Tuesday Tip

Woven washable baskets. Get some!

 Panama Woven Washable Baskets 

This is the first time I have ever published a Tuesday Tip that was on the pricey side. But when I discovered these baskets from Williams-Sonoma Home, I thought it was worth passing along. The baskets look just like wicker, but are made from polypropylene.The retail price is $69.99 (I bought my for $59.95 at the WSH outlet in Leesburg, Virginia) which seems a bit much for just 2 baskets until you consider they can be used over and over and even left outdoors!

If you don't want to wash them by hand, you can put them in the dishwasher!!!

I love real wicker and have 2 pull out baskets for fruit/vegetable storage (with liners) in my kitchen,
but the germaphobe in me loves this more!!!

I can think of dozens of ways to use them, but here's what I did with my pair:

I've told my daughter to put whatever she needs for the pool here.

 My other daughter has one for all her summer items too. Now if she would just put her things away...teenagers!

Photos courtesy of WSH and A&A

The View From Here

I do not consider myself a gardener, I only buy and plant what I am confident I cannot kill. Other than the boxwoods that line the bluestone walkway and the topiaries that flank the steps, the A&A landscape is totally maintenance free. But that doesn't mean I don't spend more than I should on annuals every year and go outside to cut the perennials every chance I get. It keeps me sane. The last 3 weeks my pruning sheers have been getting a serious work-out.  Sanity can never be overrated. Neither can flowers.

Purple Hydrangea in a pewter champagne bucket on top of a secretary in the living room.

I realized after I downloaded the photos that the blooms echo the intricate details of this church ceiling!

Clipped from here. My only bush of this type. These blooms grow on existing wood and the leaves and stems are very stiff as opposed to some varieties that grow on new wood.



French Hydrangea. This says summer to me.
 These bushes also yield the most blooms, so be warned, I  go a little nuts with my cutting and arranging!

French hydrangea, in an antique French flower basket on an antique French chest.
 Who cares if the scale is off with flowers this pretty-right!?

One of my favorite containers from a trip to Charleston, SC. several years ago.
The basket above is also from there and was purchased from an antiques shop called Alexandra AD for all you francophiles who want to see (or buy) some absolutely beautiful pieces.

Can you have too many hydrangea in one room?

Probably, but they sure do make the blue ceiling stand out! The blue tapers were a gift from a friend.

And...blue is so calming.

We live on the deck in the summer. Breakfast, lunch and dinner. It's nothing special and could certainly use a major overhaul (tear down), but it's comfortable and a great spot to relax. All the trees keep the temperature about 10 degrees cooler than the front of the house and because it's 8 feet off the ground, there is usually a breeze. This year I purchased 2 new rugs. The last time I showed you the dining side was here. The French doors swing out right off the kitchen for plenty of al fresco dining. I love how the rugs really give the feeling of a room. Not to mention, they are soft underfoot when you have an old deck!  The little herb pots next to the hydrangea bouquet are from my kitchen window-getting a little fresh air.

Impatiens, vinca vine and now I can't remember the name of the plants with the purple leaves? I love these wooden planter boxes. They're 18 years old and have seen countless varieties of annuals over the years.

I bought yellow Hibiscus to flank the front steps. A first ever for me. I usually choose pink!

Lemon yellow, so fresh!

 But I still love pink flowers.

Double impatiens. They look like miniature roses without all the work!

 So how's the view from your house? What did you plant, what are you cutting this year?

All photos courtesy of A&A

Tuesday Tip

Cheap tricks for adding small amounts of fabric to a room. I have a few options beyond the toss pillow that I've used over the years. Whether you want to add a designer fabric remnant or just the need to be thrifty with your decorating, these ideas can help!

My daughter, who recently celebrated her 18th birthday, has announced she is ready for a bedroom makeover. I must admit, it's long overdue. Her room has been frozen in her 12 year old wishes about 4 years too long. She asked for a makeover 2 years ago and then couldn't commit to a color scheme, as she knows this is to be the final version of her room. We are going to start the process again of searching for the perfect fabric, that we both can live with!

From the time my children could talk and express their interests, they have always had a say in how their rooms were decorated. And because of that, I have always been quite thrifty about what goes into them.

Especially when it comes to fabrics. Typically, I don't recommend using use high-end fabrics for children's rooms. Between the wear and tear and pace at which children's interests change, it usually doesn't make sense to invest in textiles. That doesn't mean the room can't be stylish, but I tend to put the emphasis on function and enjoyment when decorating kid spaces. Once they're older, then by all means invest in key pieces and fabrics that can easily transform into guest rooms or that your children can take with them when they leave the nest!

