My new front door knocker...

Good Morning!

Come on in, have a cup of coffee with me ( I wish we all could!) 

I just put up matching stirrup brass door knockers. ( We love everything "equestrian" here!)  Since we refinished these wood doors, they have been naked until now.. All this "zhushing", adding "layers"- I love it!!!

Enjoy your day.

~Nancy

Do you Serge Leysage?

I love my rug from Serge Leysage. I bought it years ago from a fabulous shop in Tysons Galleria - Art with Flowers.  Have you ever been there?  This rug is still my favorite of all their designs. It was a little pricey ( $100 for a 2 x 3') but it amps up my hall bathroom, and is so soft on the feet, washes well and is as good as new!

The company started in France in 2005.  You can find them in specialty boutiques and online, but in person, the colors and designs will WOW you!

Traditional, contemporary and everything in between...Keep your eyes open for these beauties during your travels!  They are well worth it.


~Nancy

Urban Outfitters is Representin'

Don't you love it when a store brings it?  I was sourcing online the other day for one of our new projects and ran across a super affordable and totally trendy rug from UO.  

Upon further review, there were quite a few things to love. 

Nice [dress] form, Urban Outfitters. Well done.

-Bethany

I've Got a [Store] Crush : and George

One of my favorite stores of all time is and George in Charlottesville, VA.  Years ago, my mom, brother and I had taken a weekend trip to the beach during the spring - it was not quite warm enough to sit on the shore, but I couldn't pass up the chance to look at the water.  So I sat in my jeans and sweatshirt out on the bulkhead of the bay and read the copies of House and Garden that were laying around the house.  I stumbled across an article about the mother-daughter design team that heads up and George and was hook-line-and-sinker (beach pun intended).

What might have sealed the deal was the namesake of the outfit, a cuddly English Bulldog named George.

Wilma is totally crushing on George, too, btw.

I've since had the pleasure of visiting and George many a time and I could spend hours in there just soaking it up.  I love the feel Christy and Jan have created. Jan is a talented designer, who uses the store as a springboard for her custom design services and Christy is a master photographer (can't you tell from her yummy pics here?).   I can even convince my hubby to go in with me, in hopes he'll get to meet the elusive George once and for all.  Unfortunately, we haven't yet.

and George promotes the work of a local Charlottesville artist, Abby Kasonik, who's moody turquoise paintings just do something to stir the soul.  Her art is displayed throughout the store and punctuates the neutral, calming environment they've created.

I think I love the Giannetti's paintings so much because it reminds me of these beauties.  Beachy, moody, vibrant but soothing!  

If you're ever in the area, stop by!  You won't be sorry.

Nancy's design presentation....

Our first client yielded boards from both Bethany and I. We wanted the experience and 2 different 'takes' on what we took away from our client interview. I'm sure in the future we will collaborate on boards, but this is too much fun!   Plus, I need more Olioboard experience. I'm not loving the flat computer dimension (yet), versus drawing it out like I did for my business in the 80's and 90's.

Here is the board I came up with based on the clients love of a dark and rich themed room.

Here is my inspiration picture which was intended to update the "jewel tones" they had in the early 90's.

Here is the drawing I made of the room with fabric suggestions ( golds, tourmalines; apple greens, magenta ).

During a follow-up call with the client today, she told us she wants to hire us to begin the transformation with lighting and furniture placement , followed by draperies and the bed dressing!  She didn't say yet whether she likes Bethany's color selections or mine, but we've got her envisioning her new room...... we'll keep you posted!

~Nancy

Our first design project!

As we start to get our feet wet in our design business (Mom a former interior designer, me an aspiring decorator dying to get some experience under my belt), we decided to offer our friends and family and the blogosphere some free design plans to practice our craft.  We started out offering a free design board and execution plan to the first five folks to express interest.  And with a little luck and a whole lot of excitement, we've successfully reached capacity…  

Powell Brower Home has accepted our first five official clients!

So last night, Mom and I completed our first design presentation, showing our prospective clients two different visions for their master bedroom reno.  We dove head-first into the project, spending hours perusing fabrics online and at upholstery stores.  We poured over inspiration pictures and ideas and came up with two 'takes' on one room.

Some background on our client:

This lovely couple just embarked on a renovation for their master bedroom, adding custom closets to an entire wall in a dark mahogany color and a charging-station and custom valet for the husband's side of the room (all custom built by Closets By Design).  They had used a metallic paint on their kitchen renovation the year prior and loved the finish so much that they decided to find a metallic shade for their bedroom.  They chose a gold color for their walls and got to work putting it up. 

Then they got stuck.

One of their obstacles was including a quilt, made by a family member, in Christmas colors.  They thought the gold walls would work well with the quilt but couldn't visualize how to move forward from there.  The gold actually turned out to look like a bronze or urbane gold against the low light of the afternoon and finding a corresponding color scheme was proving a bit challenging.  All in addition to an off-center window on the main wall of the bedroom.

Enter Mom and I.

We met them in their space and discussed our questionnaire (that they filled out prior to meeting) to get a feel for their likes and dislikes.  We talked to each party to understand what they cared about and tried to blend their two styles.  They wanted their room to feel bold and make a statement.  Much the opposite of the spa-like retreat that a lot of bedroomers yearn for.  The wife preferred floral prints and liked birds and natural scenes in fabrics.  They wanted to 'center' their bed in front of the off-center window, and based on the layout of the room, was the logical choice.

