heals.com).

I have always been an artist and a creative, very right brain oriented (I somehow parlay that creativity into my "real job" as an attorney), so the decision to take on some of Katherine's more wifely roles following her stroke was not too daunting for me, and I knew that finding ways to celebrate life in the midst of our suffering, as well as creating a really special home for my family would be keys to our overall healing.

We live in Los Angeles in a specific area called Culver City where I happened upon several thrift shops very close to our home. Finding little treasures amidst a lot of junk became extremely cathartic for me. I suppose in many ways it was a metaphor for what our life had become, finding the best things in the middle of lots of terrible things. I brought many of these finds into our home, and formed a little Etsy shop, Once Lost Home Goods, with the rest.

Our home seems to be a constant work in progress, and even the pictures posted here would look a bit different if actually taken again today (and these were only taken about a month ago!) I've found that carving out a unique, personal, safe, inviting place to call home and to "do life together" in is one of the great and unexpected joys that I've experienced recently in my life. Welcome to our home!

This is the view as you first walk into our living room, which for us, is truly the room that we do most of our living in. I love seeing the large, vintage seascape painting as I walk into the room, now dramatically lit with its own vintage art light from Katherine's grandmother's home. It definitely sets the tone. We lived in Malibu,CA, which is on the beach, for 3 years while I was in law school. We have such great memories from that time, so we incorporated lots of nautical and sea-inspired influences in our current home as a nod to that special time in our lives. Also, it's hard not to feel relaxed when you have reminders of the ocean around you, so we tried to create our own little not-on-the-beach, beach cottage, while still not being too themey about it.

We're from the South originally, which is much more traditional and formal than California, in every sense, I think. As a result of living in those two very different environments, our style has morphed over the years, and currently seems to be a cozy, eclectic, vintage, pared-down traditional. I think the juxtaposition and contrasts in a room are the most important elements for me, and of course, the mix of the new and the old seems to give a room lots of soul. Also, since two guys and a girl live in this space, I always try to mix the masculine and feminine. Not only does it end up pleasing everybody, but the combination of those differing elements adds infinitely more interest than something that has more of a one-note perspective.

We live in a charming (aka "pretty old") 1920's bungalow. And while all 1,200 square feet of it have lots of character that can't easily be found in new construction, it comes at a bit of a price. Honestly, did people in the 1920's not have any stuff? Lack of storage is an issue, for sure, so when planning out the living room, we had to incorporate a good bit of non-built-in storage, this includes our "linen closet" boxed up in various sizes of Rubbermaids under our IKEA sectional. Also, the coffee table, while not so kid-friendly, is literally a trunk with drawers. This vintage piece was picked up for cheap at one of my local thrift stores because I thought it looked cool with the brass and the nailheads. I only later found out (thanks to some design blog) that this chest, handmade by the Spanish company Sarreid, was actually a really nice piece. Honestly, I could care less about the name, I just liked the design of it. To that end, I think you can never go wrong buying something you love, whether or not anyone else thinks it has value or not.

We received a lot of home items for our wedding (not off a registry, just given with the assumption that they would all come together somehow, I guess), many of which have left us for good at this point as we honed in on our own style; however, this spindle-base lamp (with an updated shade) and antique English bamboo table from the late 1800's have stuck with us since the wedding day. It's great to be able to incorporate personal things from your past into new spaces, even if you have to tweak them a little, and correspondingly, it's even better to be able to let certain things go completely and start anew.

My introduction to the design world has mostly been through design blogs (thank you Jenny!) Literally, I knew very little of the lingo a year ago, but learning it proved to be valuable. For example, I would read about Hollywood Regency and the Dorothy Draper chest in blog after blog. One day, I went to a junk shop and this chest was sitting on the sidewalk, having been bought from the estate of a long-time LA resident, a woman who had gotten her start as an actress in Hollywood's Golden Age. I knew this piece was a Dorothy Draper chest, and though it was not in perfect condition I figured it would still be way too expensive, but I thought I would inquire anyway. The price was $40, and after I asked the store owner to repeat it, I threw him two twenties and ran with my loot before he could change his mind! Full-on Hollywood Regency is not my style, for sure, but adding it to the room creates an unexpected visual edge. I love that this iconic piece holds all the odds and ends and 4-year old's toys that must be shoved somewhere when company comes over. Beautiful and versatile, if only the walls on this chest could talk.