Cheap trick #1

 

Add color and pattern to an inexpensive chair with fabric. This one happens to be from Ikea. It's perfect for a youth/teen room.  It's not particularly attractive, so recovering the seat cushion and lumbar pillow in discount fabrics went a long way in infusing it with some personality. The gingham welt on the seat cushion was cut from a Pottery Barn Outlet hamper liner! Some of you may recall that I am not beneath using shower curtains for fabric options either.



Cheap trick #2

Cover the drawer fronts of an old chest with fabric. Technically, this chest was my first antique. As a child, I was with my mother when she bought it. She painted it black and used it in the guest bedroom. It's had many renditions over the years and was used in both my children's nurseries. The fabric on it is from Laura Ashley and has remained this way for the last two room makeovers.  I hate to admit it, but I never got around to putting the same fabrics used on the chair on the drawer fronts.  It too will definitely get a much needed and more sophisticated update!

For those of you that have inquired, I have not abandoned Tuesday Tips, but have simply had a busy few months. I do hope to be more consistent, and recently had a client give me a good tip which I'll feature in an upcoming post. And, dear readers if any of you have a tip to pass along that you would like me to publish, just send me an email!

The Beauty Of The Bust

Ever since my first trip to Italy in 1984, I've been fascinated by statuary. It's one thing to see their pictures in books. It's a completely different experience to see them in person. It's both a combination of awe and admiration that someone can create something so beautiful out of stone.

19th century Italian marble bust.
My latest acquisition. 

I especially love to see the many ways that a bust can be incorporated into rooms of all design styles. I can't help wonder the history. Is it of an ancestor? Does it have a symbolic meaning to the owner or the property? Or did the person who owns it simply fall in love with the face?

In my case, I fell in love with the face. I've searched for a bust of my own for years. I've been to auctions, estate sales, antique shops and never found one I loved at a price I could handle. However, two weeks ago, while shopping for client projects in one of my favorite antique shops, I happened upon this bust of a young woman. Although I have always wanted a marble bust, I had always imagined it would be of a man? But she was so beautiful, even with her layers of dirt and significant discolorations. I've been "bathing" her the last few weekends. She will eventually reside on an antique mahogany pedestal in my living room.

Until then, here's a sampling of some of my favorite images showing busts and head sculpture:

And for those of you who can't pick a favorite? How about one for every season!
The bust in the lower right corner is so similar to mine. I combed the article in the
most recent issue of AD trying to get more details, but it only indicated these are antique marble.

Images courtesy of Architectural Digest, Traditional Home, Veranda, and many unknown from my files.

What Are Your Design Pet Peeves?

We all have them. Yesterday I picked up a copy of Domino's special edition Spring/Summer 2012 issue. Inside was a section titled " The Catty Corner" listing things decorators do that drive other decorators nuts! This made me laugh, because we all have a list! 

10 bed pillows and no bench at the end of the bed to even pile them on each night!


Here's what they said:

• Too many pillows on a bed.
• Absurd quantities of flowers-a little goes a long way
• Antique sofas-sofas are for sitting.
• Themed rooms-they belong in amusement parks.

Over the years I've collected snippets of what other designers had to say, here's a sampling:

• Candlesticks: "A single one, maybe, or groups of three or more can be nice. But two perfectly placed side by side simply drives me up the wall"-Albert Hadley, NYC
• "Bare lightbulbs" Benjamin Noriega-Ortiz, NYC"
• All-white or all-beige rooms. Who lives in them? Obviously someone who never reads a newspaper" David H. Mitchell, Washington, D.C.
• "Collections of small objects on every surface"Charles Spada, Boston

  

  This is suppose to double as a dining table, seriously.  It looks like a shop display!

I thought this topic would make for a fun and lively discussion! So here's 10 of my design pet peeves:

• Too many pillows on beds and sofa's.
• Too many accessories, especially the discount and/or retail variety. 
• Too much faux fur.
•  Inadequate lighting. 
• Chairs that don't have a table close by to set a drink.
• Fake flowers and plants. And dead plants!
• Tall, dark, heavy pieces of furniture that are poorly placed.
• Kitchen counter clutter.
• Plastic or painted switch plates.
• Decorating with items that are off season or are off geographically. For example: if you don't live at the beach, seashells shouldn't be on display in January and if you do live at the beach, while I don't think you need to decorate "beachy" I wouldn't want to see a room decorated with antlers and fur!

I guess you're suppose to sit on the chairs and just admire the 9 sofa pillows! Too bad they're unattractive.
 Especially the Chewbacca pillow, it looks dirty. At least the rug is stunning.

Designer's and homeowners, time to get catty and chatty, what are your design pet peeves?

I'm Back, As A Mac!

After a little vacation and an unexpected departure from blogging, I got a Mac!

I read every single comment and email that readers sent to me, at least twice. I really gave a lot of thought to this purchase and definitely took into account all of the sage advice that everyone so generously provided.

