We're linked!

Hi all,

We just hooked up with this link party, so go take a look at all the goodies! The topic is DIY and Crafts.

Nancy

 If you are looking for help with your home, we'd love to work with you! Contact us for a listing of our services and prices. Nancy and Bethany

Designer Watch: Patrik Lonn

Have you seen the  previews of the Hampton Show House 2012?

I just love a good Show House, don't  you? From now until Sept. 3rd you can go visit it in all it's glory if you're lucky enough to live nearby.  It's a great chance to meet new designers like Patrik Lonn, one of my new favorites!

Patrik Lonn, of  is a designer based in NY and Stockholm.  His work is simply elegant and understated. 

He uses a lot of black and white art in his room designs, which I love, love, love!

Look at this amazing stairwell screen created to block the stairs from view:

I love a room that isn't filled to the max, and a touch of Scandanavian is right up my alley. Hope you enjoy this introduction to Patrik, as Im sure it will be out in Traditional Home or a major magazine soon!

Have a great day friends!

Nancy

If you are looking for help with your home, we'd love to work with you! Contact us for a listing of our services and prices. 

Nancy and Bethany

"House Guest" series: Styling

Today our House Guest is one of our favorite blog friends, Pam, who always has the most brilliantly styled rooms. Here are  her tips on styling.

I'm Pam from Simple Details and couldn't be more thrilled to be here.

The only thing better than being a 'House Guest' on your blog would be being a
 house guest at either of your beautiful homes!
You're a wonderful addition to the blogosphere, and I'm inspired by both of you daily!
Thank you for asking me to share a few ideas for styling...

When I'm styling a space whether a small coffee table or larger bookcase
I think of  the same basic elements as when I'm decorating a room.

SCALE, LAYERING, REPETITION


1. Scale: Starting with the largest pieces first dictates much of the placement.
One trick I like to use is removing shelves from a bookcase to add interest and
 allow for a range of sizes for accessories.
2.  Layering:  I decide which pieces I'm going to use as a background for layering
Cabinet above - the mirror and artwork in front of it.
Coffee Table - the tray, then the vases on it.
Bookcase and Mantle below - the mirrors, artwork, and  'Z.'
3. Repetition: I repeat some of the elements to give a sense of cohesiveness.
Color, Shape, Type of Accessory
Cabinet & Coffee Table - pink, blue, black, curved vases, gold frames, books
Bookcase and Mantle -  ivory, brass, books, brass trays on easels,  
round mirror (see far right), round ivy topiary, sunburst mirror
branches, vases (all thrift store finds and painted)  

One more tip is to make sure your vignette has at least one of each of these elements.

SHINE, PATTERN, TEXTURE, NATURE/GREENERY


1. Shine:  Mirror, brass, silver, glass, high gloss
2. Pattern: Cabinet & Coffee Table -  the pattern is in the blue floral artwork, even the
stripes on the book spine, also the  tray is lined with a black and white leopard print. 
Bookcase & Mantle -  the brick itself is enough pattern so I intentionally kept
 everything else monochromatic.
3. Texture: I would say most of the time texture naturally falls into place when
you include all of the other elements, but if it looks like it needs something, think texture!
Cabinet & Coffee Table - fabric shade and trim, flowers, smooth pottery, old frayed book
 and even wood cabinet, and glass table.
Bookcase & Mantle - Brick, branches, smooth pottery, rustic planter, worn book pages,
weathered frame, stamped brass tray.
4. Nature/Greenery:  Flowers, plant, branches, twigs, seed pods, just about anything
you can bring in from your yard. A must for bringing life and texture to your space.


Hope you're inspired to take a look around your home and yard to create a new vignette.
I'd love you to stop by Simple Details and and visit sometime.   


Thanks so much for having me Nancy and Bethany!
  
Thank you so much Pam! These are great tips!  Don't forget to see our ORC reveal this Wednesday!


If you are looking for help with your home, we'd love to work with you! Contact us for a listing of our services and prices. Nancy and Bethany

Sunday chill

Hope you find your Sunday to be restful and find a nice place to chill like this.

