My thoughts today

Don't you think? It's those darn expectations. I kind of wish I could live more like this:

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A joyful room

The new curtains (Duralee 21029 670 Bubblegum) were installed today in the little girl's room that I have been working on for so long ...

The hardware was from Pottery Barn and I had them make the panels so they did not show any rings or grommets. They made a pocket on the back of the curtains for the rod to go through. We wanted a cleaner, more modern look for the panels, and for simplicity and lack of room, we opted to not use finials on the ends of the rods.

And the headboard is back. We had a little issue with the headboard ... my upholsterer and I so carefully measured and designed the headboard to fit the West Elm bed frame that we were going to use. We designed it so that the the headboard would come down just to the top of the mattress.  The problem arose when the bed frame that we had selected was out of stock and the new one had a slightly different dimension - it was only a 1/2" shorter but the mattress sat down lower on the frame. On top of that, the mattress the client selected was half the thickness of a regular sized mattress. We could have remedied it by changing the mattress but this bed is for a such a little girl that we all felt that the lower she was to the ground the better. So we re-designed the headboard so that it would fit any size mattress. Thankfully there was extra fabric leftover and the upholsterer was a good sport about making the change quickly. The headboard was so large that my client's mom had to deliver it in their open bed truck - and so the change meant that she had to make a couple more trips back and forth. She was a really good sport too. 

I love the way it turned out. The fabric is as soft as velvet but is 100% polyester and very kid friendly (JF Showroom 23S5591 Retreat). 

The zigzag pillow (Duralee 15149 729 Tigerlilly) and the bolster (Duralee 15096 719 Tigerlilly) were custom made as were the Euro shams (JF Showroom 43S5591 Surf).  The white pillow sham was on clearance at Pottery Barn. The green dotted pillow was one of those great finds at HomeGoods!

The chair belonged to the client's grandmother and we had it recovered with this beautiful Ikat fabric from Kravet (Bansuri 319 Peony). 

The bench was ordered from Pottery Barn and we had a custom cushion made in an indoor/outdoor tiger print (Duralee 15413 708 Carrot). 

The duvet cover was custom made by my workroom. To save money I purchased the softest white sheet and used that for the back. I love how we put the welt over the seams on top. It has a button closure and can be easily washed. The duvet fabric was from Duralee (20865 138 Rose / Green). 

The client purchased the art prints and I had them framed. Some of them were custom framed and for some I used inexpensive frames from Aaron Brothers or Ikea. I like to use inexpensive frames where I can and have custom mats cut for them. Did you notice the Michelle Armas original painting? I had purchased that a while back and this ended up being the perfect spot for it!  As was the Tracey Kafka painting at the top.

The dresser and nightstand are from The Land of Nod (the Monarch collection). If you are not familiar with The Land of Nod, it is part of the Crate and Barrel and CB2 company. The top of the dresser and the nightstand are not styled. It is missing a lamp and the little girl's personal belongings to make it her own (her toys!). 

We changed the silver knobs to gold knobs that I purchased from Lowe's. 

The new armoire has still not arrived (patience, patience I remind myself) ...

But all in all, we have come a long way ...

It is a joyful room for a beautiful, happy little girl who loves sleeping in her new bed. You can't get much better than that!

A little girl's bedroom reveal ... postponed

Today was part one of the bedroom install for a very lucky little girl ...
But before I even got to this client's house I had already put in a full day of work it seemed like. Do you ever have those days where just about everything that is going to go wrong does? You know, one thing after another ... so much that you just have to laugh? That is the kind of morning I had. So there was not much surprise when I finally got home late tonight and uploaded my photos and found that the camera had been on the wrong setting.  So instead of a grand reveal ... you get a sneak peek instead:

We had a little glitch with the headboard so it is being re-made,  a turquoise armoire is on its way and the curtains will be installed on Friday. I will take more photos then! 

This day will never happen again

via

Child proof and adult fun counter stools

The counter stools finally came in for the kitchen remodel I finished back in July. 

This is the kitchen that we finished in four weeks (well, three weeks and 29 days :D) that I wrote about here and here. The counter stools were custom made by Nathan Anthony and upholstered in an easy-to-clean-vinyl (JF Electrify) on the front and one of Nathan Anthony's fabrics on the back. 

These stools will be used by the client's grandchildren so we wanted them to be very durable and even easier to wipe off. And it didn't hurt if they were kind of fun.

