Last Look at The Lady's Little Girl Room

I mentioned in an earlier post that I had switched the Guest Room and The Lady's Room.  It was a tough decision for me because it meant facing the reality that my baby girl is not five years old anymore. And I admit, she needed more room for sleepovers and her art projects. So I relented and agreed to move rooms. 

Charlotte's little girl room was my favorite bedroom in our home. Waiting for her to grow out of the nursery, I had a stack of tear sheets at the ready. I had a vision of a bed chamber for a Pink Lady. Not like Rizzo from Grease, mind you. More like an English Rose. A place to snuggle and read children's classic before bedtime. Romantic, right? We were lucky to have those precious days and we savored them. But The Lady was tired of pink and ready for a big girl room. 

So here is a design obituary for The Lady's Little Girl Room. 

A Pottery Barn Kids day bed is draped with a chiffon cascade of flowers. The crystal chandelier softly light the night. Down-filled euro pillows provided a cozy snuggle spot for reading The Wind in the Willows. 

Detail of the hand-painted iron mirror from Wisteria. 

Side table and lamp from Pottery Barn Kids. Disney Princess dresses hang in wait for the next dress up date. 

Alice and The White Rabbit. 

Dozens of children's classics are guarded by Daddy Bear. The pink velvet chair is vintage.
Silk curtains by Pottery Barn Kids. 

Precious family photos.

A vintage 1920's Sligh dresser and an antique wicker bassinet
wreathed in tulle keeps the Lady's dolls safe.

Fairy tale illustrations embellished with paper flower anchors.

A vanity is accented with Dogwood flower drawer pulls from Anthropologie. 

A Red Oak branch is hung with Chinese lanterns
from San Francisco. Birds and butterflies
add a touch of whimsy.

The rug is from PB Kids, the cat rescued via Paws in The City. 

Hand Painted Vintage Chairs

This school year, I volunteered to design the auction project for The Lady's Montessori elementary class. After complaining about the auction projects for the past few years, my dear friend Estelle challenged me to put my money where my mouth was. I took her up on the challenge...and immediately regretted it. 

If you've ever looked at auction project ideas on the Internets, you know that is it a sea of beaded wind chimes, photos of children's hands or bodies in various poses and handmade garden step stones. I was determined to find something new. Something unique. 

I found inspiration in a painted fabric chair. 

I found this beauty on Pinterest. As far as I can tell, it is from the "Sea of Shoes" blog, although I cannot find it there now.

A pair of fabulous vintage chairs were in order. 
These Craig's List beauties were just the ticket. 
Low wide seats, high dramatic backs. 
Perfect for kids and adults alike. 

I'll detail the DIY blow by blow in a separate post.
Here's the finished product.
It was so much better than I dreamed it would be. 

Chair Number One.

Detail of the seat art.

Each child signed the chair.

Chair Number Two.

Complimenting the botanical theme of the chairs, a Maria Montessori quote
graced the back of the second chair:
"The land is where our roots are. The children must be taught to feel and live
in harmony with the Earth."

The chairs were a big hit with the children, teachers and Alcuin School staff. The parents at the auction liked them too...the pair sold for $1500. A great success! I secretly hoped they would be donated back to the school, but I understand they've gone to a good home. 

Much creative energy went into these chairs. The children, of course. And four fantastic women, Christy, Melissa, Jackie and Jenn, added their expertise and improved the final result immeasurably. 

It's fabulous to see a design inspiration come to successful fruition through collaboration.

Suzani Inspiration

A month ago I switched Charlotte's room and the guest room. As a serial decorator, I can't resist an opportunity for a complete environmental change. 

I purchased a vintage suzani at the world famous Seret and Sons in Santa Fe a few years ago. This shop is amazing. There are dozens of rooms filled top to bottom with imports from the near and far east. There were piles of the most beautiful suzanis I have ever seen. I wanted to leave with a dozen, but I didn't have a suitcase of cash, so I settled for one. 

For years I have waited for the right room for my prize. And now I had my chance. Here are a few shots that inspire me. 

Laundry Room Renovation

Our home was built in the 1990s, way back when the laundry room was considered a utility room. Now, laundry rooms are huge, spacious rooms with commercial grade machines and custom cabinets with all sorts of amenities. Apparantly, having one of those steam machines they use at Nordstrom is now a necessity, but I'm not buying into it. Seems unfeminist to me.

 

While I can appreciate having lots of space to spread the mounds of dirty clothes around (imagine the days and weeks of procrastination that afford me), I still think dirty laundry and the room that holds it should be private. Unfortunately, our laundry "room" was in fact the hallway from the garage to the kitchen. Ergo, anyone who needed a beer from the garage fridge could perform a plain view search of my Spanx collection.

Not. Cool.

 

Before
The view from the garage door looking toward the kitchen door. I have no clue how the previous owners had a washer, dryer AND another fridge in this tiny room.