The grouping on top of the chest always makes me happy too, the textures and colors are just right, in my mind. And once and for all, I can't be considered a bad parent for throwing away most of my son's preschool art projects (where am I supposed to store them?!), since one of his first abstract finger paintings holds a place of great prominence in our living room. The capiz moravian star is from Target and the green leaf pottery is from TJ Maxx Home Goods, just going to show that in the right setting, anything can look more expensive than it actually was. The beautiful, vintage alabaster lamp (with an updated shade) was from Katherine's grandmother's home (she recently moved to a retirement home and gifted us quite a few great, vintage things) and is such a wonderful daily reminder of her beloved grandmother.

Also, I'm not much of a DIY'er, but I was quite proud that the bordered curtains in the living room were actually two Target fabric shower curtains that we had cut off and hemmed to the right length by our local alterations lady. So much cheaper than having custom curtains made in that bordered style and so much easier than trying to somehow, very badly make them myself.

Again, the 1920's architects didn't do us a lot of favors in the storage or in the space planning department either. This room is an awkward, long rectangle, with lots of doors opening out to other rooms and heaters coming up from the floor, so we had to get creative. This very tight and long spacing is why we opted for the sectional sofa, which is not necessarily my favorite type of couch but sometimes practicality wins out, though practical can still look good. Likewise, some practical seating and visual space was needed in this tiny corner, over-crowded by the door to my office. I decided to fit this great occasional chair there, which looks like it was picked up from a Parisian flea market (it was actually from a rather seedy Goodwill on Santa Monica Blvd, but who would know?) The scale was much better than a previous chair we had there and the green velvet and patinaed gold edges fit the room perfectly. I love how it looks in contrast with the large black and white photograph of the California landscape that I took as we drove into California in our U-haul, for the first time, 7 years ago.

This armoire is one of my favorite things in the room, and I think it was the first one I bought. Of course, inside lies our TV and naturally, more storage space for exercise mats and DVD's, etc. It was a Craigslist find, and I was initially drawn to the old oak and the shape of the top. I loved it even more when I found out it was used in the late 1800's as an armory (ie. to store weapons and guns) and was made for quick disassembly and travel (I guess to run away from rebel forces) so it literally comes completely apart. Cool, right? Though it was not so cool when I was trying to put it together by myself late at night and the heavy wooden doors kept falling on my head, but still, totally worth it!

The faux bamboo stools were re-covered in a gray lattice patterned fabric shower curtain (what's the deal?) and were originally from the Sunset Tower Hotel (a rather famous hotel among celebrities, on the Sunset Strip near Hollywood). There are several warehouse-sized businesses in LA that specialize in re-selling hotel surplus furniture. I've even picked up some furniture for a friend's room that I designed (www.oncelosthomegoods.com/portfolio/before-after-classic-nautical-guestroom/) from a Kelly Wearstler-designed hotel, though like anything, you usually have to dig through a lot of junk to get there, but then you get a pretty inexpensive piece with great design. And you never know who might have been perched on that stool.

Another of my favorite elements in the room are the pair of vintage Italian tole wheat sconces. Despite my mentions of Kelly Wearstler, Dorothy Draper, and tole sconces, I truly do not have a secret obsession with Hollywood Regency--not that there's anything wrong with that. What I most love about these is that they were not sold as a pair. I bought one on Ebay because it was inexpensive, and I loved its design compared to lots of other wheat, tole sconces that I had seen. I later concluded that two is better than one, so I set out looking for its mate, which I finally found on Etsy, from a totally different seller. I had to pay up a bit for this one, but I love how they flank the armoire, and the symbolism of harvest will always be extremely meaningful to me.