What is even more fun about these stools is that the back has a personality all of its own - a little surprise when you look at them from behind ...

Because a kitchen, just like life, shouldn't be taken all so seriously. Right?

These stools will stand up well for the kids ... and also for the adults and their "red wine" fun.

We also added a new piece of furniture to bridge the kitchen with the family room and give the client a place to drop keys and mail and have a couple of drawers designated for "junk". It was not easy to find the right piece of furniture for this spot. I wanted it to be around 40" high and it had to have a couple of drawers but couldn't be too wide. It seemed everything was either too short, too deep or too wide and the custom pieces I designed ended up being just too expensive. Here is what was in the space before:

It seemed like "wasted" space to me ... I don't like when just a few wine glasses and a small portion of wine is being stored like this when all the other glasses and most of the wine bottles are in other places.



You can see that we installed a new wine refrigerator and someday soon the double doors to the closet that you can see in the background above will be turned into a wine cave, so wine storage was not a necessity any longer.

Oslo Bar Cabinet - Crate and Barrel

So how funny is it that the piece from Crate and Barrel which I happened upon one day while looking for something else - the piece that worked perfectly - is a bar cabinet. Ironic, right? The cabinet has shelves inside to store wine bottles, but what is really nice is that the shelves are reversible and can also just be regular shelves. I kind of fell in love with the way the drawers open up...

I love the new buffalo horn mirror we hung above it.

And finally, the new pillows put the perfect punctuation mark on the family room ...

And tie everything together.

That kind of a day

Futurama

I'm taking the day off today ... maybe even staying in my pajamas all day! Ah... Don't you love those kinds of days? 

Here is a sneak peek of what I am going to post about tomorrow:

The new counter stools are in ... come back tomorrow and I will show you more!
Happy Monday Labor Day everyone!

The great Power behind you

Etsy

I watched Good Morning America the other morning ... something I don't often do, and happened to catch the final appearance (for a while) of anchor Robin Roberts before she begins treatment for MDS. It was heartwarming and emotional and I was struck with her grace and poise and positive attitude in the light of the hard road she has ahead of her. I was also impressed with the incredible support she has from her family, her friends and her co-workers. She and her co-anchors were all wearing bracelets that were designed with the colors of spring to represent the new life her bone marrow transplant will give her, her initials (RRR) and four words that represent the prayer that she prays each morning. I don't know where I have been but I did not know this prayer. It is part of a poem that was written by James Dillet Freeman in WWII for all soldiers and is called The Prayer for Protection. The four words on the bracelet are: Light, Love, Power and Presence. I love that she was open with her faith in the power of God to bring her through this difficult journey she is on.

The LIGHT of God surrounds me.
"You, LORD, keep my lamp burning;
 my God turns my darkness into light." - Psalm 18:28
The LOVE of God enfolds me.
"When I said, “My foot is slipping,”
 your unfailing love, LORD, supported me." - Psalm 94:18

The POWER of God protects me. 
"But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us." - 2 Corinthians 4:7
The PRESENCE of God watches over me.
"He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge..."  - Psalm 91:4
Wherever I am, GOD IS.
"Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me," even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you." -Psalm 139:7-12

The poem by Freeman was actually longer ... here it is in it entirety:

The Light of God surrounds me.
The Love of God enfolds me.
The Power of God protects me.
The Presence of God watches over me.
The Mind of God guides me.
The Life of God flows through me.
The Laws of God direct me.
The Power of God abides within me.
The Joy of God uplifts me.
The Strength of God renews me.
The Beauty of God inspires me.
Wherever I am, God is!

I like the idea of praying those four short words each morning. What a beautiful reminder of the strength and power and love and light that is available to us all. I am praying those words for my daughter and son-in-law (and sweet little Adeline) as they begin a new journey adventure in their lives today. I pray for protection from worry and fear, protection from harm, and that they would be continually reminded of the love and light and presence of God that surrounds them. And it is my prayer for all of you too.

everlastingjesus@tumblr via pinterest

Be still and know that I am God. 
Be still and know that I am.
Be still and know.
Be still.
Be.
            -Psalm 46:10

(Note:I found the dissected Psalm in a lovely book I am reading, "God Never Blinks" by Regina Brett. It is from lesson 38: Read the Psalms. No Matter What Your Faith, They Cover Every Human Emotion.)