Before and After: Some Mid-Project Updates

I've got a couple of photos to show related to past posts.  Works in progress.  Unlike HGTV, rooms are not completed in 30 minutes, or even a few days.  In real life, no matter the budget or the effort,  a great space evolves.

From What the Room Next Door Can Say About the Room You're In, the sofa and chair arrived last week, and we are starting on the window treatments.  This is the fabric, over the back of the sofa.  The roll of fabric is for some big down pillows with a great trim, and the walls were painted in the BM Stonybrook I suggested in the initial post. The inside back of the bookcases were done in BM Quiet Moments.

The lamp on the table is changing, and along with window treatments, the art needs to be hung.  A coffee table/ottoman is coming at some point.  I had to show the progress of the dining room, too.  The farm table, chairs and hutch are from the Boston condo I had helped them with prior to this house.  Don't you love the fabric on the chairs?  I can't take credit for the wall paper, but it is to die for.  Window treatments are next in this room.

On to an update on Choosing a Rug with a Client.

My client has kept the more muted rug -- Yeah!  I dropped off the yummy pillow on the chair yesterday and took this picture.  We still need a new lamp, something a bit beefier, and the artwork.  It's shaping up, though!

Finally, the fabrics that were used in the post Don't Buy the Blouse Without the Skirt.  While they look like coordinates and matchy-matchy in the picture, they do have different textures, but the same undertones.  They are not milled coordinates.  They will, however, allow the client to put any number of accent colors with them.  They are a great neutral base.  The solid is the sofa.

Thanks for visiting today.  Have a great, spooky  Halloween filled with your favorite candy!

Talk to you soon,
Carol

Before and After: My Coffee Table Goes Black

I've been looking at my sad family room coffee table with it's worn finish for way too long.  In fact, what was supposed to be a temporary table solution when we moved into our house 4 years ago is now a proud "after" project.  I've been a sewer, painter, re-finisher, and project maniac for so many years I can't count.  Why I didn't do this sooner, I don't know!  (Ok, it was because I'd love something different, but...).

So, here she is, in my family room "before."

With a little Krylon Primer spray paint in gray...

I gave her a 2 can coat of primer, and a 3 can coat of Krylon Satin Black  The whole process took me about 2 hours from start to finish.

And here she is, back in her spot.  (And don't go looking at my sorry fireplace and mantle, or lack thereof...that's an upcoming project (do they ever end?  I think not.)).

The picture's a little dark, but I'm pretty happy with the outcome.  New drapes will be coming in this room sometime before the holidays (if I can find a few more hours in my days and make them), and I can't wait to share.

What's your latest project?

Talk to you soon,
Carol

Top Ten Tips for a Great Looking Home

Below are my Top Ten ways to have the home you love.

1.   Be true to your personality.  If you are, you'll love your home; if you follow trends, your home will look like everyone else's.

2.  Choose colors you love; don't choose color's just because they are "in."  Longevity and love go hand in hand.

source

3.   Dress your windows in a style that is appropriate to the space.  Window treatments matter when it comes to completing the overall look and feel of a space.

Southern Accents

4.   Match something in an eclectic space.  In other words, mixing too many elements in a space can border on chaotic.  Make sure you put in something that matches, a pair of something, for example, to keep the space grounded.

Country Home

5.   If something doesn't work, sell it or give it away.

6.   Don't make major investments based on something you don't love.  If you don't love an inexpensive rug, ("I have it so I'll use it"), don't purchase a sofa to go with it!  You won't love the sofa, either.



7.   If you need several pieces for your room, have a plan.  A buying plan helps keep you from the mistake of getting your new chairs delivered and saying "what do I put with them?"  See my post here for more on this.


8.   For longevity, mix in classic lines in upholstery.  You can update them over time with funky fabric or pillows.

Duralee

9.   Consider the color flow.  Having your colors flow from one room to the next, no matter what they are, helps to make your home feel comfortable.  It gives your home "background order."


10.   It takes more than a new sofa (or rug, or lamp) to make magic happen.  Magic in a space happens, I believe, when you consider all ten tips.


These are my top ten.  What would you add to the list?  Please share by leaving a comment.  Thanks!

Talk to you soon,
Carol

Don't Buy the Blouse Without the Skirt

Huh?  I know.  Here's the story...

I was helping a client today who had worked with me on fabrics for her living room sofa and two chairs three times before, almost went for it once, then didn't.  You may be able to relate to her -- she has a really hard time making a decision and being confident that it's the right one.  Haven't we all been like that at some point, over something?  Of course.

So, how do you move past that fear of making a mistake, especially when you've made costly furniture blunders in the past?  You make a plan.  With your designer.  Or, with someone you trust who can help you with your taste, not theirs.

