This cork board from the Pottery Barn Kids catalogue was the inspiration for Hannah’s bedroom renovation. We decided to open up her rather small room by painting wide horizontal stripes all the way around the room in three different tones of blue-green with a white stripe between them. The treatment conjured up, at least in my [...]
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This basement renovation project started with a request for a palette of brown and purple. Coming from a couple with impeccable taste in furnishings upstairs, I knew this would be a fun challenge. We inserted some green into the mix along with a touch of copper and brushed nickel and ended up with more of [...]
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If you’re hunkering down to wait until economic conditions improve before making changes to your home, just remember that a gallon of paint costs only about $23 (Valspar from Lowe’s). I’ve moved to Valspar from Benjamin Moore (they don’t pay me so I can do that) because the paint is a better value. I have [...]
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For the past several years, post 9-11, we’ve cocooned in our homes painting them rich warm cozy colors like dark chocolate and rich rusty red, colors that evoke warmth and safety and home. Lately, we seem to be moving out of that intense color phase and into a new light phase with wall color being [...]
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If you own a cottage or rent one somewhere, you know what the cottage style is all about: old painted furniture, vintage fabrics, mixes of woods and different styles of furniture. It’s all about care-free and comfortable living because that’s what vacations are for.
To bring that feeling and more importantly the lifestyle home with you, [...]
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I love a bargain. And if I can get something for free, all the better. I got this wicker settee from a friend moving to a city condo and the chair was a consignment store find. Both original pieces were not so great-looking. The chair was a dingy “white” and the settee a pretty banged-up [...]
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Posted in Decor, Green Decorating, Home, Interior Decorating, color, furniture, old home, paint, tagged Add new tag, furniture, Green Decorating, Interior Decorating, paint on May 13, 2008 | 16 Comments »
Do you have a sofa from the 80s that looked great back then but kind of looks sad at the moment? Of course, you can slipcover it, but how about punching up the color behind it. We took a living room with blah beige striped wallpaper and pastel patterned upholstery (in good condition) and brought [...]
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Posted in Decor, Green Decorating, Home Staging, Interior Decorating, Staging, old home, tagged consignment, furniture, Green Decorating, recycling on March 17, 2008 | 12 Comments »
Okay, I admit it. I have the consignment bug. I find it incredibly exciting to hunt for and find an item that is not only reasonably priced but also has a history to it.
I recently purchased an oval mahogany solid-topped dining table that was, admittedly, a little beaten up on the surface, but the base was [...]
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Just yesterday I received a comment (see nonib17 under Chocolate Brown Wall Color) suggesting chocolate brown for a nursery wall color. What a great idea (for which I can take NO credit)!
Before you say “brown??” for a baby’s room, consider the qualities of the color. Brown is a very soothing color, obviously something you’re looking [...]
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Next time you feel inspired to add color to your home, consider painting the stair risers on your front staircase. Usually they are painted white, a nice contrast against the wooden stair treads, but how practical is that. It doesn’t take long before the riser is all scuffed up with black shoe marks going up [...]
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