Playing with wallpaper

One of my favorite wallpapers is Hygge & West's Petal Pusher in almost white and gold ...

I used it in a gorgeous nursery that was finished last year and although I have not had time to go up and take the final photographs, I have a few that were taken on install day ...

 I love what Emily Henderson said about the pattern:

"What's so great about this paper is how the gold and ivory becomes a neutral when put up on the wall. It's reflective and strangely quiet for a wallpaper."

I have to agree.  

When I was cleaning out my office last week, I came across the wallpaper sample. I thought it might make a fun drawer liner ...

I was right ... it is a little bit of sunshine every time I open the drawer.
Happy Monday everyone!

Small changes make a big impact

We broke ground on a new kitchen remodel Monday and after I stopped by to check on the demolition  I dropped in on a client who lives nearby to check on her progress.

You might remember this home - I previously posted about it and you can see the before photos here. It started out with a great foundation and only needed a few changes...

We started in the living room where we switched the large gold mirror over the fireplace and replaced it with a more subtle silver mirror, added the zebra bench "coffee table" and ordered new carpet. The carpet had taken "forever" to be installed and I had not seen it yet.



I love the way the new carpet lightens up the room!

 Here is a photo of the room before any changes were made:

After a few changes ...

And finally ... with the new carpet:

We also added a new custom settee in the nearby dining room ...

It is a  Nathan Anthony design.

And do you remember the piano room that was being created at the top of our newly carpeted stairs?

The new white marble floor looks amazing ...

Can you believe it is not really marble at all? It is porcelain. 

It turned out to be a perfect and inexpensive alternative to the previous wall to wall carpet and gave us a nice stopping point with the new stairway carpet.

Don't you love the new wallpaper? We added some to the powder room as well:

I love the big impact these 'small' changes have made for this beautiful home, don't you?

What I have been up to lately

I haven't posted much lately about the projects I am working on - mainly because I don't have anything to really show (no photos). But I thought it was time to at least give a little update. Things don't always move fast in the design world - it can take a lot of time to search for just the right carpet and fabrics and furniture and then there can be a lot of waiting. For example in the dining room I am working on (you know, the one where I am moving the dining room into the existing living room), we want to place new wingback chairs on the ends of the table. First we had to locate the chairs we wanted to use and then we had to select just the right fabric to put on them.

The palette of this beautiful home near the ocean is done mainly in navy, blues and reds. But the client is an eclectic art collector and recently acquired this on a trip to Cannes (photo taken with my iphone):

We want to hang the new artwork in the dining room over this piece from Drexel Heritage's Postebello Home line:

Savannah Credenza

And although I don't want to disrupt the entire palette of the house, I do want to tweak the colors in the new dining room a bit. The new artwork was my inspiration.

B|Berger

This is the fabric we are considering for the two wingback chairs to flank the ends of the dining table. They will have a solid fabric on the front and this on the back. Now that we are pretty sure we have our fabric we have to wait for samples to confirm that it works in the client's space and then order it and wait for the chairs to be made. It all takes time. 

On another project, wallpaper has been ordered (more waiting),

Thibaut / Allison

Antonina Vella Trellis Wallpaper

Along with this bench that will be used for a coffee table ...

Ruffio Queen Bench 

New carpet will be installed and a few decorative changes made once the wallpaper is installed and the new furniture (including a curved dining settee that has not yet been ordered) is delivered. 

In another home, a lovely 50's ranch, a laundry room remodel is under construction. The house very traditional but I want the laundry room to be a little fun so although we are carrying the existing cabinet style into the laundry room I am changing the hardware to be a little more fun and shiny. Wyeth Blue by Benjamin Moore will be painted on the walls. We pushed out one wall into the hall closet behind it to create a space for storage and folding laundry, and that can also be used as a staging area for parties. (See, don't you wish I had photos?).

Numerous other upholstery, paint and drapery projects, and a kitchen remodel that is starting this week are part of what has been keeping me busy ...

Along with this little girl who came to visit last week! She will be 5 months old today! Life is good!
Happy Monday everyone. xo

Tricia Guild and the perfect wallpaper

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I met with a new client today who has the most beautiful home. Seriously beautiful. Just the the view alone is spectacular. She has recently painted most the the interior walls a lovely gray and is gradually updating her furnishings from the reds and golds and greens to a fresher palette of grays and whites and navy.

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 I took a few working "before" photos but did not ask her permission to post them so I hope she doesn't mind this little peek ...

Among other things, she wants to wallpaper her powder room and she had found a pattern that she really liked. She did not know anything about it (who made it) or even the name of the store where she found it. But she had a photo. I told her I would try to find it and really hoped that I could.

So I came home tonight and googled topiary & wallpaper and guess what I found!

Ah... the beauty of technology! The wallpaper is by Designers Guild (their Linnaeus Collection) and comes in 11 different colorways including the one she found, indigo. Designers Guild, based in the UK, is run by Tricia Guild (who is the founder and creative director) and her brother, Simon Jeffreys. 

I love the vibrant colors and patterns that Tricia Guild is known for - there is nothing subtle about her designs. (I could look through her books all day long). Tricia Guild's Design and Detail (1988) was one of the first design books I ever purchased and completely challenged me with her fearless use of color. If you are not familiar with her work, you should definitely check her out. 

images via Designers Guild

wallpaper images

Not your mother's wallpaper

Well, I definitely took this relaxing thing a bit too far ... I extended my catch-up-on-sleep-weekend well into Monday. Thankfully I have an appointment today that will force me to get up and out early! The nice thing was I was able to catch up on a few blogs and noticed that Amy at Maison Decor has added some wallpaper to her living room. She put some nice play-by-play directions on her post if you are interested in putting up some paper yourself. Seriously, she makes it look so easy. Oh yeah ... she bought it at Lowe's. Really.

Wallpaper has become quite the thing lately ... The very stylish Marianne from Style for Living put some beautiful paper up in her home office last year ...

Sherry, from Design Indulgence just used some in a house renovation she is working on (so much more fun then just paint) ...

And I'm sure you've seen this from Jill Sorensen's house (Live. Like. You. blog) but it is worth repeating ...

Before

After

Amazing what a little wallpaper can do, isn't it? The possibilities are endless. 

Apartment Therapy

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pinterest via here

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Veranda

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via Apartment Therapy

Urban Outfitters

But I think my favorite of all of them is this idea ... removable wallpaper. How absolutely perfect for renters (and designers who change their minds a lot)! Check out this article here about how it went up ... and came down!

Okay, now get back to work!