The little things

Laugh with me a little...

This is what I got done the other day.

High on my to do list these days is packing up non-essentials ahead of the real move and decluttering, staging and photographing each room.

I thought I might pack up some barware but then I had the idea to photograph my living room because it did not look too bad.

See that flat shelf and column on the right? Well, it has never been styled right and neither has it's twin on the other side of the room. It was loaded with antique books so I started packing them up in a too small box. Then I got a larger box and tried again but halfway through the marks on the painted white shelf bothered me. Off I went to grab cleaning products to remove the scuffs. It didn't work so I went to find a can of paint. I painted the shelf but the matching shelf had clutter. I left it there.

I started pulling things of of all tables and shelves and piling the on my dining room table to be packed. Then I thought it looked a little dusty...

Can you see where I am going with this?

I got the living room photographed and two boxes of books packed and a bit of dusting done and it took me hours!

I am so overwhelmed with work and travel and moving that I could barely complete a single task.

Sorta pathetic but this move is happening!

P.S. If you are going to go to High point market be sure to stop by CR Laine showrooms and say Hello! The party is Saturday 5:30 - 7:30 and is co-sponsored by Duralee.

Paintings, floors and chaos

I gave you a sneak peek at this a week or so ago. It is a 70 x 50 inch canvas that I did for the CR Laine showrooms during High Point Market 2016. I actually did quite a few special pieces for them.

I was given fabrics to coordinate with and free reign when it came to my ideas. It was a joy and also challenging but the two go hand-in-hand to me.

You can see a selection of my work for CR Laine on this page of my website or better yet, come to market!

Whilst this was going on my studio, that is still in my home, major tile work has been underway.

My dear husband did tile work right out of college with his brother in-law. They were meticulous. Lucky me.

Our house had 100% builder grade and ugly finishes. Last year I got new quartz counters in my kitchen and my tile guy installed the backsplash.

The floor was was much debated and the quicker solution than hardwood throughout was chosen to facilitate the move to Charleston.

Take a gander of the floors I lived with for 5 years.

It was always ugly but recently began to delaminate.

Our goal is to upgrade at a reasonable cost. Many of my choices would have been different were we staying but I was not willing to compromise on style and harmony. We are going for ROI not cookie cutter suburbia, yet cost was a consideration.

Welcome lovely new tile!

This warm gray tile paired well with the counters and the warm, mahogany colored cabinets. It also works beautifully with the Sherwin-Williams Repose Gray on the walls.

At less than $2 per square foot, it is a deal my husband, spent 9 days on the floor at a cost of about $700 in materials.

We love it!

It was not pretty process. Our fridge had to live in the foyer, and my large paintings were leaned wherever I could find a spot. The pantry was emptied onto the dining room floor and our kitchen table was in front of the TV. Oh and my kids in college came home for Spring break. In case the level of chaos is not apparent...

As I write this, my dear husband has finished a 13 hour day of tile work in our master bath (a blog post all its own just for the sheer crazy factor) Today was day 8 on said bath and tomorrow appears to be another 12-13 hours of backbreaking work for him.

Master bath goodness coming soon!

Project tidy update

My zhush is done. Is it a profound change? No, but it does make our life better. It was a snowballing project. I estimated a week tops to do everything. Uh... its been six weeks.

I went to remove the love seat and clean, only to notice the dearth of belongings and total crap my college girl left behind. I emptied her closet and noticed that it looked pretty beat and I should paint it. I decided to use leftover SW Faint coral from the dining room and living room ceilings. I did not have enough. Ugh! and I needed to paint the trim, closet hanging rods and shelf.

You may remember from my original project tidy post that I wanted to get my computer off the kitchen table. (Guess where it is now.) and set up a new play area for my six year old.

After a weekend visit from my daughter (a week after class started) I was able to put things back where I wanted them.

It is fantastic to have corralled all of her stuffed animals and to be able to just leave the easel out for her.

It will be quick to change when my daughter has a school break.

It was an absolute godsend when I woke up on a Saturday morning with a nasty cold. I laid on the bed in relative comfort during sheer misery while my daughter drew pictures and played without sitting in front of a TV.

One thing that only kind of works is keeping my laptop upstairs. It spotty and has resulted in only slightly less clutter in the kitchen and breakfast room.

Anyone else sick of midcentury modern furniture?

 Damn, I want to ditch everything in my TV/family room. At first I loved the groovy look of so many midcentury pieces and a few Chinoiserie pieces along with some funky details.

 

 First of all, I hate my citrine curtains and they were mega expensive.

The problem is that I don't dislike individual pieces. My pricey vintage Brno chairs, and the Saarinen table are dearly loved as well as the console but if they go away I won't cry.

Below is the curved console that holds our TV.

 

The problem is that in my next house ( which BTW is going to take longer than I thought) I want a more traditional, cozy feel but light and airy too.

I am imagining something like this Brooke Wagner Design.

I like the light sofas and blue and white pillows. I might add my Saarinen table and a glass coffee table but I think my taste has changed.

Am I nuts? Do your tastes vary?

I'll gladly sell every piece. Any takers???

