This afternoon I was reading an article in Sherwin-Williams magazine, Stir, by Jackie Jordan, their director of Color Marketing, when I was struck by a couple of comments she made.  Having discovered a photography book of homes of designers from the mid-century era, she was struck by:

“a distinct commonality among the various homes: They were lived-in, unpretentious and unassuming, yet still beautifully crafted, detailed and personally curated. A visitor would feel very much at ease in any of them. … As designers and architects, I’m sure you occasionally get the comment from your clients, “Your house must be amazing!” And I’m sure it is — but perhaps in a very unexpected way, just like the homes of these famous design icons.”

I do indeed hear that reaction from people I meet when they hear what is my profession/ passion.  The challenge of course for so many designers is that we are constantly discovering new products and therefore it can be difficult to select a piece for your own home when you know there are so many other options out there and you may have not found “THE RIGHT” piece yet.  Not quite the same as a plumber’s wife with a leaky sink, but you get the idea.

Somehow it’s so much easier to see a client’s taste and determine the best products for their home in part because there is a limited time window we are working in. Our own homes are constantly evolving and the layering process is never ending.  So where does that leave me? With a dining room table surrounded by folding chairs.

Why? Because having moved recently we finally have enough space to comfortably fit a dining room table that can fit a crowd.  In our old home we had to set up the table and chairs, and then pack them up at the end of a dinner party to fit at the back of a closet.

We’ve selected a beautiful dining room table we can both agree upon, but now I can’t find the perfect chair!  Mind you I’ve been thinking about this for YEARS. Of course, the new house impacted the selection somewhat because of the space and style of the home.  The biggest challenge is that I don’t want anything expected or overdone.  It shouldn’t look like any typical dining room in Dwell magazine just because it’s a mid-century home.  It shouldn’t be obviously mid-century or too classic Danish design because that room already has three Danish teak pieces and it would be overkill. I want comfortable chairs (I mean really, why WOULDN’T you want comfortable dining room chairs?!). And they need to be easy to clean since kids spill and cats scratch.

If the IKEA chairs above were still available in orange we would have gladly used those for our dining room. Alas, no longer available.

But I think we might have a winner, or at least a top two.

Here is the table, for your reference. Reclaimed wood plank top with cast metal base. Slightly industrial but with clean lines and a little ornamentation. The chairs above were all considered at one point or another. Some were too expensive, some too plain, some didn’t feel right with the table base.  For all I know I might go back to one of these or mix them in with another selection.

It’s funny how something catches your attention but you didn’t realize it until the third or fourth time. I snapped a picture of these chairs at the Hickory Chair showroom last month when I was there for a book signing. I’ve always liked them, but hadn’t given them a lot of thought before.

The next week I spotted these chairs on designer Linda Engler’s website and thought “Oh, those could work for our dining room!” Didn’t realize it was the same chair yet.

Then reading the latest issue of House Beautiful last week (about a week after the second sighting) I flipped to this picture:

I quickly pulled out my phone, snapped a picture, noting the manufacturer and made a note to research it when I got home.  Oddly enough, I spotted this right before Jackie Jordan, from Sherwin-Williams (see above), gave her annual presentation on color trends for next year. Wacky!

Looking at the website it all suddenly came together.  It has a unique shape that doesn’t look like any retail products. It is comfortable, easy to clean (with the right material choice), and not a full upholstered back (another wish list item).  The price is high, but it might just be worth it.

Unless…

Unless this chair wins me over. It might be too classic Danish, and reupholstering is a must (the cushion is shot), but the curved back is so comfortable and allows you to crook your arm over the top in a delightful way (perfect for long intellectual or silly conversations after dinner). I found this when I went in to buy a different dining room chair set and it halted the decision process.

