home design: decorating

Showing posts with label decorating. Show all posts

A little bit of spray paint

Spray paint is a girl's best friend! It always delights me, how fast I can get the gratification and the result I am after.
This sideboard has been with us since our New York days, for a long time....
It has changed places and now has been serving for a while in our dining room. But it's dingy brownish-blond wood had seen better days and it felt dated.
So it turned antique white in about 45 minutes!

Before!
An unfortunate glimpse, hardly visible, sorry!

After!
It turned out nicely!

This pillow came from this Etsy shop: Sweet Janes Plan.

You can see how I upholstered these chairs and a bench here!

I am always happy to refresh our home, little by little!
What do you think?

Happy weekend to you all!

XX
Victoria

All images by V.Zlotkowski

Today I love

Reading Architectural Digest of February 2011 I was smitten with the incredible bold palette of designer Todd Romano's Manhattan studio.

He had been looking for a small space in New York, with huge views and after some searching he found the ideal space in a new glass tower not far from his eponymous showroom on East 59th street. (below)

The studio has 600 square -foot. Being used to grand commissions and living in a 2,000 square -foot home in Los Angeles he felt this was a welcoming challenge.

In his own words: "Good design is about editing. You can live very well in one room."

The room we are talking about is a bright space high above the city with a view to die for.

Being bright all day it becomes a sparkling jewel box at night. The city is a glittering sea beneath his eagle's nest.

His major inspiration for setting up his small space was Billy Baldwin. Baldwin was a master of the mix, a modernist, who despised clutter, believed that function should define form, and was unafraid to use bold colors in all kinds of ways.His work included Cole Porter's famous tortoiseshell library room and Diane Vreeland's equally celebrated Chinese - red living room.

Image

Romano 's midnight blue color on the walls has a lacquered finish, "It makes the structure recede, so the space feels bigger." he explains.

All furniture is hand picked, for most visual impact and functionality.

He designed the large sectional, which also doubles as his bed. Choosing a dark blue velvet works with the walls, making it feel seamless.

A small Louis XV -style voyeuse from Frederic P.Victoria & Son faces the window on top of a large zebra -skin rug.

(A voyeuse is a chair designed for sitting astride back-to-front with the top of the back padded for the occupant to lean on)

This modern box had not much to offer when it came to architecture, therefore thoughtful design became truly important.

He mixed a Chinese red and green vase based lamp on top of a French glass dining table with green velvet chairs and a mid -century Ward Benett chrome and wicker sled chair sits near by. The artwork is graphic and strong, focusing on shapes and colors. Across the room resides a magnificent Louis XVI -style commode.

It's a happy mix, pulled together by choice of color, form, wonderful artworks and Romano's great sense for an eclectic approach to decorating.

Some of his furniture migrated from his former New York apartments, his showrooms in the city and in Los Angeles. He just opened a second showroom on La Cienega Boulevard in West Hollywood.

Image

I have been missing such stronger color statements lately! I welcome his courage and boldness!

A happy weekend to you!

Victoria

Pictures via Architectural Digest 2/11 and as indicated.

Good morning, New Year!

And a happy and healthy one to you all!

This is how it feels like: A good morning like beginning. I am looking forward to the time ahead, have plans and schedules in place and this year I will dedicate it to details. Paying attention to details is as important as the big picture. In designing as in life, the details matter.
You do not need to make big changes or need to shop expensively.
Details are often small, but can make a huge difference. Details are all about your personality, making your place truly your home. Display the things, which matter to you most right now. Change them as you move along in your life, interests, seasons. A small stack of books and letters, finds from nature, a vase with something you picked along the way or grew in your garden, photos, pictures, flea market finds, all those details tell your story!

Editing the small details in your home will keep you feeling current. I often think, as you change the details, you will love your surroundings more, even as they age. There will be no need to exchange things immediately, a throw over your sofa or a shawl on your window can give it a fresh face, a new twist or show how you feel right now.

Images via Amenity Home.
Let the place you live in reflect who you are! It is fun and it never gets boring!

After the holidays are behind us and the tree is discarded or packed away many feel a gaining hole were holiday decorations stood. The new year can suddenly seem to feel flat and endless stretching before us! Make it work for you by paying attention to the details.
To rearrange your mantle display after all the green has gone can be fun, no need to feel despair. You still can enjoy some candles sparkling, exchange your candle holders, bring in some small blooming plants, change your colors.

