Luxe Magazine

If you live in Arizona, the new Luxe Magazine is worth checking out. The feature titled "Fresh Start" is the home of a client of mine and features an interesting mix that is not more of the same design elements we see everywhere.

The painting above the mantel is one that the client purchased from me several years ago but check out that chandelier and table!

I only wish that Luxe did not only do regional issues. Lucky for me my mother lives in Arizona.

3 tips for mastering your decorating budget

I have recently had conversations with several people who seemed baffled about decorating their spaces. "I can't afford to redo everything." or "If I buy that chair I will have to change all of the furniture." were repeated.

I had a few ideas that I thought would be helpful to share here.

1. Keep the expensive stuff simple

The priciest items will stay in you favor longer if you keep them simple. For instance, custom window treatments can be the most expensive item in a room and chevron pattern that was trendy several years ago will seem super dated in another five years. Opt for fun fabrics on pillows or throws.

The same goes for flooring and upholstery.

2. Choose a "floating" color

What the heck is a floating color, you ask? My best example is an heirloom chair I had recovered in black velvet. It has lived in five different rooms in my house in five years. It works everywhere for me. 

I also painted a bamboo dresser in black that lives in my breakfast room instead of hot pink so that I could use it elsewhere without a new paint job.

It does not need to be black. White, beige, gray and navy can work really well as your "float" color just make sure that you don't end up with everything in that color.

3. Patience

Rome wasn't built in a day and your living room will benefit from patience. Thoughtful consideration of your lifestyle and aesthetic are a start but it also helps to shop without expectations. If you go sofa shopping with the goal to choose that large piece by the end of the day you may regret that decision. 

I once went into a junk shop (and I do mean junk) and there sat a gorgeous Sheraton style settee.

 I inspected it for damage and even sniffed it. It was a very high-end piece for $350!! I was not shopping for furniture that day but took home a prized possession that I still love.

I have been guilty of the opposite only to find myself unloading that funky bowl or lamp that I bought because I was looking for accessories that day and bought just to avoid coming home empty handed.

So to recap, keep the most expensive items simple by choosing solid colors or subtle pattern. No trends unless you can afford to change them when you tire of them. Choose a color that works with everything else for items that you might move to other rooms. This includes tables, single chairs, ottomans and dressers.

Lastly, have patience. You never know what you will come across if you wait. Rushing out to fill your house will mean that you won't have a spot ( or funds) for the truly fabulous items that you will find over time.

Life Lately

"April Skies" helping me sell my house

If you have ever read my blog you know I am moving...soon. 

It is amazing that when you have to get a house ready to show you realize how actually clutterific your life is. This is the first time I have ever had to live in a house and show it. It can be exhausting.

CR Laine showroom artwork available through Anne Neilson Fine Art

High Point Market was a whirlwind that was closely followed by a trip to Charleston. That trip was meant for house hunting but ended up with mainly client meeting and catching up with my childhood friend. I stayed at her house in Mount Pleasant and it really gave me a feel for where I want to be. We had dinner at Chez Nous. I had been stalking them for months on Instagram, the whole time my mouth watering. It is a lovely simple restaurant with 4 star food and not an ounce of snobbery.

Joann and me at Chez Nous

Our house went on the market last week. We have nowhere to live in Charleston  scratch that. I am in the process of leasing a house around the corner from Joann (we lived around the corner from each other in elementary school)and trying to get a realtor to answer your calls is infuriating. My husband has no job and has not looked yet. This is a fly by the seat of our pants operation.

My family room

I mentioned before that I took 13 paintings to High Point and went back to attend market. Well, I also had to pick up the paintings! I took my husband as a helper and we continued on to Charlotte to deliver some to Anne Neilson Fine Art and return home on the same day. That was Tuesday. 

My daughter turned 7 on Thursday and we had three celebrations. Culminating with her party on Saturday. It was truly one for the books. Our standard is to rent a bounce house, make mini cupcakes and pigs in a blanket for the kids and have more interesting gourmet choices and beverages for the adults. Parents always stay for our parties. It was funny that this year I mentioned that "scaled back the food" guests looked at me like I was crazy and said, "THIS is scaled back?!" The champagne flowed and there were lots of laughs.

