Refined and Repurposed: Before and After

Once in awhile, I get asked to work on a space like this. The client has amazing taste, incredible accessories and furniture with timeless lines... oh, I love my job. This was such a fun project because everything was repurposed. The client wanted an updated space that was sophisticated and restful. A mother of three, she wanted a retreat just for her (unless she decided to entertain) in which case, her current room just wasn't fitting her needs. 

The long room had almost a gallery feel with everything oriented around the grand fireplace. The result of this long layout is that there was no cozy spot for conversation and the areas in the back of the long room were never used. It was an amazing room to start with, but just wasn't getting used to it's full potential. The walls are a soft yellow with heavy cream silk drapes. I decided to work with that and change out the fabrics and rug to give the room a more current look.

She told me to go all over her house and find pieces that I could work with. I found chairs, lamps and more chairs and went to town. 

This chair looked tired and worn out, but look at the lines! I saw it and dragged it out of her bedroom for a major facelift. 

I reoriented the furniture so that the room went from lending itself to no conversation to being the topic of conversation. The client is always put together (she will argue this, but it's true). She loves old style glamour (just like me) and so I started the room with one of my very favorite glamorous things. It may just be my signature. Can you guess?

What's a girl to do if a client gives her free reign to go glam? Silver and Gold, that's what. 

 The tuxedo sofa got recovered in a divine gray velvet. 

 Remember the gilt chair from her bedroom? Lucky me, there were two. The subtle gray and gold silk check updates the pair. 

 I loved her wall of butterfly etchings, so they stayed, we just created another seating space around them. 

 Funky fringe makes these pillows a little less serious. 

 I took this desk out of her kitchen and used it behind the sofa to showcase her beautiful coral and porcelain and now it has a purpose... she can write me an invitation to invite me over for dinner and drinks in her new space. 

 A little crystal antique lamp on this small marble top table is the perfect size for me to put my cocktail or um tea while visiting. 

 I love this chair. It is a totally unexpected pattern with a Moroccan vibe and the pillow was made from an old fur coat she bought at a yard sale. 

 The pops of turquoise in the antique foo dogs (the real deal) add another color to... 

 ... play off of her collection of blue willow china pieces. 

 The Greek Key coffee table grounds the hide and I love the dark elements. 

 Remember this? Doesn't she look beautiful? A Kravet fabric and a gazillion nail heads and viola!

Love the detailing.

 Her grand fireplace just needed more to bring down the scale, so we added a Venetian mirror. 

 Do you like it? What do you think? I want a mom cave like this one. 

Bye bye birdie...
~H

10 Years and Counting!

Read and I have almost been married for 20  10 years. It is quite a feat. We have decided to take a vacation to celebrate our love (ha ha).  Tin is the traditional wedding anniversary gift for the ten year mark. Wow. Really excited about this one. Instead of a gorgeous tin ring, do you think he would think it was weird if I left him at home and spent my ten year wedding anniversary with Kelly Wearstler? I could simply sit at one of her decorated Viceroy hotels. Don't care where it is, will travel. Here are some of the rooms where I hope to spend my ten year wedding anniversary. I love you Kelly, uh um, I mean, Read.

                                           

So where should we go? I am really thinking about taking Read along. Been anywhere good lately? 


Bye bye birdie...
~H


credit to: Viceroy Hotel Group, Kelly (the genius) Wearstler

$10 SCORE!!!!!

No, no this was not my $10 score. This is the lamp that is on my 'I want but even if I had the money probably wouldn't buy' list. (Am I the only one with one of those list?) This lamp is Stray Dog Designs and about $600. It is paper mache and just makes me smile... 

But... a few months back while checking out our local Habitat store with Hooper, I came across this sea foam artichoke beauty. And she was $590 less then the one I loved... I wept...

a few supplies... (white lacquer in a can! - oh the things I could paint...)

Don't forget to tape the cord! 

If you notice the lighting, I started this project very early in the morning but did not start painting until late afternoon. No, my a.d.d. was not kicking in, my kids were... I am sure my neighbors love my Sanford & Son projects hanging out in the front yard all day!

By night it was dry enough to bring in...Let there be light!

I still have some touch up and need a finial but I am STOKED with how it looks....

I am sure for the next week or so I will move her around the house until I find the perfect spot.

how about you, any great habitat finds?

May all your $600 wants be $10 finds...

Bye, bye birdie,

~A

credit to: Stray Dog Designs, Habitat for Humanity, Lowes

Honey, I shrunk the house!

While Hooper has been busy with her laundry room and clients (the over 4 ft. tall kind) I have been busy with 3 very demanding clients  (the under 4 ft. tall kind) of my own. It all started when I bought this home at Salvation Army for $4.25. I thought it would be the perfect Christmas gift for my girls. The only problem was it was ugly as all get out! It was a purple Victorian with pink trim and over the top gingerbread details. So... I dropped it off at my brothers shop and asked (very nicely) if they could make it look like my house by Christmas.

Not bad...eh? They made new windows, fixed the roof, made new doors (one of which looks like my front door) and gutted the inside. Oh...the inside...that was the part I could not wait to get my hands on...

Scrap book paper makes the perfect wallpaper. Could it be my house with out a painted kitchen floor? I think not!

It amazing what you can make with all those random wood pieces in the wood section of A.C. Moore.  And toilet paper rolls make perfect drum shades...covered of course!

Yes, that is a sunburst mirror made out of flat toothpicks...the creative juices really start flowing at 3 a.m.!

acrylic refrigerator magnets are the perfect size for school pictures...or for fabric scraps to make dollhouse art!

this is a 4x4 (inches) canvas that I let my inner Jackson Pollock out on!

It would only be practical to have a runner... With it being such an open concept dollhouse I thought a runner would cut down on noise when the little dolls ran up and down the stairs...

This is a heart pine table my brother made for the girls for Christmas...(I have one too... grown up size in my dining room!)

The drum shade chandelier, burlap runner, roman shades on the windows and a buffalo check floor keeps the space casual and fun. (er..um..for the dolls)

No home is complete with out a little hide!

modern fabrics in a traditional room keep the space young and current... we would not want the dolls to feel like their home was dated!

okay, okay...do not judge me...I have not grouted the tile yet...

I kind of wish this was my real bathroom...

Under the eaves is the perfect spot to tuck a nursery... The flokarti rug will be soft underfoot and the perfect spot for (fake) baby to play.

Needless to say I had a blast working on my (I mean their) new dollhouse.  

BIG...HUGE thanks to sweet Jen from fotojenik for snapping these pics. And for not staging an intervention. (which she threatened to do after I showed her the mirror!)...

May all your renovations run smoothly, and all may your clients (young and old) be happy ...

Bye,bye birdie,

~A

credit to: Soundside Carpentry, A.C. Moore, Fotojenik