On this wall, the main visual element is obviously the collection of vintage seascape oils. I love art, in general, so I can't help but love a good gallery wall, and I've got quite a few of them, even in our tiny house. I got all of these from either Ebay, Etsy, or my thrift stores. They are all by different artists but all in a rather specific range of color palettes and an impressionistic style which makes them work really well together as a grouping. I did change out most of the frames, and at first, I probably would have wanted all the frames to match, but the same frame wasn't always available, but now, I really like that the frames are complimentary and all thin but not matching.

The pair of leather chairs was something that I have always wanted, and I finally got them on major sale at HD Buttercup, a great furniture store in Culver City. They are one of those items that I will keep no matter where we live or what my style may be. They were the biggest purchase in the room, and I love how they only get better with age. Our four year old does a fine job of adding to the weathered look, which is sort of softened by the large, French grain sack pillows.

The round occasional table between the two chairs is hands down my best and probably only find from Ross. It's got a black marble top and though hard to see in the pictures has a fantastic, sort of mid-century starburst design base, made out of iron, with an antiqued brass finish. The apothecary floor lamps are from Target and again pull in some black, which is a color that is very grounding to a space (though I'm not even sure what that means, but I get it). I used to be kind of worried about matching black and brown and clashing metallic finishes but I think not knowing too many rules has probably helped me the most in being able to confidently pull designs together. Whatever works, just play around with it until it looks right to you.

Katherine was in ICU for 40 days after her stroke, during which we could not fill that sterile, sad room with any flowers or potential contaminants, understandable, but it definitely made it hard to bring any sense of life into that place. So, ever since, I have felt the need to have fresh flowers around our home as much as possible. It's a slight indulgence, but we always just get them at the grocery store and arrange them ourselves. We also use a lot of orchids and other long-lasting varieties. No offense to fake flowers, but it kind of defeats the purpose of bringing some life into a room, right?

Though geometric shapes and patterns are pretty trendy, I feel they bring in a different kind of organic element which is really timeless. These wooden stars echo the larger white one on the chest (they were puzzles that I finally had to super glue together after one too many guests awkwardly brought me the pile of pieces unable to put it back together themselves). The wooden, mid-century geometric basket, DNA-model-esque, used for magazines on the floor next to the leather chair, was such a unique piece, spotted in a small Southern "antique" booth (looked a little more like a cross between Cracker Barrel and Hoarders) on a holiday trip back South, that I had to lug it back in a separate suitcase. The mirror is from Home Goods and is another example of something that looks much more expensive and unique than it was by being put in the right context. The orchid pot is mid-century vintage, with a unique ombre effect coming up from the base. This utilitarian piece also adds another layer of style and color, mixing eras, and not letting things fit too neatly into one box. There's an inherent sense of nature and science and just enough uncommonness to these things which will never get old to me.

"After many a sore foot and many a passive aggressive remark about the hazards of child-rearing around a sharp metal trunk coffee table, I conceded and got this new tufted, storage ottoman. It's brilliant because it is infinitely more comfortable to prop up our feet on when we watch TV, and it stores all our "blow-up guest bedroom" pillows and sheets. It's also so much easier to move since it rolls around on casters, so we can push it out of the way when we need to do our Denise Austin workout videos! And of course, it was christened with a juice box on it's first day in our home, but not to worry, it's covered in Sunbrella, indoor/outdoor, washable fabric--victory (at least until a large cup of coffee is sloshed on it)! I added an extra yard of the fabric and recovered a vintage bench for more seating in front of the chest of drawers. Also, the pillows got a bit of an update, from one trendy pattern to another--what can I say, lots of people like them for a reason. This ikat in green, blue, cream and brown really pulls in all the colors of the room much better than the previous green trellis."

