Sunday, January 31, 2010

Pinking Up...

I bought myself something this weekend. It was a cardigan in the palest shade of pink I have ever been able to find. I fairly bolted into the shop where I spied it, and it quickly has become my favourite clothing purchase in a long time. Pink is a shade I have loved since girlhood. I love the way it makes our cheeks look rosier and how feminine we feel in it.

photographer: Paul Costello

That said, my daughter always questions why I don't have more of it in our home - which is a very good question, considering I always vow it is my favourite colour. Indeed, I read a very good book over the holidays, The Well-Dressed Home, by Annette Tatum, and it reaffirmed my belief that we should take inspiration from our closets (current or dream) when decorating our homes. Having seen this room - found in her book - featured in Country living a while back, I solemly (but silently) declared it to contain sofas slipcovered in the perfect shade of delicate pink.

While I have found my own pursuit of that perfect shade in accessories and furnishings elusive, here is what I found to share of some pink I just might consider for my own home if the world was the fantasy place we would all like it to be:



Country Living.com



I'm just not sure if the boys would go for any of it!!

Before and After Party! (A TV cabinet redo.)

Well hello! I am posting this party early this evening because I hope to spend the night finishing up loose ends on my home show presentations and spending quality time with my boys. :)

beforeAndAfterButton

I hope you had a great weekend! Since hubs was out of town, the Bubs and I were busy tearing up the house so my husband would come home and wonder what in the heck I was up to again working on the family room.

There is a major, serious thorn in my side when it comes our family room. You see, in the model, the fireplace was on the back wall, between two windows and the TV was in the corner. Somewhere along the line we both decided a corner fireplace would be super cool!! (Dripping with sarcasm.) So moving the fireplace then gave us the option to put the two windows together, which we did.

So that left exactly one five foot wall we could do anything with as far as the placement of the TV. FIVE FEET. Our TV cabinet fits in the space great, but the blasted subwoofer for our sound system is like three feet by four feet so it totally cramps that area. OK, it’s about 12 inches by 14 inches, but it has to go on the floor next to the cabinet, which makes everything tight. It has always really, really driven me nuts. Here’s an old pic that gives you an idea of how close the TV and cabinet were to the fireplace:

That doesn’t really do it justice – I mean, I was afraid they would burst into flames, they were so close to the fireplace. Really. I’ll have you know I even called our electronics store to see if they have any updated subwoofers (ours is six years old) that are smaller. Yes, they did! Yes, they are only ten by ten inches! And YES, they are only $700!!

OK, moving on. Dealing with the mongo speaker. So the other day, I decided to ignore the speaker and center the cabinet on the wall. The mongo speaker would just have to jut out the other way a bit. Fine!:

(Yes, I love Y&R. Sue me. Can you even believe Adam? And can you believe the woman who plays Ashley is 50-something? OMG!)

I decided a while ago that hanging the TV may help the cramped feeling of this area. A friend of ours told me how to hide the wires (yessssss) so I went for it. I got the right sized TV mount for only $50 at Target and it was surprisingly easy to hang. Just hang the mount into the stud, using a socket wrench (Dad is that what this kind is called?):

mount

Easy! Next step is to take it down and hang it again because you forgot to put the washers on the screws. Next step after that is to take it all down and hang it again because you hung it too low. Easy!!

Then you just attach the brackets to the back of the TV:

back of TVNow for the FUN part! Hiding the cords!!!! Glorious! You just find a spot in between the studs and drill a hole into the wall. There are large drill bits just for this type of project:

008 009

I placed mine where the cords came out of the TV, but it didn’t really matter where they were, as long as the hole was covered by the TV. Then I drilled another hole straight down the wall, put the cords down through the wall and reattached them to the TV. Then I hung the TV on the mount. It was so intimidating at first, but ended up being insanely easy to do.

(The next few pics are fuzzy because I took them at night, so bear with me.)

I looooved the TV hanging on the wall! It immediately felt like a breath of fresh air. But the TV cabinet was feeling so dark! It’s always been a dark hole of sorts. You couldn’t even see my lovely $3 Goodwill baskets! I decided to paint just the back of it so they would show up just a bit more:

Didn’t that work GREAT?

Uhhhh. Notsomuch. I realized the problem hasn’t been the dark cabinet, it’s been the doors on the cabinet. I love them, but you can’t see a darn thing inside. I mean, why have $3 Goodwill baskets if you can’t see them? And the picture frames look like they’re in jail. So I just took the doors and the hardware off!:

jute

Getting there!