Now neither of these are cheap options, but for pieces like this I’d rather save up for investment pieces I love and will use for the rest of my life. These can be reupholstered in 20 years when there are no more kids to spill on them (but I’ll have to plan for grandchildren’s spills).  Remember my mantra:

Buy the best and you’ll only cry once.  - Miles Redd

So what will I choose?  Goodness knows, but that’s the fun of it. I love the pursuit, the visualization exercise of figuring out what looks best together. I love doing it for clients and I love doing it for myself.  Think of all the chairs I’ve looked at to narrow it down to those options. Now you can see why it’s faster for me to find great chair options for clients – I have so many already in my brain, on my computer and in my reference library.  Let me spare you the same fate. Let me pick your dining room chairs and table for you and you can spend your time doing what YOU love.

Photo credits:

1. Sideboard by Knoll, design by Christofi?

2. Unknown

3. Unknown

4. Chairs by IKEA, design by Pam Hill

5. Composition by Fox Interiors

6. Fox Interiors

7. Engler Studio Interior Design

8. Photo by Victoria Pearson, design by Parrish Chilcoat & Joe Lucas, House Beautiful, November 2011.

9. it’s a secret (I don’t want you stealing my chairs!)

So in the time I’ve been meaning to scan the best images from the latest issue of Elle Decor many things happened, pushing it onto tomorrow’s to do list. Over and over again. Guess what happened? Before I could get through the Septmeber issue, I got October’s issue in the mail. Oops! So I guess this isn’t quite “Hot Off the Press,” but I still wanted to share the great spaces and details I enjoyed from this issue.  If the weekend isn’t too bad maybe I’ll actually get the October issues of Elle Decor and House Beautiful up for you too. Maybe.

Once I’d saved all my favorite images I realized what stood out to me in this issue was really the juxtaposition of very different approaches to similar spaces.  For instance, here is a conservatory that is so bright and filled with light that I can’t imagine having a gloomy day in here. It’s an expansive space and fairly formal feeling.

In contrast:

Here is a porch that I’m sure is normally flooded with light thanks to those large windows and high ceilings. But the dark shades are a bit of a color surprise and allow the space to become a cozy den like space. The furniture is more casual and curl up ready. The dogs clearly have the run of the space, and the concrete floor is fuss-free.

Here is the dining room from the same house as the conservatory. I love the mix of furniture and those peacocks at the back are spectacular! It took me multiple looks at this photo before I saw the white peacock on the right. The color palette is crisp and vivid. The furniture is not overpowered by the homeowner’s impressive art collection.

In contrast, this dining room in an urban loft has a dark warmth thanks to the giant original beams, large wood table and vintage chairs, and the big bookcase.  It has a library meets dining room casualness that feels inviting in a totally different way.

Now I have two offices that look nothing like typical offices to me, but perhaps that’s because they really work at the kitchen table with their laptop most of the time (no idea if that’s really true).

I love the vivid peacock blues of the wall, lamps and chairs that so brilliantly pull the colors from the painting by Kim Douglas Wiggins on the back wall. I love that painting!  The crisp white trim, desk and rug help balance all that saturated blue.

Or you could chose to work in a “chamber of curiosities” filled with botanical drawings, 19th century taxidermy songbirds and Pedro Friedeberg’s Hand chair. It’s the complete commitment to a style that I love about each of these rooms. If something is your passion, then embrace it!

The twine faux taxidermy head reminds me of Ballard Designs’ recent collection of rattan bull heads to hang on the wall in a similar fashion.

Finally, I love the ironwork holding up the draped fabric over the bed and windows in this Master Bedroom. Adding the lantern hanging from one of the branches is a brilliant touch of whimsy that reminds me of dark stories set in times of old like the Legend of Sleepy Hollow, where walking through dark forests with only a lantern would be a common occurrence.  The faux bois wall treatment subtly references back to the branches.

Or you could have a masculine bedroom filled with lots of rich woods and leather. It’s all about solid sturdy pieces in this room with enough visual weight to balance the visual weight of those beams and pillars. I love the arms on the Frits Henningsen armchairs.