To make a long story short, my client wanted everything neutral, so she could make color choices changeable with accents.  Ok, no problem., makes sense for her personality.   After much consideration and seeing some new fabrics, she committed to a textured, neutral sofa.  It's gorgeous.  Then, time to decide on the chairs.

Deliberation ensued.  In the end, she couldn't commit, because it wasn't clicking for her.  "I'm just going to do the sofa for now," she told me with confidence, "I'll find the chairs later."  My immediate response?

"For you, I think that's like buying a gorgeous blouse, but not buying the skirt that goes with it.  How will you find something to go with it once you get it home?" (In context, here, her room is completely empty.)  She was a little taken aback.

For this client, not doing the chairs at the same time (or at least deciding on the fabric to come back for them if budget were an issue, which is was not) would be an emotional mistake.  Why?  When the sofa arrived, all by its lonely self, she would hate it.  It wouldn't "go" with anything.  And then, she'd have to start from scratch, again, feeling like she'd gone wrong!  Ouch.

a concrete sofa via google sofa images

She threw up her hands (figuratively) and said, "Ok, what would you do if I said to pick it for me?"  I showed her a tone on tone neutral pattern that coordinated nicely with the sofa.  It completed the "outfit," it could stand on its own without accessories for a while.  It was "her."  She loved it and ordered it.

The moral of the story?  Know yourself when it comes to decorating.  Do you like to see things mapped out in your life, or do you go with the flow by nature?  My client needed to, at the very least, plan her outfit -- to know what chairs her sofa could wear.   How about you?

Talk to you soon,
Carol

Monday Morning Musing...

As I lament on a Sunday night about the lack of something wonderful to wear on Monday morning, I just have to share this image from a series I recently photographed for a holiday post...

Have truer words ever been uttered?  Enjoy the start of the week, and,

Talk to you soon,
Carol

North Carolina's Farmer's Market

My friend Lisa and I did a little exploring during my visit to her new digs in Cary, North Carolina last week.  Of course, we went in search of a fabric store. That led to a chat with the salesperson, which led to a trip to the Farmer's Market in Raleigh.  Wow.

In New England, we have local farm stands.  We don't have this...

or this...

Row after row of farm fresh produce, and an entirely different section for plants of all kinds. 

We were totally in awe of the place.  It was fairly empty early on a Friday morning, both in visitors and in vendors.  We suspected it may have to do with the State Fair going on at the same time.  I was so overwhelmed by the thought of having this much fresh food available every day, year round!  Unheard of in New England.  I know a lot of you readers out there enjoy this kind of access to freshness all the time, especially you guys on the West Coast.  But for us?  Hello!  Slice of Heaven!

The Indoor Marketplace had every locally made and jarred item you can think of (and so many I'd never heard of).  I was completely charmed, and was regretting I didn't have a huge suitcase to lug home a bunch of things to try.

A flower vendor had the most exquisite bouquets for $12.  One went home with Lisa.

There was a German baker who was very patient while I drooled over keuchen (a yummy reminder of my childhood).

I didn't indulge, though, because we were saving our appetites for this little place, still within the Market...

I swear to you I have never had such light, non-greasy fish and chips in my life.  The thick french fries, surely made from fresh NC potatoes, were to die for -- slightly crunchy on the outside and a steamy mashed potato texture on the inside, and absolutely no fried taste.  We weren't surprised that within 10 minutes of opening for lunch, the place was filling up.

Now that I'm back and blogging again, I want to thank you for hanging in there and continuing to check in while I was away and having some technical difficulties.  I have become completely addicted to my near-daily blogging, and it was hard to do without!  Stay in touch for some upcoming new projects.

Talk to you soon,
Carol

Color and a Model. Great Inspiration.

So yesterday my girlfriend takes me to the model of the home they're building here in North Carolina.   (I'm visiting for the first time since she moved.  Far away from me.  I have no one to play with anymore.  But I digress.)  Can you say envious?  I can.  Can't be jealous.  By definition that means I wouldn't want them to have it.   So I'm just a bit green.  Why?  It's all about the fact that she's starting from scratch with this new house.  New color pallet and new opportunities for complete creativity and thrifty projects.  Now that's fun in my world, and in hers, too.

The decor in this model is fresh and young.  I loved the color combinations the designer used.  See what you think...

I love the gray drapes and the teal faux-Romans with the gray banding.  Very nice detail that you catch when you go up the stairs (where I'm standing talking this picture).

The Master Bed and Bath...

This is one of the 4 bedrooms.

The girl's bedroom...

These are just some of the rooms in this model home.  I hope you take away a little color inspiration from these fresh, current combinations.  I can't wait to see what my girlfriend does in her version of this house -- I know there'll be some inspired things from her, as well (months from now, unfortunately!).


Talk to you soon,
Carol