Speaking of hot temps ( it was 100 here yesterday) doesn't an image like this cool you off?

  via

 via

 via

Enjoy.

   Nancy and Bethany

If you'd like help with your home or office,  contact us for a listing of our services and prices.
Nancy and Bethany

How to Start a Design Business

We are guest posting for Charmaine today at My Best Friend Craig.  She loves to share Craigslist finds with us and remake them into chic up-to-date decor.  She has great taste, and is slowly redoing every room in her home.  Today we are sharing our journey about starting a design business.  Come on over and check us out!

Happy Friday!

-Nancy 

If you are looking for help with your home, we'd love to work with you! Contact us for a listing of our services and prices. 

 Nancy and Bethany

Notice a Pattern?

I love this Michael Devine pattern.

So much that I painted my hallway to resemble it!

-Bethany

If you are looking for help with your home, we'd love to work with you! Contact us for a listing of our services and prices. 

Nancy and Bethany

One Room Challenge : Week 5 Update

This second-to-last week of the One Room Challenge has been the toughest on our end.  We're juggling a few client projects and tried to get some things accomplished on my master bedroom but there just aren't enough hours in the day.  My eyelids are alternating opening and closing while I write this.  

The accomplishment that deserves top billing is that MY RUG CAME!  Upon arriving home from a day trip this afternoon, an oversize and lengthy package hung off the front of my patio.


The story of the rug is one of several eye rolls and bittersweet ending.  


I ordered the rug back in June.  I got an e-mail that it shipped.  Two weeks later, it hadn't arrived so I tracked it.  UPS said a label had been created but nothing was scanned in.  Hmmm.  I called the company I ordered it from and they said 'oh, wait, it's back-ordered until August.'  So I thought real hard and thought real hard again and decided, it was worth the wait even if my reveal didn't include the new rug.  So I kept it on order.  Then, earlier this week, I got another e-mail update from said company explaining the rug had been pushed back to the end of August.  I tried to call Sunday to cancel the order, but they were closed.  So I finally got through on Monday and was told, 'oh, your rug is en route.'  How can this be?  Whether it was or wasn't, their system was showing it was on its way so I couldn't cancel.  Meanwhile I had made the painful decision to order the zebra cowhide in its place and had grown quite attached to the idea of the switch up.


 My head was volleying back and forth between this

Or that.  This or that.  This or that.

Regardless of my indecision (a lifelong ailment and true detriment to my pocketbook), I was thrilled to see the rug on my doorstep this afternoon! The following items were also crossed off of our checklist this week:

• trim painted
• purchased the mats for the frames
• dropped fabrics off at the workroom to be transformed into curtains and roman shades
• got nowhere with the corbel project and are stuck on how to proceed
• became discontent with the cable cover idea (versus dropping the cables behind the wall) for TV
• ordered ribbon to adorn my lampshades 

Isn't this ribbon amazing though?

Weeks 2, 3 and 4 were far more productive for me.  But let's hope the other ladies made more tangible headway!  Head on over to check them out:

Beth - Chinoiserie Chic

Lauren - The Cottage Mix

Sherry - Design Indulgence

Lindsay - Everything LEB

Barbara - Hodge:Podge

Kim - Kim Macumber Interiors

Lisa - Lisa Mende Design

Tiffany - Living Savvy

Jessie - Mix & Chic

Linda - My Crafty Home Life 

Danylle - Nana Moon

Nicole - Nicole Scott Designs
Julia - Pawleys Island Posh

Jennifer - The Pink Pagoda

Lindsay - The Pursuit of Style

Emily - Rue de Emily 

Lindsay - Sadie + Stella

Lisa - Trapped in North Jersey

-Bethany

If you are looking for help with your home, we'd love to work with you! Contact us for a listing of our services and prices. 

Nancy and Bethany

What your bed says about you

I have always loved the bedding at Serena & Lily.  They have a feature on their site where you can design your own bed (with their products of course) and interchange duvets, sheets, pillows, blankets, etc.  Very clever and a wonderful preview if you are looking to purchase some of their goods.  They have 10 style Gurus showcasing how they like to make their beds...check it out!

So it begs the question - do you prefer lots of color or neutrals?

