By Stephanie on May 6, 2013
I fell in love with the idea of framing agate slice as wall art after I saw what Erica from Moth Design had done with hers.
So on a whim, back in February I ordered two on Etsy. And they just sat on my desk. Then Tanya from Dans le Townhouse just recently framed her agate slices and they are stunning
This was the motivation I needed to get my rear in gear and do mine. I wish I would of been able to hand pick my agate slices, rather than order them on line. The agate slices I ordered aren’t half as stunning as Tanya’s. And they didn’t have that pretty gold around the edges, which makes them look so much prettier.
My plan was to order the frames at Pottery Barn like Tanya did, but I got lucky and found two at where else…HomeGoods! They were white 11 x 14 frames with a nice mat, I wanted black frames, so I just sprayed them black. I quickly gold leafed the edges before I assembled them into the frame.
I attached my agate to a canvas panel, which is a thin canvas board with the texture of a stretched canvas, but more sturdy. Canvas panels were my staple when I was in interior design school for presentation boards.
I used Aleen’s Glass and Bead glue on the backside of the agate slices to adhere them to the canvas panel. ...continue to full post
Posted in Decor, DIY & Tutorials | Tagged agate slices, blue agate slices, framed agate slices |
By Stephanie on April 29, 2013
It’s not like we can’t afford new barstools, the problem is, I’m a die hard DIYer. Buy new? Nah. I can make them look great. So she said.
Here they are right before I took them out of the kitchen for my magic makeover {via a bad iPhone picture}
It was going pretty darn good. I took the chairs apart and took out the million nails on the seat
Wiped the frame down, lightly sanded the wood and then started spraying {heirloom white}
But in reality, it was the wrong time of year to start such a project. It was cold and off and on raining. But I kept going. And I must say they were looking very nice. Until the last coat
This is where the nightmare began. They were a hot mess. But I wasn’t going to give up. So back to sanding, and more spraying. I wanted to tone down the white paint, so I wiped a mocha glaze over the stool. This step went well.
Now it was time to reupholster them. I was being oh so careful…but of course, I cut the dang fabric wrong and had to start over. SO this time I knew my cutting mistake right? I was confindent it wouldn’t happen again. WRONG! I cut the fabric once again incorrectly. What the heck? UGH! ...continue to full post
Posted in Before & After, Interior Design | Tagged DIY barstool, painting a bar stool, reupholstering a barstool |
By Stephanie on April 23, 2013
Putting fabric on a wall with starch has been around for a long, long time. I used this technique in my kitchen pantry a couple of years ago and I was shocked on how easy it went up and how easy it is to take down {I still have mine up, but I have pulled back a piece to see how hard it would be to take down, and it just peeled right off like butter}
Last weekend I used the fabric with starch on a bigger area at our river house guest bedroom. This time I did a whole wall and I am so pleased on how well it turned out. Of course I didn’t think before I left the house to bring my good camera. Then once I started the process, it dawned on me that some of you might like to know I how I did it, so iPhone pictures is all I got.
This is how the room looked before
But after 6 years of this, I was ready for a change. I wanted to add a more modern look to the room and use a pop of color and a pattern on the headboard wall. I knew wallpaper was too permanent, and the thought of taking it down when I tire of it was not appealing. And so I came up with the idea of using a bold fabric instead of wallpaper as the alternative. This whole concept is great for renters, or a designer like me who is constantly wanting to re-design a room. ...continue to full post
Posted in Before & After, DIY & Tutorials, Interior Design | Tagged how to use fabric on a wall with starch, wallpaper with fabric and starch |
By Stephanie on April 10, 2013
My mail box has been over flowing with catalogs full of outdoor furniture and accessories. Now I’m itching to spruce up our patios. So since I have been browsing all the sales, I thought I would share some great deals I have come across.
Target has some great outdoor seating on sale for under $300
1/2/3/4
Or if you need something a little bigger how about this Threshold™ Conservatory Sofa for $299
Add a matching Chaise for $179. {look at that nice detail on the backside..crazy good for $179}
Threshold™ Conservatory Chaise Lounge
I fell head over heals in love when I saw these benches. Aren’t they fun? Love all the colors. And it is on special right now for $299 {I need to check the shipping costs, sometimes that can be the deal breaker for me}
I love using garden stools for side tables. Or pair them together for a coffee table. This one caught my eye from Grandinroad. The interlocking chains give it such depth and texture
Meryl Garden Table $129
You can never have enough serving space when you bbq and this outdoor buffet is a perfect size for just $299
Yorkshire Buffet {comes in black too}
Overstock always has great prices on their outdoor rugs. This one is 5’3″ x 7’7″ for $99.79.
I love my trestle table and chairs I bought last year from Frontgate
...continue to full post
Posted in Interior Design, outdoor decorating | Tagged chaise lounge, grandinroad, outdoor decorating, outdoor furniture, outdoor loveseat, outdoor rugs, outdoor sofa, target |
By Stephanie on March 26, 2013
I am getting quite the collection of faux boxwood plants in my yard.