Are you drawn to one room more than the other?  I love how many options there are out there for decorating a home to truly reflect your personal style. That’s why I can’t ever design in just one style. I can select what would work in my house and my life, but every client has a different answer to the questions “what do you like?” and “how do you want your home to feel?”  Translating that into a home they will love is an honor and privilege.

All photos via Elle Decor

I know you are supposed to live in your home for a while to get a sense of how you will actually live and move in it before you start making big changes. But how many of us can resist plotting changes to a new space the minute you find out it’s yours?  I think I have it worst than most as an interior designer since I am constantly finding new fabulous products that I’d love to live with myself, not just put into clients’ homes.  Of course with the wide diversity of styles I like, if I did some of everything my house would look like a hot mess (I love that expression!)

So I’m working hard at being patient, letting the house speak to me, and keeping my eyes open for products that fit THIS house and OUR life. (I have a hard time writing the word “lifestyle” in print thanks to a high school english teacher who hated that word and was adamant we never use it in front of him.)

Our kitchen was completely remodeled by the previous owners only a year ago, and while they made some real improvements, some of their finish selections drive me bonkers.  The rough slate floor varies in height by up to a quarter of an inch tile by tile, creating the effect under your feet my husband equates to walking on rocks in the Boundary Waters.  I’m just waiting for that first toddler still finding their balance to try and walk across it…I foresee lots of tears and bruising. Yikes.

Here is a picture of the kitchen the day we moved in.

IKEA cabinets, black granite countertops, stainless appliances – a good foundation. I was pleasantly surprised how much I can store in these cabinets (the 36″ wide drawer units are fabulous!)

Since the kitchen is the heart of the home (geographically and figuratively), I’ve been trying to select new floor and wall tiles since pretty much the day we first visited the house to make it ours.

Now here’s where the waiting pays off.  I recently was flipping through a design magazine and spotted an ad for Ann Sacks tiles that caught my eye and totally changed my vision for the backsplash.

Now before this I was looking in a couple of different directions to pull together the colors in the adjacent rooms.

I still love this tile I had in mind for our previous house, and it could work here.

It has some beautiful blues in it as well as browns, grays, whites, etc. The shape is updated from the typical glass squares you see in every big box store.

Then I thought about going with a ceramic with texture like these examples from Pratt & Larson Ceramics.

The shimmer effect of these glazes really sets them apart.

But with the darker cabinets and black granite countertops, these options were feeling too dark. The Ann Sacks ad made me think what I need to embrace it a lighter color palette, maybe even a gold tone to get that sophisticated drama I like in the copper tiles on the left above.  Totally not my usual direction, but that’s the fun of it afterall.

So I did a little research and discovered a gorgeous kitchen example on the Ann Sacks website using this tile.

Talk about a picture selling a product! I’m loving it even more now.  The light fixtures are a brilliant pairing and the lines of those stools would totally work in my house too. I just wish my cabinets were white too. Oh well.

Another idea is this beautiful arabesque tile, but I don’t think you would get to really appreciate its form in a space only 18″ high.  Maybe that’ll be in the master bathroom (later on).

So now I’ll marinate in the idea of that tile and see what I think in a month, two months from now.  If I’m still in love I’ll have to start looking for the right floor tile to coordinate with it.  Stay tuned.

What would you pick?

A common challenge for me is dreaming up the perfect piece (for an interior or my wardrobe), sometimes based on a sketchy memory of having seen something like it somewhere once upon a time, sometimes just completely invented.  Then I have to try to find it out in the real world.  I can drive myself bonkers with this search because of course now I know EXACTLY what I want and I don’t want to settle for less.

Recent case in point: I want an etagere (basically this is a bookcase with no side or back panels, often they taper towards the top) for an otherwise wasted odd corner of a room.  I see the ideal version with sides that curve on each tier, and I want it brightly colored.  I can draw a quick sketch to show someone, but finding an example image is much more effective.  The open shelves on an etagere are great for decorative displays of stacks of books, small boxes and little decorative items.

So I scrolled through my digital image library (I don’t have time to go through my stacks and stacks of magazines and piles of hard copies of design images) and managed to find one example!  Yeah!