Beth Webb has designed the perfect bedding (above), in my opinion.  I am currently favoring neutral outerwear for bedding, like a duvet in white, and adding pops of color in the bedskirt and/or pillows. I also love monograms!  

Here are some colorful options in bedroom decor.

But for me, it always comes right back to the neutral bedding.

1/2/3/4/5/6/7/8/9/10

This brings to mind the styling of the bed linens. It seems like there is no ideal style.  One designer spoke of the perfect pillow arrangement on a king size bed being 3 Euro shams, 2 King pillows, 2 Standard pillows and 2 throw pillows. It depends on how many layers you want though, I suppose.  As well as your desired softness, comfort and how many pillows the people in your bed require.  I do love good sheets, a matelasse cover, a folded duvet at the end of the bed, a simple bedskirt and a luxe look and feeling. 

 How do you prefer your master bed to be styled: sophisticated, simple, neutral, frilly, colorful, tons of pillows, solids, patterns ?  I think these answers give a hint into your personality!

Sleep tight.

-Nancy

P. S. Today we're over at a DIY Link Party at:

If you are looking for help with your home, we'd love to work with you! Contact us for a listing of our services and prices. 

Nancy and Bethany

Field Trip

Happy Monday!  Today, I'm  over at Linda's place helping with ideas for her awesome master bedroom that she's updating and renovating for our One Room Challenge.  Come by for a visit!

This past weekend Bethany and I went an hour west of us to the HAUTE tent sale we heard about through Michele, from My Notting Hill. Talk about overwhelming! There was an entire home of about 8 rooms filled to the gills with bolts of designer fabrics.  The store is in Marshall, VA, and they offer below wholesale cost on all their lines.

There are miles and miles of trims, tapes and cording.

Handfuls of rooms filled with fabric bolts, 10 deep. 

Fantastic and unique prints.

Enough to make two gals delirious. And hungry after wading through the sea of people and fabric.

We went with the intention of picking up some fabric for some projects we're currently working on.  But after an hour or two we left only with some trim.  We started veering off track very quickly from client project wants to wishes of things for our own future home projects. We did bring home some swatches though, since the sale goes on til July 31st, and we can go back with more focus!

It was a dreamland of textures, finishes and colors. And some amazing deals, at  the $14-16 per yard average.

-Nancy 

If you are looking for help with your home, we'd love to work with you! Contact us for a listing of our services and prices. 

Nancy and Bethany

A teeny DIY

While Bethany is working her arse off for the One Room Challenge, I am busy on a makeover under one square foot.   I just needed a drink holder by my hammock.  I spent under $2.00 and this is what I did today. I would have loved to stripe it navy and white but this is the paint I had.

Items I used:

Plant stem holder from the garden center. 

Liquid Nails for Projects

Spray paint I already had.

Tape for striping.

Just a little patience needed for the Liquid Nails to dry overnight, and ta da.... Drink Holder in a Day! I always wanted one of these in my beach bag to stick in the sand up by the ocean.

Ever been bored and just tried something for a quick fix?

-Nancy

 If you are looking for help with your home, we'd love to work with you! Contact us for a listing of our services and prices. Nancy and Bethany

Overdying Queen

A month ago I did a post of the trials and errors of my overdyed office rug, and I am super happy with the result, BUT....

Remember the 2' x 3' we bleached 1/2 dozen times in preparation to sample the process?  Well, since not one speck of color left the rug during the process, it has been sitting neglected in my garage, and Bethany said to just get rid of it-- she didn't want it.

Today I thought, let me just TRY it ( which has got to be a sickness of a serious DIY'er), so I poured the rest of the turquoise dye I had ( only about a tsp.) and about 1/4 cup of green dye in a hot dye bath on my stove, added some vinegar and let the rug sit in it all day.

Now this is what Im talking about! This is how intense I had wanted my office rug to turn out.  I am so in love with the vibrant  color.  One of us has GOT to style a room with this.  

Lesson learned: never give up! (duh)


Who has tips about keeping curled rug edges down? Thanks!

-Nancy

If you are looking for help with your home, we'd love to work with you! Contact us for a listing of our services and prices. Nancy and Bethany