This is my new laptop on the secretary in my office.
Two years ago, I designed this parson's style chair with the last bits of a favorite fabric pattern.
 Notice the slightly padded back?
It's comfortable for long hours blogging and now learning how to use my new computer!

And, based on what readers said and what was really going to fit my needs, this weekend I finally decided on the 15 inch MacBook Pro and the 21.5 inch iMac, both with regular screens instead of the non-glare. And, I did get the one-to-one service or as I told the salesperson, the genius-to-moron help. I know I'm going to need it! I ended up with 2 new computers for the price I would have paid for the larger laptop I was initially leaning towards. Now I have both the big screen I need for my daily work and the portability I crave from a lap top.

The desk top is still in the box until I can arrange to have all my files transferred. This will go on my other desk/work table where my Dell currently sits. Besides a functioning computer, the thing I am most excited about is getting rid of the big box that sits on the floor and the insane tangle of wires!

Not withstanding the computer issues, my little hiatus was very relaxing as well as productive, but it's nice to be back in blogworld, I've missed you all!

Bathroom Renovations: How To Get The Most Out Of Small Spaces!

When it comes to bathrooms, I think what most people want is a beautiful and organized space. Afterall, it's where we began and end every single day. I think the second thing people want from a bathroom is luxury. When most people think of luxury, they think of luxurious materials and expansive spaces. I do too, but I also think of comfort. And, for these bathroom renovations, the latter was the driving force.

The majority of the my client's renovation budget was spent on the kitchen, flooring and construction costs, so I knew the bathrooms would be a bit of a challenge. Not so much because of the budget, but because they were all very small. This townhouse had 2 full baths and 2 powder rooms. The 2 full baths were renovated 3 years ago. The full bath on the third floor, which was the largest, remained in good shape. It just needed a good cleaning, new cabinet hardware, mirror, medicine cabinet and lighting.

My focus was to overhaul the other three.  Not only did I want to bring the spaces up to date, but I wanted to try to find ways to add luxury in the form of comfort, which for this project translated to brightly lit and better organized spaces. The only way to do this, given their small footprints and budget considerations, was to select materials that would give the illusion of more space. In order to accomplish this, I would rely on pocket doors, good lighting, floor tile set on the 45, vanities that had feet, sliding glass shower doors and plenty of bright white field tile!

I headed to the bath section of my favorite big box store and found myself scanning the isles and repeating their slogan "let's build something together" in my head. Thankfully, Allen + Roth rolled out a new line of products for Lowes last fall. I sourced the vanities and lights from them, Moen's new line, off-the-shelf tile and simple space/cost saving slab mirrors for over the vanities from my local glass company.   

 The Master Bath: 

Before

 As much as I would have preferred a different vanity choice as I mentioned this one (just like the hall bath) was only 3 years old and in good shape, so it didn't make sense to allocate part of the budget to replace it.

After
New hardware was the only change for the vanity cabinet.



I seriously don't understand the point of uplighting in a bathroom.

Why not just add a torchiere behind the toilet?



After
Better lighting, bigger mirror.

 

During
 This shot really gives you an idea of the changes. I dubbed this bathroom "the box".
 This just may be the smallest bathroom I've ever seen in a master bedroom.
 The shower was the size of a phone booth! But, not for long. Just behind the plumbing and pink insulation is the
 hall linen closet, which was relocated so we could expand the shower.
I am a huge fan of pocket doors and this bathroom desperately needed one to free up valuable floor space.



Before
This in-swing door certainly contributed to the claustrophobic feeling. It was also a factor in the
 moisture problems since it touched the shower base, plastic curtain and inhibited air-flow!

After

Before

The before "before" from this post. Cruel, I know to show this again, but

 I really just wanted you all to have the full impact of the transformation!

After
Goodbye, tiny, creepy, moldy box.
 Hello, clean and pristine!



Adding a pocket door and sliding glass shower doors went a long way to help make this room feel more spacious.
 Relocating the linen closet that was previously behind the shower added over a foot to the length of the shower. It was absolutely worth the trade off to spend on construction costs instead of making any significant changes to the hall bath. This bathroom will now feel more luxurious simply because it's brighter and more comfortable to move around!

 
The Powder Room:

Before
1970's harvest gold laminate counter. Usually, a floating counter makes a bathroom feel bigger. Not in this case
because it was so dark and chunky. It looked like it came from a cheap motel from the same era!

After

 I thought this vanity cabinet by Allen+Roth had a lot of style for very little money.

 I loved that it had feet, curved doors, a shelf and a drawer. Plus, a big white porcelain sink. 

The drawer was a fantastic surprise at this price point!

 PS: I had so much trouble getting this post completed, so let me apologize now for all the irregular fonts and spacing.  I don't dare test fate (or my burning desire to toss the damn computer out the window) by trying to edit or add the other bathroom. I'm too afraid I'll lose it all, so I'll have to do in a separate post when I return.