Leis, champagne cocktail, and my painting "May"

As the party wound down and we chatted with our fun neighbors, they told us how envious they are. "I want your life. You are so lucky to to be able to just up and move because you want to." one said. He repeated that he constantly tells people how ridiculously cool our life is. It doesn't feel cool when I am wiping down the kitchen counter for the 18th time in a day but it it did put me in a more grateful state of mind.

You never know know how others see you.

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!

What I learned about color while painting commissions

One of the best things about being an artist is the places it has taken me, both literally and metaphorically. I am partnering with furniture manufacturer CR Laine again for 2016 High Point Market. This time I was given sizes and color palettes to create pieces specifically for their vast and inspiring showroom.

I love this new colorway in Bruschwig and Fils' Le Lac fabric

This kind of project is what I live for. I love the process of color matching and the wide open freedom to create whatever I think will work in a space given a set palette.

While I can't show you any of the completed pieces yet I want to show you the process and how it changed how I get to a finished work.

Detail of larger work

The fabrics above were the collection I was given for a 70 x 50 inch canvas and the color palette scared me. There are viridian and turquoise and Pthalo blues that I normally avoid in my work. I decided to use the yellow ochre as a starting point. I really used a bright yellow spray paint and some ochre for my first layer. Next I layered sheer and opaque whites. Grayish, beige-ish, yellowish, and bright whites but those bold colors still needed to find a way on to the canvas. In the photo above you can see areas of viridian that were part of my next step that absolutely terrified me.

Detail of larger work

I spoke to an artist friend and she said the thing that she has often said, "Give your self permission to paint something ugly." I knew she was right. I only had two layers on so I began roughly adding all of the scary bright colors with no clear idea how I would turn it into something that someone would want to look at or hopefully, buy.

I began adding in the black and brown found in the fabrics and had a little epiphany. You see I was also painting a 36 x 48 canvas for the same space and I started with a painting that was in progress that had a few of the right colors but also had a peachy coral and a hint of lavender. Why do I have to stick firmly to these colors, I thought ? Maybe add another green or a variety of grays along with the prescribed colors. I did and also continued layering on the grays and beiges while finishing with more ochre and the bold blues in the fabrics.

Wet ochre color in this detail of a larger piece

Well, I can tell you that the most challenging painting is my favorite of the bunch and it taught me something about how I use color. The discovery in each painting is a big reason for my doing it at all and this did not disappoint. I heard an apt quote recently. 

"You will never know everything about something you love"

Stay tuned in April and I will be showing you what I take to market. If happen to go to High Point Market this Spring please stop by the CR Laine showroom and say Hi. I will be there on Saturday and Sunday.

High Point Highlights

I spent two days in High Point NC last weekend for the bi-annual market. I was so fortunate to partner with CR Laine, a high-end furniture manufacturer, whose huge showroom was host to some of my artwork. CR Laine has a line of upholstered furniture designed by Tobi Fairley as well as other offerings and partners with Woodbridge furniture, Fromental and Currey and Co. lighting to name a few.

I spent several hours in the CR Laine space on Saturday and then attempted to navigate the the shuttle and Market Square showroom across town. I met with artist Alexis Walter and Linda Donohue as well as the girls behind the brand the Blush Label. It all took far longer than I estimated so it was a scramble to get back across town to the book signing for Jullianne Ellerbe Taylor's book DesignHer at the Wesley Hall showroom.

Vignette at the Wesley Hall showroom

Selfie with me and Julianne Taylor

It was great fun having some of the people in the book there to chat with and sign my copy.

Me and Lance Jackson

Lance Jackson and David Ecton of Parker Kennedy Living wrote the foreword.

I chatted with Dana Gibson (no photo) and Kelli Ellis, both featured.

Kelli Ellis and me

I had a "moment" with Meg Braff and Amal Kapen.

Amal Kapen, me, Meg Braff

It was so much fun! 

With Leslie Moore

Me, Traci Zeller, Lisa Mende

Sunday afternoon CR Laine hosted there party and it was non-stop chatting with old friends and new contacts in the design industry.

One thing I learned is that the lighting in showrooms is meant to flatter the products not especially people. There were many photos that did not make the selfie cut and some that should not have.

It was a very long, lovely day that ended with me driving home and arriving after midnight.

Monday morning was a slow start and I decided to get a better look at the DesignHer book.