"Since we no longer have a hard-surfaced coffee table, a stable tray was needed to take on drinks and the like. I found this vintage lucite tortoise and greek key tray (I think Jenny might likey) at my local thrift store, originally intended for my Etsy shop, but as often happens, once I tried it on this new spot, there was no going back."


*
Thanks for reading this to the end! I hope you enjoyed the tour and my rambling thoughts. Thank you Jenny for letting me share.


SOURCES:

FURNITURE:
- Couch = IKEA Ektorp Sectional, slipcovered in Svanby Beige
- Chest of Drawers = Vintage Dorothy Draper Espana Chest -- Man on Motor, Culver City, CA
- Coffee Table = Vintage Brass Sarreid Chest -- House of Return, Culver City, CA
- Side Table = Antique Bamboo Table -- Appointments At Five, Athens, GA
- Occasional Chair = Vintage Green Velvet Chair -- Goodwill, Santa Monica, CA
- Armoire = Antique Oak Armory -- Craigslist, Los Angeles, CA
- Stools = Vintage Faux Bamboo Stools from Sunset Tower Hotel -- Hotel Surplus Store, Van Nuys, CA; Fabric Shower Curtain -- Ross
- Pair of Leather Chairs = HD Buttercup, Culver City, CA
- Occasional Table = Iron Starburst and Black Marble Top Table -- Ross, Culver City, CA
- Rug = Nate Berkus Kilim Stripe Rug -- HSN + 40oz Rug Pad -- Amazon

LIGHTING:
- On Chest = Vintage Carved Alabaster Lamp; New Shade --Home Goods
- Art Light = Vintage
- On Side Table = Spindle Base Lamp -- Appointments at Five, Athens, GA; New Shade -- Target
- Between Leather Chairs = Pair of Pharmacy Lamps -- Target

ACCESSORIES:
- On Chest = Green Leaf Pottery -- TJ Maxx Home Goods, Westchester, CA; Child's Art Frame and Capiz Moravian Star -- Target; Books = Lapham's Quarterly, Winter 2011 -- Amazon, "How Should We Then Live?" by Francs Schaeffer -- vintage, "The Home Book" by House Beautiful -- Amazon, and "All the Saints of the City of Angels" by J. Michael Walker -- The Hammer Museum, Westwood, CA

- On Coffee Table = Mahogany and Brass Tray -- Crate & Barrel; Shell -- African souvenir; "The Way We Live By the Sea" by Stafford Cliff -- Amazon; Glass Hurricane -- TJ Maxx Home Goods; Black River Rock Vase Filler -- Target; Capri Blue Candle in Black Currant and Cassis -- Lundeens, Culver City, CA

- On Couch = Tan Euro Shams -- Target; Green Imperial Trellis -- Nena Von Pillows on Etsy; Black and Cream Border Lumbar and all down inserts -- Pottery Barn; Brown Cable knit and Cream Chain link Blankets -- Nate Berkus for Linens 'N Things

- Curtains = Bordered Fabric Shower Curtains by Fieldcrest and Curtain Clip Rings -- Target; Curtain Rod -- Ross

- On Side Tables = Hydrangea Vase -- TJ Maxx Home Goods; Mini-orchid Ombre Pot, vintage -- House of Return, Culver City, CA; Wooden Moravian Star Puzzles -- Ross

- On Walls = Vintage Seascape Oil Paintings -- Ebay, Etsy, House of Return, Culver City, CA, NCJW/LA Thrift Store, West LA, CA; Frames = Aaron Brothers, Culver City, CA; Large Black and White Photo -- Jay Wolf, blown up on Shutterfly; Frame -- Aaron Brothers; Vintage Italian Tole Wheat Sconces -- Etsy and Ebay; Geometric Capiz Mirror -- TJ Maxx Homegoods

- On Leather Chairs = French Grain Sack Pillows -- Colcha, Venice, CA; Brown Geometric Blanket -- TJ Maxx Home Goods

- Magazine Rack = Mid-century Wooden Basket -- Eastbrook Flea Market, Montgomery, AL