See it in the back left corner?  The open shelf on the right side is an etagere too, but I don’t want that gold leaf finish and rectangular shape.

I was soo excited to find it along with sources for the items… but wait, it’s for SIMILAR items.

Here is the Tall Curvee Shelf from House Eclectic that they recommend as a similar item.  It is only available in black or white, but even more of an issue is the fact that it’s only 38″ high. Grrr.

Another option would be this Lia shelf by Oly Studio . It’s close, but doesn’t come in any bright colors. But I could make the white version work.

Here’s an example in a good height (67.75″) with a tapered shape, but no curves. I could live with this, and the antique red or black options are nice. But I want deep orange or kelly green. I want to be playful. This is a little too traditional in this shade of red for the room I have in mind. It could skew Asian influence or cottage in other settings, which is great.

Available in only black iron, this has a bit more whimsy with the top detail, but the black iron doesn’t feel right for my space.

This limited edition piece by Jonathan Adler has the fun punch of color and the mod styling is great. But the price is high for a piece that’s not supposed to be the star of the room, but the funny supporting character.

So, I’m still on the hunt. I’m sure I’ll find something that will work, but will it be the piece in my vision? Maybe not.  But will anyone else really know how it differs from that vision? No. Will it still be fabulous? Absolutely.

Of course, if it was an important piece in the room that I didn’t feel like compromising on, I can simply design the piece in my head and have one of my custom furniture guys make the perfect piece for me with the curves, dimensions and color just right for my project. Sometimes that’s what it takes to get the right piece that makes the whole room come to life.

And that’s the reality of what I do. It’s the vision I have for that great piece that’s going to take the room to the next level that the client would never have come up with on their own, and the ability to track down items that will bring that vision to life.

But I’m still searching for that short sleeve wrap dress I saw in a dream the other night…. =)

Photo source: Inspiration room by Catherine Brophy for Real Simple, October 2010.

After writing all about the new brights trend (see the post here), I couldn’t resist creating a bedroom concept to prove how doable this look is.  Remember how I compared an outfit to a room:

“Kelly green jeans and a turquoise t-shirt with a grey cardigan and a skinny belt in brown leather over it could be bright but still have the safe touches to make it feel comfortable. The room equivalent: a bedroom with a kelly green bed frame, turquoise sheets, multi-colored throw pillows, light gray walls and a leather slung chair.”

Well, here’s the room example, with 2 different bedding and throw pillow combinations to chose from.

Start with the Piper Bed in Green from Room & Board.  Paint the walls a soft gray, like Sherwin-Williams Argos (SW 7065).  Add a leather safari chair for a timeless worn-in element that grounds the bold elements you’ll add next.  1st Dibs is a good source for these vintage chairs.  A chunky cable rug in Charcoal from Room & Board adds texture and softness when getting out of bed or doing homework.

The room could start out with an updated preppy look. No turquoise, instead the blue is a crisp, classic navy. Key elements (clockwise from bedding):

Ronan Duvet from Serena & Lily

British Flag pillow from Jonathan Adler

Green and Natural Zebra needlepoint pillow from Jonathan Adler

Positano Helix pillow in Blue from Jonathan Adler

Amanda sheet set in Gray from Bliss Living

This could work for either gender, it’s really about personality!  The subtle pattern on the sheets in a soft gray adds some interest while tying in the wall and rug color.

Or take the room in a global chic direction (clockwise from bedding):

Shangri-La duvet from Bliss Living

Diamond Ikat Azure pillow from Dwell Studio

Samsara Multi throw pillow from Bliss Living

Bargello Jungle Road pillow from Jonathan Adler

Masala Citrone sheet set from Dwell Studio

The duvet cover has great pattern and lots of colors to work with for accent pillows. Adding in the Ikat pillow is a no-brainer for the global look, as is the Samsara pillow with a Suzani-esque print. Both are right on trend with the current movement to incorporate native ethnic prints from around the globe. What I love is adding in the Bargello Jungle Road pillow with the crazy zig-zag Italian company Missoni is known for. It’s unexpected but still very global and the colors work perfectly with the other pillows.  The Citrone sheets pull that color from the duvet cover and add a small scale pattern to the mix to balance all those large patterns.

