.}

Thursday, November 29, 2012

My daughter’s room–part I

I thought it would be fun to look at the progress that has been made in my middle daughter Julie’s room over the past 18 months. 

Julie is 12 years old, and shared a room with one sister or another for 10 years.  She was looking forward to moving into our new house for many reasons, but was probably most excited about finally getting her own room!

One caveat - I had an amazing interior design team that worked on the decor of the main rooms of the house (and created a masterplan for furniture placement for the entire house, selected many of the finishes throughout the house, and determined the paint scheme for all interior rooms).  However, Julie and I put together her room ourselves - both for budget reasons, and because I wanted her room to be fairly low key.  We slowly but surely selected the items for her room based on what she liked and how she wanted her room to look.  


Julie's room
Here is a picture of Julie’s room after it was framed up.  When we worked on the design of the house, we tried to create rooms that have ample natural light – with windows on two sides if at all possible.  Julie’s room naturally worked well with this goal in mind.

Julie’s room is directly over the library, and because of the ‘stacked’ design of the house (where rooms of equal size are placed over each other), it is the same dimension as the library, 14”x18”.  It makes for a nice size room, with plenty of space for the queen bed that Julie wanted for her new space.

Here is a picture of the room the day before we moved in.  Julie had requested that her room look like a spa (despite the fact that she has a great love for vibrant patterns and colors – more on that in part II!).  The guest room in my sister’s old house was painted in Donald Kaufman Number 29, a beautiful and versatile shade of green-blue, and this is what Julie wanted to use in her room. Because it is full pigment paint, it looks different throughout the day, and has actually ended up being surprisingly neutral because of its chameleon like ability to coordinate with so many different tones.

I don’t think I took a picture of the room right after we moved in, but the room wasn't much to look at - Julie only had a mattress and a desk for several months.  I am not sure if this is because we focused so much on the architecture and the main floor, or if it was because we were exhausted from all of the end of project expenses that naturally occur when building or decorating a house. Probably a combination of both.

Julie_1

Here is the room after the basics had been selected.  One of the first items to go in was the cream rug, which was a remnant purchased from Myer's Carpet back room.  A rug was high priority - the plain wood floors made the room very cold and 'echoey' (is this a word?).

I have to the trade access due to my art consulting and online store, so I was able to work with Douglass Workroom to fabricate the draperies, headboard, and bed skirt.  I selected a basic Duralee linen in a pretty shade of green that worked well with the tones in the room.  This green was also used as banding on the top of the curtains, which were fabricated with a nice heavy weight linen from Fabricut (which has since been discontinued).  I ordered some simple painted wood rods, finialsbrackets, and curtain rings off of Amazon (click on item to see on Amazon). The curtain installer cut the rods to fit the windows.  I should probably paint them in Benjamin Moore white dove, which is the color of the trim.

The bench, stool, and two side tables came from Chelsea Textiles. I was able to purchase many of the items when the Chelsea Textiles showroom in the Mart was moving, so I got them for a great price. The bench and stool have the signature Chelsea Textiles check on them, which worked fine for the room until we decided what direction to take the accent fabrics.

When this picture was taken, I had not picked lamps yet for the bedside tables.  I ended up using the lamps that were in my master bedroom in the old house, but they had not been put into place yet when I took this picture!

Although Julie and I have slowly but surely made progress on the room, and it has become more comfortable and serene, Julie asked for a bit of pattern as the feel in the room was very neutral and plain.  It was actually quite a challenge to work with Julie's two requests - a spa-like color scheme that also has some vibrant pops of color and lively pattern.  

It took me a long, long time to find a fabric that we both agreed upon, that had the right colors, and was youthful enough for a pre-teen room!  But, I finally found some fabrics that work beautifully, and everything will be put in place next week.  We had some pillows made, and the bench is being recovered.  The fabrics are fun and vibrant and youthful, and provide the color and pattern that Julie wanted added to her room. 

 I also just picked up the Louis XVI chair that Ballard Designs invited me to design as part of their ‘blogger challenge’.  I asked Keith Arnold of Suzanne Kasler Interiors to guide the vision, as there were multiple ways in which the chair could be envisioned based on the new pillow and bench fabrics.  I picked up the chair yesterday, and it is incredible!!!!  

When all is in place next week, I will take some pictures for part II of the post.


On another note, many of you follow my blog by email subscription, which seems to be the most reliable way to get updates, as the subscription automatically emails any updates to the blog the morning after I post.  Some of you follow by facebook.  If you follow by facebook, and have not seen many posts from me, this is because facebook has changed their ‘fan pages’ to that only 15% of the people who ‘like’ my page get the updates at any given time. Facebook wants people with pages to pay to get their posts out to people, even if a person has ‘liked’ a page. 

facebook_things that inspire
If you want to see all of the posts in your facebook feed (and this applies to any page you are a fan of), here is how you do it:

1) From your personal news feed (this facebook post or any other from me), click on Things That Inspire name to go to my facebook page. Or go to my facebook page directly at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Things-That-Inspire/305466801725
2) Go to the 'liked' button and hover your mouse over it.
3) In the pop-up select 'Add to interest lists'. That should do it!