Sources from the updated photos:

- Tufted Ottoman = Ballard Designs, in Brass Sunbrella
- Tray = Vintage Lucite -- House of Return, Culver City, CA
- Ironwork Bench = Vintage -- House of Return, Culver City, CA
- Pillows = Ikat -- Jenny Farley Designs on Etsy

House Tour: Emmett's Nursery and the Boys' Bathroom

Here's Emily on Emmett's sweet room:

"This is the one room in the house that has not been re-painted yet. This was Parker's room when we first moved into this house and he was still in a crib. No, I don't like the tan. But I wasn't ready to make any room color decisions when spring came and it became urgent to cover up the windows so Parker would take his afternoon nap. I decided to find the cheapest fabric possible to make panels that worked with the room color and then wait and see what our next baby would be. I found this upholstery weight fabric at a fabric warehouse for five dollars a yard so we were able to make the panels for about $50 total.

"When we found out we were having another boy we decided to put more money into Parker's new room instead of the nursery, especially since you only spend about 20 minutes total in the nursery. Don't get me wrong, I love a perfectly decorated nursery. I just couldn't justify the cost of changing what we already had even though my tastes have changed since doing Parker's nursery 3.5 years ago. If we ever have a girl there will be a complete redo of this room.

"I don’t mean to sound negative about this room, I think it's a nice room, I just don't like tan walls. :) It's classic, peaceful and simple which is what a nursery should be. The crib and dresser is Munire. When we bought this crib and dresser set I knew nothing about wood and dismissed the fact that they were made with pine, a soft wood. In the two and half years Parker used this crib, he tore it to pieces. There were bite marks everywhere! It was funny to see in person, but not funny enough to keep it! While I was out of town with the boys this summer, Todd sanded and stained the tops to match the rest of the crib. Good as new. (but to those of you crib shopping now, steer clear of pine!)

"The frog chair is from the Pottery Barn outlet. This is where Parker sits when we're hanging out in this room. The crib bedding is Dwell for Target, and the chair is from Best Chairs' nursery line. Don’t' be fooled by the cheesy name of the company. This chair is amazing!

"I still love the blue and green paisley fabric, it hides everything and has held up wonderfully. It was also very affordable for a custom job at about $550 for the gliding chair and ottoman, it was also a gift. :) My sister in law made the beautiful quilt when we had our first baby. The lamp base is from Pottery Barn and the shade is Anthropologie.

"The sail boat painting is an original piece of art by Todd's grandma, Virginia. I asked my MIL if we could have this when she was going through some storage and I'm so glad I did. The Chinese rice bucket is from a home décor store in Utah called Tai Pan Trading. I wish I bought five of them. We use it for books.

"The mobile is by BlaBla and the framed English and French alphabets are actually wrapping paper sheets by Cavallini and Co. I found at a boutique in Chapel Hill for $4 each and framed in Ikea frames (painted orange).

"Isn't that vintage lamp of the lemonade stand on the dresser so cute! I found that at an antique shop in Wake Forest, NC. The painting is a canvas by James C. Christensen called The Iron Rod. It's our anniversary, Christmas, and my birthday all within a week (poor Todd). But the year this painting was released I told him all I wanted was this painting. It was issued at $300 and four years later it is now worth $3,695! Todd says we should sell it, I say "NEVER."

"The airplane is from a home décor shop in Utah, I can't even remember the name of the place, but I've seen similar airplanes at Home Goods.

"In the hallway, on the way to the kids' bathroom, we hung a gallery wall of family photos. I just spray painted some inexpensive, mis-matched frames to keep the look cohesive.

"And here we are in the boys' bath. I have to be honest here. Yes, it's the "kids bathroom" but in reality, Parker takes all of his baths in my bathroom because it's easier for me watch him and get things done in my room. My husband actually is the main user of this bathroom because he gets up in the morning before me and doesn't want to wake me up by getting ready in the bathroom attached to our room (it's an open ceiling between our bedroom and bathroom).