I wasn’t crazy with how the accessories were working out, so I moved some things around. I used an apothecary jar instead of the flowers and covered some styrofoam balls with jute for some additional filler:

037

Love them! They weren’t exactly fast to make – but good mindless project while watching TV. And they were free. Score!

I moved the baskets down below so they didn’t block the back quite so much:

(The back is painted the same Sisal color I used on the wainscoting squares from last week.)

I couldn’t be more pleased with the result!:

after

Well, maybe I’d be more pleased with a 10 x 10 speaker. But saving the $700 meant I only spent $50 on this entire project – and that was for the TV mount. We watched about eleventy billion videos this weekend because the Bub can now access his DVDs (in the baskets) so easily! Those doors were hard to open, even for me. :)

So this month’s before and after…drum roll please…

before after

Love it! For those that are interested, the cabinet was a find at the Pier 1 outlet store about seven years ago. I found it on a lunch break and my girlfriend helped me drag it up the stairs of our old apartment. It was a long lunch break. ;) (Thanks Cheryl!!)

Can’t wait to see what you have worked on! Any project will do – we just need a before picture. Remember to copy and paste the url from your post into the linky, not your blog address. (I have to delete those!)

Have fun and let’s party!



TÄVLING!


Bilder: [room] by sofie
Äntligen tävlingsdags på bloggen igen...
Nu har DU chans att vinna ett snyggt och retroinspirerat fat från

Lyft fram färgerna i säsongens frukt eller duka upp med nybakade kanelbullar. Varför inte placera det i hallen som uppsamlare av nycklar, mobiler etc.

Tävlingsregler

Svara på frågan:
1. Var ligger Hulténs, som i november öppnade anslutande presentshop med snygga design & inredningsprylar?
2. För dubbel vinstchans, länka med bilden nedan från din blogg. Har du ingen blogg? Tipsa tre vänner via mail om tävlingen.
3. Tävlingen pågår tom fredagen 12 februari.


Bild: [room] by sofie

Priset kommer från Hulténs Presentshop.

Saturday, January 30, 2010

Plast i härlig design


Bilder: [room] by sofie
På Formexmässan var det en monter som fick min uppmäksamhet direkt jag klev in i B-hallen. Guzzini -ett företag med färgglada, tåliga och väldesignade produkter!

Intresset för Guzzini har fått ett rejält uppsving de senaste åren i Sverige. Det Italienska företaget har en historia nästan 100 år bak i tiden. Du kan hitta allt från barnartiklar, rullbord, tvättkorgar i snygga färger. Sedan ett par år tillbaks drivs den Svenska argenturen av ett engererat par som verkligen brinner för märket. Var beredda på ett se mer av Guzzini framöver...
I nästa inlägg kan du tävla om ett fint pris från just Guzzini! Håll utkik :)

Two in one

När vår Ebba fyllde 4-år förra veckan fick hon en härlig
Fatboy Junior i present.


Bilder: [room] by sofie

En praktisk sittmöbel, lätt att torka av och rolig att leka med ...både säcken och emballaget!!!

Nog för att jag varit lite delaktig i färgvalet som ni kanske ser. Denna vita är en ny färg för 2010. Jag älskar ju dem färgstarka också, men de kräver så mycket mer plats i ett rum. Jag är glad för att jag valde en vit, den smällter in bra mot golvet och tar inte för sig så mycket. Dem är ganska stora även i de små juniorvarianterna...

Plants are a wonderful solution to bring life


1. Plants. Plants are a wonderful solution to bring life, literally, for you to fill the space and the people "What on earth do I put in this room" area.

2. Furniture does not fit. Please, I beg those who are looking for new furniture set, do not buy a complete set. This is not creative. If you already have furniture that is not a good fit for you! (Or, sorry it was you who took the couch from the curb and that's why you do not match the furniture.)

3. Art. How awesome is this artwork. Perfect contrasting colors and told by the art, you may be able to find some kids in Craigslists paint something similar to a bribe from the McDonald's gift cards.
more>>>>>>

Plants are a wonderful solution to bring life


1. Plants. Plants are a wonderful solution to bring life, literally, for you to fill the space and the people "What on earth do I put in this room" area.

2. Furniture does not fit. Please, I beg those who are looking for new furniture set, do not buy a complete set. This is not creative. If you already have furniture that is not a good fit for you! (Or, sorry it was you who took the couch from the curb and that's why you do not match the furniture.)