See, I love the look of potted plants around my house, but I’ve realized I am not too good at watering them. They always look good for a couple of weeks and then I forget to water them. So my solution is to use fake. GASP! That is such a no no in the design world. But I don’t care, it works for me, and that is all that matters. HomeGoods is where it all started, they have some of the best looking faux boxwoods at the best prices. I have been posting pictures of my topiaries that I have acquired in the last 6 months on Facebook. But Facebook has been implementing a lot of changes {for the worst}, and half the people that like my page, {if not more}, don’t ever see what I post. Ugh, so frustrating. So I thought I would share them all in one post today. {these are taken with my iPhone since that is what I use for my Facebook}
Here is the view of when you go down our main stairs. As you can see, the patio is very visible through the french doors. Normally you would see half dead plants or just an empty containers sitting out on the patio. But not anymore with my new “live” potted boxwoods .
...continue to full post
Posted in Interior Design, outdoor decorating | Tagged Bevolo, boxwoods, faux boxwood, improvements catalog, preserved boxwoods |
By Stephanie on March 15, 2013
Before I get to my emerald green bathroom, I need to share why I rarely show rooms of my house on my blog. It all started three years ago when I hired a photographer, Aaron, from True Photography to take some pictures of some of the rooms at my house. My intent was to have a portfolio of my interior design on my blog. All good designers have a portfolio right? I hadn’t taken pictures of other client homes in the past, so I thought I could at least show the design work I did on my own home.
My idea was to start an E-design service business, so I started this blog to market my new adventure. Then I chickened out, and pulled all the professional pictures off my blog. Showing my house to the whole world was kind of freaking me out. And then I was told if I ever wanted to get published in a magazine, {which I dream of} the room or rooms can not be published anywhere else. So I’ve kept them off my blog just in case an editor should come knocking on my door {yeah right!}.
So here I am 3 years later, no further along with an e-design service than I was when I started. Often I look at these beautiful pictures Aaron did, and the money I paid, and I get bummed at myself that I have never pursued my original goal. Although! I do feel that I have at least accomplished one thing in the last 3 years of blogging, and that is my creditability. If you look around my blog, you see that, yes I love to DIY, but I can also design . And to me, creditability is one of the most important traits of being an interior designer. ...continue to full post
Posted in Interior Design | Tagged emerald green, emerald green powder room, emerald green walls, green damask, hand painted sink, ogee bullnose, upholstered walls |
By Stephanie on March 8, 2013
Back in October, I decided the sofa in my office had to go. It was pretty with all it’s curves and tone on tone damask, but not comfortable to lounge on. I have had my sights on replacing it with a navy blue tufted sofa for a long time, and I figured it was time to pull the trigger.
This is the only decent picture I could find of my old sofa. It’s from years ago when we first moved in, before I found side table lamps. That’s my daughter’s dog Daisy, she loves lounging on my sofa when she visits.
I spend 80% of my time in my office when I am at home, either on the computer or lounging on the couch watching my shows. I would say it is my “woman cave”.
I had the navy blue tufted sofa custom made, and I added a chaise lounge for you know…lounging. Oh and that tufting? LOVE!. And let me tell you, this sofa rocks my lounging world! It is so darn comfy and soft.
I opted not to do a skirt like I had on my other sofa. Instead, I had them frame the sofa on a wood base and then added brass nail heads. Even though this room has a French feel to it, I wanted to add a more modern look to the sofa. I only used the nail heads on the lower portion of the sofa, so that it wouldn’t be too modern. ...continue to full post
Posted in Before & After, Interior Design | Tagged blue tufted sofa, navy blue tufted sofa, tufted sofa |
By Stephanie on March 6, 2013
I used to shy away from admitting to people that we have an elevator in our home. The reaction people usually have is, first shocked, and then a shaking of the head, as if we were too extravagant. But my whole attitude changed when I read this article on Houzz, Home Elevators-A Rising Trend. I realized we aren’t the only ones who have an elevator in their home, it is actually becoming a very popular amenity. And the main reason people want to incorporate an elevator in their home? Because they want to be able to stay in their home for as long as possible as they come upon those aging years. This was actually one of the reasons we put one in our home as well. Plus we have a 3 story home which is a lot of stairs, and with an elevator it makes it so much easier to move heavy things.
When it came to designing the inside of our elevator, I used the elevator at The Venetian in Las Vegas as my inspiration {this is the only picture I could find of the Venetian elevator, I have no clue who that guy is}
via
I bumped up the design a little bit though. I added the tufted mohair on the bottom panels, used a custom wood laser cut panel on the ceiling, and a gold leaf stenciled pattern on the inside of the doors.
Photograph taken by True Photography ...continue to full post
Posted in Interior Design | Tagged elevator, home elevator, residential elevator |