My inspiration picture came from a page from a magazine (wish I could remember which one) I was reading in the doctor's office.  I loved the bold turquoise paint color that is trending this year and wanted to incorporate their gold walls with accents of peacock/turquoise and lime green.  

And as much as the sky's the limit as far as creativity goes, there was a budget to keep in mind.  They had spent quite a lot of money already on their custom cabinetry and needed to pull the remainder of the room together in a money-savvy way.  Mom and I stuck to affordable non-trade fabrics and gave high and low-end options for most pieces.  We found a lot of the items at big-box stores, which were much more economical than the trade-only sources that we all die over in the mags.

My Design Board:

My Sensory Board:

My vision used turquoise as the 'removable' element in the design plan to allow for the use of their Christmas quilt during the winter months.  The items that would stay year-round, like the foot bench, the drapery panels and the accents, would be lime green, so as to blend with the Christmas quilt when it was out.  The pillow shams and the bed scarf or throw would be turquoise. 


They have an old dresser that they considered upcycling and I recommended painting it in Behr's Billiard Table Green (or Duron option shown) with new playful hardware.  That would be the only turquoise that would stay year-round.  We would position that on the wall opposite of the window-wall and put a large mirror above to reflect back the light of the window.  I also wanted to include a gallery wall of fun family photos that they were hoping to display.

Here's to our first go of it, we sure had a lot of fun.  The practice was really good for us when trying to put our vision in 3-D.


Lookout for a post by Mom on her board and plan.  Here was her sneak-peek!

Hope you have a wonderful start to the week!

-Bethany

Coastal decor by Brooke Giannetti

A great inspiration for all things 'beachy' is Brooke Giannetti's collection today on One Kings Lane.  Her designer tips on acheiving the seaside-look include using nature's colors - the sky, sand, and ocean and juxtaposing the textures.  She recommends displaying groupings by theme:

Aren't these accessories wonderful?  Brooke and hubby Steve are staples for cool California beach style (check out our post that Bethany wrote previously on the Giannetti's signature Patina Style).

Hope you all have a great weekend!


~Nancy

Another reason why I love blogging

... is that my husband has been getting involved! He is reviving his woodworking hobby with planter boxes we are custom designing.  He is on his fifth design and building them with lots of detail, like spraying the interiors with rubber seal paint (so they are watertight), priming and painting these beauties and adding various styles of hardware (Chinese, equestrian, etc.).  

     

I can envision ours in settings like these filled with hydrangeas, used indoors or out...

 

What do you think?

~Nancy

Pendleton Blankets

Love 'em or leave 'em? 

I've been loving their bold plaids and soothing colorways since I saw some at Terrain a while back.  Pendleton blankets looked pretty hearty if you asked me, the kind you'd want to cuddle up with on a cold night.

At one time during the winter, I almost purchased one.  

And then, while styling my chair with my grandmother's hot pink wool throw from Oregon, I made out from its tattered that that it is a Pendleton!  Imagine that?  This thing has been around for probably 50 years, no joke.

PS - I love that she was bold enough to buy a hot pink throw!

So my advice to you is if you are looking for a timeless wool blanket, I'd say 50 years and still kickin' is a pretty good return on investment!

- Bethany

I guess I am a Robot!

I sat down with a glass of wine to read and comment on blogs tonight, and man, is it frustrating when I post a comment and flunk the word verification 3 times for one comment...
I hate those things.. I think it does deter commenting,
   
                                                                  do you ?


~Nancy

I need a good wedge.

Last week, while the hubby was away on a business trip, I camped out at mom's to watch girlie movies.  It was kinda like the ultimate indulgence.  We drank tea and ate Belgian chocolates and it felt like a mini-getaway.  One of the flicks we watched was 'A Good Year' and I cannot stop thinking about Marion Cotillard's effortless outfit at the end.  I couldn't find a full shot, but she had a black shirtdress, black lace-up espadrilles and a straw bag.

I want to recreate this, but first, I need a good wedge.  Or espadrille.  

Halogen / Ann Taylor / Old Navy / J.Crew / Loft / Nine West

Do you have any favorite wedges for this season??

-Bethany

P.S. another reason....

We just landed our third client for our e- board services! We just started the blog in November, and started offering our services in January!  These are all local to us, so we are doing face-to-face consultations, with a free design board for the first 5 clients!  This is so exciting, we can't stand it.... ( you know what I mean )


Here's a sneak peak at a drawing I did:

Even though I like Olioboard, I feel more connected with a hand drawing, like I used to do 20 years ago when I was in the business... Feels good to be back!  and Im so proud of Bethany, and her boards! More to come!

Up in the clouds,
Nancy

One of the many reasons I love blogging....

I get introduced to awesome products, like Emerson Fry.   Love these shoes!

   

I am gathering inspiration for my art, my business and my blog from amazing bloggers, like this office from Apartment Therapy:

                

 Bedroom by James Andrew, as seen on Habitually Chic:

           

 Cool car from Crushculdesac.tumblr

          

And the dreamiest landscapes and lifestyle from Sharon at My French Country Home :

Thank you for making my day... Wishing all of you a grand week ahead!

~Nancy