I lobbied hard for a renovation, but was rebuffed. Other things took precedent.

 

Then came the garage/media room construction (long story), then the flood (longer story), then the structural damage. In short, I got my renovation, but not without an Act of God.

 

There were a few "must have" items: the door to the kitchen was eliminated creating a proper room, a cabinet with a cubby to hold backpacks and shoes, and a door for privacy.



 

 

During
Be careful what you wish for: doing laundry in a construction zone is a complete pain in the ass.

In the end, the space was even better than I imagined. Removing the kitchen door opened up a few feet of wasted space making room for the laundry cart. We moved the light fixture from another location in the house. I thinks it's over the top for a laundry room, but WTH. I'm tapped out on ceiling lights for now.

After
Not bad for a laundry room, right?! Looks good and it's a great place to hide from children.

 

The Otomi embroidery inspired me to add a cobalt blue chevron shade for the window (coming soon). I loved the combo when we were at Las Ventanas in Los Cabos a few years ago. So now when I do laundry, I can sort through the mounds and enjoy a margarita.

 

Will it end my launder procrastination? Probably not, but my Spanx are now behind a closed door where they belong and everyone is happy about that.

Dining Room Update

A few months ago, I had the dining room painted in a favorite greige, Benjamin Moore's Thunder. I had tried several other grey tones, but for some reason they all turned lavender in this room. Weird. In any case, it turns out that the right color was in my house all the time. The playroom is painted in Thunder and has similar natural light so it was perfect. Duh.

 

Now I need some help with these other design dilemmas...

I'm not sure about the red chairs. I'm thinking about having the chairs re-covered. But what color? However, the sofa is first in line for rehab. The slipcover just doesn't work. And, during a rip-roaring dinner with friends, I spilled red wine on the white slipper chair, so it must be recovered as well. Holy cow! That's going to cost a fortune!  

 



 

The room needs a couple of end tables for the sofa and a pair of lamps.

 

 

Boring. I moved the sailfish over to this wall.

This is my favorite photo in the room.

Pet siblings

Does anyone else have pets who act like siblings?? I have two kids and the sibling rivalry is ON but I've noticed in the last week that my dog and cat have a similar relationship. If the dog is outside, the cat cries at the door. If the dog is inside, the cat cries at the door. If the dog gets sliced turkey, the cat screams for it even though she will not actually eat it. If the cat is on the bed, the dog is resentful. If the cat is on the dog bed, he stares until she moves. If the dog smells cat food, watch out. He's on it like white on rice.

I have always wanted a cat and a dog at the same time. But this is too much. Between the cat and the dog, the boy and the girl, the husband and the wife, holy crap. It's a bit much.

Can't we all just get along?!?!?

Let The Dining Room Project Begin!

For the past month, we have been unable to live in our home due to construction on the new garage and living space. It's amazing how few days it takes to truly miss your home. In my case, it was 4 days. And come to think of it, that applies to vacation as well. I'm happy to be in a different spot for up to 4 days, so long as I know I am returning home at that point. Beyond that, I turn into a complete psycho. Ask My Dear Sweet Husband and Kids. They will eagerly agree. OK, so I learned something about my self. I lack a certain desirable grace under environmental pressure. I'm not making excuses. I wish I was better, but it is what it is.

In any event, we came home on Friday. Finally. Praise Jesus, Buddha and Elvis.

Once we unpacked and settled back in, I started looking at the dining room again. Boooorrriiiinnngggg!!

Several months ago I had trolled the Internets looking for some inspiring dining room designs, but too many other projects and commitments took my attention away. Well, now I'm ready to dive in. So just for the record, here's what it looks like now. (Crappy fuzzy photos brought to you by the Apple iPhone 3)

View from the door. It's an entry view room, but not impressive.
Design note: there's some interesting elements, but it lacks any cohesive design.



View into the foyer.
Design note: the Foscarini chandelier is fabulous but is starving for a worthy space. I am maritally obligated to tell you that Patrick chose the light.

View into the Butler Pantry (unfortunately, a Butler was not included in the purchase of the home last year).
Design note: since the dining room is viewed from the foyer, the sitting room and the kitchen, the design must flow seamlessly from one room to another.

View from the pantry toward the entry.
Design note: I'm not sure what this corner wants: a comfy armchair, lamp and table for reading, the bar or ?? 

Right wall of the dinning room. On view upon entry into the foyer.
Design note: I LOVE the bar in this room.  

Table, chairs and Mr. Sailfish.
Design note: JJ paid an arm and a leg for the table and chairs, so they will stay until the kids either fight over them or put them in the estate sale 40 years from now. That said, I'm seriously considering changing the red fabric.

View of the front windows and back wall.  
Design note: the sofa and cover is going into JJ's new living space upstairs, so I won't work that into the design. That said, I like the idea of a curved settee or banquette style bench to add seating to the table.