Which would you go for? Preppy or global chic? Or would you rather have the bed in pink…red…yellow…orange…white?  So many color combinations, so little time!  Have fun creating your own layered look. I’d love to see what you would create!

On that note, check out West Elm’s new mix-and-match bedding interactive program where you can see how sheets, duvets, and shams from their collection will look together with your wall color. (They don’t have a ton of paint color options, but it’s nice that they included this element in a room.) It’s a fun way to spend your lunch break. =)

Sorry for the radio silence lately, but I’ve been in the midst of moving both my home and office (since I have a home office) and the packing, moving and unpacking leaves little time for fun blog posts. I’ve been thinking of things to say to you and share, just waiting for the time to post. So here is a post that’s been formulating in my head for weeks. 

Your home should create a great first impression, and a front door/entry that suits your home and your style is a great place to begin. Here are doors and entries I’m loving for their style, color and/or details.

Front door by Erin Loechner of design for mankind.  I love the cohesive modern styling of the hardware and house number. The color is fabulous. And the “Hello.” frosted on the bottom of the side panel? Genius. (This has been my computer backdrop for a few weeks – which is a long time for me.)

The letter (and photos) from the editor in the May 2011 issue of Dwell magazine made me happy because I do the same thing: use my camera to document the details of a city other people wouldn’t bother to photograph. I photographed doors all around Boston and Cambridge on a visit a few years ago and turned it into a composite that I loved. Too bad the file size was so enormous the photo lab couldn’t seem to print it. But I still plan on making it work one of these days! (It turned up in the move but I haven’t found it in the boxes yet.) The result is original art that tells a story about your trip in an unexpected way.  Plus look at all those great door knockers above. It’s so clear that they inject tons of personality into a small space.

Here are a few photos from a recent trip to Philly to prove my point.

Great door!

Love the mix of materials at this exterior structure on the Liberty Bell plaza.

Great woodworking details on the sides of the staircase at the Pennsylvania State House (aka. Independence Hall). Why photograph the room where they signed the Declaration of Independence when you can study the carvings on the stairs? (Though I did photograph the room because there was a great mix of Windsor chair styles.)

Pat even held up traffic so I could take this picture out the car window on our way to dinner at Pumpkin. (I’d change the wall color if I could and paint the stars over the entry is a slightly different shade to help them pop without becoming the focal point. Charcoal gray exterior and light-medium gray stars?)

Okay back to other facades I’m digging.

I love the rhythm of the facade of this house designed by Tina Manis and featured in the book “Brooklyn Modern.”  Slowly move you eyes up the facade and notice how the wood boards get closer and farther apart in a different wave motion on each section.  What a beautiful way to add interest using only one material.

The value of a face lift for the front of the house is clearly illustrated in this project above by interior designer Jessica Helgerson and her husband, architect Yianni Doulis, featured on Design*Sponge back in July 2009.  It’s so much more inviting and open with the planter replacing the tree. The horizontal lines of the house are carried through in the windows on the new front door and the wood on the planter. The light and house numbers fit the new look.

How great is that wood slat screen created by The Brick House? Adds so much personality to an otherwise plain white home. Note the consistent style of the house numbers, light fixture and planter.  Check out this post for details of her plans for the front yard to complete the look.

Do you get the gist of what I’m saying?

What inspired all this facade talk? Well, my new place has a similar mid-century vibe to some of the places above (it was built in 1953) and a front door with 3 horizontal windows. But the door has seen better days and I’m itching to paint it a bold color and repaint the cedar shakes on the exterior.  I’ll have to do some photoshop renderings and get your opinions, but I’d better get back to unpacking and leave that project for another day. 

Have a lovely weekend!