Thursday, September 1, 2011

On Hold......

My horoscope for this week must have read.
Aquarius- Expect all plans to not work out, deliveries to be late,
 and meetings to be rescheduled.


Here it is Thursday, and all the things I had hoped to check off my to do list
 are still there, with a bunch more added.


I did manage to find pillows for a living room project.

avocado green velvet with bitter chocolate greek key trim

white with brown print pillow

chocolate and natural linen mitred stripe pillow


I learned all about back painted glass for a kitchen backsplash.
 I want to use a sheet of glass running from counter to ceiling.
The glass will be painted and stenciled in a simple graphic pattern on the back.


pattern like this wall



 or this wall

Check out the talented Emily Jones and her blog


attached with polished chrome bolts for a pop of spark



with simple floating shelves in front of it




A few other things here and there completed,
sample books ordered but really not much progress.
Frustrating!!!!!

Enjoy your long weekend.

Love,
Melinda

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Divided Light Decisions

It amazes me how ignorant we can be of our surroundings. I thought I paid attention to the details in my own home, until I had to order new windows (58 in total for my house). I knew what I wanted, or so I thought.
1.) Divided lights not the fake ones between the glass, but dividers that had depth created shadows.
2.) Wood windows with an extruded aluminun cover on the outside and primed wood on the inside.
3.) No unattractive exposed drywall, instead wood casings connecting groups of windows
4.) Casement windows on the part of the house with cement board and double hung everywhere else
5.) Wood french doors on the L shaped front porch
6.) White windows

Done deal piece of cake. Then I started paying attention to the window grills in magazines and high end neighborhoods. Guess what, the number of divided lights was way less than my current windows and they were painted the same color as the trim not white.

Less is more with divided lights.

Traditional Home July/August 2011


Traditional Home July/August 2011

Selecting the number of divided lights per window was a daunting task. I currently have 29 different sizes of divided lights on my 58 windows. Who knew? 

In the family room alone, a total of 10 windows and one door I have the following:  9.5 wide x 12 tall, 9.5 wide x 13.5 tall, 10.25 wide x 12 tall, 10.25 wide x 13.5 tall,6 wide x 12.5 tall (door), and 11 wide x 12 tall, and 11 wide x 13.5 tall.

The reverse cottage double hung windows. (Translates to a window that the operable bottom section is not as tall as the upper section) Why are my windows not equally divided in half, you ask? Building code limits the number of square feet of glass that can be in one section without being tempered.

The easiest way to show you how the number of divided lights affects a space is with pictures.


Open Oversized Traditional

House and Home

Horizontal Divided Lights

House and Home

Simply Split

House and Home

Mix and Match

House and Home


Oversized in Black
House and Home



Martha Style Traditional

House and Home


Four by Four
.
House and Home


Sophisticated

Unknown source


Dated Squished

Unknown source


Once my new windows are in and trimmed out, I will be viewing my bluestone surrounded pool
not through a cage like grid but an open and sophisticated frame.



Love,
Melinda

Sunday, August 28, 2011

Goodbye Garage Hello Living

I usually know what I want to do to a space immediately. A picture pops into my head, and then I work backwards creating the details. Once the volume of the space is determined, the hard surfaces selected I get to the fun part. Choosing unique personal pieces and uncovering great scores that are totally unexpected to fill in the gaps.

The garage remodel at the lake house, has been a challenge for me. I can easily visualize the volume of the interior space but not how it impacts the exterior. Specifically, not how different designs impacted the roof lines and their intersections.

A friend, suggested I make folded paper roof models. Thanks Jennifer. Who knew, that by folding copy paper in half and taping it on top of other pieces of folded paper for the walls I could build my house.

A sneak peek at pieces for my vision.


The garage soon to be a second living area, will be flooded with natural light. The front and back walls are french doors end to end. The third wall will have floor to ceiling windows surrounded by built-ins. I want to bring all that natural light into the rest of my home....so down goes another 12 foot section of wall including two closets separating the kitchen from the garage. And in its place a 12' wide x 10' tall sliding barn door.


Building off the large diagonal Italian tile with its greyish tones in the kitchen and other parts of the house
will be a weathered oak, large scale herringbone wood floor. David wants to lay the floor....ssshhh don't tell him about the chevron pattern. I love the bold pattern it makes on the floor.



The french doors will extend from wall to wall nearly 22 running feet of glass on either end of the room. They will have simple horizontal divided lights. I now know more about divided light options in windows than I ever did before, I will blog about the hours spent determining divided light sizes for my other home later. The set of six doors featured in this photo fold up and stack at the ends, not sure these will fit in my budget but they are so cool.


Exposed ceiling beams  painted glossy white with a fabulous chandelier or maybe two different chandeliers.


A pool table in navy lacquer like this chest....


Or possibly white lacquer with navy felt. Anyone out there have an old pool table they want to sell cheap?