3. Art. How awesome is this artwork. Perfect contrasting colors and told by the art, you may be able to find some kids in Craigslists paint something similar to a bribe from the McDonald's gift cards.
more>>>>>>

Interior Design and Decorating Trends 2010: Paint Colors

Interior Design and Decorating Trends 2010: Paint Colors

The coming year, the painting and faux finishing will be greater than the use of wallpaper in the interior, as happened in the past. In the year 2009, we saw a lot of purple, blue, and metallic paint color. We will continue to see the purple in 2010, but in shades of light (like lavender). We also will see more pink - shades not girly, but lighter and more sophisticated pink - even used as the main color on the walls. And finally, because the green, crazy environment, a soft green palette will continue to appear in the house.

Interior Design and Decorating Trends 2010: Paint Colors

Interior Design and Decorating Trends 2010: Paint Colors

The coming year, the painting and faux finishing will be greater than the use of wallpaper in the interior, as happened in the past. In the year 2009, we saw a lot of purple, blue, and metallic paint color. We will continue to see the purple in 2010, but in shades of light (like lavender). We also will see more pink - shades not girly, but lighter and more sophisticated pink - even used as the main color on the walls. And finally, because the green, crazy environment, a soft green palette will continue to appear in the house.

This trend will be hot for 2010.


"Rustic Modern" is one of the guests described how the interior designer Robert Stilin country home in East Hampton, NY, which features the American farmhouse coffee table mingles with vintage Arne Jacobsen Egg Hans Wegner chairs and stools. This trend will be hot for 2010.
Photo by: Handout photo
more>>>>>>>>

This trend will be hot for 2010.


"Rustic Modern" is one of the guests described how the interior designer Robert Stilin country home in East Hampton, NY, which features the American farmhouse coffee table mingles with vintage Arne Jacobsen Egg Hans Wegner chairs and stools. This trend will be hot for 2010.
Photo by: Handout photo
more>>>>>>>>

An Exquisite French Manor in Utah

Earlier in the week I promised you a tour of a wonderful newly constructed house in Utah. Built by a reader of WD and her husband (who previously worked for Christopher Peacock Kitchens). The house is an wonderful example of true craftsmanship.
We were able to get a private sneak peak into this home which they refer to as the "French House". The home is currently for sale, and unfurnished.
More often than not designers spend large amounts of time bringing interest and depth to plain rooms. I think it's important to show how wonderful and warm a home can look, even unfurnished, for you to have a true appreciation what good architecture and craftsmanship can bring to a space. Even empty this home is stunning.
The main entry, though not grand in size is really beautiful. Notice the key details here: herringbone floors, hand forged iron railings, exquisite moulding details and a beamed ceiling. Beyond we see an interesting curved hallway.
Here is a close up of the reclaimed hand hewn barn beams
Of course when the builder is also a world class cabinet maker you know the kitchen will be the jewel of the home and this one is gorgeous! It has a very Christopher Peacock feel, but I think this particular kitchen has even more personality. I love the front X detailing on the center island. Also notice the coffered ceiling. I also like the choice of light fixtures!
Notice the the first center island has a soft curve to it, which was harder to see in the picture above. Having a conversation at a curved island versus a straight one is much more enjoyable. You should always try to incorporate even a soft curve in a kitchen island if possible.
I love the subtle diamond shaped marble tile backsplash. As expected the kitchen is outfitted with top of the line appliances.
The first island has been thoughtfully designed with a step down so guests can't view a messy sink. The second island is topped walnut for food prep.
Here is a close up of the corner detailing on the island! Wonderful!
A close up of the walnut top - notice its tongue in groove and bread board sides.
Coffered ceilings continue in the Living room, which also has a stunning fireplace and surround. Can you imagine how wonderful this home would look furnished?
The dining room with French doors and interesting moulding details
The family room continues the coffered ceilings. I love the fireplace! My imagination is going wild furnishing it in my head!
The curved staircase is just stunning - hand forged iron railings are beautiful.
A quick peek into the master bath which reveals a coveted zinc soaking tub.
This porch off the Master bedroom is one of several porches to take in the spectacular mountain views.
Notice that the outdoor detailing and stonework are as elaborate and thoughtful as the indoor detailing. This shows just part of the back of the home. See the mountains on the right.
Here is a side view - a lovely landscaped path - notice the copper gutters and cedar shake roof. More spectacular mountain views.
I adore the charm of these shutters!
No detail was left out. Look at the close up of these iron fleur de lys.
Even the garage was not overlooked. I love the heft and depth of the stone outside the garage. Look closely to see the herringbone brick detail in the driveway.
This gorgeous house is a spectacular example of craftsmanship. It was recently on the local "Parade of Homes". For more information on this home and to see
the real estate listing click here.
For more information on the iron work and railings click here.

 
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