"I still wanted to make it fun though because it is supposed to be a kids bathroom. The biggest change to this bathroom is the paint color. I bought the Dwell for Target shower curtain and from there chose the wall color - Benjamin Moore Antigua Aqua. The clock is from college, it's a Martha Stewart for Kmart. We made the typical changes you make when trying to update a bathroom without changing any of the "big" stuff. For instance, we changed out the mirror, the vanity hardware, faucet, light, shower curtain and towel rods. The waste basket is from Home Goods as well as the little wooden stool. Using this tutorial I made fabric covered boxes found at Michaels to organize all the odds and ends in the medicine cabinet. It was a fun and cheap way to add some more color and patterns."

Sources for the bathroom:
Wall color: Antigua Aqua, Benjamin Moore
Vanity knobs, towel rods, curtain rods, shower curtain: Target
Waste Basket, wooden stool, mirror: Home Goods
Bath Rug: Costco
Clock: Kmart
Tray on toilet: Boehms Chocolates in Spokane, Wa

Our thanks again to Jessica of JJ Horton Photography for the images.

I see a chalk board in my future

Before I had a chance to get completely sick of seeing chalkboards and chalkboard paint on anything and everything, I was in love with this image.

The home was first published in O at Home and then in Cottage Style (the second image) and I remember reading that the owner had collected a lot of her furniture and art in Europe. It seems like she said she found the mirror at an antique store in Switzerland, but the glass broke so she made it in to a chalkboard. I LOOOOOVED the shape of that mirror. It's like all swoosh and no line on the frame, which makes it feel almost a little more modern maybe?

scans lifted from here.

Anyway I loved it but never thought it could be mine bc of the whole Europe/antique thing. Fast forward like 5 years to last week. I was at Meeker Ave Flea Market with some friends when... Wait. What's this. Is this the? Could it be??

The exact same mirror! It's enormous and crazy heavy (the frame is cast iron). I bought a bunch of stuff that day for clients and my pals at Meeker gave me good pricing for the whole haul, so I'm telling myself the mirror was basically free even though it was really about $100.

I have more mirrors than I could ever possibly hang, so I'm going to make this one into a chalkboard for my apartment (I know I'm a copy cat). Top color choices of the moment include black, navy or the old school chalkboard greeny emerald color.

Now, to figure out what to do for the writing surface... I should probably take the mirror out, and replace it with mdf... Not a good idea to just paint over the glass, right? Or could I?

I want to go to there

Oh, thank goodness it's Friday. It's been one of those weeks. Perpetually behind and completely exhausted. I'm ready for a day or two of sleeping in and eating out! Who's with me?

Dec 2009 House and Garden

P.S. My secret wish is to have a weekend/country home some day. And in my dreams it looks just like this house. Serene, but still fun and colorful. I feel better just looking at this photo.

No Rug?

I have to admit, if I had gorgeous herringbone floors like Mr. Romano, I would be tempted to leave them bare too.

What do you think? You spend so much money on wood or tile, just to spend more money on covering it up?

Do you need a rug to make a room feel finished?

images via Todd Romano and Elle Decor

Wood is Back (...was it ever really gone?)

I showed my friend a photo of this lovely Tiger Oak antique desk that I'm buying off craigslist and she immediately asked what color I was going to paint it.

It's no secret that I'm a really big fan of painted furniture, so it might surprise you how much I actually love the look of wood. It adds so much warmth that I always try to use at least one all-wood piece in a room.

My paint brushes will be coming nowhere near this pretty little desk.

One of my very favorite ways to incorporate wooden furniture is using antique chests in entry ways. The best way to pull this off in a fresh way is to pair the traditional wood with modern art and some quirky accessories. A great lamp is always welcome!

House and Home


Thom Felicia


Suzanne Tucker


Marmalade Interiors


Domino




Domino




Mark Olsen Photog (for House and Home)

What do you think? Have you warmed up to wood again? Or were the embers of love always burning?