Image

Image

I love to begin the new year with fresh flowers, white candles and a clean slate. Usually a fresh scent helps me change the mood and after all the cinnamon and apple scented candles I enjoy an unscented room or just a fresh flowery one.
This one below is from Diane James Home, with a lovingly designed package by my friend Patricia from PVE Design! It smells devine!

Even in winter I love to open the windows for a while and let in some crisp air, to fill the rooms with freshness.

I love to see paper whites and narcissus grow. A grocer's bunch of flowers set up in a small vase or separated in tiny re-used glass containers can ring in the new season. Low key or high end, it does not matter as long as you are willing to pay attention to the details around you.

Your bedroom can only benefit from a change of duvet and pillows or a different throw...
Give your dresser a new look by putting up the latest holiday pictures, display the new perfume or the jewelry you might have gotten from your husband, boyfriend or children. Bring these gorgeous design books or novels you love to read right now and set them up. Use something different on your bedside table.

Image via Elle Decor.

Create a new dining room display, change is good! Use different china as you greet the new year! All those details mark occasions and the beginning of the new year is surely one not to be missed.

Images

I still keep in mind sustainable living, try to be conscious of my foot prints I leave behind, re-use and recycle, live mindful and caring.
As the new year turns into the year I will take you along as I change and pay attention to the details in decorating and my life. I am hoping you will find inspirations and enjoy the unfolding of your own story this year!
Let's breathe in deeply the fresh air of the new year!

xx
Victoria

Pictures by V.Zlotkowski and as indicated.

Bubbly chandelier

A few years back we bought some bubble lights for our chandelier at Captiva Island. We spent a few times there over the holidays and after visiting the Bubble Room - a quirky and very entertaining dining spot on the island, we fell for the old fashioned fun! The place is whimsically decorated year round for Christmas -yes - one of those....but the children were considerably younger at the time and yet they still remember!
Adjacent to the restaurant is a small shack, selling everything decorative for holiday fun, from masks to ornaments, wigs to toys!
Since then we pull out those bubble lights every year and our dining room transforms! Having painted the old thing red a few years back, they fit in perfectly!

If you like them, go here!

We love the effect, and we need candles at every meal now, since it's much darker suddenly...it only adds to the festive party atmosphere! Do you have some quirky decorations you want to share with me?

Happy weekend!

XX
Victoria

PS: Don't forget to check out my give away on the post below!!! Still time to enter until December 22!

Tickled pink?

Yesterday color authority Pantone announced it's color of the year 2011 to be an immense pink called "honeysuckle". The company predicts that we will see a lot of this color, appearing on everything from dresses to pillows, nail polish, sofas and appliances.

image

Image

Top image and this here.

A sherbety shade of pink, with a hint of red and orange zest, honeysuckle is seen by designers as a pick -me-up at a time when many people have had their fill of misfortune.
I quoted based on an article from yesterday's Wall Street Journal.

Jonathan Adler.

Harlequin Wallpaper.

Image

JA tray.

via Country living.

Interestingly enough many people do not necessarily associate honeysuckle with the color pink. The bush which grows on the corner of my deck blooms in a lovely shade of yellow....Apparently people associate the color with what they know from their childhood....Perhaps the honeysuckle you knew then was pink?

via google image.

Pink has been on the radar of many designers for a couple of years now and I guess the announcement to make it the color of the year 2011 culminates in it's final arrival at the mainstream households. I still remember the pink polo shirts I gave my husband and son two years ago and seeing my then 8 year old son being a little taken aback at first. Girly pink for him? But he eventually wore the shirt for many month and does now not object to pink in his wardrobe any more then to navy blue!

Image

I love pink as much as many other colors, my house is filled with reds and green, turquoise and blues and surely it will find it's way into it as accent on plates, pillows and outfits.
It's a summer color, reminding me of raspberries, little girl's dresses and lemonade.

Image

There is a sense of care free life when looking at pink. I am sure it made it's way into our current fashion for those reasons as well.

Image
To see on the bright side, away from worries and unemployment which must surely show itself in dull browns and muddy grays...
It's a good thing to celebrate life when the going is tough and to surround ourselves with an uplifting shade of pink is a wonderful way of maintaining optimism and a youthful spirit.
My dish washing will be stylish at last!!!