Imagine my delight upon seeing my artwork in the feature about the founder of Cotton and Quill, Mary Catherine Folmar whose fabric and trim was used by Lisa Mende in her Shophouse kitchen and breakfast room last April.

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???

Mixed metals and new tables

I love to mix fun things in with unfun things. Who doesn't, right?

Well, I had the occasion to brave summertime 95 traffic, albeit on a Monday morning, to take my daughter to her college orientation and then make the roundtrip again on Tuesday.

A quick stop at the nearest coffee shop on Monday had me peering into the window of Random Harvest. I knew the Old Town Alexandria location but this section of Arlington, while unfamiliar, is now a favorite.They were not yet open at that hour but I knew my Tuesday trip might just be timed right for a visit. The visit proved worthy. It is a lovely mix of old and new and quite affordable for a place of that quality, I thought.

Most of my furniture is vintage.

 

It's funny how changes happen to a house and it's decor. Things got shuffled about for painting this room and adjacent ones and I discovered things I wanted in different places. I needed a table next to this chair, which is my perch for the rare occasions I watch TV. We tried a few we already have and I got a feel for the correct size. I was positive I would find something online or at Homegoods and my impatience almost won. Mr. Designdumonde had the winning words with , "I don't care what kind of great deal it is, I don't want any furniture that we don't love and intend to keep." Wise indeed.

Nesting tables- Random Harvest

This fantastic set of metal and stone tables was indeed a deal at $295 for the pair but one I will not tire of anytime soon and I feel comfortable that they could move to other rooms in my house..or next house as the case may be. 

As I photographed these I also noticed how much I loved the casual feel mixed metals can lend to a space. 

Table  from CB2

 The polished chrome of this table and the polished steel of my original vintage Brno chairs mixed with the brass accessories and the legs of my mid-century console really keep the room interesting to me.

 

 

 I also love the high-low mix and it happens to be the only room we allow toys in. 

Toys? What toys? It was a great laugh that I was able to photograph this with minimal tidying and still keep the pink Lego box out of the shot.

 

 

If you are local check out Random Harvest at one of their 4 locations and on Facebook

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.

My kitchen makeover-before and after

Blog what blog? Huh? I have been so overwhelmed with work and house reno and life that I can't see straight but I have been dying to show this off. This was a major part of the upgrades that have to happen before we sell but it doesn't hurt that I like too.

We all love a good before and after so here is my partial kitchen reno. We left the cabinets in place and chose a quartz counter with white subway tile backsplash. There is also a new sink and faucet. I should add that marble was a no go since we are selling.

 I am purposefully keeping the shots tight here. We still have the floors to do.

Here is the before.

Can you say fugly Formica?

 We added this light several years ago. I recommend it if

you like to clean glass while standing on a ladder once a week. uh huh.

Let me start with the counters. I will do my best not too swear here but it was a trying process. I started my shopping at Lowe's and Home Depot for a baseline price thinking they would be the cheapest. *sigh* Nope just the dumbest. *sigh* You see, everyone in this area has brown granite (or some form of brown/beige/black) in their kitchen. The guy at Lowe's made such a weird face when I mentioned a white marble-like counter with my brown cabinets. He asked why on Earth I would want such a thing. *sigh* My tongue still hurts from biting it so many times with so many stone people. I mean, really, if you are wearing brown pants do you reach for a brown shirt? Duh! And hasn't anyone opened a freakin' shelter magazine in the last 5 years? Ugh!

I did find a lovely white and gray veined granite that I could have loved and loved hard but the dealer was an asshole and kept changing the price. I ended up with Cambria quartz Torquay. My goes pitter patter each time I look at it.

The best part is that Mr. Designdumonde has got some mad skills and he installed our gorgeous backsplash. Check it out.

He insisted I call this "design on a dime". They were the perfect spacer

The mosaic insert took the better part of a day...hunched over. My poor guy. It was truly on a dime because the materials were about $225 for a backsplash that would have been at least $1000 installed by someone else. It took a bit longer than we estimated. The next bit was the caulking and I found a tip on Pinterest that saved the day.

Caulk is so difficult to get right. Taping with painter's tape did take 3 hours but the result is perfection.

We have a running joke that we are making our house so much nicer that I won't want to leave. We are adding hardwood floors and still have painting to complete in the kitchen but we are this much closer to moving.