Interest lists are a new feature where similar facebook pages can be grouped – so, for example, I have an architecture and design interest list, and I can go click on it and see just the facebook posts from items I have grouped. But, apparently, by adding a fan page to your interest lists, you can also make sure that all of the posts will show up in your news feed. If anyone knows more about this, please let us know!

I tried to post this on facebook, but it only went out to 5% of the readers – they have tight control over fan pages at Facebook these days!

Thank you for 'liking' Things That Inspire!

2012 books on my Christmas list:
http://www.thingsthatinspire.net/2012/11/books-for-my-christmas-list.html
2011 books on my Christmas list:
http://www.thingsthatinspire.net/2011/12/my-book-list-christmas-2011.html
Small art, perfect for special, one of a kind holiday gifts or hostess gifts!
http://quatrefoildesign.bigcartel.com/category/art
To see design, architecture, art, and decorative books that I recommend, please visit the Things That Inspire Amazon store  (newly updated!).

To subscribe to my blog by email, click here.
To follow my blog on Facebook, click here.
Twitter: @TTIBlog Instagram: http://followgram.me/ttiblog/modal
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/ttiblog/
Visit my online store, Quatrefoil Design: www.quatrefoildesign.bigcartel.com

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Orange flowers. and a farewell to November


It’s always a strange feeling when Thanksgiving is so early; November 22 is actually the earliest that Thanksgiving can occur.  It is hard to get right into the holiday mood when there is more than a week of November remaining. 

To me, November is defined by the color orange.  It is the color of the fall leaves, the color of pumpkins, the color of the harvest, the color of a crackling fire in the hearth.

I am not quite ready for all of the green and red (although I do try to minimize the red, my least favorite color, and go with more of the green and white where possible), so I thought I would pull a few images of one of my favorite colors of flower – orange. I have had accents of orange in my décor for over 15 years, and still have a bit of the tone in my library. Whenever I see an elegant orange toned flower, I often buy a bouquet and place it on the coffee table in my library.

Here is some more orange flower inspiration, before we say goodbye to the month of November and bring on the colors of the holidays!

Orange flowers, via pinterest. I am partial to tulips and roses, although the beautiful tight spiral of the ranunculus is quite pretty.

Clever idea for a dramatic floral display – group together many vases for a dramatic centerpiece.

I came across this image via Barbara Heath of the Mercantile.  I love how the color of the chair was pulled into the flower arrangement in this lovely vignette.

This vignette, with design by the talented Atlanta based firm The Design Atelier, is like a work of art, and I particularly like the accents of orange that are carried through to the vibrant orange bouquet.  The Design Atelier has a wonderful new blog, which can be seen here.

One of my favorite pinterest finds over the past month!

Perhaps my favorite image from the book Inspired Interiors (one of my favorite décor books), by Suzanne Kasler.  This book was on my 2011 favorite book list, and can be seen on Amazon here.

Orange peonies charmingly displayed in a jelly jar, via pinterest.

An old Suzanne Kasler image. I love how the daisies pick up the color from the chair stripes.  A friend of mine, who used Suzanne for his house décor, now owns these chairs!

The little pop of orange from the bouquet makes this painting sing.  Available here.

I wish pinterest had been around when I planned my wedding! So many gorgeous ideas, including a treasure trove of orange flower pictures. I am not sure if these are flowers, but they make a striking arrangement.
Another beautiful orange themed table setting via pinterest.

Orange tulips are my favorite. Although this is clearly for a party, the arrangement itself would be easy to replicate at home.

Small accents of orange highlight this lovely office, including a small bouquet of gerber daisies.  Is that a picture of Prince William and Kate Middleton on the desk?  Décor by Scout for the Home.

library_flowers
When I saw these roses at Costco, I thought the deep orange color would look beautiful in my library.  Little did I know that they would match the books so well!  I always get orange toned flowers for this room, as the color provides a nice pop against the soothing gray of the floors and walls.