A clean lined white slipcovered sectional, with lots of room for boys. Pop it in the wash with a little bleach and it is good as new.
Several old fashioned sailors hammocks hung from the exposed rafters will be stored in the built-ins when not in use. Covered either in white denim or possibly if I feel daring this fabulous Thomas Paul fabric in ink.


Tons of other details are left but the core pieces and layout are sketched and estimates are started. One year late but sometimes life gets in the way. Just wait till you see the new carport concept  it is beautiful. Two words I never thought would be in the same sentence carport and beautiful...

Love
Melinda

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Bubble Chandelier

The perfect chandelier traditional but modern.
The clear bubble crystals and the nickel frame
if only I could find where to buy it....



Lonny Jennifer Dyer

Lonny Jennifer Dyer

Lonny Jennifer Dyer

Saturday, July 9, 2011

Silver Dreams

I first saw my clients inspiration images in an email. I was thrilled and knew this was meant for me. Each of the photos they selected had strong personal style with contrasts of white. Not your typical Texas style and they were sans brown. YIPPEEE!!! The dining room inspiration had white chairs, the office black papered walls and crisp white moldings, and the master inspired with an elegant upholstered winter white bed.I have always had a love affair with white in it's many shades and this was too good to be true.

The master in this particular house is a simple functional room without great views. It does have good proportions and a beautiful tray ceiling. I needed to mix a little Austin Powers with 40's sophisticated glamour...oh, and a large dog bed for a very large black lab.

Yesterday, when the stenciled ceiling was almost finished, I took a quick nap on the hardwood floor right where the bed would be and soaked in the magnificent view. My photo isn't the best the metallic paint appears darker than it is in reality.The walls in the room are a soft metallic grey and the ceiling is a variation of the same metallic grey.

A more accurate representation of the color palette and a good pic of Cam before the Moroccan Key pattern was permanently burned on his retina.
The ceiling complete



The glamorous and luxurious bed in a soft winter white velvet......











The armoire silver leaf, warm white paint and burlap between the glass.....




The inlaid capiz pendants for over the nightstands



The clean lined mirrored nightstand for either side of the bed



The bubble chair
Remember, the big dog bed requirement.
He gets to rest under this hanging chair and with a quick toss in the closet, voila the dog bed is gone.



So now all we do is sit and anxiously wait for the furnishings to be made and arrive...

Thursday, May 19, 2011

And the winners are.....



inspiration photo provided by client


Back to work after returning Mom to Pennsylvania and settling her in. It didn't go as smooothly as I had imagined but life never does. I am hitting the pavement at a fast and furious pace. Juggling three projects and ....who needs sleep anyway.

Scrambeled to get ready for my meeting last night, snuck into  I.D. Collection and B. Berger minutes before closing. Thank you for having my Crezana Liquid Silver wallpaper sample ready Ron, you are wonderful. Left me 6 minutes to grab the Farrow and Ball paint samples and head north to West Elm and grab the dinnerware I want to use.

Arrived on time, had a fabulous meeting with my fabulous clients ( they have great taste and are fun to work with) and we knocked out selections for three rooms. So now that they have seen the beatiful pieces I can share with you, the winners for the office.

The mission for the office ( first room you see when you enter the house after closing the door complete with a Texas star on it) a lounge feel. Now lounge and Texas Star conjour up two entirely different looks in my mind but use your imagination and voila "Rustic glamour" is our style.

Walls deep, dark and smoky "Blue Hague"




French Key Cabinet


 Sexy Slim Chaise


Gold chandelier to create a pattern on walls without the paper.


Vintage overdyed rug for under desk teture and an unexpected pop of color.

White lacquered desk for contrast

Side table for chaise
A touch of Texas in plated nickel


The epitomy of "Rustic Glamour" metallic gold laser printed cowhide for layering

Floor lamp next to chaise
 What do you think?

Monday, April 18, 2011

Monday Musings

I am rushing about finalizing details on a couple of projects and uncertainty has set in. I am a true believer in trust your gut......but this morning I am obsessing. And not over one thing but several. 

                                                                     Boys Bath Before



                                                                  Boys Bath During
               
I envisioned a simple modern floating 2" thick white shelf  below the sinks. On Saturday, I selected the wood for my tub face.The original construction inspiration photo is below..
                                                       




Except mine will be rustic similar to the trough inspired tub surround below. And mine, is made out of weathered 100 year old reclaimed barn siding with a heavy whitewash finish
               
        

   
Photo House Beautiful


Now do I keep the floating shelf under the sinks a clean modern painted white or make it out of the same barnwood? Hmmmmm!!! I am still leaning to the solid white and have 58 minutes left to confirm my decision. 



Dilemma two...I bought new chairs this weekend for the lake, or so I thought they were for the lake.The problem is they look really great here, 50 miles from the lake in my breakfast room.

 What do I do?





Love,
   Melinda