Thoughts on using a formal living room

Do you use your formal living for the sophisticated soirees that it was decorated for? Yeah, me neither.

 It somehow doesn't sit right with me have a room that is rather museum-like in one's house. Why bother? I will tell you that the layout of this particular house allows me to enjoy the room without being in it sometimes but still that seems a waste. I have met people that turned this room into a playroom for their kids and the resulting plastic wasteland is a huge turn-off right inside the front door, for me at least.

It may seem silly but the way I use my formal living room is to have relaxing phone chats. It's as far away from the noise of TV as can be and the pretty things I love are right there to look at while I talk.

In addition, moving my little desk into the living room makes for a very pretty place to write checks and handle other sundry office chores. When it was in a different location it did not always stay tidy but the higher order of the living room shames me into always leaving it looking nice.

It is perhaps still not living up to it's full potential and when I have elegant parties in it I'll be sure to post here. Until then, I am enjoying it anyway.

House stuff

I recently finished this neutral 48 x 60 painting and plopped it on my mantel. My husband has not been liking grayish abstracts on our newly painted SW-Repose Gray wall but he is loving this one.

It is just a few feet from the sconce that was finally put up.

The whopping $50 expenditure seems like it was a good deal. I had my concerns but the 25 watt bulb glows nicely and the shade, now stabilized, does not wobble. We like the light that gently glows from the sides and casts both an up and down light all without being able to see the bulb while descending the staircase.

Bit by bit, we are getting closer to that "For Sale" sign being out front.

I will be tackling that orange wood banister next week.

A colorful update

I suppose this post should be titled "Happy Mother's Day to me" or "The family room isn't ready". As many things go in improving or decorating your home, one thing had to happen before the original project can be completed. The color neutralizing in my family room led to shopping which led to brightening my living room and not finishing the family room.

Here is a partial before, so you get the idea.

Totally tired of it!

So I removed the vibrant pieces from the family room and went pillow shopping for some comfy pale gray pillows for the sofa. I only bought one and then raided my son's room for more. I figured It would make a good blog post with before and afters. Well...it's not finished and I had colorful things that make me happy that needed a home.

A conversation later that day.
Me: "Want to know what I would like for Mother's day?"

Mr. Designdumonde: "Yes! And I want you to shop for it and wrap it"

Me: "OK!!!!!"

My pillow shopping had led me past these cunning little stools at Target.

 

 I wanted two but two just did not work in my living room. In fact, pink did not work in my living room even though the walls are the palest pink!! Horrors!

More shopping happened and the bombe chest and desk traded places.

I made sure there was a bit of vibrant pink and orange sprinkled about the room. The foundation is still ivory fabrics with dark woods and though predictable, I am really happy with it.

Favorite scenes from my house

Right now I feel like we are living in near squalor. Maybe not squalor just disarray. There are paintings everywhere as I prepare for a show (details to come) and painter's tape on a portion of an upstairs hall. All of the artwork is crammed in my son's bedroom while we paint...which we haven't started yet. Good thing he won't be home for Spring break! In addition to all of our projects, school has been cancelled for the past five days. Let that sink in for a minute. Five...days!

 I thought I would remind myself that it is not always like this by looking at some of the nicer vignettes from my house. I'll share them with you too in no particular order.

Family room

My bedroom

Living room

Son's room

Son's room

Bar in dining room

Daughter's room

Daughter's room

Front door

Doors to my studio

My studio doors and almost all of the doors in our house are now painted black so there has been some progress toward selling this place.

Of course, I could tidy up (for gillionth time) but looking at pretty pictures is so much more fun, don't you think?

I love my house

As a fellow design junkie, I am sure you understand the desire to make your home magazine worthy in some way. Whether its Lonny or Traditional Home you aspire to that drive towards perfection is always needling us.

Many of us carefully stage and crop our photos leaving only the best bits in view.

Oh this is not a bragging post. Let me tell you why I have such a renewed affection for my own house.

A few days before Christmas my 18 year old son came down with something and spent the holiday emerging from his room only briefly for tea and and present opening.

The day after Christmas my little one seemed sick and miserable and my husband and I weren't feeling too hot. Not being the sort to let a little head cold stop us we set off on our planned trip to Pennsylvania. By the time we got there it was all we could do to lie down at my mother in-laws house. This was no joke it was the flu. We didn't stay long and since my husband was the sickest, I ran around for over the counter meds and tissues. He and my little girl were sporting fevers around 102.

That night it hit me hard and the next day I opted to stay in the hotel room. It was awful for my husband to drag himself out of there and they simply moved to the couch at his mother's house.

You would think that staying in the hotel was a smart move but when I am sick at home I think nothing of wandering to the kitchen for some tea or a glass of water looking like a feral cat in PJs but in a hotel...not so much.

As I lay there, writhing, I all I could think was how badly I wished I was at home.

 

 Although we are much better now, after another miserable five hour drive we arrived home and could not stop talking about how great it was to be home at our house.

So for all its lackluster flooring and builder grade fixtures...I love my house!

Love your house. Its the only place to be when you feel bad