Two of the books on my coffee table are among my favorites – and they both have the same beautiful shade of vivid orange (vermillion perhaps) that I love so much.  Mark Rothko: the Works on Canvas was a treasured Christmas gift a few years ago, and is a continuous source of inspiration.  Click here to see on Amazon

The book  Trout: an Illustrated History is perhaps the most commented about book in my house – people seem to be surprised that I own a book about trout -  but it is an incredible book full of the most beautiful illustrations.  Click here to see on Amazon.  The author and illustrator, James Prosek,  is often called ‘the Audubon of the fishing world’ and has written and illustrated several books on fish, fishing, and life in general(including a newly released book on ocean fish illustrations – each painting is accompanied with Prosek’s individual experiences with that fish).   Click here for the James Prosek page on Amazon.

On another note, I am thinking about getting a Kindle fire - it is on sale for cyber Monday (using code  FIREDEAL). Any thoughts on the Kindle?  Here is the one I am thinking about: http://amzn.to/Soq5nO

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving, and enjoy the last week of November! 


2012 books on my Christmas list:
http://www.thingsthatinspire.net/2012/11/books-for-my-christmas-list.html
2011 books on my Christmas list:
http://www.thingsthatinspire.net/2011/12/my-book-list-christmas-2011.html

Small art, perfect for special, one of a kind holiday gifts or hostess gifts!
http://quatrefoildesign.bigcartel.com/category/art


To subscribe to my blog by email, click here.
To follow my blog on Facebook, click here.
Twitter: @TTIBlog  Instagram: http://followgram.me/ttiblog/modal
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/ttiblog/
Visit my online store, Quatrefoil Design: www.quatrefoildesign.bigcartel.com

Saturday, November 24, 2012

Books for my Christmas list

There are people out there who think that big beautiful coffee table books are a thing of the past, with the digital revolution that has taken place in the publishing industry.  However, I strongly disagree.  There are some books that simply don’t translate to the digital world as well as they do to the physical world.  

My favorite Christmas presents are always books. After the excitement of Christmas morning, it is wonderful to spend some quiet time perusing the books that I have received. 
Every fall, I always research the latest and greatest offerings in the décor, landscape, and art world and think about which ones I would like to have as part of my personal library.  I have not read any of the books on this list, and would love your insight into these books, or any that I might have missed. 


Update: here is my book list from 2011 - lots of great books on this list too!
http://www.thingsthatinspire.net/2011/12/my-book-list-christmas-2011.html

I have heard some great buzz about this book; it was featured in one of the shelter magazines recently.  Click here to see on Amazon

This book is not new, but was on my list last year.  Click here to see on Amazon.


barbara barry book
A new book by one of my perennial favorite interior designers.  Click here to see on Amazon.


Another new book that was released this fall. Has anyone read it? I am curious about this one. Click here to see on Amazon.


I love the title of this book – and based on reviews I have read, it seems to be a hybrid between an interior book featuring Miles Redd’s work, and a lifestyle book. The cover is very bold and confident – a design book with no image on the front! Click here to see on Amazon.


Another new book by a well known designer.  I admire Cohler’s style, and have seen him speak at various events. Has anyone read this one? Click here to see on Amazon.


darrylcartercollectedhome
I always enjoy seeing the clean and sculptural interiors by Darryl Carter, and have heard good buzz about this book.  Click here to see on Amazon.


Dazzling-Design-Amanda-Nisbet
Amanda Nisbet’s style is one I greatly admire, and I love the composition of the cover of this newly released book! Click here to see on Amazon.


Sherrill Canet’s work is amazing, and her rug collection for Stark is among my favorites.  Click here to see on Amazon.


Not a new book, but not one that I have in my library either.  Click here to see on Amazon.


This book has amazing reviews on Amazon, and looks quite charming.  According to the summary, it tells the story of 18 gardens through pictures and words, and is as wonderful to look at as it is to read.   Click here to see on Amazon.


I stumbled across this one while researching this post, and thought it looked intriguing. Has anyone read it? Click here to see on Amazon.


interiors-atelier-am
Everything I have seen by this design team has been incredible, and I was excited to see that they have released a book.  Has anyone purchased this?  Click here to see on Amazon.


flowers-carolyne-roehm
This recently released book looks like a work of art – certainly a beautiful coffee table book! Click here to see on Amazon.


This book is a huge extravagance, with a price tag of $188, but it looks fantastic and has strong reviews.  Click here to see on Amazon.


I checked to see if there was a companion book for London, and alas there is not, but I found this charming sketchbook of London (there is one for many other cities too, including Paris). I absolutely love watercolor sketches, and I love London…this looks like a winner.  Click here to see on Amazon


The Paris sketchbook can be seen here.  There is one for Provence too, seen here.


Finally, last but certainly not least, there is a new book on one of my favorite artists of all time, Spanish Impressionist Joaquín Sorolla (1863–1923).  He was a masterful artist, and this book presents what is considered to be his best works, selected by his great-granddaughter Blanca Pons-Sorolla (considered to be the foremost authority on the artist).  Click here to see on Amazon.


Do you have any other good coffee table/library books to recommend?  Many of these books seem to be low on stock, so I might go ahead and order a few that I have ear-marked as Christmas gifts for friends and family!

Update: here is my book list from 2011 - lots of great books on this list too!
http://www.thingsthatinspire.net/2011/12/my-book-list-christmas-2011.html


To subscribe to my blog by email, click here.
To follow my blog on Facebook, click here.
Twitter: @TTIBlog
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/ttiblog/
Visit my online store, Quatrefoil Design: www.quatrefoildesign.com
To see design, architecture, art, and decorative books that I recommend, please visit the Things That Inspire Amazon store.

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Inspirational art


I am delighted to introduce the work of Georgia artist Lisa Moore to the Quatrefoil Design store.  Lisa is an superbly talented artist who sees the world in such a unique and lovely way. Her incredible talent and wonderful creativity shine through in her soft and ethereal artwork.

From Lisa’s biography:
“Currently Lisa’s creative progression is influenced by the emotions of everyday life. Lisa creates paintings that evoke a sense of the familiar. Her soulful renditions of everyday subjects help the viewer transcend to another place and time. Lisa’s work has been described as romantic, sensuous and poetic.  A gifted colorist, she paints exceptional figures, children and rural settings”.

Lisa paints in oil, and the selections are either painted on board or canvas.  Some of the paintings are available framed for a small charge, as noted.

I am excited to be able to present Lisa’s work in time for this festive season – small works of art make unique and thoughtful presents, and exceptional hostess gifts!  Of course, a lovely painting would make any home look even more special, which is always a great thing when decorating for the holidays.

To see all paintings by Lisa Moore, please visit http://quatrefoildesign.bigcartel.com/artist/lisa-moore

Painting XVI, oil on board, 6”x6”, available unframed ($275) or framed ($295) - this is a one of a kind painting, the same painting is shown unframed and framed.

Painting II, oil on board, 6”x6”, available unframed ($275) or framed ($295) - this is a one of a kind painting, the same painting is shown unframed and framed.
Painting III, oil on board, 6”x6”, available unframed  ($275) or framed ($295) this is a one of a kind painting, the same painting is shown unframed and framed.
Painting IV, oil on board, 6”x6”, available unframed ($275) or framed ($295) - this is a one of a kind painting, the same painting is shown unframed and framed.
Painting V, oil on board, 6”x6”, available unframed ($275) or framed ($295).
Painting XV, oil on board, 6”x6”, available unframed ($275) or framed ($295) - this is a one of a kind painting, the same painting is shown unframed and framed.
Painting I, oil on board, 6”x6”, available unframed ($275) or framed ($295) - this is a one of a kind painting, the same painting is shown unframed and framed.

Painting VI, oil on board, 6”x6”, available unframed ($275) or framed ($295) - this is a one of a kind painting, the same painting is shown unframed and framed.
Any of the 6”x6” oil on board paintings are available framed, for a small charge – see item options for details.

Painting XII, oil on board, 5”x7”, available unframed ($275) or framed ($305) - this is a one of a kind painting, the same painting is shown unframed and framed.
Painting VIII, oil on board, 5”x7”, available unframed ($275) or framed ($305) - this is a one of a kind painting, the same painting is shown unframed and framed.
Painting IX, oil on board, 5”x7”, available unframed ($275) or framed ($305) - this is a one of a kind painting, the same painting is shown unframed and framed.
Painting XII, oil on gallery wrapped canvas, 5”x7”,  $350.
Painting XI, oil on gallery wrapped canvas, 5”x7”,  $350.
Painting XII, oil on gallery wrapped canvas, 9”x12”, $425.
Painting XIV, oil on gallery wrapped canvas, 9”x12”, $425.
Lisa’s paintings look wonderful hung in just the right spot on a wall or as part of a grouping, displayed on easels (or even just leaned) on bookshelves, or placed on side tables. Upon request, we can even attach a ribbon to the back and the painting can be hung on knobs, window sashes, or a nail. The possibilities are endless!


Lisa's paintings look lovely in groupings. (From left to right, painting XI , painting XVI, painting X)


From left to right: painting IV, painting I, painting XV.


A gallery style selection - from bottom, clockwise: painting VII, painting IV , painting II, painting VIII, painting XVI, painting XV, painting X, and in middle painting XIV.


Interested in a larger size or a commission?  Please contact me at quatrefoildesign@gmail.com to discuss pricing and specifics.


To subscribe to my blog by email, click here.
To follow my blog on Facebook, click here.
Twitter: @TTIBlog
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/ttiblog/
Visit my online store, Quatrefoil Design: www.quatrefoildesign.com
To see design, architecture, art, and decorative books that I recommend, please visit the Things That Inspire Amazon store.


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